The Commander
Trample
Whenever a creature an opponent controls dies, Gimli deals 1 damage to that creature's controller.
Guide
Gameplan
Gimli, Counter of Kills is a mono-red voltron/aggro commander that punishes opponents for losing creatures, turning every board wipe, removal spell, and combat exchange into incremental damage. You curve out into Gimli, attack with a trampling body, and force opponents to either keep weak creatures (which die) or sacrifice them, draining their life total. Pair removal-heavy turns and your own creatures' deaths-by-opponent with reliable burn to close games.
Strengths
- Trample plus pump effects makes Gimli a fast, hard-to-chump voltron threat
- Converts opponents' creature deaths into guaranteed, unblockable damage
- Thrives against token decks, sacrifice strategies, and board wipes you control
- Mono-red gives access to cheap removal, burn, and efficient equipment
Weaknesses
- Trigger only hits the dying creature's controller, so its reach is limited in creature-light pods
- Mono-red struggles with card advantage and lacks reliable enchantment/artifact removal
- Highly removal-dependent commander; without Gimli or equipment, the deck stalls
- No evasion beyond trample makes it vulnerable to flyers and go-wide blockers
Key Cards
- Blasphemous Act — A one-sided-feeling wrath that kills every opponent creature, each death pinging its controller for Gimli damage.
- Fervor — Haste lets Gimli attack and start triggering the turn he lands, accelerating the clock.
- Goblin Bombardment — Sacrifice outlets force opponents' creatures to die, but more importantly you can pressure them while Gimli punishes any death.
- Embercleave — Cheap to cast with a wide board and turns trample-Gimli into a one-hit commander-damage threat.
- Chaos Warp — Mono-red's premier catch-all answer for problematic permanents Gimli can't otherwise interact with.
- Impact Tremors — Stacks incremental damage with Gimli, rewarding token and ETB-heavy red builds.
Upgrade Path
Lean into edict and sacrifice effects (Fall of the Thain, Dictate of the Twins-style cards, Sheoldred-style pressure isn't in color, so use red edicts and pingers) plus repeatable board wipes to maximize triggers. Add fast mana like Jeska's Will, Mana Crypt, and Sol Ring with cheap equipment such as Lightning Greaves and Shadowspear to make Gimli lethal early. Round out with card advantage engines (Light Up the Stage, Outpost Siege, Wheel of Misfortune) to keep gas flowing in mono-red.
Core Cards
The most-played cards for this commander, built from aggregated deck data (the Mythic Graph). Build public decks to seed it.
Win Conditions
- ▸Commander damage from a trampling, equipped Gimli
- ▸Incremental pings from Gimli triggers plus burn finishing depleted life totals
- ▸Mass removal turning a board wipe into a multi-opponent damage burst
- ▸Aggressive beatdown backed by Embercleave-style alpha strikes
Archetypes
- Voltron — Trample plus equipment and auras turns Gimli into a lethal commander-damage clock.
- Aggro/Burn — Gimli's death-pings supplement a low-curve red beatdown plan with direct damage.
- Group Slug — Pairing Gimli with damage triggers and edict effects bleeds the table out over time.
Combos
No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (R), by popularity.
