Commander blueprint · The Hobbit Eternal

How to build Thorin, King of Durin's Folk

Thorin counts artifact tokens, so every Treasure he hands you is +1/+0 on each of your other Dwarves until the day you crack it. This build pays for its spells with lands and rocks and lets the pile grow.

Art by Dmitry Burmak

Spend the first Treasures, then stop

A Treasure gives you one mana, once. Left on the battlefield it gives every other Dwarf +1/+0, and it keeps doing that in every combat. With one other Dwarf out the trade is close. With four other Dwarves attacking, the same Treasure is four damage each turn it stays, and a single mana is rarely worth that.

So the early ones are ramp. Before Thorin arrives only a few Dwarves make Treasures on their own: Dori, Bearer of Friends and Plundering Barbarian when they enter, and Glóin, Dwarf Emissary when you cast a historic spell. A turn three Dori is what puts Thorin down on turn four, and he makes a Treasure of his own as he lands. Once he is out with three Dwarves beside him, crack a Treasure only for the spell that wins the turn, or after combat damage, when it has already done its job for that attack.

This is why the list runs thirty five lands and four mana rocks even though nearly every creature in it makes mana. Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Talisman of Conviction and Boros Signet are artifacts but not tokens, so Thorin's bonus ignores them, and only Storm-Kiln Artist counts them at all. They are there so the Treasures do not have to pay.

Two abilities in the list cost Treasures, and both are worth a pause. Magda, Brazen Outlaw can sacrifice five to put an artifact card from your library onto the battlefield. On a board with four other Dwarves that is twenty points of power gone for good, so save it for a turn when few Dwarves are out, and spend it on Roaming Throne or Panharmonicon. Glóin, Dwarf Emissary taps and sacrifices one to goad a creature, which is cheap when it sends the biggest blocker at the table somewhere else.

A Treasure made during combat counts in that same combat

Magda, Brazen Outlaw gives your other Dwarves +1/+0 and makes a Treasure whenever a Dwarf you control becomes tapped. Attacking taps. Swing with five Dwarves besides Thorin and five Treasures arrive while attackers are being declared, before any opponent chooses a blocker, so each of those five is five points bigger than it was a moment earlier. Your opponents block a board that was not on the table when the turn began.

Dáin of the Ancient Halls is the exception. It has vigilance, so it attacks without tapping and Magda gets nothing from it. It earns its slot another way: when it attacks it deals damage equal to the number of Dwarves you control to each opponent, and with Torbran, Thane of Red Fell out that is two more to each of them.

Combat damage makes them too. Thorin, Company's Leader makes two Treasures whenever a Dwarf you control deals combat damage to a player. Double strike splits a creature's damage into two steps, and the Treasures from the first step are on the battlefield before the second. Gimli of the Glittering Caves, Giott, King of the Dwarves and Iron Hills Blacksmith all have double strike. If all three connect in the first strike step, Company's Leader makes six Treasures and Gimli makes one of its own, so every Dwarf except Thorin that is still to deal damage, those three included, hits seven harder in the regular step.

Orcrist, Goblin-cleaver does the same job on whatever creature carries it. When the equipped creature deals combat damage to a player you name a creature type and make a Treasure for each creature you control of that type. Name Dwarf. On a double striker it happens twice, and Dáin Ironfoot gives every equipped attacker double strike, along with the Axe it makes when it enters to equip one.

An Axe or a Servo counts exactly as a Treasure does

Thorin counts artifact tokens, not Treasures, and the list makes two other kinds. Iron Hills Blacksmith and Dáin Ironfoot each make an Axe, an Equipment artifact token. Visionary Augmenter can make two Servos when it enters and Glint-Sleeve Artisan one, and a Servo is an artifact creature token, so it is a chump blocker that also adds +1/+0 to every Dwarf. Pirate's Pillage, Big Score and Unexpected Windfall are the card draw, and each leaves two Treasures behind, so the spell that refills your hand also adds two power to every other Dwarf for as long as you leave them alone.

