Decks, Cubes, and Other Lists

Radagast of Rhosgobel

I've never actually played MTG but got some of the cards for Hobbit since I love the LOTR. No idea if this deck is even playable but went with what seems like it would surround Radagast with as many animals as possible. Also, cost reflects trying to stay with LOTR as much as possible and Radagast vibes.

Smaug the Magnificent

Who knew wealth could hurt so good? Mono-red Smaug is here to collect as much treasure as he can before he burns the whole table out of the game.

Chief of the Wilds

This deck is built around a few main themes: wolves, creatures with power 4 or greater (ferocious), and +1/+1 counters. Placing counters on creatures makes them larger and activates the ferocious synergies within the deck, and triggers other secondary payoffs. This deck also features 4 battles, which double trigger on entry if the commander is on the field. I've left plenty of room to upgrade and focus the deck on different styles while including a few choice cards that badly need reprints, like Warg Rider.

The Great Goblin

Gollum, Riddle Master

Chief of the Wilds

Sauron, the Dark Lord

The Dark Lord of Smaug? Sauron is the face of the deck while Smaug the impenetrable & his dragon friends are running the show & hording treasure & creating lots of treasure & more dragons throughout the deck. There is revel in riches & hell kite tyrant for win conditions of 10 or 20 treasure, but if not dragons are flying fun. Sauron is bringing his 9 Nazgul & a changling outcast to all get counters from ring tempting so the nazgul can block & changling outcast can attack unblocked. Also smaug the impenetrable if equipped with shadowspear can give infinite life with chain lightning or put out infinite damage with pyrohemia. Deck has a few cards to search for key cards, theres counter spell, graveyard return, card draw & some blinking. I think The dark Lord of Smaug? Deck Should do well & chose cheapest printing on almost every card but even so, Smaug has expensive taste.

Dwalin, Weaponmaster

Dwarven armory's deck is made around an idea where the player tries to equip Dwaling with as much equipments as possible (which are of course all made by the dwarf race in Middle-Earth). Dwalin then ramps their damage with his hone counters so he can deal as much commander damage as possible. So essentially this deck is a voltron commander "precon" deck built around the Hobbit flavor. This deck building challenge was a really fun little project for me and my friend

Beorn the Fierce

Gandalf, Party Guest

Slinging Spells and doing cool wizard things.

The Master of Lake-town

The Master of Lake-Town can be used as a draw engine by sacrificing him, leaving him in the graveyard, then reanimating him to cheat commander tax. It's mono-black blink, with many extra steps. This deck wants to fill graveyards as fast as possible, attack with creatures early, then reanimate the bigger creatures (which were hopefully milled). The deck includes a few sources of life gain to keep ahead of the cost to reanimate and to draw cards.

Thorin, King of Durin's Folk

This is one of four decks I constructed for this challenge, with the goal of creating an entire board game within the framework of Magic: The Gathering. Here is a YouTube Video I made for this challenge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lX_FYXDmWq4 The four decks are designed to stay together and play against one another as a self-contained environment. They’ve been lightly tested and are by no means perfect, but I’ve tried to create a fair, combat-centric, beginner-friendly experience that captures the world and story of The Hobbit. I spent a frankly unreasonable amount of time trying to recreate story moments, characters, locations, and interactions between all four factions—including rereading The Hobbit (okay, listening to it on Audible) to make sure the decks collectively touch every chapter. The goal isn’t simply to build four thematic Commander decks; it’s to make the four decks interact in ways that allow the story to emerge naturally while you play. If you’re only going to judge one deck, I’ve selected the Dwarf deck, because I think it best showcases the story of The Hobbit through both its playstyle and its win conditions. The deck begins, appropriately, with 13 Dwarves, a Hobbit, and a Wizard, and I made sure the entire Company is represented. The primary plan is to equip the Dwarves and fight your way toward Erebor, but if simply swinging with equipped Dwarves doesn’t get the job done, the deck wants to assemble a sizable pile of Treasure and eventually use Smaug the Magnificent to end the game in suitably cinematic fashion. I even included The Arkenstone as a way to summon Smaug for the final confrontation. The backup win condition is Hellkite Tyrant, which, importantly, isn't legendary and therefore can't be summoned by the Arkenstone. That interaction also demonstrates why these four decks were designed as an insulated environment rather than four unrelated Commander decks. The Bard deck was built to make The Black Arrow a meaningful thematic answer to the Dwarves' dragon endgame, while the Bolg deck contains dragons of its own. That creates an environment where destroying a dragon can genuinely save the game, allowing moments from The Hobbit to emerge naturally through gameplay rather than simply appearing as references printed on the cards. Below is a link to all four decks; this challenge was incredibly rewarding, and I am going to build these 4 decks and invite friends who aren't Magic players to give it a go. Please if you think this project is cool, I would love any feedback. I have added a brief description to each deck and how they interact thematically. https://archidekt.com/decks/25246541/thorins_company_an_unexpected_party https://archidekt.com/decks/25255892/bolgs_company_the_clouds_burst https://archidekt.com/decks/25264385/bards_company_gathering_of_the_clouds https://archidekt.com/decks/25295332/thranduils_company_flies_and_spiders

