Here Are The Best Hobbit Cards For Commander In MTG

Published Aug 19, 2026, 10:57 AM EDT Niall (pronounced Ny-ul) is a UK-based writer who has been writing about Magic: The Gathering throughout his entire career, with everything from new set breakdowns and individual deck guides to offering his opinions on the state of formats and the general direction of the iconic TCG. Niall also has a rich history covering triple-A releases, sports games, and PC hardware. Commander is still thriving, and a healthy batch of new cards just got added to Magic: The Gathering's premier multiplayer format. The Hobbit may be a smaller set, but it's still packing quite the punch, and there are more than a few great Commander picks from the set. In this guide, I'll be running through ten legendary creatures that are well worth building around as a Commander. Each one must be viable to build an entire 100-card deck around, as well as being fun to play more so than viable in a competitive setting. The Queen Of Dale A card that was earmarked for Standard, Limited, and Commander play the moment it was revealed, The Queen of Dale brings the new Recruit mechanic to the table, and even though you'll be building mono-white, it's a great ability to have for looting through your deck with what is effectively white's answer to Connive. Costing just two mana (1W, 1C), The Queen of Dale is a slightly fragile 2/1 when she enters, but the first time each opponent plays their first noncreature spell each turn, you get to Recruit. This means you draw a card and discard a card, and if you discard a nonland card, you create a 1/1 Human Soldier creature token. The Master Of Lake-Town From mono-white to mono-black with this next pick, The Master of Lake-Town, a three-mana (2B, 1C) 3/2 with Deathtouch who has a player mill cards equal to the value of life they lose whenever they are dealt damage. When The Master of Lake-town dies, you may draw a card for each graveyard that has seven or more cards in it. So, a very strong milling strategy with card draw potential when it leaves the battlefield? The Master of Lake-town is a very decent contender for underrated Commanders, and building a Commander deck around milling and damage is extremely viable with some of the mono-black options on the market. Yes, it would be easier in an Orzhov deck, and feel free to include this card as an option if you're building one, but as a lead, this card is still a ton of fun to play with. The Great Goblin While I was extremely excited about The Great Goblin because it was the card I previewed for TheGamer, it turns out that I wasn't just viewing it through rose-tinted glasses, and the card is actually a great pull, especially for Commander. This three-mana (2B/R, 1C) 3/2 legendary deals two damage to a target opponent whenever you put one or more counters on a Goblin, Orc, or Army you control. Then, whenever a Goblin, Orc, or Army you control dies, you may exile the top card of your library and play it until the end of your next turn. This is a powerful card when paired with the Blight ability and wave of Goblins released in Lorwyn Eclipsed, as well as those released during Tales of Middle-earth and The Hobbit. There's some major fun to be had building a deck around this card as a Commander, and I can't wait to put my first attempt together. Belladonna Took This might be a pick straight out of left field, but I like Belladonna Took as a cheap, mono-white Commander. Costing just two mana (1W, 1C), she enters play as a 2/2 and comes with a three-stage ability. Whenever a token you control enters, you gain one life provided it's the first time the ability has resolved this turn. If it's the second time, you draw a card, and if it's the third time, you put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control. White decks aren't short of ways to build up strong token armies, and if you can trigger Belladonna Took three times in a turn, every creature token you have gets a +1/+1 counter. I'll admit it screams aggression, and it could be a difficult method in mid-to-late game situations, but it's still a fun concept to build around. Bard The Bowman Another card that caught players' attention during the preview season, Bard the Bowman is an ideal leader for blue-white decks, costing just three mana (1W, 1U, 1C), letting you put a +1/+1 counter on a target creature any time you draw your second card of a turn. The target creature also gains Lifelink until the end of the turn. Bard enters as a 1/3 with Reach, giving you some defense against flying creatures, and his ability works even on opponent turns, so if you set your board up right to generate some card draw outside of your turn, you'll be dishing out the +1/+1 counters very consistently. Gollum, Riddle Master Another mono-block option, Gollum, Riddle Master is a two-mana (1B, 1C) 3/1 who has you choose odd or even when it enters. Whenever an opponent then casts a spell with the mana value of the quality you choose, you choose one of the following options that hasn't already been chosen during that turn. Put a +1/+1 counter on Gollum Each opponent loses two life, and you gain two life Draw a card Think of it as a bit like a creature version of Monument to Endurance, working off spells cast rather than cards you personally discard. It's an effective card to use as a Commander due to its low cost, general game disruption as players become cautious about casting spells, and it just generally meshes well with a bunch of black staple Commander cards. Chief Of The Wilds A tribal Commander at heart, Chief of the Wilds is a four-mana (1B, 1G, 2C) 4/4 with Menace that gains two +1/+1 counters every time another Wolf you control enters. On top of this, whenever the ability of another Wolf or battle you control triggers, it triggers an additional time. I would have loved to see this ability also trigger on itself, but it very clearly states 'another' Wolf or battle. Still, a 4/4 gaining an additional +2/+2 whenever another Wolf or battle enters is very powerful, and while Wolves aren't the most dominant creature type in Magic, there's still more than enough to build a dangerous deck with Chief of the Wilds as the Commander. Smaug The Impenetrable Another card that got players extremely excited when it was first revealed was Smaug the Impenetrable. This hulking seven-mana (1B, 1R, 5C) Dragon enters play as an 8/7 with Flying, Indestructible, and Haste. On top of this, whenever Smaug is dealt damage, it creates treasure tokens equal to the damage it is dealt. There are more than enough ways to ramp up to seven mana for a Commander when using red and black mana, and once Smaug is on the battlefield, he's incredibly hard to remove, with players having to resort to exile spells as a priority. Even just getting Smaug on the board for one or two turns, and ensuring he is dealt some damage to create some treasure tokens, will help sustain your deck for the next few turns and maybe even get him right back out on the battlefield. Bard, King Of Dale Another Bard card is up next, and this one is considerably more expensive at six mana (1W, 1U, 4C), but it enters as a 3/5 with Reach and Vigilance. Also, whenever you draw a card except for the first one during your draw step, you draw two cards instead. Further still, whenever you create one or more tokens, you create twice that many tokens instead. This card is an absolute engine that your opponents cannot allow to get rolling. Luckily for you, there are plenty of ways to offer protection against removal or outright counter it in the white and blue mana pool. Thranduil, The Elvenking The final card I'm picking is Thranduil, the Elvenking. Despite being part of the base set, this card has Commander written all over it. Costing five mana (1B, 1G, 1U, 2C) and entering play as a 5/6, Thranduil has all the activated abilities of all Elf cards in your graveyard. You can also generate card draw and graveyard manipulation with the second half of his ability, which states that whenever another legendary Elf you control enters, you draw two cards and discard a card. This card has a ton of potential, but requires quite a bit of management when it's on the battlefield to make sure you're not missing triggers and ability opportunities, so I wouldn't recommend it to a newer player. Franchise Magic: The Gathering Original Release Date August 5, 1993 Publisher Wizards of the Coast Designer(s) Richard Garfield