The Axes have a second job. They are Equipment, and The Lonely Mountain enters untapped when you control one, then makes a 2/2 Dwarf for , one less for each Equipment you control. With four Equipment out it costs , and the Dwarf it makes brings a Treasure.

Storm-Kiln Artist reads every artifact, rocks included, so it gets +1/+0 from Sol Ring where Thorin gives nothing, and each Treasure counts twice on it, once for each card.

Thorin and his first Treasure are two thirds of an enduring story

Storied gives you an enduring story for the rest of the game once you control three or more artifacts, legendaries and Sagas, as long as you also control a permanent with storied. Thorin is legendary and his first Treasure is an artifact. Each of the six storied cards in this list is a legendary Dwarf (Fíli the Pathfinder, Bifur, Melodic Rider, Kíli the Resourceful, Thorin Oakenshield, Dáin, Lord of the Iron Hills and Balin, Loremaster), so whichever lands first is the third permanent and switches the story on as it enters. After that it stays, even if every Treasure is spent and every storied Dwarf dies.

What each one switches on is different. Fíli the Pathfinder gives every creature you control +1/+1, which is the toughness Thorin never adds. Thorin Oakenshield gives your artifacts and creatures ward , so each Treasure taxes a removal spell aimed at it. Dáin, Lord of the Iron Hills makes each creature attacking you cost its controller one mana. Kíli the Resourceful equips once each turn for nothing, so an Axe moves for free. Balin, Loremaster deals damage to each opponent equal to the cards it draws you. Bifur doubles the Dwarves' triggers, which is the next section.

Bifur, Roaming Throne and Panharmonicon all count Thorin's trigger

Thorin's Treasure is a triggered ability of a Dwarf, caused by a creature entering, and three cards in the list each make that kind of trigger fire one more time. Bifur, Melodic Rider does it for every Dwarf trigger once you have an enduring story. Roaming Throne does it for every creature of the type you name, and Thorin is a Dwarf. Panharmonicon does it for any trigger an artifact or creature entering causes. They stack, so with all three out a Dwarf entering makes four Treasures, and Xorn adds one to each of those, which makes it eight.

Fíli the Pathfinder multiplies it again. It makes a 2/2 Dwarf token whenever another nontoken Dwarf enters, and that token is a Dwarf entering too. With Bifur out and nothing else, one nontoken Dwarf brings two tokens and six Treasures.

Roaming Throne is the one card here that does not look like a Dwarf. Name Dwarf as it enters and it becomes one, so it gets Thorin's bonus and its own arrival makes a Treasure. Name Dwarf on every card that asks: Cavern of Souls, Secluded Courtyard, Unclaimed Territory, Three Tree City, Herald's Horn, Vanquisher's Banner, An Unexpected Party and Orcrist. Xorn is the only creature in the list that is not a Dwarf, and it is there for the Treasures, not the attack.

Copies that leave at end of combat keep their Treasures

A token copy of a Dwarf is a Dwarf entering, and the Treasure it leaves does not go when the copy does. Hammers of Moradin has myriad, so when it attacks at a four player table you create a copy attacking each of the other two opponents. Two Dwarves enter, two Treasures arrive, and the copies are exiled at end of combat. Its other attack trigger taps a creature for each opponent, which is a blocker taken away from every player you are attacking.

Cadric, Soul Kindler copies the legends instead. Whenever another nontoken legendary permanent you control enters, you may pay for a token copy with haste that is sacrificed at the next end step. Eighteen other legendary Dwarves are in the list, so on most turns Cadric turns one Dwarf into two arrivals, two Treasures and an extra hasty attacker. The copy goes at the end step and the Treasure stays.