Beorn the Fierce

Gandalf, Party Guest

Wizard Party is a Jeskai deck that's set up to win by dropping big mana bombs way ahead of curve, thanks to the ability of its commander Gandalf, Party Guest. This deck is full of Legendary Wizards, especially at low mana values, to help you consistently be able to cheat out spells with CMC 6 or greater as soon as possible. Those big mana cheat spells function in a variety of ways to help open the gates for your Wizards to charge through. Since you won't be using your mana to play those cheated spells, there are a variety of higher CMC legendary wizards that can be used to get even more value out of those bomb spells as well as a selection of counter-spells and other miscellaneous removal options to help protect your board. While tutors are typically rare in precons, the thematically appropriate Wizardcycling cards were too fun to not include. The same is true for the two ability copying cards (Harmonic Prodigy and Wizard's Staff), both of which allow you to play two free Gandalf spells per turn. With an estimated deck value right around $140, a land base in line with most precons, no legendary creatures from other Universes Beyond properties, a wide selection of cards from The Hobbit and Tales of Middle-earth, and deck colors that pair well with the three TCC precons, this deck feels like the fourth missing Hobbit precon. Wizard Party should be a fun deck for anyone to pilot, full of big splashy spells that spice things up as you look to clear the path for your Wizards (and their friends) to turn sideways and swing out for victory.

Dáin of the Ancient Halls

Everyone, get in here! Dwarf tribal with Dain leading the way. Attack early, and attack often. Stack damage as much as possible. Use Purphoros, God of the Forge and An Unexpected Party/At the Door for unexpected damage. Put your opponent's feet to the fire with City in Flames and leave them defenseless with Bedlam. You might not win the game, but you will leave you mark and go down swinging.

