My PreciousMy Precious | Art by Valera Lutfullina

Almost There!

It feels like forever since The Lord of The Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, and I'm so glad we're getting a Hobbit-themed set. I'll be honest though, I'm pretty skeptical. Surely there isn't enough content from The Hobbit to fill out an entire set, especially since Tales of Middle-earth already touched on the story with cards like There and Back AgainThere and Back Again — right?

I'm gonna be optimistic though, because there's a lot of potential here. Last time we visited Middle-earth, we got some insane artifacts like The One RingThe One Ring, and some awesome lands like Barad-dûrBarad-dûr. So what will this set's artifacts and lands be like? Let's find out!

Bag End BanquetBag End Banquet

A mana for every FoodFood on board? For Food decks this card seems like a no-brainer, but when I look at the details I get skeptical. It's six mana, and it instantly refunds you half as well as making three Foods, but then it only taps for colorless mana, and how long is it gonna tap for three? Food decks do actually like to sacrifice the Food.

Camellia, the SeedmiserCamellia, the Seedmiser and Ygra, Eater of AllYgra, Eater of All specifically incentivize it, while AsmoranomardicadaistinaculdacarAsmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar, Ragost, Deft GastronautRagost, Deft Gastronaut, and Samwise GamgeeSamwise Gamgee all have abilities that sacrifice Foods. They're not like Treasure decks, which have twenty Treasures on board at any given time. They also don't have the funds to ramp to six super easily. If you think your deck is great at hoarding Foods, by all means, run this card, but I don't see it being a staple for the majority of Food commanders.

Dragon-Cursed HallsDragon-Cursed Halls

We have a number of lands that create TreasuresTreasures. FountainportFountainport is awesome, but it's mostly used for the card draw. Heap GateHeap Gate is... fine in a gate deck. It's useful for when you have nothing better to do. Then we have Dragon-Cursed HallsDragon-Cursed Halls, which is even worse than that.

You're spending two mana to make one Treasure, which is better than Heap GateHeap Gate's three, but you need an unblocked attacker. And then it doesn't even have Heap GateHeap Gate's mana filter! This card is just bad. In a colorless deck, Dragon-Cursed HallsDragon-Cursed Halls is a strictly better Wastes, but I don't even know if I'd choose to run this over a basic MountainMountain.

Elven PassageElven Passage

I didn't really think Elves needed help with mana, but here we are. In any Elf typal deck this is obviously perfect, but is it necessary? I would say no. Most Elf decks are just one or two colors, and even three-color decks don't really struggle with color fixing. Especially when half the creatures are mana dorks. If you pull this card and you've got an Elf deck, you might as well toss this in there, but otherwise it's unneeded.

Getaway BarrelGetaway Barrel

Oh this card is hilarious! I absolutely love the thought of opening a barrel and literally anything popping out. It could be a Hobbit, a Dwarf, or Smaug himself.

Gameplay-wise, Getaway BarrelGetaway Barrel isn't bad. It's essentially four mana to spin the slot machine and hope we get something nuts. Yes, the creature is randomly selected from the thirteen cards we flip, but in the right deck, we'll get something crazy every time.

So what is the right deck? Something that can sacrifice artifacts and has huge creatures. Maybe Imskir Iron-EaterImskir Iron-Eater? It has a way to sacrifice Getaway BarrelGetaway Barrel, and loves to play other high mana value artifact creatures. I can't help but feel like the perfect deck for Getaway Barrel hasn't come along yet, however.

This card's biggest problem is that it's more likely to grab a Llanowar ElvesLlanowar Elves than a Terror of the PeaksTerror of the Peaks in 90% of decks. I'm sure there's a great spot for it somewhere, but I can't seem to find it.

Glamdring, Foe-hammerGlamdring, Foe-hammer

You wouldn't think it, but there are quite a few Spellslinger commanders that care about high power. Vivi OrnitierVivi Ornitier and Bria, Riptide RogueBria, Riptide Rogue both buff themselves like crazy, and Vadrik, Astral ArchmageVadrik, Astral Archmage just does the same thing as Glamdring, Foe-hammerGlamdring, Foe-hammer. That means the reduction is doubled. The decks that run Glamdring are gonna overload it so much that only X spells won't be free. The decks that want this know they want it. But even in decks without high power, four mana for a reduction of three is still pretty strong. That adventure is worthless, though.

