Table of Contents
Welcome back to Middle-earth. We’re here for the fittingly small Magic: The Gathering - The Hobbit set.
Last time we entered Tolkien’s world, it was with The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, or LOTR for short. That set brought us some absolute powerhouse cards, such as [[Orcish Bowmasters]], which still sees play in Legacy today.
The Hobbit won’t have cards that are quite as powerful because, unlike LOTR, this set is Standard-legal. But that is what this blog is here for: my personal picks for the top 10 cards from the set.
I’m also limiting this list to the main set, so there will be no bonus cards, such as the “Commander” cards, the Middle-earth classic artist cards or the scene cards. We aren’t even getting Commander decks with this set, which is a shame, as I think Wizards nailed the LOTR ones.
But let’s get into my picks.
collection::magic-the-gathering-available::Shop Magic: The Gathering::https://gatheringgames.co.uk/collections/magic-the-gathering
1: Thranduil, the Elvenking
https://scryfall.com/card/hob/246/thranduil-the-elvenking
I’ll start by saying that my picks are going to be very Commander-orientated. That is why I have chosen [[Thranduil, the Elvenking]].
Gaining the abilities of other creatures can lead to some broken things. We have already had [[Necrotic Ooze]], which combos with so many cards. While Thranduil is limited to Elves, he is a legendary creature, so he can be your commander. It isn’t like there is a shortage of graveyard tutors in black, either.
[[Burried Alive]] is one of the best, as it can set you up for a win by grabbing [[Devoted Druid]], [[Incubation Druid]] and [[Deepwood Denizen]].
If you can get a counter onto [[Thranduil, the Elvenking]], either by using [[Incubation Druid]]’s evolve ability or another method, Thranduil can tap for three mana. You can then untap him using [[Devoted Druid]]’s ability. This will net you nine mana, allowing you to reactivate evolve and generate infinite mana.
From there, you can draw a card using [[Deepwood Denizen]], untap with [[Devoted Druid]] again and draw through your deck. The +1/+1 counters from evolve cancel out all the -1/-1 counters.
If you want to go even deeper, you can use some other cards. [[Ashes of the Fallen]] was previously a bulk rare until MH3 Commander and [[Disa the Restless]] caused it to spike. It allows you to add creature types to creatures in your graveyard. There are other cards that do this too, such as [[Conspiracy]] and [[Maskwood Nexus]].
2: The Queen of Dale
https://scryfall.com/card/hob/24/the-queen-of-dale
My next pick is [[The Queen of Dale]]. This is better at higher power levels and brackets, where your opponents are more consistently casting noncreature spells or getting into stack wars across multiple turns.
Even in lower brackets, though, plenty of random noncreature spells are played. Staples such as [[Sol Ring]] and [[Arcane Signet]] will trigger the Queen.
I don’t see [[The Queen of Dale]] being used as a commander. Instead, I see it fitting into other decks, either as a value engine that filters through your deck or as a key piece that powers up other cards. [[Brigid, Clachan's Heart]] is a perfect example of this.
3: Wizard’s Staff
https://scryfall.com/card/hob/59/wizards-staff
My next pick is another power boost for some decks: [[Wizard’s Staff]].
The first deck that comes to mind is [[Vivi Ornitier]]. He is a Wizard with a highly relevant triggered ability, and he even has an activated ability that benefits from the prowess granted by the Staff. It is an all-round powerhouse card for the deck.
However, [[Wizard’s Staff]] doesn’t only work with Vivi. When I first read the card, I thought it was okay. Looking at it again, I realised that the doubling of triggered abilities applies to the equipped creature. I initially thought it had a Wizard clause and only worked if the creature was a Wizard, but it doesn’t. It works with any creature.
The main benefit of being a Wizard is the cheaper equip cost. If your commander is blue and has a decent triggered ability, this is a card you should look at.
4: The Sackville-Bagginses
https://scryfall.com/card/hob/83/the-sackville-bagginses
I’m looking at [[The Sackville-Bagginses]] as both a commander and a win condition in other decks. It gives you value and mana when it enters, and the Treasure doesn’t even enter tapped, which is what we have been seeing more recently.
Whenever you sacrifice a token, you ping a player. That stockpile of Treasure tokens can therefore become lethal damage.
