Finally, The Hobbit MTG set has been released, letting MTG players draft and crack packs to their hearts’ content. With a fair few powerful staples and exciting Commanders, there’s plenty of interesting cards in the set. On top of these, there are also a fair few seriously pricey pulls that could easily pay for your Play Booster.
To make sure you know what to look out for, we’ve compiled a list of the most expensive MTG cards in The Hobbit. Notably, this list will only be looking at default frame cards from Play Boosters, since these are the most common. Additionally, while The Hobbit has officially launched, it’s worth remembering that prices are still pretty fresh and may subsequently fluctuate.
10 | Dancing From Dark To Dawn
Price: $7.28
While we’ve seen many variants of the ‘Landfall – Make a creature’ effect in Magic before, Dancing from Dark to Dawn is probably the best one yet. For starters, the creatures it makes are 2/2 Bears, which gives it synergies with legends like Ayula, Queen Among Bears. You can also pull off the usual combos with cards like Kodama of the East Tree and bounce lands, too.
What really sets this newcomer apart is the first ability, which nets you bonus counters over time to activate creatures like Evolution Witness on demand. There are additional combos available here, too, including infinite mana loops with Cloudstone Curio and Crystalline Crawler. With so much potential as both a fair value card and a combo engine, this card’s $7.28 price tag feels very much earned.
9 | Beorn The Fierce
Price: $7.58
Though there’s admittedly not a ton of competition, Beorn the Fierce is almost certainly the best new Bear Typal Commander in Magic. The huge stats and anthem effect alone are a great start, but the card draw really pushes it over the edge.
Beorn is also notable for its ability to turn your non-Bear creatures into Bears, letting you run utility pieces like Eternal Witness and Scavenging Ooze. This way, you can still tap into typal synergies without solely relying on Maskwood Nexus as a fixer. While it’s unlikely to see play outside of this niche, Beorn is good enough there to warrant its current $7.58 price.
8 | Bard, King of Dale
Price: $7.62
Considering how popular token doublers are in Magic: The Gathering, it’s no wonder Bard, King of Dale is expensive. Bard, however, doesn’t stop there, as it also doubles your card draw in most situations. Abusing both of these abilities practically requires no effort at all, especially alongside cards like King T’Challa.
Realistically, the only things holding Bard, King of Dale back are its mana cost and color identity. Sadly, these are pretty major factors, color identity especially, which will limit this card’s price somewhat. Still, thanks to its power, it’s certainly not going to be cheap, and it’s already selling for $7.62 on average right now.
7 | Fateful Discovery
Price: $9.03
From the moment that it was revealed, it was clear that Fateful Discovery would be one of the most expensive The Hobbit MTG cards. While it does have a pretty hefty mana cost, triggering this card is absolutely trivial, especially since it cares about tokens. Alongside Commanders like Urza, Chief Artificer, this can be an absolutely busted synergy, easily spiraling out of control.
Beyond synergizing directly with artifact decks and Treasure strategies, Fateful Discovery is bound to see widespread Commander play. With this in mind, its current $9.03 price tag makes tons of sense. Even at this price, however, Fateful Discovery is arguably still a steal, so it could easily increase in time.
6 | The Arkenstone
Price: $13.49
As The Hobbit’s signature sparkly MacGuffin, it’s fitting that The Arkenstone is one of the pricier cards in the set. On the Adventure side, this is a solid tutor for Commander, nabbing value engines like Delney, Streetwise Lookout and utility creatures like Loran of the Third Path.
Of course, the big draw here is the five-mana artifact side, which is great in Token decks, like Baylen, the Haymaker, as well as creature decks in general. This generic value has earned the card a respectable price tag of $13.49, which will likely hold over time as more good legendary tutor targets are printed.
5 | Orcrist, Goblin-cleaver
Price: $17.68
Orcrist, Goblin-cleaver looks like an absolute slam-dunk for typal decks in Commander, particularly those that can go wide. Commanders like Krenko, Mob Boss and The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl go incredibly hard with it, easily producing double-digit Treasures with each swing. With token support pieces like Doubling Season and Academy Manufactor in the mix, this can get out of hand real quick.
Even outside of typal decks Orcrist looks pretty sweet, as an easy addition to Treasure decks like Vihaan, Goldwaker. It also has some serious combo potential, too, allowing for infinite combats with Aggravated Assault and infinite turns with Time Sieve. Given its similarities to pricey staple The Reaver Cleaver, it’s not surprising to see Orcrist sitting at $17.68 right now.
4 | Bilbo, Thief In The Night
Price: $19.99
Bilbo’s new mythic incarnation looks like a serious multi-format contender, with potential in both Commander and constructed. In the former, its discount ability has a ton of synergy with Commanders like Green Goblin and Glarb, Calamity’s Augur. It also enables a range of combos, such as drawing your whole deck with Sensei’s Divining Top and The Reality Chip.
Over in constructed, Bilbo’s status as a pseudo-Dreadhorde Arcanist could easily earn it a slot in Izzet decks in Standard. Recasting cheap interaction like Boomerang Basics, and draw like Flow State, gives such decks some welcome resilience. We could even see it in older formats, too, as a piece in Modern Prowess. With so much potential, it’s not surprising that Bilbo is currently sitting at $19.99 a copy.
3 | The Queen Of Dale
Price: $21.58
It’s clear that Wizards is starting to design cards specifically for cEDH these days, and The Queen of Dale is a prime example. In the vein of popular engines like Mystic Remora, this provides a continuous stream of card selection as players interact. It also creates bodies on board, which helps you cast cards like Diabolic Intent, and trigger Commanders like Tymna, the Weaver and Marneus Calgar.
Outside of cEDH, The Queen of Dale also has real constructed potential, potentially finding a home in Standard’s Selesnya Gearhulk decks. It could even have legs beyond that, as a setup piece in Modern Goryo’s Vengeance, for example, to dump your Atraxa, Grand Unifier early on. While $21.58 is certainly a steep price, it’s hard to see a card with such clear staple potential going much lower long-term.
2 | Smaug The Magnificent
Price: $28.91
Smaug gets not one but two fantastic Commander options in The Hobbit, as well as a fantastic 99 card in Smaug the Magnificent. Whether you’re a Dragon Typal list like The Ur-Dragon, or a Treasure deck like Magda, Brazen Outlaw, it shouldn’t be hard to find a slot for this monster.
While current Standard is quite fast, Smaug’s combination of ramp, removal, and an efficient body could definitely land it a home there, too. Even in a world of Badgermole Cubs and Stormchaser’s Talents, it just feels too pushed for red decks to ignore. As the premier version of one of the set’s most iconic characters, Smaug’s $28.91 price tag feels right on the money.
1 | Gleaming Splendor
Price: $33.41
As an unholy fusion of Smothering Tithe and Faerie Mastermind, Gleaming Splendor is the most obvious new Commander staple we’ve seen in some time. Whether you’re playing in bracket two or cEDH, it should easily generate you multiple Treasures each turn cycle given how common draw is nowadays. At two mana, it also comes down before similar engines like Monologue Tax have the chance to.
This ability would probably make Gleaming Splendor playable by itself, but it also has a nifty political draw ability thrown in for good measure. You can use this to make deals with opponents, or just to trigger the Treasure-making effect in a pinch. It even serves as an infinite mana outlet, milling the table out for a sneaky instant-speed win that’s very hard to stop.
Given its sheer efficiency and power, Gleaming Splendor will likely be a consideration for every white Commander deck going forward. As such, its $33.41 price tag, which makes it the most expensive new card in MTG The Hobbit overall, should come as no surprise to anyone.
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