Thorin, King of Durin's Folk

Why would you amass goblins when you can amass treasure? This budget-friendly* Boros deck, led by Thorin, King of Durin's Folk, is all about playing dwarves, hoarding treasure (and *coveted* jewels), and then using your vast wealth to play politics, defend your treasures, or take the fight to those who yearn to steal what is rightfully yours. It has a few surprising tricks up it's sleeve that will keep experienced players engaged while having a simple enough goal to be new player friendly (play dwarves, make treasures). Here's some things you might do during your game: - Use your treasures without sacrificing them thanks to cards like Inspiring Statuary and Ghirapur Aether Grid. Dwarves can be sneaky! - Get political by using War Cadence after attackers are declared to making blocking difficult, strike a deal with Your Temple Is Under Attack, or activate your Gleaming Splendor to allow others to draw cards. Dwarves can be generous! - Have a bunch of beefy dwarves and want to be even greedier? Play Trove of Temptation which forces other players to attack you but nets you a treasure each turn. If you have Brash Taunter you can reflect the damage back to other players for some fun. Lose too many dwarves? Blasphemous Act and the Brash Taunter still lives, reflects the damage, and you still keep making treasures. - Did someone steal your coveted jewel?? Nab it back with Treasure Nabber when they tap it for mana (which they will inadvertently do without thinking). - Have Bifur enter which doubles dwarf triggers, which doubles treasures production, which pumps the board, and pings opponents. - Swing with a double strike, trample 14/8 Iron Hills Blacksmith with Orcrist that potentially generates a dozen treasure tokens with each hit. - Finish the game with a sneaky Crash Through that gives your dwarves trample, disarm everyone with War Cadence, or use Hit the Mother Lode to generate treasures then sac them to make more treasures with Treasure Vault and ping everyone to death. There are tons of directions for upgrading this deck. Here are a few ideas: - Smaug the Magnificent + Last Light of Durin's Day. Dragon and dragon tutor. Does damage based on the number of treasures you have. Might be worth adding another dragon too as backup for the tutor. - Magda, Brazen Outlaw. Makes treasures when your dwarves tap. - Collector's Vault is fun flavor. - Smothering Tithe if you want to be THAT kind of player. And finally, here are some deck design philosphy notes: - The goal was to provide a solid bracket 2 experience that was easy enough for beginners to pick up but with enough complexity to keep it engaging for more seasoned players. - Adding flavor was really important for me so there are some suboptimal cards. - I made sure there was enough protection and interaction to make it feel like you could safely build and protect the hoard. We aren't trying to win on turn 5. I also didn't want to it to feel too safe so if players want to play aggressively they can. Want to play safely? Send Bofur on an adventure. Want to play passively? Put him on the field. There are many cards like this that offer a "safety" vs "aggro" decision for players to make. - Finally and most importantly, the deck should not only be be fun to play but also fun to play against. *is any commander deck really budget friendly? at the time of writing, this was $145 on tcg player but I expect the price to climb mostly due to gleaming splendor which could be cut to save on costs.

Smaug the Magnificent

Smaug the Impenetrable

This Rakdos deck focuses on triggering Smaug the Impenetrable through tactical non-combat self-damage. Damage spells like Self-Destruct, Blasphemous Act and Chain Reaction damage Smaug while removing enemy creatures to instantly generate massive piles of Treasure tokens. The deck weaponises this explosive wealth through two primary paths: Artifact Token Output Burn: High-impact triggers from cards like Mirkwood Bats, Reckless Fireweaver, and Marionette Apprentice drain opponents as Treasures enter and leave the battlefield. Power Scaling: Cards like Cranial Plating and Nettlecyst scale directly with your artifact count to turn Smaug or your token-generating engines into lethal, game-ending threats. Cash in your tokens as pure ramp resources to cast your high-cost, high-impact threats ahead of the curve. Cards like Fiendlash, Pain For All, Pariah's Shield, Brash Taunter and Wrathful Red Dragon further exploit Smaug's triggered ability, turning him into an outlet for direct damage. Hellkite Tyrant and Desert Were-Worm also provide alternative win conditions to the primary burn strategy.

Bard, King of Dale

Dwalin, Weaponmaster

I've always liked Living Weapon, For Mirrodin!, and Job Select equipment. They come with their own creature built in, so you're never stuck with a weapon and nobody around to hold it. Usually this kind of equipment carries a high mana cost, since you're basically getting two cards in one, and that's why it doesn't see much play. So it's nice that this deck stays pretty cheap for an equipment deck. No self-respecting dwarf would ever pass up a discount on a weapon, or the chance to improve one! That's why I chose Dwalin to command this deck — Hone counters turn every one of these weapons into something worth having. There's real fun in building a board out of forgotten, often-cheap equipment and watching it grow into something dangerous. Same goes for the manabase: Mountains, Plains, and a few cheap duals, with The Lonely Mountain and Dwarven Mine adding some flavour and pulling in extra dwarves along the way. Closing a game out usually comes down to Neyali, Reyav, and Dáin, who all hand out double strike in their own way. Suddenly a handful of scrappy Germs and Rebels is hitting for twice as much. . Dwalin himself can just as easily close it out with commander damage, if you load him up with finely honed gear.

Bard, King of Dale

The Notary Hobbits

Welcome to my deck submission for Prof's Hobbit deck building contest! This is your standard big green stompy deck, but with some hobbit/halfing love. Ramp, ramp, and ramp is the name of the game to fuel into some big x spell creatures to close out the game. Hence why there are hydras, plus I think J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle Earth would've been the perfect setting for hydras. I hope you enjoy!

