Preview season for Magic’s The Hobbit set is now in full swing, with banger spoilers dropping left and right. Yesterday saw a bunch of valuable reprints revealed, as well as plenty of exciting new cards with implications in multiple formats. With nine more days of previews still to come, The Hobbit is shaping up to be a set of the year contender already.
Elrond, Moon-Reader
Sneakily revealed in the Collecting article for The Hobbit, Elrond, Moon-Reader has had the whole weekend to simmer in players’ minds. That first ability is the big draw here, quite literally, offering an easy source of card advantage in a wide range of decks.
The easiest use for Elrond is alongside mana dorks like Llanowar Elves, letting them tap for draw later on when the mana isn’t needed. It’s also just solid with any Commander that packs a repeatable activated ability, like Kenrith, the Returned King. Pair it with untap effects like Seedborn Muse and Sting, the Glinting Blade, and it can work wonders in decks like Glarb, Calamity’s Augur, too.
As if reliably drawing multiple cards a turn cycle wasn’t enough, Elrond also offers a built-in blink effect for even more value. While it’s incredibly expensive, cards like Training Grounds can let you access it more easily. Since the creatures exiled return at end of turn, it also gets around board wipes where other blink effects don’t.
This ability even unlocks some mana-intensive combo lines, such as looping a Time Warp by blinking Archaeomancer each turn. Though being a combo piece in the command zone is always good, I expect Elrond to do most of its work in the 99.
Elven Raft Helmsman (Final Name TBA)
– Mana Value: 2U
– Type: Elf Pilot
– Rarity: Uncommon
– Card Text: Landfall – Whenever a land you control enters, choose one:
– Tap target creature an opponent controls.
– Untap target creature you control.
– Stats: 3/2
From one powerhouse Elf to another, this yet-to-be-translated newcomer essentially offers another Retreat to Coralhelm on a body. This means you can use it for easy infinite Landfall combos with a bounce land and Sakura-Tribe Scout, or to make infinite colorless mana with Ghost Town and Walking Atlas. You can even unleash some spicy infinite token lines with creatures like Scute Swarm in the mix.
For the most part, this new Elf will likely see play as a combo enabler alone, but the ability to tap down opposing creatures will also come in handy in a pinch. In Landfall decks like Omnath, Locus of Creation and Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait, for example, this is an easy way to clear a path for a creature beatdown win.
Part In Friendship
Channeling underrated Foundations gem Spinner of Souls, Part in Friendship is an intriguing new card advantage option for green. In low-curve decks, this will generally put the creature you hit right into play, especially if you’re running land ramp like Farseek and Open the Way.
To make the most of this card, you’ll want to run cheap nontoken fodder creatures, like Young Wolf and Sakura-Tribe Elder. Creatures like these will let you block freely and generate Part in Friendship triggers on opponents’ turns. In a similar vein, pairing these with instant speed sacrifice outlets such as Phyrexian Altar, and you can get around the card’s ‘once per turn’ clause and ‘draw’ up to four cards per turn cycle.
While it’s expensive to get going, Part in Friendship has an edge over similar cards like Evolutionary Leap since it can put creatures right into play. With topdeck manipulation like Sensei’s Divining Top and Haunted Crossroads, you can even set it up to essentially ‘Flash’ in specific creatures on opponents’ turns. Though it’s not for every deck, archetypes like Aristocrats will almost certainly find a spot for this new enchantment.
Roads Go Ever, Ever On
For Mono-White decks in Commander, Roads Go Ever, Ever On is an intriguing new side-grade of Land Tax, drawing lands out of your deck and guaranteeing you hit your drops for a couple of turns. This is especially good for mana-intensive Commanders like Avacyn, Angel of Hope or Anti-Venom, Horrifying Healer, as a nice way to secure the resources you need.
While this Saga is, admittedly, very slow to net you its full value, this gives you more time to make the most of it. By bouncing it with cards like Nurturing Pixie, or copying it with Yenna, Redtooth Regent, you can remove a ton of lands from your deck. This helps a ton with draw consistency, even if you never actually get all of the lands you exile this way.
The final ability here is likely too slow to matter in most matchups, but even without it this Saga is potentially very powerful. As long as you’re running a good density of basic Plains, this card is well worth considering in Commander.
Stone By Sunlight
Though it looks like your typical white removal spell at first glance, Stone by Sunlight actually has a lot more going on than that. This is down to that second ability, which serves as solid protection while also turning creatures into artifacts, allowing for a surprising range of combos.
In Toph, the First Metalbender decks, for instance, this can turn Bumi, Unleashed into an artifact, thus allowing it to attack infinite times over infinite combat phases. It also lets you make infinite 1/1s and Treasure by turning Jan Jansen, Chaos Crafter into an artifact, and untapping it repeatedly with Clock of Omens.
These are the most exciting applications for Stone by Sunlight, but its real strength lies in its flexibility. Having a combo enabler that also serves as protection or removal when needed is a big deal, especially with how crowded Commander slots are getting nowadays.
Azog, Moria’s Ruin
Azog is essentially a black spin on classic removal like Pongify, letting you unconditionally remove problem creatures in exchange for raw stats. While it’s not ideal against big stat creatures like Valgavoth, Terror Eater, it’s a more than fair option against the majority of creatures in Commander.
The other big draw of Azog is its ability to target your own creatures, effectively ‘sacrificing’ them in exchange for a draw and a Goblin Army. In decks like Slimefoot and Squee, this is an ideal way to get key creatures into your graveyard while still maintaining board presence. It’s also great alongside Indestructible creatures like Hazoret, Godseeker, since you get all the benefits but still keep your creature.
With two excellent ‘modes’ available, Azog seems like a slam-dunk in a wide range of black Commander decks. It will likely become a staple in Goblin Typal lists like Wort, Boggart Auntie, too, since creating two Goblin bodies is fantastic with cards like Skirk Prospector and Goblin Trashmaster.
After the set’s strong Debut, and this fresh batch of banger spoilers, The Hobbit is looking absolutely incredible so far. Whether you’re here for the Tolkien flavor or powerful staple cards, there’s already plenty to love from Universes Beyond’s latest.
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