Amassing Value With Amass

Magic: the Gathering | The Hobbit releases on August 14th, 2026 and we are currently in the midst of preview season. The set features tons of amazing new cards and mechanics that bring Tolkien’s iconic 1937 novel to life. However, I’m most excited about a returning mechanic – Amass. This mechanic represents Middle Earth’s seemingly endless Goblin armies.

In this article, I’m going to discuss what makes this mechanic a favorite of mine, with special attention paid to all of the different kinds of synergy it interacts with while also highlighting some of the set’s new designs.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF AMASS

Amass made its debut in 2019’s War of the Spark. That set represented a major event in the lore of Magic, where Nicol Bolas trapped most of the multiverse’s planeswalkers on Ravnica, with the intent of harvesting all of their sparks using a Zombie Army. If a card has amass it comes with a numerical value. You put that number of +1/+1 counters on an Army you control, and if you don’t control an Army, you create a 0/0 Army token and put that many +1/+1 counters on it.

In other words, you either start building your Army with a new token, or you grow your Army with +1/+1 counters.

Originally, amass only made Zombie Army tokens. However, with the release of Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle Earth, they introduced “amass Orcs,” and all of the War of the Spark amass cards were changed to “amass Zombies.”  

This was a good decision, because the mechanic does such a good job of making it feel like you’re truly amassing an Army, regardless of creature types. We have since seen a few one-shot cards with different creature types that use amass – like Lazotep Sliver.

And The Hobbit features “amass Goblins,” introducing a new kind of Army. And it might just be the best version of amass that we’ve ever seen.

AMASSING IN SACRIFICE DECKS

While I enjoy the flavor of Amass, my favorite thing about it is actually how flexible and interesting it is mechanically. It works really well with a wide variety of effects. The fact that you either get a new token or grow a token you already have is at the heart of what can make the mechanic work in a variety of different ways.

For example, if you’re in a sacrifice deck, Amass can provide you with excellent sacrifice fodder. If you go that route, you’re not really intent on amassing a large Army. Instead, you’re looking to repeatedly amass and sacrifice the token every time you make it. This is best accomplished with cards with repeatable Amass effects, like Dreadhorde Invasion and Sauron, the Dark Lord.

AMASSING IN +1/+1 COUNTER DECKS

While you’re going the sacrifice route, you’re usually not going to have a very big Army – but if you’re interested in having an absolutely massive creature, you can also use Amass effectively in +1/+1 counter decks. Alongside payoffs for counters, you can quickly make your Army the best creature on the battlefield.

They can get especially potent alongside effects that augment the number of +1/+1 counters you can put on a creature – like Hardened Scales or Branching Evolution. If you’re trying to build a huge Army, you’re going to be a little less interested in repeatable effects that let you amass, and more interested in cards that can give you an incredibly high Amass value. For example, cards like Barad-dûr and Fall of Cair Andros can really let your Armies thrive.

It is true that you need to branch into Green to take full advantage of Amassing in this way, but there are certainly some Commanders out there who can give you access to everything you need. Kresh the Bloodbraided and Korvold, Fae-Cursed King are both Jund counter-generating Commanders that can take advantage of amass.

AMASSING IN TOKEN DECKS?

While Amass works great with sacrifice and +1/+1 counter synergies, it doesn’t work quite as seamlessly in token decks as it does in counter and sacrifice decks. This is because it works very differently than most token generation. After all, you can only have one Army at a time, so it isn’t like you’re going wide with it. Populate and other mechanics that let you create copies of tokens also doesn’t really work. You’ll get a 0/0 from those effects that will immediately die.

IS AMASS GOBLINS THE BEST AMASS SO FAR?

While amassing Zombies and Orcs is pretty cool, I think amass Goblins is the most powerful version of this effect we’ve seen so far. That might sound a bit strange. After all, the mechanics work the same way and just have different creature types printed on that token. But that different creature type is precisely why I think amass Goblins is powerful.

While Orcs and Zombies do have typal support, Goblins have significantly more. This means that in addition to amass Goblins working nicely in both sacrifice and +1/+1 counter decks, it’s also a great fit for Goblin decks, which can very easily combine a Goblin Army with Goblin payoffs to great effect, especially if you’re going the sacrifice route. 

For example, Skirk Prospector, Goblin Trashmaster, and Sling-Gang Lieutenant all give you very efficient, powerful ways to cash in an Army for value. And I’m really just scratching the surface

The Hobbit even comes with a great Commander for a Goblin Army sacrifice deck. He loves it when you put counters on your Goblins, and any time you have one die you also get access to even more cards, which can result in some pretty incredible turns.

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I’m really excited to see what we can do with amass Goblins. I hope you’re as excited to build a Goblin Army as I am. What do you think about amass Goblins? Let me know over on X or Bluesky.