Dáin of the Ancient Halls

Dwarf tribal deck with Dain of the Ancient Halls as commander, with the only non creature being Purphoros, God of the Forge, due to it still fitting the theme (since fantasy dwarves usually worship similar gods). The goal is to deal as much damage as you possibly can in as little time as possible. You might not win the game, but you'll go down swinging.

Chief of the Wilds

The Chief Warg

Black/Green deck build around the Ferocious mechanic and a spare copy of Radagast

Balin, Loremaster

Blast your opponents away with this incredibly unique deck, while utilizing the power of summoning dwarves and creating copies of your triggered abilities, primarily with Balin, Loremaster! Take the meaning of "throwing your cards at your opponents" to a whole new level!

The Great Goblin

Tried to keep Budget and goblin shenanigans.

Smaug the Magnificent

Bard, King of Dale

Beorn the Fierce

Phlage, Titan of Fire's Fury

Tom Bombadil

___Despite appearances, this is not just an annoying, sloppy meme deck. I can assure you, I fully intend to create and use this build. What this deck is actually about is sacrificing direct defenses to try and shake things up a bit. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ___As I'm sure you've noticed, I have abstained from including many of the tools most players feel are compulsory. Most of that stuff is still there (kind of), in the sagas. You're just gonna have to plan ahead a little more, that's all. No biggie! I mean, you can read minds, right? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ___To be clear, this deck is not built for consistency. It is purposely designed to give you a different path forward every time you run it. I could go off all day about the fun combos I plan to do with these cards, and I know there's plenty of other opportunities I can't see yet. There will likely be terrible dud starts, but that's a risk I'm willing to take. Winning isn't the only way to have fun. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ___As for the price quote, I know it's a bit heavy but I think it's worth it in the long run. If you'd like to reduce costs I've got a list of 15 alternative cards you can swap in to replace the more expensive stuff: - Down, Down to Goblin-Town - Korvold and the Noble Thief - Origin of the Avengers - Ornithopter of Paradise - Summon: Primal Odin - Sylvan Caryatid - Tale of Tinuviel - The Misty Mountains Cold - The Phasing of Zhalfir - The Rise of Sozin/Fire Lord Sozin - The World Spell - Time of Ice - Waking the Trolls - War of the Last Alliance - World War Hulk

Gandalf, Party Guest

Gandalf was delayed.. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqWJ6uf8AGE) The deck plays as a Wizard tribal midrange/spellslinger deck. Early turns build mana and establish legendary Wizards, increasing the size of the spells Gandalf, Party Guest can cast for free. Cheap spells keep the party going, while other Wizards and spell payoffs generate cards, tokens and increasingly large combat buffs. The main finishers are deliberately excessive spells such as Volcanic Vision, River's Rebuke, Soulfire Eruption, Mnemonic Deluge and Apex of Power. Gandalf of the Secret Fire is the alternative commander mainly because he shares the Jeskai colour identity and I wanted an alternative commander from either LOTR or the Hobbit which was limiting. The other Jeskai Middle-earth legends, Aragorn and Éowyn, were already used as commanders in the official Riders of Rohan precon.

Bard, King of Dale

Here's my entry for the Lost precons. Bard is an interesting commander both for his draw ability, but more importantly to me token doubling. So in my head I immediately thought of clues. Nor only does Bard double the clues produced, he also doubles the value each clue. That then led me to Alquist Proft as the Backup Commander (precons. Gotta have 1) who focuses more on the clues themselves for advantage. Cards like Ironheart, Kappa Cannonear, and Mechanized Production mean that your army of clues can be mana rocks, pump, or even a wincon all on their own. That said, of course we needed more than just clues so I added more token generators, but my personal favorites are the few clone spells I added. With Bard's token doubling effect cards like Multiversal Incursion can give you multiple of all your creatures including Bard himself. I'm a bit picky about the actual title of a precon though so I made sure to include a few things to better represent the idea of a precon, to me at least. Multiple upgrade paths; clues, tokens, or clones. Commander and backup that change the playstyle, but most importantly, as a white precon we have to have Zetalpa. All while keeping the cost of the deck (at it's cheapest printings) at less value than the World Shaper precon released around this time last year. I hope you enjoy the deck list, and the ideas behind it. Have a great day!

