I wanted to write out and describe some of the flavor and mechanical ideas behind the design choices in my submission to the Hobbit precon challenge, “Thieves! Fire! Murder!”, headed by Smaug, Wicked Worm. I tried to design this “precon” around recreating one of my favorite moments from The Hobbit, the moment Smaug realizes his incredibly vast hoard is missing a single golden cup. (My actual favorite moment is when Bilbo reveals himself to the dwarf camp after escaping the Misty Mountains, but I found that slightly more difficult to recreate through a Commander deck.) The idea of thieves encroaching on a dragon’s hoard, followed by the dragon awakening and unleashing fire and murder upon its intrusive guests, is the core of this deck’s identity. I wanted the deck to punish the other players for their greed, while Smaug’s own avarice remains almost impossible to eclipse. I also tried to keep the deck within a reasonable precon budget, at least before the inevitable devaluation caused by reprints, and like actual precons, leave some clear and easy areas for potential upgrades both from within the set and from Magic at large. -Upgrades: There were several cards I considered because of how naturally they fit the deck, but ultimately did not include because the aggregate price of the deck was threatening to become unrealistic for a true “precon.” That said, actual precons often seem very aware of the cards that could be great inclusions without putting every one of them in the deck. It gives players obvious upgrade paths, encourages them to interact with the larger Magic community, and naturally encourages them to buy more sealed products from WOTC. -Better Treasure Generation- Goldspan Dragon Cavern Hoard Dragon Professional Face Breaker Rain of Riches Xorn Dragon Cursed Halls Smaug the Magnificent Ancient Copper Dragon The Reaver Cleaver -High Synergy Upgrades- Academy Manufactor Grim Hireling Alchemist’s Talent Warren Soultrader Bottle Cap Blast Dragon’s Desire Mycosynth Lattice -Better Win Conditions- Torment of Hailfire Bolas’s Citadel Revel in Riches -And truly, there are many more.- - Gameplay- At its core, the deck seeks to generate Treasure tokens quickly, sacrifice them for more value than our opponents, and then amplify both sides of that equation through Smaug. Once Smaug enters the picture, the deck can begin overwhelming the table through the enormous amounts of mana and card advantage that our Treasure engine provides. There are a few different pieces working together to make that happen. -Building Our Own Hoard- Some cards simply generate Treasures independently of our commander, giving us the resources necessary to start building Smaug’s hoard before he ever arrives. Lobelia Sackville Baggins is one example. There are plenty of other Treasure generators throughout the deck as well, making sure we are rarely completely dependent on Smaug to get started. -Giving Our Opponents Treasure- Other cards deliberately give our opponents artifacts in order to further push the value we gain from playing Smaug. One of my favorite things about this interaction is that giving each player one Treasure can, in theory, mean three Treasures for us in a typical four player Commander game. -Cards that play into this include: Bloodvial Purveyor Descent into Avernus Marching Duodrone Normally, giving our opponents free resources would be dangerous. Here, though, that generosity is temporary. We are inviting them to become greedy so Smaug can punish them for it later. -Punishing Greed- Some cards seek to damage our opponents either when we use our Treasures or simply because our opponents have been foolish enough to accumulate Treasures of their own. -Cards such as:- Generous Plunderer Weftstalker Ardent Mirkwood Bats The Sackville Bagginses These slowly chip away at the table while reinforcing the flavor of the deck. Everyone wants a piece of the hoard, but possessing it comes with consequences. - Rewarding Us for Spending the Hoard- Still other cards simply reward us for using and sacrificing our Treasures. -Examples include: Crime Novelist Moriok Rigger Shard of the Void Dragon Together, these cards make sacrificing Treasure feel like more than simply producing mana. Each Treasure can trigger several different pieces of the deck at once, turning the act of spending Smaug’s hoard into another engine of value. - Removal and Card Advantage- The deck also includes card draw and removal that take advantage of our large number of artifacts and Treasure tokens. Cards like Battle at the Bridge, Starstorm, and Monumental Corruption help convert the hoard we have built into removal, cards, or other forms of advantage. -I also love Wildfire in this deck.- Because we are so heavily invested in Treasure generation, destroying lands is generally going to hurt our opponents much more than it hurts us. Even after the battlefield burns, Smaug is still sitting on a mountain of gold. -Which feels appropriate.- -Winning the Game- Eventually, all of this Treasure generation, sacrifice value, and incidental damage has to actually kill someone. Sometimes that means simply flying overhead with dragons such as Freejam Regent, after our Treasure production has allowed us to deploy threats much faster than normal. Sometimes it means winning outright with Hellkite Tyrant if our hoard has grown large enough. Other times, the deck threatens lethal by constantly pinging away at the table until everyone’s life total collapses under the combined pressure of cards like Mirkwood Bats, and Descent into Avernus. The end result should feel less like assembling one specific combo and more like Smaug finally waking up. The table has spent the game stealing, hoarding, and getting greedy. Eventually the dragon notices. -Flavorful Choices and Art Opportunities- My favorite part of precons is seeing new art for old cards that completely reshapes how you see them. I love when just a slight twist in perspective, combined with inspired artwork, can completely recontextualize an old card or familiar staple. Likewise, I love inclusions that do not necessarily receive new artwork but still give a knowing nod to the audience and make it obvious that the designers were very aware of the source material. -Here are some of my favorite opportunities in this deck. -Clearwater Goblet- I imagine Clearwater Goblet as a representation of the cup whose disappearance enrages Smaug and causes him to awaken. It even has some mechanical synergy through Sunburst, since our Treasure tokens can help provide the different colors of mana necessary to maximize it. It can then help us regain some of the life lost through our commander and other symmetrical effects. -Commander’s Sphere- This is my attempt at having a cheaper simulacrum of the Arkenstone within the precon. The actual mechanics are fairly simple, but it seems like a perfect opportunity for alternate artwork showing the great jewel of the Mountain. -Battle at the Bridge- The image painted of Lake town during Smaug’s attack has always left me appreciative of the idea of scuttling the bridge so Smaug cannot easily land and attack the town. Because of that, Battle at the Bridge felt like a fitting inclusion. It also happens to carry Improvise, giving it some nice mechanical synergy with all of the artifacts and Treasure tokens the deck is producing. - Fabled Passage- I think Fabled Passage offers another great opportunity for alternate art. I imagine it depicting the secret passage into Smaug’s lair shown on Thrór’s map, the hidden door revealed by the setting sun on Durin’s Day. Thieves! Fire! Murder! Many of the remaining cards fall directly into the three titular categories. -Thieves or Thieving- Al Bhed Salvagers Generous Plunderer Greedy Freebooter Hoard Robber Prosperous Bandit Wanted Scoundrels Spiteful Repossession Prying Blade -Fire- Banefire Fireball Wildfire And to be honest, I would include basically every dragon in the deck in this category as well. - Murder- Murder Grim Bounty Battle at the Bridge -The Rest of Smaug’s Hoard- The other artifacts included in the deck, while not necessarily direct references to known objects within Smaug’s treasure hoard, are meant to represent the kinds of strange riches one might find accumulated inside such an impossibly vast collection of wealth. Several of them also reinforce the idea that greed itself can be dangerous. I particularly like the trio of Jinxed artifacts for this reason. They capture the idea of greed biting back at whoever possesses them, while also synergizing with our commander and introducing an interesting political angle at the table. You can take the treasure. You just might regret it.