Commander Deck Tech: Squall, Gunblade Duelist

When the main Final Fantasy set came out, I actually didn't have time to write a deck tech on Squall, SeeD Mercenary, the protagonist of the first Final Fantasy game I've played. So, I was pleased to see my favorite edgelord show up in a new card. Now, I could write an entirely fresh, new article on him.

Squall, Gunblade Duelist represents the opening cinematic in the PS1 game. This scene really impressed me because of how incredible it was and actually made me curious about the Final Fantasy games in general.

I'm thrilled to bring you this deck tech today, so, without further ado, let's dive right in!

Today, we'll explore the new version of Squall, Squall, Gunblade Duelist, which is in Mardu colors - black, red, and white.

This version has first strike and another very unusual ability for these colors: when he enters the board, you'll pick a number. Try to remember it, because you'll need it throughout the entire match, particularly in every player's combat steps.

Whenever one or more creatures controlled by any player attack an opponent, this ability triggers and checks the power and toughness of the attacking creatures. If any of them has power or toughness equal to the number you chose, Squall deals damage to the defending player equal to his own power, as if he were shooting at them from a distance with his Gunblade. He usually has 3 power, but you can buff him with auras, equipment, and other effects we can find in red and white by the ton.

Keep in mind this effect only triggers once per attack. If you picked "2", for instance, and ten 2/2 creatures attack an opponent, Squall will only shoot that opponent once. Please note that Squall doesn't need to attack or defend to do this. Furthermore, this effect triggers whenever an opponent is attacked, so Squall, Gunblade Duelist will deal damage to multiple players on the same turn.

We can build this deck in many ways. Do you want to do everything alone? Try to build a deck that attacks multiple times per turn, and have Squall deal damage again and again. Do you want help but don't want to do any board politics? Force your opponents to attack with effects like Goad, for instance. Do you want Squall to deal a lot of damage every time? Focus on buffing him with equipment and auras, or play cards like Torbran, Thane of Red Fell. We can even do all of this with the same deck.

In this article, we'll focus a bit more on forcing our opponents to fight, which will speed up the game and give us a nice advantage.

This is a Bracket 4 deck. The core was built by a player called Forgemaw, but I made some changes.

Let's see it:

Mana Base

This mana rock kit starts off simple, but it is actually quite consistent and includes a lot of different-colored mana. The basic kit is Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, and the three Talismans in the Mardu colors: Talisman of Hierarchy, Talisman of Conviction, and Talisman of Indulgence. As for signets, we have Boros Signet and Orzhov Signet. As for red and black, I added my dear Sonic Screwdriver, which offers an array of different abilities.

In terms of lands, Savai Triome is the gold standard. Vault of Champions, Haunted Ridge, Sacred Foundry, and Godless Shrine are also excellent, and the last lands Arid Mesa, Bloodstained Mire, and Marsh Flats support.

Lotho, Corrupt Shirriff, Professional Face-Breaker, Rev, Tithe Extractor, and Kellogg, Dangerous Mind create lots of treasure tokens, so they give us the most consistent way to ramp in Mardu colors.

As we are not playing green, we can't expect anything too exciting. So, what we want is for this deck to be functional: we only play what we need to put Squall in play as fast as possible. After all, the sooner he comes into play, the sooner the game will center around him.

Combat

The true core of this deck is board politics, but, unlike a traditional "group hug" strategy, Squall, Gunblade Duelist doesn't want to lock down the board. Instead, he wants to move it. Cards like Breena, the Demagogue, Vengeful Ancestor, and Karazikar, the Eye Tyrant encourage or even force our opponents to attack each other and reward them with card draw, for instance. Orzhov Advokist and Nils, Discipline Enforcer are the icing on the cake, as they buff enemy creatures but prevent them from attacking you. Cards like my beloved Ghostly Prison are also welcome.