This fits straight into existing Aristocrats-style decks alongside [[Blood Artist]] and [[Zulaport Cutthroat]]. While it only triggers when tokens are sacrificed, that is what most of these decks are sacrificing anyway.
Combine that with it working with Clues, Food and Treasures—the most heavily supported tokens—and [[The Sackville-Bagginses]] becomes a problem fast.
5: Gleaming Splendor
https://scryfall.com/card/hob/275/gleaming-splendor
Mum, can we have [[Smothering Tithe]]?
No, we have [[Smothering Tithe]] at home.
[[Gleaming Splendor]] is Smothering Tithe at home.
I have seen plenty of people online comparing [[Gleaming Splendor]] to [[Smothering Tithe]]. While I like Gleaming Splendor, it really isn’t on the same level.
Tithe is great because it works on every draw, including the main card drawn for the turn, giving you a Treasure unless people pay their taxes. Gleaming Splendor only triggers on the second card drawn. If someone draws three cards, you only get a single Treasure. With Tithe, you could have received three Treasures from those cards and a fourth from the draw step.
That being said, a knock-off version of Tithe is still good enough, which is why it has made my list.
It even has a built-in win condition if you have infinite mana. You can keep activating it to deck everyone out. While they will draw cards, if they attempt an instant-speed win, you can activate it again over the top and deck them with their spell still on the stack.
I’ll also point this out because I have seen it asked often enough: the activated ability requires two different targets. You can’t point both effects at yourself, even if you use something like [[Deflecting Swat]] to reselect the targets.
collection::magic-the-gathering-available::Shop Magic: The Gathering::https://gatheringgames.co.uk/collections/magic-the-gathering
6: Orcrist, Goblin Cleaver
https://scryfall.com/card/hob/236/orcrist-goblin-cleaver
Speaking of another “card at home”, [[Orcrist, Goblin Cleaver]] is the Temu special version of [[Reaver Cleaver]].
Reaver Cleaver works in any red deck, giving you Treasures equal to the amount of damage dealt to a player. [[Orcrist, Goblin Cleaver]] takes more work and really shines in Typal or Kindred decks.
It doesn’t matter how much damage you deal, as long as it is more than one. You choose a creature type and create Treasures equal to the number of creatures of that type you control.
It is nice that you get to choose the type rather than being limited to the equipped creature’s type. If you have a random evasive creature, you can equip the Cleaver to it, connect with an opponent and still make a mountain of Treasure.
7: Thranduil, Sindarin Liege
https://scryfall.com/card/hob/166/thranduil-sindarin-liege-silvan-rally
[[Thranduil, Sindarin Liege]] is my next pick. This is going to be a powerhouse in Limited. While it is the signpost uncommon for The Hobbit Limited, I think it also has applications in EDH.
The Adventure is mediocre, but it provides extra value if you want to use it. You can mill four cards and return up to two lands to your hand, although this is optional.
I’m mainly here for the creature. This is a lord that gives all your Elves +1/+1. The reason I have selected it for my list is its landfall ability, which creates a 1/1 Elf whenever a land enters.
You can combo this with [[Ashaya, Soul of the Wild]], although you will need a way to interrupt the combo. Otherwise, it will end in a draw. Each Elf created by [[Thranduil, Sindarin Liege]] will also be a land, triggering landfall again. As I said, though, this ends in a draw unless it is interrupted.
The other card that this combos really well with is [[Thandruil the Strategist]]. I would have used this as my pick, but it isn’t in the main set, so that would go against my rules.
It has the same landfall trigger, creating a 1/1 Elf, but it also lets each Elf tap for {U} or {G}, turning every one of them into a mana dork.
8: Inside Information
https://scryfall.com/card/hob/76/inside-information
I really like [[Inside Information]], especially with all the support theft decks have received in recent years. It works brilliantly in [[Gonti, Night Miser]] and other decks.
A similar card is [[Villainous Wealth]]. Villainous Wealth is the more powerful card because you can cast any spell costing less than the {X} paid for free. However, it is Sultai ({U}{B}{G}), which severely limits the decks that can play it.
[[Inside Information]] also lets you “free-cast” any of the spells, but you pay life for them instead. It is similar to [[Bolas's Citadel]], except you are using your opponent’s deck. That is worse, but you get to pick and choose which cards you use.