Bilbo, Thief in the Night

Bilbo and friends are trying to get in with his trusty sting to find some treasure and card draw, calling on artifacts and magics from the loot he finds. Use the appropriate adventure sides of spells and graveyard mechanics like flashback and harmonise to have bilbos discount really take shape, making sure every draw and discard provides extra value. Keeping within the pre con level and $150 price was important to me, there are clear upgrades for the deck that could be added but as something that at its heart is a commander deck for both beginners and experienced players alike i think it works well. Thanks and enjoy!!

Dwalin, Weaponmaster

I did my best to create a deck that would be fun to play, be full of flavor, and use one of the coolest new mechanics in the set Hone Counters. The main plan of attack Is playing artifacts with low equip cost and buffing them with hone counters or things with good etbs that can be equipped later as a bonus . To bolster this plan I added a blink package to safely recur dwalin's and other etbs while also having synergy with some of the dwarfs who care when a dwarf enters the battlefield. The final addition is a small goad sub-theme both on the etb side with Insufferable Balladeer on the etb side and with things like bloodthirsty blade which we can also buff with the hone counters, and the combination of shiny impetus to make us treasures that we can sack with Gloin Dwarf Emissary to keep people nice and goaded and our finishers in taunt from the ramparts and take the bait will hopefully keep our opponents defenses down so our equipped dwarfs can get in for the final push. Flavor wise I wanted the deck to feel Like a bunch of rambunctious dwarves who cant help but start fights and get others involved just as well. I went with deck name that felt like it could be a real precon since my goal was to hit that mark as much as possible.

Bolg, Erebor's Reckoning

Smaug, Wicked Worm

Smaug’s Desolation Smaug, Wicked Worm runs this Rakdos “lost precon” like a very angry protection racket: Goblins do the work, Dragons provide enforcement, and Treasure pays for everything. The deck is designed to play cleanly out of the box through three overlapping themes — Goblins, Dragons and Treasure — without handing the player every optimized combo piece. Smaug and Magda build the hoard, cheap Goblins keep the early turns active, and the Dragon package gives the deck its heavy finishers. The fun starts when those themes begin crossing over. Krenko, Mob Boss + Raphael, Tough Turtle turns every new Goblin into direct damage. Goro-Goro, Disciple of Ryusei gives the horde haste while also bridging the Goblin and Dragon plans. Brightstone Ritual and Skirk Prospector can turn a board full of Goblins into the mana needed to release the bigger Dragons. And if simply attacking with Goblins becomes too conventional, Descent of the Dragons provides the perfectly sensible option of turning the workforce into an air force. Smaug’s other forms are hidden further up the chain of command. Smaug the Magnificent rewards a huge Treasure hoard, while Smaug the Impenetrable combines particularly unpleasantly with damage-based board wipes and Pain for All — what looks like a reset button can instead leave Smaug alive, generate a pile of Treasure, and hurt everyone else. There are smaller bits of mischief throughout: Goblin Matron and Sarkhan’s Triumph let the player choose which part of the deck they need, Fin Fang Foom rewards the land/artifact interaction package, and My Precious can protect an important creature while fitting the Hobbit theme perfectly. The goal was to make something that feels like a real Commander precon: playable immediately, slightly rough around the edges, with several directions a player could upgrade rather than one solved strategy. On the surface it is Goblins, Dragons and Treasure. Underneath, somebody has clearly been wiring things together that probably should not have been connected.

Thranduil, the Elvenking

The Queen of Dale

Overwhelm your opponents with both card draw and bodies as every noncreature spell they cast creeps you closer to your win conditions! Finish them off by pumping your board to a massive size, or by reanimating all the value pieces you lost along the way! A 150 dollar budget mono white tokens deck with The Queen of Dale at the helm, and an alternate commander in Belladonna Took. The deck contains ZERO double faced cards as most precons do, and the 10 unique double-faced tokens that are usually included would be able to support all the tokens needed for the deck.