Like we mentioned above, we'll lean heavily into Goad. Whenever a creature is "goaded", it has to attack a player on their next turn, and it can't attack you while there's another player available. At first, this may seem chaotic and very uncontrollable, but with a little practice and training, you'll soon realize it is actually very practical. With commanders like Squall, Gunblade Duelist, Goad fuels your main strategy. The more creatures you push into combat, the more you'll increase your odds of stumbling upon that precious number you picked, and then your commander's Gunblade will come into action and deal damage to your opponents.

As Squall, Gunblade Duelist triggers each time an opponent is attacked, your best bet is stretching out the game, as then you'll be able to get the most out of each of your and your opponent's attacks. Your commander will deal a lot of damage, bit by bit, often even if you didn't attack yourself. Fumiko the Lowblood is perhaps the most important piece in that sense. She forces everyone to attack whenever possible, and, as Squall punishes attacks, she adds a lot to this strategy.

Control and Protection

Considering we want to stretch out the game, even with tools like Goad, this list needs to be resilient and survive while it forces all players to attack again and again.

Archangel of Tithes and Ghostly Prison make the opponents pay something if they try to target you, while Taunt from the Rampart forces them to attack each other and leaves the way open for you to attack. Even when Fumiko the Lowblood forces them to attack, taxes like Ghostly Prison will still stand and protect you.

To protect our commander, we'll use a kit full of white, instant protection: Flawless Maneuver, Selfless Spirit, Surge of Salvation, and Bastion Protector make sure Squall, Gunblade Duelist will stay on the board, working. Firemane Commando rewards opponents that ignore you, so it's a perfect way to persuade them. Dawn's Truce and Pollen Lullaby prevent damage and, besides saving your life, often make combat quite terrible for whoever is attacking. I added Pollen Lullaby purely because I lost a game to it once.

If this deck played any blue cards, I'd add a paragraph to discuss The Second Doctor. As it doesn't, let's move on.

Removals and Retaliation

This removal kit is just like any Mardu kit. It has Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, Generous Gift, and Chaos Warp as spot removal. Crackling Doom will remove the biggest threat in play without targeting anything directly, so you'll need to time it just right.

Blasphemous Act is your emergency button, as it clears the board when things get out of control. Fated Clash does that too, but more dramatically and theatrically, just like the opening cinematic in Final Fantasy VIII, which inspired our dear commander and this card.

Spectacular Showdown is one of the most fun spells in this list. It turns the board into a double strike fiesta, so you can use it to get an easy win or do some damage before you leave play. After you play it, the Commander pod will be a true battlefield.

Whenever a commander like Squall, Gunblade Duelist comes along, we try to find the best number to pick for his abilities. The same happened with Talion, the Kindly Lord.

The reality is that, with Squall, you won't win by rushing but by reading your opponents well. The number you pick will set the pace for the entire board. Against aggro lists, 1, 2, and 3 are perfect. This will punish tokens and medium-sized creatures. Against midrange or tougher commanders, 4 or 5 are better. Against big creatures, like Eldrazis, 6 and 7 are more appealing. Reading the board and finding the perfect number will often win games all by itself. On other occasions, you can simply put a Helm of the Host in play and create several Squalls. They will then target different numbers.

Finally, to make your Squall even more powerful, spells like Blackblade Reforged and Noble Heritage are quite interesting. With them, your commander will deal much more than just 3 damage each time his ability triggers.

Our alternative list centers around tokens and was inspired by a list by Zekklez. It plays token support like Anim Pakal, Thousandth Moon and Assemble the Legion.

Let's see it:

I'll probably write a few other deck techs for a few legendary cards in this set, particularly the ones depicting Final Fantasy scenes. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to do that when it came out, but I'm glad I have a chance to do it now.

Building a deck for Squall, Gunblade Duelist was nostalgic to me in two ways, both because of my connection to the franchise and because of my connection to Commander. One of the first commander lists I've ever played was a Mardu list focused on Stax, in fact.

What do you think? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!