While Reality Fracture preview season is now in full swing, The Hobbit isn’t done mixing up Magic just yet. Cards from our latest trip to Middle-earth are still finding homes as we speak, as evidenced by Smaug, Wicked Worm landing a surprisingly strong finish in a cEDH event. With a potent combination of grindy potential and combo lines, this could well be a new player in the format.
Smaug, Wicked Worm in cEDH
This Smaug, Wicked Worm deck, which Mukai Shori piloted to a top 16 finish in a 73-player cEDH event, is primarily a Treasure-matters brew. By itself, Smaug can generate a sizable hoard on entry, given how common mana rocks and Treasures are in the format. Paired with other generators like
Rev, Tithe Extractor
Rev, Tithe Extractor
Whenever you attack, target creature gains deathtouch until end of turn.
Whenever one or more creatures you control deal combat damage to a player, create a Treasure token, then look at the top card of that player's library and exile it face down. You may cast that card for as long as it remains exiled. (A Treasure token is an artifact with "{T}, Sacrifice this token: Add one mana of any color.")
and
Ruthless Technomancer
Ruthless Technomancer
When this creature enters, you may sacrifice another creature you control. If you do, create a number of Treasure tokens equal to that creature's power.
{2}{B}, Sacrifice X artifacts: Return target creature card with power X or less from your graveyard to the battlefield. X can't be 0.
, the deck can amass a lot of loot very quickly indeed.
With a good supply of Treasures in tow, the deck can start leveraging payoffs like
Professional Face-Breaker
Professional Face-Breaker
Menace
Whenever one or more creatures you control deal combat damage to a player, create a Treasure token.
Sacrifice a Treasure: Exile the top card of your library. You may play that card this turn.
and
Ominous Harvest
Ominous Harvest
Gravestorm (When you cast this spell, copy it for each permanent put into a graveyard from the battlefield this turn.)
Target player draws a card and loses 1 life.
to convert them into advantage.
Magda, Brazen Outlaw
Magda, Brazen Outlaw
Other Dwarves you control get +1/+0.
Whenever a Dwarf you control becomes tapped, create a Treasure token.
Sacrifice five Treasures: Search your library for an artifact or Dragon card, put that card onto the battlefield, then shuffle.
is particularly good here, pairing nicely with
Goblin Welder
Goblin Welder
{T}: Choose target artifact a player controls and target artifact card in that player's graveyard. If both targets are still legal as this ability resolves, that player simultaneously sacrifices the artifact and returns the artifact card to the battlefield.
and
Goblin Engineer
Goblin Engineer
When this creature enters, you may search your library for an artifact card, put it into your graveyard, then shuffle.
{R}, {T}, Sacrifice an artifact: Return target artifact card with mana value 3 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield.
to convert your Treasures into powerhouse artifacts.
Bolas’s Citadel
Bolas’s Citadel
You may look at the top card of your library any time.
You may play lands and cast spells from the top of your library. If you cast a spell this way, pay life equal to its mana value rather than pay its mana cost.
{T}, Sacrifice ten nonland permanents: Each opponent loses 10 life.
and
The One Ring
The One Ring
Indestructible
When The One Ring enters, if you cast it, you gain protection from everything until your next turn.
At the beginning of your upkeep, you lose 1 life for each burden counter on The One Ring.
{T}: Put a burden counter on The One Ring, then draw a card for each burden counter on The One Ring.
are the top picks here, providing incredible draw engines to keep things going.
These two artifacts, along with
Necropotence
Necropotence
Skip your draw step.
Whenever you discard a card, exile that card from your graveyard.
Pay 1 life: Exile the top card of your library face down. Put that card into your hand at the beginning of your next end step.
, are your best sources of card advantage in the deck. Citadel can even let you trade life for cards when paired with
Sensei’s Divining Top
Sensei’s Divining Top
{1}: Look at the top three cards of your library, then put them back in any order.
{T}: Draw a card, then put this artifact on top of its owner's library.
, letting you see a ton of your deck. The list includes plenty of ways to abuse The One Ring, too, with
Manifold Key
Manifold Key
{1}, {T}: Untap another target artifact.
{3}, {T}: Target creature can't be blocked this turn.
,
Voltaic Key
Voltaic Key
{1}, {T}: Untap target artifact.
, and
Tezzeret, Cruel Captain
Tezzeret, Cruel Captain
Whenever an artifact you control enters, put a loyalty counter on Tezzeret.
0: Untap target artifact or creature. If it's an artifact creature, put a +1/+1 counter on it.
−3: Search your library for an artifact card with mana value 1 or less, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle.
−7: You get an emblem with "At the beginning of combat on your turn, put three +1/+1 counters on target artifact you control. If it's not a creature, it becomes a 0/0 Robot artifact creature."
all letting you untap it for bursts of card draw. Speaking of Tezzeret, it can also tutor up all manner of relevant artifacts, including
Amulet of Vigor
Amulet of Vigor
Whenever a permanent you control enters tapped, untap it.
to massively speed up Smaug’s ability.
Wins Beneath Your Wings
All of this card draw helps Shori’s Smaug deck dig into a range of different combo wins. Perhaps the cleanest of these are the
Dualcaster Mage
Dualcaster Mage
Flash
When this creature enters, copy target instant or sorcery spell. You may choose new targets for the copy.
lines, which let you make infinite Hasty tokens with cards like
Molten Duplication
Molten Duplication
Create a token that's a copy of target artifact or creature you control, except it's an artifact in addition to its other types. It gains haste until end of turn. Sacrifice it at the beginning of the next end step.
and
Devastating Onslaught
Devastating Onslaught
Create X tokens that are copies of target artifact or creature you control. Those tokens gain haste until end of turn. Sacrifice them at the beginning of the next end step.
