Gandalf, Shadow's FoeGandalf, Shadow's Foe | Art by Alexander Mokhov

This is getting out of hand! Now there are eleven of them!

With the upcoming release of The Hobbit, we've been treated to more Gandalfs than any reasonable Magic player would know what to do with. We already had some super powerful versions of this Wizard, like Gandalf the WhiteGandalf the White and Gandalf the GreyGandalf the Grey, but we've seen five more representations of Ian McKellan's legendary character on cardstock.

Thanks to this set, we've now got three mono- Gandalfs! I'll be focusing on the most expensive (and coolest) one, Gandalf, Shadow's FoeGandalf, Shadow's Foe, in today's deck tech!

What Does Gandalf Do?

This version of everyone's favorite Avatar Wizard costs a whopping . It's a 3/4 with vigilance, and lets us flicker three lands upon entering the battlefield. Gandalf's also got a landfall ability, gaining a +1/+1 counter and letting us draw a card whenever a land enters the battlefield under our control.

It's somewhat common to see land-centric abilities appear in 's slice of the color pie. The MTG Wiki notes that 9.6% of landfall cards fall in this fifth of Magic, beating out at 8.4%. We've even seen some blue commanders that mess with lands, like Cosima, God of the VoyageCosima, God of the Voyage and Patron of the MoonPatron of the Moon. Gandalf is, interestingly enough, the first and only mono-blue commander to have the ability word "landfall" in its rules text!

Gandalf provides a relatively clear path to victory for us. We'll ramp as hard as we can in the early game, hopefully casting our seven-drop commander by turn four. Once it's on the field we'll use its landfall ability to keep our hand full of gas, and use all the mana we've got available to plop some extremely impactful permanents on the board. We'll even try to blink Gandalf a few times to get some extra value from its enters-the-battlefield (ETB) effect.

Key Cards for Gandalf

First, let's talk about the land-based ramp that we'll use to get our commander out ahead of schedule. Dreamscape ArtistDreamscape Artist is a unique creature, turning each card in our hand into a copy of HarrowHarrow. We don't have many ways to bring the discarded card or sacrificed land back from the bin, but this is still a super powerful way to accelerate our mana production.

I've also included both PuPu UFOPuPu UFO and Walking AtlasWalking Atlas. We've got a full 40 lands in our deck, meaning that we'll often have a few extras in our hand. These artifact creatures both let us put extra lands onto the field, letting us ramp and trigger our commander's landfall ability easily. The duo of Sword of the AnimistSword of the Animist and Bitterthorn, Nissa's AnimusBitterthorn, Nissa's Animus is here too. These Equipment are extremely strong, and will provide us with a constant stream of lands on the field.

To round out this section, I've put utility lands like Horizon of ProgressHorizon of Progress and Myriad LandscapeMyriad Landscape in our mana base. We can afford to play a few nonbasic lands, given this deck's monocolor identity.

With all the lands we'll be slamming onto the board, our commander's landfall ability will be triggering pretty consistently. So, let's get some other permanents to capitalize on that fact! The recently printed Weather MakerWeather Maker is an interesting three-mana rock, making more mana than average if we're consistently hitting our land drops. It's also notable that this artifact provides access to on-demand, damage-based removal, something that decks often lack.

We've also got Roil CartographerRoil Cartographer to draw even more cards. This is the only source of in our deck, but we'll be blinking Gandalf (and playing lands) frequently enough that this Merfolk Rogue will be a solid card advantage engine.

Finally, for when we're feeling extra mean, I've included both Grappling KrakenGrappling Kraken and Roil ElementalRoil Elemental. If we can stick either of these six-drops on the battlefield, our opponents won't be able to take many meaningful game actions. Just imagine playing Roil Elemental the turn before our commander, then getting four triggers (land drop for turn + Gandalf's three land blinks) when we cast our commander!

Gandalf costs a full seven mana, so it'd be a shame to trigger its ETB ability just once. To that end, we've got a slew of ways to exile it and return it to the battlefield. Sword of Hearth and HomeSword of Hearth and Home pulls double duty as a blink engine and a mana advantage engine, letting us extract an absurd amount of value upon dealing combat damage. Displacer KittenDisplacer Kitten will pair very well with the 32 noncreature spells in our deck, and should provide a repeatable way to flicker our Avatar Wizard.

Finally, the newly minted Roll-Roll-Roll-RollRoll-Roll-Roll-Roll can flicker our commander or a land we control, providing us with some flexibility based on the board state at the start of our first main phase.

As a more expensive blink option, I've also added Silver Surfer, Cosmic VoyagerSilver Surfer, Cosmic Voyager. Even in a deck like this, six mana is still a lot to spend on any one spell. But, if we manage to cast this Alien Hero, we'll be in the money.

How Does This Deck Win?

Once we've put dozens of lands onto the field, we need some impactful spells to spend our mana on. So, I've made room for Lord of ChangeLord of Change and Galactus, Devourer of WorldsGalactus, Devourer of Worlds as top-end threats. These two provide a good amount of value upon entering the battlefield, and act as hard-to-remove, evasive attackers too.

I'll note the exclusion of Silver Surfer, Galactus's HeraldSilver Surfer, Galactus's Herald here. Although the Herald makes Galactus a bit better, I'm not willing to spend a slot in our 99 on a relatively useless 4/5. With that said, though, both Galactus and the Lord of Change provide a bit of extra value when targeted with something like Teferi's Time TwistTeferi's Time Twist, which is a bonus.

The best curve-topper by far is Summon: BahamutSummon: Bahamut. Even if we've got just the Saga Dragon and Gandalf on the field, this creature's final triggered ability will deal a whopping sixteen damage to our opponents. If we've got even a few permanents on the field, that damage can reach to more than two dozen with ease!

Finally, for less immediate victory, I've included a few ways to turn the cards that we'll draw into concrete advantage. Ominous SeasOminous Seas will create an 8/8 token once every turn or two, presenting a real problem for whichever opponent we choose to release the Kraken(s) upon. Psychosis CrawlerPsychosis Crawler will whittle away everyone's life total, while also presenting a veritable brick house for any opponent who dares to attack us. In my playtesting, I've frequently got enough cards in hand to make this brain in a jar quite scary. Teferi, Temporal PilgrimTeferi, Temporal Pilgrim is also here. If we're lucky, we can activate its ultimate ability within a turn or two of him hitting the field!

Gandalf, Shadow's Foe Commander Deck List

Conclusion

I've gotta say, this set has delivered in a big way so far. The cards have just the right amount of mechanical complexity, while still fundamentally feeling like Magic. Other Universes Beyond sets (like Final Fantasy) may have made a bigger splash upon release, but The Hobbit's high fantasy vibe is exactly what I want out of an external IP's product drop.

I'm particularly excited to see which version of Gandalf leads the most decks on EDHREC when all is said and done. I expect Gandalf the WhiteGandalf the White to remain top dog, but I could see Gandalf, Party GuestGandalf, Party Guest overtaking him in short order. Which printing of the bearded mage do you like the most? Let me know in the comments, and I'll be back with another article soon!