A Warm Hug of Molten Gold: Smaug, Wicked Worm Deck for Hobbit Precon Contest
deck Smaug, Wicked Worm
Aug 14, 2026
In this deck, Smaug not only hoards treasure but shares the wealth, if only to benefit himself even more. This deck aims to maximize the abilities of it's commander: Smaug, Wicked Worm by adding a group hug-like twist to it's strategy.
Multiple cards in this deck give opponents artifacts in exchange for benefits like treasure and land. Once opponents are stocked with artifacts, Smaug flies in making even more treasure for each artifact they control. You may think this happens only once until someone kills him (which is less likely when he has a powerful entrance ability) but with a combination of sacrifice outlets and returning him to the battlefield upon death, Smaug's entrance ability can be repeated for as little as 2 mana.
Now, having a bountiful treasure trove might be nice but will not win the game ... unless Hellkite Tyrant or Revel in Riches is on the battlefield on upkeep, then they do exactly that. Additionally, if Smaug the Magnificent is able to attack, treasures are turned into damage without even sacrificing them. If the player cannot afford to wait until upkeep or to draw one of these cards, a large sum of damage can be produced by sacrificing many treasures. Cards like Mirkwood Bats and Nadier's Nightblade followed by sacrificing a bunch of treasures (even if there's nothing to spend them on) can be game winning, with even more options for a singular opponent to take such damage.
This deck aims to maintain a budget of a precon before it is printed as a precon which based on examples is ~$170. When I made the deck it claimed to cost less than $170 but when I imported it here, even with swapping out card versions I could not get it much lower than $200. (Also, the irony is not lost on me that a treasure themed deck is meant to be "budget" in real life.)