. These copy effects are also great for generating bursts of mana by copying Smaug, so they pull double duty here.
The deck also has access to
Underworld Breach
Underworld Breach
Each nonland card in your graveyard has escape. The escape cost is equal to the card's mana cost plus exile three other cards from your graveyard. (You may cast cards from your graveyard for their escape cost.)
At the beginning of the end step, sacrifice this enchantment.
combos, most notably using
Grinding Station
Grinding Station
{T}, Sacrifice an artifact: Target player mills three cards.
Whenever an artifact enters, you may untap this artifact.
to mill yourself out completely by sacrificing and replaying
Mox Opal
Mox Opal
Metalcraft — {T}: Add one mana of any color. Activate only if you control three or more artifacts.
over and over. This will generate a huge chunk of mana, while also letting you sculpt your graveyard to pull off a win via Dualcaster Mage.
Alternatively, Breach lets you loop
Jeska’s Will
Jeska’s Will
Choose one. If you control a commander as you cast this spell, you may choose both instead.
• Add {R} for each card in target opponent's hand.
• Exile the top three cards of your library. You may play them this turn.
repeatedly, provided you have enough cards in your ‘yard, which can lead to Storm-esque wins with
Storm-Kiln Artist
Storm-Kiln Artist
This creature gets +1/+0 for each artifact you control.
Magecraft — Whenever you cast or copy an instant or sorcery spell, create a Treasure token. (It's an artifact with "{T}, Sacrifice this token: Add one mana of any color.")
and
Mayhem Devil
Mayhem Devil
Whenever a player sacrifices a permanent, this creature deals 1 damage to any target.
.
Ominous Harvest
Ominous Harvest
Gravestorm (When you cast this spell, copy it for each permanent put into a graveyard from the battlefield this turn.)
Target player draws a card and loses 1 life.
also slots in nicely here, giving you a big burst of draw or a final burn damage push as needed.
It’s also worth highlighting
Knuckles the Echidna
Knuckles the Echidna
Double strike, trample, haste
Whenever one or more creatures you control deal combat damage to a player, create a Treasure token.
Treasure Hunter — At the beginning of your upkeep, if you control thirty or more artifacts, you win the game.
here, as it’s essentially a win condition in itself. While it’s just a solid Treasure generator in most games, it can also allow you to win out of nowhere after you’ve popped off with Storm-Kiln Artist. This is doable on your own turn by firing off a
Final Fortune
Final Fortune
Take an extra turn after this one. At the beginning of that turn's end step, you lose the game.
to guarantee another upkeep, or you can simply generate your Treasures and cast Knuckles before your turn starts via
Emergence Zone
Emergence Zone
{T}: Add {C}.
{1}, {T}, Sacrifice this land: You may cast spells this turn as though they had flash.
.
A New King Under The Mountain?
In the current cEDH metagame, the biggest advantage Shori’s Smaug, Wicked Worm deck has is how focused it is. The deck is all-in on the Treasure plan, with few concessions to generic staples that we typically see in the format. This means you can consistently tap into all your synergies, with a Commander that provides both mana and draw to see your combos through.
Smaug is also fairly speedy as a strategy, contrary to what a five-mana Commander might suggest. The deck is packed with fast mana like
Mox Diamond
Mox Diamond
If this artifact would enter, you may discard a land card instead. If you do, put this artifact onto the battlefield. If you don't, put it into its owner's graveyard.
{T}: Add one mana of any color.
and
Rite of Flame
Rite of Flame
Add {R}{R}, then add {R} for each card named Rite of Flame in each graveyard.
, meaning you can start popping off surprisingly quickly. This lets the deck power out its engines, or burst draw like
Ad Nauseam
Ad Nauseam
Reveal the top card of your library and put that card into your hand. You lose life equal to its mana value. You may repeat this process any number of times.
, very early on, meaning it can push for a turbo win with the best of them.
This focus comes at a cost, however, as it means Smaug struggles to push back against the heavily interactive blue decks in the format. Decks like
Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy
Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy
Whenever you tap a nonland permanent for mana, add one mana of any type that permanent produced.
{5}{G}{U}: Look at the top five cards of your library. You may put a non-Human creature card from among them onto the battlefield. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.
and Tymna/Kraum pack enough free countermagic to deal with the deck’s fairly limited combo suite. While cards like
Hexing Squelcher
Hexing Squelcher
This spell can't be countered.
Ward—Pay 2 life.
Spells you control can't be countered.
Other creatures you control have "Ward—Pay 2 life."
and
Red Elemental Blast
Red Elemental Blast
Choose one —
• Counter target blue spell.
• Destroy target blue permanent.
certainly help here, it’s a bit of an innate weakness of the Rakdos color combination.
Overall, while it’s undoubtedly an interesting new strategy in the format, I don’t expect Smaug, Wicked Worm to take over cEDH just yet. The interactivity problem is a major hurdle here, and one that heavily impacts the deck’s potential for consistent wins. That said, given how hard Wizards has been pushing Treasure support lately, this is definitely a deck to watch as more sets are released.
Stick with us here at mtgrocks.com: the best site for Magic: The Gathering coverage. Be sure to check out our deckbuilder for your next big brew, and our brand new MTG Rocks Podcast!