At long last, Magic’s second venture into the realm of Middle-earth is finally here, and it won’t disappoint. With tons of brand-new, powerful designs and mechanics at the ready, MTG’s The Hobbit is going to take multiple formats by storm.
MTG The Queen of Dale
Despite The Queen of Dale being a legendary creature, it’s far better in the 99 of any and every white Commander deck. Recruit, a new mechanic, loots when triggered, rewarding you for discarding a nonland card with a 1/1 white Human Soldier. Since this condition is trivial to fufill, The Queen of Dale basically guarantees you’ll recruit at least once per turn cycle.
Besides having a strong chance of appearing in even cEDH, The Queen of Dale is quite likely to appear in a variety of different constructed formats, as well. Thanks to the popularity of Prowess strategies in Standard, Pioneer, and Modern, The Queen of Dale has huge potential to create an endless stream of blockers. Practiced Offense and Ouroboroid offer the perfect payoffs to going wide, making this card’s success almost seem predetermined.
MTG Bard, King of Dale
Offering two incredibly in-demand replacement effects, Bard, King of Dale is going to be extremely popular in the 99 of Azorius Commander decks. Whether you’re doubling your card draw in decks like King T’Challa or swarming the board in Urza, Chief Artificer decks, Bard can easily take over the game with just a little support.
That said, Bard, King of Dale will shine brightest in decks that can use both of its replacement effects to great effect. In Marneus Calgar, for example, each token created will essentially draw four cards with Bard in play. Similarly, The Council of Four will have both of its triggers doubled by Bard. Throw a copy effect like Roaming Throne or Spark Double in the mix, and Bard can create ludicrous amounts of value.
MTG Thrandil, the Elvenking
Offering a new powerful option for Elf Typal, Thranduil, the Elvenking is likely to be the most popular Commander from The Hobbit. With 89 legendary Elves in his colors, it will be far easier to trigger Thranduil’s draw trigger than you may think. Even nonlegendary Elves like Formidable Speaker can be incredible assets here, both discarding Elves for Thranduil’s first effect while finding the perfect answer to any situation.
Like other creatures that can copy the activated abilities of cards from the graveyard, Thranduil has massive infinite combo potential. Devoted Druid is the core perpetrator here, allowing Thranduil to untap himself with ease. Combine this with Marwyn, the Nurturer and Iridescent Blademaster, and you have infinite green mana and an infinitely large Commander.
MTG The Eagles Are Coming!
While it’s a bit awkward to use, The Eagles Are Coming! does offer a massive 4/4 Flier for just two mana. In decks like Azorius Momo that take advantage of lots of entry effects like Quantum Riddler and Nurturing Pixie, The Eagles are Coming! functions as recursion, a threat, and a protection spell.
In Commander, The Eagles are Coming!’s expensive Kicker cost can come into play, saving your board from a wipe. With a token doubler like Anointed Procession at the ready, you can easily create a lethal board state from the Bird Soldiers this card makes.
MTG Gollum, Riddle Master
Offering a particularly good deal for just two mana, Gollum, Riddle Master will generally replace itself with ease, so long as you know what to pick. In older formats like Modern and Pioneer, a majority of the cards you’ll see are extremely low on the curve, generally allowing Gollum to get its value quickly. Even if this creature just takes a Fatal Push, drawing you a card puts you ahead of your opponent.
While this means Gollum has huge potential in two-player formats, the Halfling is a bit less exciting in Commander. Alongside Blink effects like Conjurer’s Closet that can reset it consistently, Gollum could create enough advantage long-term to become worthwhile. Without this, however, Gollum will just be an ok card that generally doesn’t do enough to warrant including.
MTG Gandalf, Goblin’s Bane
Offering card advantage and a scaling body, Gandalf, Goblins’ Bane is designed to go at the top of the curve of Prowess strategies, but seems to miss the mark. Gandalf’s Adventure is quite fragile without additional Wizard support, which could throw a wrench in its viability. Combine this with its clunky mana value, and Gandalf may not see play in two-player formats.
In Commander, however, Gandalf, Goblins’ Bane will easily shine in a few specific archetypes. Existing Spellslinger Wizard Commanders like Vivi Ornitier and Niv Mizzet, Parun can easily take advantage of this Gandalf. Otherwise, outside of Wizard Typal effects, Gandalf could appear in more generic Spellslinger lists that can take advantage of its body, but at that point the card is just another one of the many average effects that offer this.
MTG Desolation of Smaug
While the card is quite bad outside of Dragon Typal decks, Desolation of Smaug offers a flavorful payoff for the creature type. After a one-sided boardwipe, Desolation of Smaug lets you get ahead of your opponents immediately, potentially even by casting Smaug himself.
You can even copy the spell with cards like Reverberate, creating a massive swing. Not only should this take care of most creatures on the board, but you can drop a massive Dragon afterward to secure your advantage.
A New Adventure
While this is a decent start to The Hobbit’s spoiler season, we’re far from done. From today until July 30th, we’ll slowly get to see everything that MTG The Hobbit has to offer. After that, we only need to wait until August 7th, a week later, until spoiler season begins. With all this in mind, it looks like we’re in for a very busy period of MTG.
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