Magic: the Gathering | The Hobbit releases on August 14th. While this set doesn’t feature any Commander decks but it does feature 63 brand new legendary creatures that you can find in both Play Boosters and Collector Boosters. In this article, I want to take a look at the 5 that I’m most excited to build decks for.
BELLADONNA TOOK
Belladonna does everything you could ever ask for a token Commander. While her initial trigger of gaining you one life isn’t incredible, the fact she draws you cards and buffs your entire board certainly is. She makes sure you continue to draw cards that make tokens while also making your token army far more formidable. And she only costs two mana!
You can get the most out of her by playing creatures that can repeatedly make tokens. That way they can benefit from the counters themselves, while also making sure you maximize your chances of triggering Belladonna three times in a turn.
Creatures like Adeline, Resplendent Cather, Ainok Strike Leader, and Ocelot Pride can really make Belladonna Took into an absolute powerhouse that can quickly overwhelm opponents.
BEORN THE FIERCE
Move over Ayula, Queen Among Bears, Beorn the Fierce is now the best Bear Commander and it isn’t especially close. Beorn offers a huge buff to your bears while giving you a massive body, and he doesn’t even need your deck to be filled with only Bears to go off. That’s because his “beginning of combat” trigger can turn your other creatures into Bears.
Still, playing as many Bears as possible is certainly the best way to go here. Because his trigger can go off the turn he comes down, you’re often going to be able to draw those two cards while also smashing in with a heavily buffed board.
Still, his ability to turn any creature into a Bear does mean you can run Green staple creatures without worrying about diluting your Bear count. Turning your Beast Whisperer or Birds of Paradise into a Bear is pretty amazing.
DWALIN, WEAPONMASTER
Hone counters are a new mechanic introduced in The Hobbit, and I think it’s a good one. It explores a little-used design space where you can augment your Equipment and Dwalin can do it in an absolutely massive way.
He gets better the more Equipment you have in play, since he hones every single one of them any time he enters or attacks. And continuing to augment your Equipment with him is very much on the table since he’ll often be able to attack thanks to the combination of First Strike and Equipment that will certainly offer a power buff in part thanks to Dwalin’s hone counters.
One nasty combo you can go for is Equipment that protects Dwalin. While most of that doesn’t usually offer a power boost, Dwalin will make sure it does. This can allow things to quickly snowball since he won’t be easy to take down in combat nor can he be taken down by spot removal.
Putting hone counters on your Swiftfoot Boots, Lighting Greaves, or Mithril Coat is going to frustrate many of your opponents.
SMAUG, WICKED WORM
While Smaug, the Magnificent is getting more attention, Smaug’s Rakdos incarnation also looks really impressive.
Are you upset that Dockside Extortionist got banned? Well, Smaug, Wicked Worm gives you a Commander who can have a similar super powerful effect! While Smaug’s treasures do enter tapped, giving you less of an immediate mana advantage, his capacity to generate an incredible number of treasures is still really impressive.
That’s especially true because Smaug can draw you cards when you spend Treasure on your spells. It also isn’t limited to once per turn, so there is some serious card draw potential here. Especially if you play more cards that generate Treasure, which you’re going to want to play alongside this Legendary Dragon.
He’s not completely one-dimensional either. Making a ton of treasure can also work nicely alongside sacrifice or artifact payoffs. For example, Mirkwood Bats and Mayhem Devil can go absolutely wild with a board filled with Smaug’s Treasure.
THE NOTARY HOBBITS
The Notary Hobbits have some of the most impressive ramp potential we’ve ever seen. Should all three copies make it to your next untap step, they can produce nine colorless mana. And that’s if you don’t have any other Halflings in play. And if you’re using these guys as your Commander, you should almost certainly have other Halflings in your deck to maximize their mana-producing potential.
Anything that gives your creatures Haste or the ability to tap for mana right away can be particularly appealing. That’s because The Notary Hobbits are incredibly fragile, and if you don’t get mana out of them right away, you’re likely to have to settle for much less of it. Concordant Crossroads and Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu can really help you go off with these Halfling Advisors.
You also need something to spend all that mana on, but luckily there are no shortage of absurd things you can do on that front. Because they produce colorless mana, Eldrazi might be the most appealing option. The flavor of three Hobbit bureaucrats summoning Eldrazi is pretty questionable, but it’s also incredibly powerful.
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The Hobbit has tons of cool Commanders and I certainly couldn’t cover all of them here. What legendary creature are you most excited about in this new set? Let me know over on X or Bluesky.
Jacob has been playing Magic for the better part of 24 years, and he especially loves playing Magic’s Limited formats. He also holds a PhD in history from the University of Oklahoma. In 2015, he started his YouTube channel, “Nizzahon Magic,” where he combines his interests with many videos covering Magic’s competitive history. When he’s not playing Magic or making Magic content, he can be found teaching college-level history courses or caring for a menagerie of pets with his wife.