Far over the Misty Mountains cold, to gameplay deep and commanders old.
The Hobbit is the latest Magic: The Gathering Universes Beyond set, and it feels a lot like it could have been an in-universe set. It’s also one of the rare returns to a Universes Beyond world. It’s fair to say that people are big fans of Middle-earth, and it means that there are all sorts of new Commander decks and more about to enter your local game store.
To help you know what to keep an eye out for I’m going to run down my top ten picks for the best Commanders from The Hobbit. I’m ranking these based on power and fun, and how good they are at the front of your deck, not with the other maindeck cards.
The Best Commanders From Magic: The Gathering | The Hobbit
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Like other Universes Beyond sets, there are dozens of new legends to check out. I’ve narrowed this list down to a top ten instead of ranking every possible Commander. Only Gollum has the single-minded focus needed to manage covering every legend, and I quite like wearing clothes and eating cooked fish. Sorry.
#10 The Sackville-Bagginses
The Sackville-Bagginses
The Hobbit, Rare
The Sackville-Bagginses is a two-mana 2/2 which lets you sacrifice a creature or artifact as it enters to draw a card and create a treasure token. You also get to make someone lose one life whenever you sacrifice a token. This is just generally quite a potent effect to have access to in your graveyard. You do need to sacrifice things, but you’re in black, how hard can that be?
#9 Gandalf, Goblins’ Bane
Gandalf, Goblins’ Bane
The Hobbit, Mythic
Gandalf, Goblins’ Bane is a three-mana 2/3 that does stuff when you cast a noncreature spell. It not only gets +1/+1 until the end of the turn, but also deals one damage to each opponent. Somehow, this feels underpowered compared to very similar options we’ve had in Magic of late, but it’s also a wizard, which means doubling its triggers isn’t very hard. You can also cast the Flameshape adventure for two mana to exile the top two cards of your deck and play them as long as you control a wizard.
#8 Thorin, Mountain-king
Thorin, Mountain-king
The Hobbit, Mythic
Thorin, Mountain-king is a red four-mana 3/4 with trample. It reads, “When Thorin enters, attach any number of target Equipment you control to target creature you control. When one or more Equipment become attached to that creature this way, that creature deals damage equal to its power to up to one target creature.” I’m not sure it needed to also deal damage to anything when it’s already ignoring equip costs, but hey, why not?
#7 The Great Goblin
The Great Goblin
The Hobbit, Rare
The Great Goblin is indeed pretty great. This three-mana red and black 3/2 lets you deal two damage to an opponent whenever you put one or more counters on a Goblin, Orc, or Army you control. When one of those things dies, you also get to exile the top card of your library, and can play it until the end of your next turn. While counters and goblins aren’t especially common as deck partners, there’s no reason why you can’t start right now with this one to get things going.
#6 Thranduil, the Elvenking
Thranduil, the Elvenking
The Hobbit, Rare
Thranduil, the Elvenking is a five-mana black, green, and blue 5/6 Elf that gets the activated abilities of all Elves in your graveyard. Additionally, whenever a legendary elf you control enters, you draw two cards, then discard a card. This probably isn’t the strongest elf Commander option, but it’s certainly one of the most robust, and is sure to cause a lot of problems for a lot of people.
#5 Bilbo, Thief in the Night
Bilbo, Thief in the Night
The Hobbit, Mythic
Bilbo, Thief in the Night is a two-mana blue 2/2 that makes spells you cast from anywhere other than your hand cost one less mana to cast. Whenever it attacks, you can cast an artifact, instant, or sorcery from your graveyard as well. This breaks the usual timing rules, which makes sorceries and artifacts especially good targets. You do need to exile the instant or sorcery spells you cast this way, but who cares, you already doubled their value anyway.
#4 Smaug the Magnificent
Smaug the Magnificent
The Hobbit, Mythic
Smaug the Magnificent is a four-mana red 4/3 dragon with flying and haste. When it attacks, it deals damage equal to the number of treasures you control to any target. It also makes a Treasure token in your upkeep. Treasure tokens are well-known for being incredibly strong in MTG, and being able to turn them into damage with your Commander makes them even better.
#3 Beorn the Fierce
Beorn the Fierce
The Hobbit, Mythic
Beorn the Fierce is a five-mana green 6/6 bear that has trample and gives your other bears +2/+2. At the beginning of your turn you’ll put a trample counter on a creature you control, which then becomes a Bear – earning the +2/+2 buff from Beorn – and you get to draw two cards if you have three or more Bears in play. This is very easy to do when you can keep turning your creatures into bears, which means you’re granting trample, all kinds of boosts, and also drawing cards every turn.
#2 The Master of Lake-town
The Master of Lake-town
The Hobbit, Rare
The Master of Lake-town is a three-mana black 3/2 with deathtouch that makes players mill cards equal to the life they lose. It also lets you draw a card for each graveyard with seven or more cards in it when it dies. That last ability is a little cherry on top–the fact is that this is a Mindcrank you can put in the command zone. That’s very strong, whether you’re going for a classic combo, a mill deck, or just playing other cards for fun.
#1 Bard, King of Dale
Bard, King of Dale
The Hobbit, Mythic
Bard, King of Dale is a six-mana 3/5 in white and blue that has both reach and vigilance. It also lets you draw two cards whenever you would draw one card outside of your first draw step, and doubles the number of tokens you create. Frankly, this thing has too many abilities, and feels like it’s going to be one of the strongest Commander options we’ve had, even amongst things like Vivi Orinitier.