A flavor-forward Smaug, Wicked Worm list that honors J.R.R. Tolkien's work with a strong deck, smashing opponents with dragons, equipment, and Treasure-token synergies. *** “There was a most specially greedy, strong and wicked worm called Smaug.” — Thorin Oakenshield, The Hobbit, Ch. I “An Unexpected Party” “My armour is like tenfold shields, my teeth are swords, my claws spears, the shock of my tail a thunderbolt, my wings a hurricane, and my breath death!” — Smaug, The Hobbit, Ch. XII “Inside Information” There is no Hobbit without the dragon Smaug. In a way, there is no Lord of the Rings without him either. Before J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel even begins, the Wicked Worm has stolen the dwarves’ home and their treasure. This theft is the catalyst for Bilbo Baggins’s adventure and everything that follows. As a Magic: The Gathering card, Smaug, Wicked Worm is an elegant recreation of our Middle-earthian heroes’ first and fearsome foe. A 5/5 flyer for five mana will always be a force to be reckoned with. His ill-gotten gains are illustrated through a potentially expansive Treasure-token trove when he enters, and Smaug quickly converts that wealth into card draw. For these reasons, I have chosen Smaug to lead my entry into Tolarian Community College’s Hobbit precon contest. This precon’s game plan is simple: take out our opponents with explosive draconic combats while burning away the entire table’s life totals through cards that punish our opponents when we make or break Treasure tokens. A brief aside on the philosophy of this decklist: There are better cards from other Universes Beyond properties I could have slotted into this list; there are better cards with proper Magic: The Gathering names that I could have put in this list. But that wouldn’t feel right. I don’t fundamentally object to UB, but I do want to capture the immersive quality and role-playing aspects of commander that would be lost if Smaug were mingling with, say, Mastermind Plum, or (ugh) the Avengers. Therefore, I have prioritized cards from the Hobbit, the Lord of the Rings, and their associated supplemental products. Where this is impossible, I have emphasized cards that feel comfortably at home in Middle-earth. Wilds of Eldraine’s Decadent Dragon? That’s a big, winged, scaly beast sitting on a pile of treasure. It could easily be Smaug or one of his kin! Creature types represent only races present in Tolkien’s works. I have not used any cards whose names represent unique characters from the Magic multiverse, nor any cards from other UB properties. Even working within these parameters, my goal is for this deck to feel, well, Smaug-y. I re-read The Hobbit in preparation for the Professor’s assignment, and have made deliberate choices for each of the gameplay themes to reflect elements of the story. The result is a deck that is powerful at a precon level while capturing the spirit of the dragon from Tolkien’s 1937 classic. *** Plan A: Treasure and Sacrifice “Dragons steal gold and jewels, you know, from men and elves and dwarves, wherever they can find them,” — Thorin Oakenshield, The Hobbit, Ch. I “An Unexpected Party” Smaug turns treasures into a steady stream of card draw. This makes Treasure tokens the natural first pillar of the deck’s strategy. Smaug will make a healthy initial investment in your Treasure-token hoard simply by entering the battlefield. From there, we have several routes to growing our riches. This list contains several powerful one-off Treasure generators. We have draw spells like Big Score, Unexpected Windfall, and Seize the Spoils. Strike it Rich effectively allows us to cycle a card twice while playing into other artifact and Treasure synergies. Gloin, Dwarf Emissary and Storm-Kiln Artisan offer repeatable sources of Treasure: Gloin, from the deck’s 20+ other historic spells and the Artisan from 16 instants and sorceries, including two with Flashback. Smaug then takes these dwarves’ Treasure tokens, just as the Smaug of Tolkien’s novel steals the dwarves’ riches. Decadent Dragon, Goldspan Dragon, Cavern-Hoard Dragon, Goldlust Triad, and Smaug the Magnificent also expand the hoard each turn. Finally, the deck runs several pieces of equipment that create more treasure every combat. We’ll get into those more in the next section. The deck runs several payoffs for creating and expending Treasure. Reckless Fireweaver and Ingenious Artillerest ping the table every time a Treasure (or another artifact) lands. Meanwhile, the Sackville-Bagginses, Mirkwood Bats, and Disciple of the Vault hit our opponents every time a Treasure leaves the field. Smaug gets angry, very angry, when he loses a bauble, and we want our opponents to feel his wrath just like Bilbo, the dwarves, and the people of Lake-town felt it when the Worm noticed his golden cup was missing. You’ll be crying out “Thieves! Fire! Murder!” every time a Treasure vanishes from the battlefield. There’s a sacrifice subtheme that goes along with Treasure generation. Smaug will create more and more Treasure tokens upon entry the longer the game goes on. Therefore, we have several ways to sacrifice our commander so that we can recast him. Allure of Power, the Sackville-Bagginses, Snowslope Hunter, and Azog, Moria’s Ruin all allow us to get a little extra value by blowing up our own Smaug before he makes his fiery return. Stir Up Trouble and Lash of the Balrog enable Smaug to take down an enemy with him, echoing the dragon’s own destructive downfall in the novel. If we aren’t ready to sacrifice our commander, we have other creatures that are easy, even beneficial, to kill off, including the Smaug token from There And Back Again, Hoarding Dragon, and the 1/1 Rat tokens we get from The Mad Ratter. *** Plan B: Equipment and Combat “They are old swords, very old swords [...] They must have come from a dragon’s hoard or goblin plunder.” — Elrond, The Hobbit, Ch. III, “A Short Rest” Equipment are a natural addition to Smaug’s collection, both from a story and gameplay perspective. In the Hobbit, Elrond even speculates that the weapons our heroes captured from a band of trolls had first been stolen by dragons. In game, we’re happy to see several equipment create Treasure whenever the wielder connects: Prying Blade, Golvein Pick, and Diamond Pick-Axe among them. Smaug is our first choice to hold our equipment. He’s a big, flying threat, and improved combat stats make commander damage a viable path to victory while advancing our other strategies. In addition to Smaug, we have several other big flying creatures that are well-equipped (ha!) to bear these blades. The combat plan is supported by two powerful extra-combat triggers: Scourge of the Throne and Desert Were Worm. Whatever you liked about the first combat, you’ll love about the second. *** Plan C: Dragons “It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him.” — The Hobbit, Ch. XII “Inside Information” This list's other strategies happen to include several dragons: 16 if you count the tokens created by The Misty Mountains Cold and There And Back Again. Accordingly, we have a handful of typal benefits. Dragon’s Hoard is a solid mana rock, a flavor win, and an occasional source of free draws. The Desolation of Smaug and the Omen side of Scavenger Regent can be one-sided board wipes that leave our most powerful creatures in play. Finally, Heirloom Blade can draw us into powerful dragons when Smaug dies, whether of natural causes or through sacrifice. And then there’s Dragonstorm and Stormscale Scion: Between quick card draws and Treasure generators, we can cast several spells a turn, making Dragonstorm an easy inclusion; a way to tutor up and play out our most powerful winged reptiles. Stormscale Scion will give a threatening boost to our commander and our whole board after we churn through our hand. *** I want to thank the Professor and the TCC team for their consideration, and hope anyone who comes upon this list has fun trying out the list! You will find this deck is a most specially greedy, strong, and wicked one.