Great Gilded BoatGreat Gilded Boat

Sign me up for this boat! Recruit is such a strong mechanic, looting and creating tokens. The best part is, those tokens can trigger more recruiting every single turn. This boat isn't exactly Phyrexian ArenaPhyrexian Arena, but it has some upsides, especially for decks that care about tokens or discard. Plus it can turn into a creature if we're really desperate. This gilded boat offers some great value.

Key to the Side-DoorKey to the Side-Door

Oh man, I just know that Wizards is gearing up to print a commander that makes grandeur playable. If you don't know, grandeur is this old mechanic that had legendary creatures discarding cards with the same name as them to have a powerful effect. In theory, it was supposed to make legends more playable in Standard, because the legend rule would leave players with duplicates of legends stuck in their hand.

In practice, none of the cards were good enough to be playable, and of course in Commander, the place that loves weird mechanics, it was completely useless. In order to make grandeur useable in commander, we have to clone a legend and bounce the original to our hand. That's really complex, even with newer cards like Mirror BoxMirror Box. As a result, the grandeur cards simply aren't played.

But now Wizards has printed two new legends with grandeur, Page, Loose LeafPage, Loose Leaf and Skoa, EmbermageSkoa, Embermage, as well as this card. Key to the Side-DoorKey to the Side-Door is another card that's useless unless you have the same legend in hand and on board. This makes me suspect that Wizards is going to print a commander that's perfect for this. Let me predict it right now. It's not gonna be focused on grandeur specifically, but it is going to bounce a creature to your hand while making a copy of it. And we'll all know what it's for.

Now where was I? Oh yeah Key to the Side-DoorKey to the Side-Door is fine. Since the second ability is useless 99% of the time, it's basically just a way to make something unblockable, and Key to the CityKey to the City does that better.

Long-Lost LancesLong-Lost Lances

An Equipment anthem that's actually on an Equipment? This is exactly what these decks want. Long-Lost LancesLong-Lost Lances isn't the strongest Equipment, or even the strongest anthem, but it gets a ton of value out of just being an Equipment. Wyleth, Soul of SteelWyleth, Soul of Steel will play Explorer's ScopeExplorer's Scope just because it draws a card. Wyleth is going to love Long-Lost LancesLong-Lost Lances, simply because it's an Equipment that triggers it.

If it were an enchantment, it'd be practically useless, but like this, it's value with more value attached. Great design.

My PreciousMy Precious

Here's a card that's all around amazing. At the bare minimum, it's a better Whispersilk CloakWhispersilk Cloak. Hexproof is a huge improvement over shroud, and the equip cost is just 2 life! That's such an upgrade. I play a lot of Voltron, and the biggest downside of the Cloak is that I can't equip it immediately. Either I have to wait until I've got two extra mana, or my commander is vulnerable for a turn. Both bad options when my game plan hinges on my commander attacking ASAP.

With My PreciousMy Precious, I can play it with three mana, slam Tana, the BloodsowerTana, the Bloodsower with four mana, and equip it right away for just two life. If the color identity fits, My PreciousMy Precious should be an instant swap.

And that's even before we acknowledge the card draw! Allure of Power is a worse Village RitesVillage Rites, but since it's an optional tack-on to My PreciousMy Precious, it's a straight improvement. In a way though, it's here to balance the card. By restricting My PreciousMy Precious to a black color identity, it's not a strictly better Whispersilk CloakWhispersilk Cloak in every deck. I respect the design choice as much as I like this card, which is a lot.

Necklace of GirionNecklace of Girion

A +1/+1 counter for every Forest and green spell? On a mana rock? Well, it's not the best mana rock, given that green has access to cards like Llanowar ElvesLlanowar Elves and Fanatic of RhonasFanatic of Rhonas, but Necklace of GirionNecklace of Girion more than makes up for it with that first ability.

In any mono-green deck, this card is going to be putting out three or four counters a turn, minimum, and there are quite a few mono-green commanders that like to be big. Marwyn, the NurturerMarwyn, the Nurturer and Bristly Bill, Spine SowerBristly Bill, Spine Sower specifically love this, as it expedites their game plan by twofold. But with Tifa LockhartTifa Lockhart, it gets exponential. Every land puts a counter on her, and then doubles her power, including the counter.

I can't imagine this sees play anywhere other than in mono-green decks, but there, it'll be NaturalizeNaturalize on sight.