Inside Information also says “play”, so you can use the lands too. You are still restricted by the number of land drops you have, though, so you can’t simply dump every land you reveal.
I highly rate [[Inside Information]] for its flexibility, especially in EDH, where you can generate stupid amounts of mana. You can cast it with a small {X}, perhaps only one or two, and hope to reveal a big spell early. Alternatively, you can use it as a finisher, revealing more than 10 cards and comboing off with your opponents’ synergies.
If you have infinite mana, you can simply deck an opponent. Unless you can win that turn with the cards you reveal, I wouldn’t recommend casting any permanents. When a player dies, any cards they own are removed from the game. Your creatures and other permanents will therefore only be temporary until that player reaches their turn and loses by drawing from an empty library.
9: Radagast of Rhosgobel
https://scryfall.com/card/hob/136/radagast-of-rhosgobel
Like [[Inside Information]], [[Ragagast of Rhosgobel]] already has a fairly close comparison: [[Yeva, Nature's Herald]].
Yeva was the original. While it wasn’t a colour-pie break, it gave green creatures something they rarely get: surprise creatures.
There are only 48 mono-green creatures with flash, and a couple of those have conditions that must be met to gain it. If we expand that to all green creatures, the number rises to 80. However, 25 of those additional creatures are also blue, which regularly gets creatures with flash, so that is a bit of a cheat.
This is a long way of saying that green creatures with flash are rare.
Yeva is limited to green creatures, but [[Ragagast of Rhosgobel]] gives flash to any creature. If you are playing Ragagast as your commander, you are still limited to green or artifact creatures, but you also get that sweet {2} mana discount.
While the discount is limited to the first creature you cast, it works on each turn, so you can spread your creatures across multiple turns. That isn’t how I see this working, though. I see you tapping out and casting one big surprise creature, either as a blocker or just before your turn so that it can attack straight away with minimal warning.
You’re in green, so ramping to eight or more mana isn’t difficult. Dropping haymakers from there should let you close out the game quickly.
There is even some support for this archetype. [[Galdemuse]] replaces the creature you cast. You just have to be careful around blue players, as this is a symmetrical effect.
10: Smaug the Magnificent
https://scryfall.com/card/hob/110/smaug-the-magnificent
We are getting closer to an all-Benedict Cumberbatch set. [[Smaug the Magnificent]] is my final card for the list.
Smaug has six other cards in the set, with two of them being spells. [[Desolation of Smaug]] pairs nicely with this card, creating a mini-wrath effect on the board and then giving you the mana to cast [[Smaug the Magnificent]].
The other two creature versions of Smaug are okay. [[Samaug, Wicket Worm]] does a poor impression of [[Dockside Extorsionist]], costing more mana and creating tapped Treasures. I might have considered [[Smaug the Impenetrable]] if it were in the main set.
However, we are here to talk about [[Smaug the Magnificent]], a 4/3 with flying and haste for four mana. That isn’t the worst rate, especially for a Limited bomb, but it also has a couple of extra abilities.
When Smaug attacks, you deal damage equal to the number of Treasures you control to any target. You can remove a blocker or simply pile more damage straight onto someone’s face.
But how do you build your hoard of Treasures? The other ability gives you a free Treasure at the beginning of your upkeep.
In Commander, [[Smaug the Magnificent]] pairs nicely with [[Descent into Avernus]], dealing scaling damage and then doubling up the damage against one player with the attack trigger.
Final Thoughts
Even though this is a small set, it is packed with powerful cards. There are plenty of cards I haven’t talked about.
One major reprint is [[Settle the Wreakage]]. This defined Standard when it was first printed in Ixalan, and I wonder whether it will have a similar effect on today’s Standard.
This is one set I am buying into. I love Middle-earth and the stories and lore behind it. I think it fits really well with what Magic is. While it is Universes Beyond, if I didn’t already know that, I could see it as another plane instead.
If you want any The Hobbit products, you can get them, and all things Magic: The Gathering, right here at Gathering Games.
As always, good luck and remember to have fun!
collection::magic-the-gathering-available::Shop Magic: The Gathering::https://gatheringgames.co.uk/collections/magic-the-gathering
