MTG The Hobbit came out exactly a week ago, and with several potential staples for Standard and Modern, plus some very interesting Commander cards, the set offers plenty of noteworthy pulls. To help you know what to keep an eye on, we’ve rounded up the ten most expensive cards in the set at the time of writing.
This list is based on the regular frame versions found in Play Boosters, as they are the most common, but for the sake of completeness we’ve also included the Book Cover versions found in Collector Boosters for comparison.
Also, since The Hobbit just hit shelves, it’s worth keeping in mind that the prices below each card are dynamic and could fluctuate quite a bit, which might shake up the order of this ranking.
10 | Fateful Discovery
The mana cost of Fateful Discovery is on the higher side, but triggering it is an absolute breeze, especially considering it works with tokens. Alongside Commanders like Urza, Chief Artificer, it can enable completely off-the-charts synergies and get out of hand in a hurry.
On top of working directly with artifact-heavy builds and Treasure strategies, Fateful Discovery is bound to find a home in plenty of Commander decks. At around €5, the price still feels low compared to the card's actual potential—it wouldn't be surprising to see it climb over time.
9 | Dancing from Dark to Dawn
We've seen plenty of variations of the "Landfall – create a creature" effect in Magic, but Dancing from Dark to Dawn is probably one of the best ever printed. The bodies it generates are 2/2 Bears, which naturally synergizes with legends like Ayula, Queen Among Bears. You can also abuse the usual combos with cards like Kodama of the East Tree and bounce lands.
But what really sets this newcomer apart is its first ability, which lets you bank extra counters over the course of the game and turn on creatures like Evolution Witness at will. There's no shortage of combos here either, including infinite mana loops with Cloudstone Curio and Crystalline Crawler. Between the raw value it provides and its potential as a combo engine, the current price tag is a solid reflection of its true worth.
8 | Bard, King of Dale
Considering how popular token doublers are in Magic: The Gathering, it's no surprise that Bard, King of Dale has already turned a lot of heads. But Bard doesn't stop there: in most situations, he also doubles your card draw. Exploiting both of these abilities requires next to no effort, especially when paired with cards like King T'Challa.
The only real limits for Bard, King of Dale are his mana cost and color identity. Both are significant factors, especially the latter, and they will likely put a ceiling on the card's value. Even so, it's simply too powerful to remain a bulk card for long.
7 | Beorn the Fierce
The competition isn't exactly fierce, but Beorn the Fierce is almost certainly the best new Commander for a Bear Typal strategy. Huge stats and an anthem effect would already make for a great start, but it's the ability to draw cards that really pushes him into another league.
Beorn is also highly interesting because he can turn non-Bear creatures into Bears, allowing you to run utility pieces like Eternal Witness and Scavenging Ooze. This lets you maintain typal synergies without having to rely solely on Maskwood Nexus as a fixer. Outside of that specific niche, he's unlikely to see much play, but within it, he's strong enough to easily justify the price.
6 | The Arkenstone
As the ultimate shiny MacGuffin of The Hobbit, it's only fitting that The Arkenstone is one of the most expensive cards in the set. The Adventure half is already a solid tutor for Commander, capable of grabbing value engines like Delney, Streetwise Lookout or utility creatures like Loran of the Third Path.
The real draw, though, is the five-mana artifact side, which shines in Token decks like those led by Baylen, the Haymaker, as well as creature-heavy strategies in general. This versatility has earned it a respectable price tag, which should hold up well over time as more legendary targets are printed.
5 | Orcrist, Goblin-cleaver
Orcrist, Goblin-cleaver looks like an absolute auto-include for go-wide typal decks in Commander. Commanders like Krenko, Mob Boss and The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl can abuse this card like crazy, easily generating double-digit Treasures on a single swing. Add token support like Doubling Season and Academy Manufactor into the mix, and things can spiral out of control very quickly.
Even outside of typal strategies, Orcrist, Goblin-cleaver looks incredibly appealing, for example as a natural addition to Treasure-focused decks led by Vihaan, Goldwaker. It also boasts serious combo potential, enabling infinite combat steps with Aggravated Assault and infinite turns with Time Sieve. Its striking similarities to an expensive staple like The Reaver Cleaver make its position near the €10 mark anything but an accident.
4 | Smaug the Magnificent
Smaug gets not one, but two excellent Commander options in The Hobbit, alongside a fantastic card for the 99 with Smaug the Magnificent. Whether you are running a Dragon Typal list like The Ur-Dragon or a Treasure deck like Magda, Brazen Outlaw, you shouldn't have any trouble finding a spot for this absolute monster.
Standard is quite fast right now, but the combination of ramp, removal, and an efficient body provided by Smaug might still be enough for him to find a home there. Especially after the recent bans of Badgermole Cub and Stormchaser's Talent, which will hopefully slow down the format, it would be weird if red decks ignored him entirely. As the premier version of one of the set's most iconic characters, its spot above €10 is well earned.
3 | The Queen of Dale
It's clear that Wizards has started designing certain cards with cEDH directly in mind, and The Queen of Dale is a prime example. Operating similarly to popular engines like Mystic Remora, she offers a steady stream of card selection as your opponents interact. She also puts bodies on the board, helping to fuel cards like Diabolic Intent and triggering Commanders like Tymna, the Weaver and Marneus Calgar.
Outside of cEDH, The Queen of Dale has real Constructed potential, where she could find a home in Standard Selesnya Gearhulk decks. She might even push further, perhaps as a setup tool in Modern Goryo's Vengeance, helping to bin Atraxa, Grand Unifier quickly. A price point around €14 isn't cheap, but a card with such obvious staple potential rarely plummets in the long run.
2 | Bilbo, Thief in the Night
The new mythic incarnation of Bilbo looks like a serious contender for multiple formats, boasting potential in both Commander and Constructed. In the former, his cost-reduction ability creates massive synergy with Commanders like Green Goblin and Glarb, Calamity's Augur. It also enables several combos, such as drawing your entire deck with Sensei's Divining Top and The Reality Chip.
In Constructed, his role as a spiritual successor to Dreadhorde Arcanist could easily earn him a spot in Standard Izzet decks. Re-casting cheap interaction like Boomerang Basics and draw spells like Flow State gives these archetypes some highly welcome resilience. We might even see him show up in older formats, perhaps as a tool for Modern Prowess. With this wide range of applications, €20 a copy feels like a natural price tag for such a versatile card.
1 | Gleaming Splendor
Like an unholy fusion of Smothering Tithe and Faerie Mastermind, Gleaming Splendor is one of the most obvious new Commander staples we've seen in a long time. Whether you're playing in Bracket 2 or at a cEDH table, it should easily net you several Treasures per turn cycle, given how common card draw is in modern Commander. At just two mana, it also lands much earlier than similar engines like Monologue Tax.
That ability alone would probably be enough to make Gleaming Splendor highly playable, but the card also offers a neat political draw ability. You can use it to strike deals with opponents or simply to trigger your own Treasure generation whenever you need it. It even serves as an outlet for infinite mana, allowing you to mill out the entire table and snatch a victory at instant speed that is incredibly difficult to stop.
Given its sheer efficiency, it's hard to imagine any white-aligned Commander deck not at least considering it going forward. With that in mind, its price tag near €30—which currently makes it the most expensive new card from MTG The Hobbit in its base version—is simply the logical result.
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Partial English source: https://mtgrocks.com/