Elrond, Moon-Reader

Elrond, Moon-Reader features as the main commander for this list, leveraging the activated abilites of the many mana-focused creatures to draw cards while progressing your mana pool. Use cards like Jodah's Avenger or Mothdust Changeling to ensure Elrond triggers on your opponent's turns to dig deep into the deck, then drop high mana cards like Agent of Treachery or Scourge of Fleets alongside Elrond's secondary ability to dominate the game. A package of moonfolk have been included as well to provide a small lands-matters subtheme to give the deck some spice. Use cards like Wonderscape Sage or Ghost Town to ensure you're always triggering landfall on cards like Roil Elemental or Retreat to Coralhelm. Gandalf, Shadow's Foe features as an optional substitute commander for this deck in typical precon fashion, with cards included to focus on more of a blink strategy to go there and back again. *Please note that creatures tapping for mana, cycling or using encore are considered activated abilities and will trigger Elrond.

Bard, King of Dale

All about recruiting your fellow humans to your side. Follow your heart and you can never be misguided. Always remember to support your fellow man.

Thorin, King of Durin's Folk

Great Goblin, Foul-Hearted

Generate a vast army of menacing orcs & goblins and equip them with all the gear they need to fight, fight, win! Look out for wacky aids like smoke bombs, wizard's rockets, and... hot soup? Ahh, yes. We may have forgotten to mention that this army is an unblockable threat! Shrouded amassing forces guarantee that new recruits are at the ready for the next charge.

Bard, King of Dale

An army under Bard, King of Dale, draws strength from every ally to summon massive reinforcements and overwhelm foes with unified, unstoppable strength in battle. Draw cards and recruit Humans to make a massive board to bury your opponents.

Belladonna Took

let belladonna pop off, pop off when she pops off

Chief of the Wilds

Hunt with Ferocious Wargs. The deck focuses on the wolf tribal, as well as "Ferocious" and abilities akin to it. The primary commander is "Chief of the Wilds" and the secondary commander is "The Chief Warg." CotW works thematically for the tribal theme, TCW works thematically for the "Ferocious" theme, so both should be interchangeable based on your personal preference. The deck was constructed with the same 150$ average budget in mind. Though price can and will fluctuate after publishing this deck, it will hopefully even out as the Chief of the Wilds becomes more widely available with "Battle of the Five Armies" release.

Prosper, Tome-Bound

Long May He Reign Prosper, Tome-Bound as Mollymauk Tealeaf A Mollymauk Tealeaf–themed Rakdos deck built around fortune, spectacle, blood, and living like tomorrow isn’t guaranteed. Prosper represents Molly, reading his fate through cards exiled from the top of the library. Cards like Theater of Horrors, Commune with Lava, Valakut Exploration, Light Up the Stage, and Stolen Strategy turn each turn into a tarot reading—you don’t always know what the cards will give you, but Molly makes the most of whatever fate puts in front of him. The carnival comes alive through Rakdos, the Showstopper, Mahadi, Kalain, Storm-Kiln Artist, and Professional Face-Breaker, while Prosper’s Treasures fuel the next performance. Mayhem Devil, Blood Artist, Blood Pact, Village Rites, and other sacrifice effects represent Molly’s Blood Hunter abilities and willingness to pay a price for a little more power. Bloodforged Battle-Axe, Two-Handed Axe, and the deck’s other equipment evoke Molly’s flashy fighting style and twin scimitars, while Malakir Rebirth, Supernatural Stamina, and Undying Malice lean into one of the strangest parts of his story: death isn’t necessarily the end. The goal isn’t to perfectly predict the future. Read the cards. Make some coin. Spill some blood. Put on one hell of a show. Long may he reign.

Elrond, Master of Healing & Thranduil, Sindarin Liege // Silvan Rally

Manipulate the top of your library to play lands on each of your turns. Let the Scry lead to landfall

Thorin, King of Durin's Folk

This deck is an attempt to combine my three favorite themes of the Hobbit: Dwarves, their military devices, and their treasure. My thoughts were to get out all those cool Dwarves we love to see, make lots of treasures to beef them up and cast the important stuff, and give them equipment to keep them alive. Hope you enjoy