The core list

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Dwarven Mine needs three other Mountains, and this list has eleven

Thirty five lands carry an average mana value of 3.03. Red is the deeper color at 33 sources against white's 27, because most of the Dwarves are red. One red pip by turn two arrives 96.6% of the time on the play and one white pip 93%. Two red by turn four, for Balin, Loremaster, Torbran, Thane of Red Fell and Unexpected Windfall, is 90.8%. Two white by turn four is the soft spot at 81.8%, and only two cards ask for it outright: Visionary Augmenter and An Unexpected Party, whose adventure half needs a single white. Bifur, Melodic Rider is printed with hybrid pips, so red alone casts it.

Twenty two lands enter untapped, ten more do so on a condition, and three always enter tapped: Elegant Parlor, Path of Ancestry and Iron Hills. Dwarven Mine enters untapped with three other Mountains out, and the list has eleven: eight basics, Sacred Foundry, Elegant Parlor and The Lonely Mountain. When it does, it makes a 1/1 Dwarf, which is a Treasure as well with Thorin out. Arena of Glory gives haste to a creature cast with its mana, beside Fervor, Lightning Greaves and Axgard Cavalry, and haste matters here because a Dwarf that cannot attack the turn it arrives adds only its Treasure to that attack.

A creature wipe takes the Dwarves and leaves the pile

Thorin adds power and nothing else, so the Dwarves stay small where a sweeper counts. A board wipe that destroys creatures takes the whole team, but it leaves the Treasures, and that changes what the next turn looks like. With no Dwarves left, the pile is pumping nothing, which makes this the one turn to spend most of it: recast Thorin and as many Dwarves as it covers, and each of them makes a new Treasure on the way in.

The protection is there to stop that turn happening at all: Teferi's Protection, Flawless Maneuver, Boros Charm, Akroma's Will, and Lightning Greaves for Thorin himself. The list carries no sweeper of its own. Winds of Abandon overloaded exiles every creature you do not control for six mana, which is the only reset this deck wants, since it leaves the Dwarves and the Treasures where they are. Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, Chaos Warp, Generous Gift, Valorous Stance, Fairgrounds Warden and Celebrate the Mountain-king handle single threats, and Celebrate the Mountain-king takes one from each opponent.

The budget rung loses the multipliers, and bracket 4 lands Thorin a turn early

Every rung keeps the engine. Magda, Brazen Outlaw, Fíli the Pathfinder, Bifur, Melodic Rider, Panharmonicon, Storm-Kiln Artist, Hammers of Moradin, Pirate's Pillage and Unexpected Windfall are in all three lists, so every version attacks the same way. The core list sits at bracket 3 because of two Game Changers, Smothering Tithe and Teferi's Protection, and nothing else in it moves the floor.

Fourteen swaps bring the budget rung down from $534.55 to $157.93. Both Game Changers go, which removes the floor entirely. Smothering Tithe alone is $52.10 of the saving, and Cavern of Souls, Roaming Throne, Dáin of the Ancient Halls, Arid Mesa and Three Tree City are most of the rest.

The swap that changes how it plays is losing Roaming Throne and Xorn. Under Bifur and Panharmonicon a Dwarf entering still makes three Treasures, but not eight, and every attack after that is a few points smaller. Thorin, Company's Leader and Gimli of the Glittering Caves go too, so the first strike hit no longer pays for the second, apart from Orcrist. In their place come cheap cards that make Dwarves and Equipment at once. Dwarven Hammer and Dwarven Shortsword each make a Dwarf token and attach to it, Bearded Axe grows with every Dwarf and Equipment you control, and Digsite Engineer and Master Trinketeer make artifact creature tokens, which Thorin counts as readily as Treasures. Three more Equipment also make The Lonely Mountain cheaper. Monologue Tax replaces Smothering Tithe as the Treasure engine that runs on other players' turns. The cost is resilience: Unbreakable Formation does only part of Teferi's Protection's job, and five lands enter tapped instead of three.

