Continuing the Journey with The Hobbit

The Hobbit is a few short days away. While we don't have every card yet (as of writing), we have a majority of them. Now that a good bit of the set is out, let's look at some of the more interesting cards.

Most Decrepit Old Bird

Most Decrepit Old Bird is a super-exciting return to the threshold mechanic.

While a one-mana 1/1 flier isn't anything to write home about, its adventure mode makes it an excellent card to pair with cards like Arclight Phoenix in Pioneer or beyond. If your deck can fill the graveyard fast, MDOB can become a real threat as a 2/2 flier that activates its threshold mechanic and gives you an extra card.

I suspect that the card's playability is hampered because Speak Secrets is a Sorcery. It would be excellent if that were an instant. As a Sorcery, you're forced to decide during early turns whether to leave a counterspell or a piece of interaction or to commit to Speak Secrets.

This card looks excellent, but it may be a bit dated for non-Standard formats. In Standard, I could see this making appearances in decks like Izzet Prowess since it sets up Flow State and provides another one-drop that's not a liability into removal, as later copies will draw extra cards rather than be mostly dead like Elusive Otter.

I'm excited to try this one in Izzet Phoenix in Pioneer if that format ever gets any love. I'm also excited to try it in Standard Izzet decks.

This is one of the set's stronger cards, but that's not saying much.

Bilbo's Gambit

There is an interesting remand or reprieve effect here.

While Bilbo's Gambit doesn't replace itself like Reprieve does, it can do a lot of work at stopping an opponent from finishing a combo turn. It also works well against sweepers, especially cheap ones they could cast again on their turn, or even a more expensive one later in the game.

You could always play Silence and cast it during their upkeep, preventing them from doing any of these things. You have to cast Silence proactively, before they show you what they're doing. Bilbo's Gambit can be used reactively, and you can hold it up while holding a flash creature.

This card is mostly niche and far from a staple in any deck. Regardless, I won't be surprised if white aggressive decks adopt a copy or two as versatile interaction and as a card that can function in spots where you lack extra sideboard room.

It's not a broken card nor a staple. It's just a new, solid tool to chew your opponent's turn. I'd expect to see it mostly in sideboards but potentially across all formats.

Kili, the Resourceful

Kili is a powerful payoff for a deck focusing on equipment. It helps activate Storied due to being a Legendary. Once you have Kili and an equipment, you're two-thirds of the way there, so it doesn't take much to finish and create an Enduring Story.

Colossus Hammer is the obvious card to pair with Kili. It's cheap to cast, draws an extra card, and packs a punch with the first equip. Between Swords in this set and older sets, as well as a bevy of other strong equipment, there's a home for Kili as both a powerful cost reduction tool and a value creature.

We may even see Kili in Modern with Colossus Hammer because of its efficiency and flexibility to play a fast or slow game.

It's a strong card that makes you re-evaluate every piece of equipment in any legal format.

Fateful Discovery

While this card is likely too expensive to see real Constructed play, it's potentially so powerful that it could break that paradigm.

One historic thing about artifacts is that many produce mana. If they also draw a card every time they enter, then that seems ripe for abuse, as you can fill your deck with artifact mana, draw cards, make mana, and maybe cast a Hurkyl's Recall to do it again.

Fateful Discovery is, without question, a true build-around that might have a shot in any format with enough cheap or free artifact mana spells. It's far more likely to see play in formats like Commander and Vintage. It doesn't specify non-token, so there are ways to make treasures and start ripping through your entire deck. This screams Vintage Cube, but I could see it being fun in other cubes. I'm hoping there's even more to do with the card.

It will be hard to find a card I like more than this one in this set, despite it likely being too cost-inefficient to see real competitive play. This is a card I'll have fun with in various Limited formats.

Beorn the Fierce

As far as five-drops go, Beorn the Fierce is fairly strong. In optimal conditions, Beorn comes down on turn four with a mana creature, turning that mana dork into a 3/3. If you were able to put a bear into play on a previous turn, you'll also draw two cards. I'm not sure how many passable bears we have in Standard. I'm guessing there aren't many, so Beorn will have to act alone to get to three.

Unfortunately, as cool as this card is, it will be too expensive for current Standard. It's acceptable if you can stick it and immediately draw two cards. What Beorn ends up doing is threatening to win the game in a turn or two if left untouched. This sounds great, but that's basically every five-mana card, and the format is so fast that most of those won't see play either.

It's a cool design and a powerful card that will be a nightmare in Limited. It's too weak to see Constructed play because it doesn't put +1/+1 counters and once it dies you lose the power and toughness buff.

Gandalf, Golin's Bane

While an interesting version of Gandalf, this card ultimately looks weak.

Flameshape lets you draw two cards if you build your deck so that you're constantly putting cheap Wizards into play. We've seen competitive Wizard decks in several formats, especially Arena-only, though I'm not sure this card is better than other things you could do in those decks. Additionally, this card is, at best, supplementary as a Wizard payoff. It is not a reason to build around Wizards.

In theory, Gandalf the creature can hit pretty hard with a bunch of cantrips that Wizard decks typically would play. It's also a weak three-mana creature that is held together by Flameshape giving you enough card advantage where I could envision a world where we play Gandalf. I'm still skeptical in current large Standard that borderline cards like Gandalf ever make their way into top-tier Standard decks.

I'd love for Gandalf to be a good card worth playing and building around. However, because current Magic cards are so strong, I'll need to see more incentive to play eight or more other Wizards to make Gandalf pop.

It's a cool card, but it's not quite there.

The Hobbit looks on the weaker side of sets so far. I like how the equipment packages look, at least for Limited, so I'm curious to see what else comes out. I'm really excited to get my hands on a new Limited set.