Orcrist, Goblin-cleaverOrcrist, Goblin-cleaver

This Equipment is one I'm much less impressed by. It's a six-mana investment, and while +2/+2 and trample are helpful, it doesn't guarantee we'll ever get to trigger that second ability, which is the one we most care about. Getting a Treasure for every creature of a creature type we control is good, but not great in my opinion.

To get anything more than just casual ramp we'll need a full board, and if we have a full board of Elves, well, we're not really lacking for mana. I think this card is a win-more that relies on an unhindered attacker, and that's not worth the slot in most decks.

Ironically, it's probably best in Goblin decks.

Ragged Short SpearRagged Short Spear

Ooh, remember what I said about Long-Lost LancesLong-Lost Lances? Equipment decks love Equipment, and they'd absolutely prefer to run this card over Thrill of PossibilityThrill of Possibility. Yeah, Thrill of PossibilityThrill of Possibility can be cast at instant speed, but it doesn't give +2/+0 to Rograkh, Son of RohgahhRograkh, Son of Rohgahh, create a Junk token with Dogmeat, Ever LoyalDogmeat, Ever Loyal, or draw a card with Syr Gwyn, Hero of AshvaleSyr Gwyn, Hero of Ashvale.

Sting, Bilbo's SwordSting, Bilbo's Sword

Ooh, an Equipment that's also a combat trick. That's neat! For two mana, you can give one of your creatures a quick power boost. But how big is that power boost going to be? At any point in the game we can probably count on at least one opponent to have three creatures, and of course the ceiling is much higher. But +3/+0 isn't game-changing in Commander, that's for sure, and it often won't even make the difference we need it to.

Usually when I have a combat trick, I'm attacking with a creature and hoping my opponent will take a trade. Then, I give it a boost and keep my creature while my opponent's dies. Sting doesn't do that. Maybe you could attach it to a throwaway token and get a kill on your opponent's creature? But then the token dies and you're left with an equip cost of three.

I can definitely see scenarios where this card is really, really good. But in the majority of them, I don't think it does enough. It's a shame, because I really like the design, but ultimately it's not too useful.

The ArkenstoneThe Arkenstone

I'm afraid The Arkenstone is outclassed in every aspect. Seek the Heart is just worse than Search for GlorySearch for Glory or Time of NeedTime of Need, and while The Arkenstone is one mana cheaper than The Immortal SunThe Immortal Sun, that cost reduction ability makes The Immortal SunThe Immortal Sun waaayy better.

Five mana is too much for a minor anthem or a Phyrexian ArenaPhyrexian Arena, and we're even more limited by the fact that this card's color identity is white. Of course, the thing that should make this card good is the fact that all these effects are on one card. But what legend deck needs a clunky, five-mana artifact?

The Lonely MountainThe Lonely Mountain

An Equipment-themed land? This isn't a brand new idea, but it's interesting for sure.

Let's assume we're playing a deck that's overloaded with Equipment, and this land always enters untapped and its ability is reduced by four. That means we've got a Mountain that can make a Dwarf for two mana. (and it's two because we're losing the mana this land would've otherwise produced).

Is a Dwarf every turn for two mana good? Kind of. Is it good in an Equipment deck? Maybe? There are a few commanders that care about having multiple equipped creatures, like Nahiri, Forged in FuryNahiri, Forged in Fury, and Cloud, Ex-SOLDIERCloud, Ex-SOLDIER. I would absolutely run this card in those decks. And while the Dwarves aren't super useful in Rograkh, Son of RohgahhRograkh, Son of Rohgahh, they're optional. Worst case scenario, The Lonely Mountain is a Mountain that enters tapped. Best case scenario, it creates attackers that trigger our commander, or blockers that save our life total. It's a great inclusion in a lot of decks.

Wizard's StaffWizard's Staff

Wow! Prowess, and triggered abilities trigger twice. This card is simple and to the point. I don't think I need to elaborate on why it's good. It's cost-effective too, especially for a Wizard deck, or even a deck with a Wizard commander. There are at least five legends that should run this card no matter what, and it's gotta be up for consideration in many more.

Let's Go Back Again

Well that's The Hobbit. I don't think anything here is going to be nearly as game-changing as The One RingThe One Ring was, but man, I like these artifacts a lot. There are some niche ones, some that are generically good, and once again, My PreciousMy Precious is so powerful. I really don't think we could've gotten a better selection of cards, and this set is shaping up to be one of my favorite Universes Beyond sets in a long while.