Ten swaps take the bracket 4 rung to $1,223.98. Mana Vault, Chrome Mox and Ancient Tomb are most of the reason, because each one can put Thorin down a turn early, and they replace two mana rocks and a tapped land. The One Ring, Esper Sentinel and Jeska's Will add the card flow the core list is thin on. Enlightened Tutor finds Panharmonicon, Roaming Throne or Shared Animosity, and Gamble finds anything. Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines is a fourth card that makes Thorin's trigger fire again, and it shuts off every enters trigger your opponents control. Anointed Procession doubles every token, Treasures and Dwarf tokens alike. With all of it out and Xorn applied before Anointed Procession, a single Dwarf entering makes twenty Treasures. Nine Game Changers put the floor at 4.

All three attack the same way. The cheap list does it with fewer Treasures on the table, and the expensive one does it sooner, with more cards in hand.

FAQ

Does Thorin, King of Durin's Folk get +1/+0 from his own ability?

No. The bonus reads other Dwarves you control, so Thorin stays a 4/4 however many artifact tokens you have. His job is to make the Treasures and pump the team. Fíli the Pathfinder and Mirror Entity are the cards in this list that grow him.

Do Clues, Food and other artifact tokens count for Thorin, King of Durin's Folk?

Yes. Thorin counts every artifact token you control, not just Treasures, so Clues, Food, Blood and Map tokens all add +1/+0 to your other Dwarves, and so do Equipment tokens and artifact creature tokens. This list makes two kinds besides Treasures: the Axe tokens from Iron Hills Blacksmith and Dáin Ironfoot, and the Servos from Visionary Augmenter and Glint-Sleeve Artisan. Mana rocks such as Sol Ring are artifacts but not tokens, so they add nothing.

Is Thorin, King of Durin's Folk a bracket 3 commander?

This build is bracket 3 at the lowest, and two cards are the reason: Smothering Tithe and Teferi's Protection, both Game Changers. The budget rung cuts them and sets no floor. The bracket 4 rung runs nine Game Changers after adding Mana Vault, Chrome Mox, Ancient Tomb, The One Ring, Jeska's Will, Enlightened Tutor and Gamble. Thorin himself is not a Game Changer, so the commander puts no floor on any deck.

Should you sacrifice Treasures in a Thorin, King of Durin's Folk deck?

Early on, yes, because the first few are what get Thorin and the next Dwarves onto the battlefield. Once he is out with three or more other Dwarves, each Treasure is worth a point of damage per Dwarf in every attack, which is more than the one mana it gives. Spend them after combat damage, on the spell that wins the turn, or after a board wipe, when there are no Dwarves left for them to pump.

Can you play Thorin Oakenshield and Thorin, Company's Leader with Thorin, King of Durin's Folk?

Yes. The legend rule only applies to permanents with exactly the same name, and the three Thorins have different names, so all of them can be on the battlefield at once. This list runs both. Thorin, Company's Leader makes two Treasures whenever a Dwarf deals combat damage to a player, and Thorin Oakenshield gives your artifacts and creatures ward once you have an enduring story. Thorin, Mountain-king, the fourth, is built for Equipment decks and is left out.

Does Panharmonicon work with Thorin, King of Durin's Folk?

Yes. Thorin's Treasure ability triggers when a Dwarf enters, and Panharmonicon makes any trigger caused by an artifact or creature entering fire one more time, so each Dwarf makes two Treasures. Roaming Throne naming Dwarf and Bifur, Melodic Rider with an enduring story each add another, and Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines in the bracket 4 rung adds a fourth.

How much does a Thorin, King of Durin's Folk deck cost?

$534.55 for the core list if you buy the least expensive paper copy of each card, $157.93 for the budget rung and $1,223.98 for bracket 4. Thorin is $5.25. Smothering Tithe, Cavern of Souls, Roaming Throne and Dáin of the Ancient Halls are $187 of the core list between them, and the budget rung cuts all four.