For all of the controversy around Magic: The Gathering’s Universes Beyond sets, we imagine a lot of people were very excited for a return to Middle-Earth when The Hobbit was announced.
Now, ahead of launch, we’re still wondering where those Commander Decks are, but we can console ourselves with some absolutely awesome artwork and some really cool new cards.
Before we cover the set’s priciest cards, we’re going via TCGplayer pricing, and there’s no amount attached to the One Ring just yet.
The Most Valuable Cards In The Hobbit’s Magic: The Gathering Set
10 – Smaug, Wicked Worm (Borderless) (Surge Foil) – $120
Smaug, Wicked Worm (Borderless) (Surge Foil)
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It wouldn’t be a Hobbit list without Smaug, and he’ll appear again, don’t you worry. This version of Smaug is a five-cost flying dragon that creates X tapped treasure tokens where X is the number of artifacts your opponents control.
Paying mana costs with treasure then nets you card draw, at the cost of 1 life each time. This covetous dragon is going for around $120.
9 – Bard, King of Dale (Borderless) (Surge Foil) – $140
Bard, King of Dale (Borderless) (Surge Foil)
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Slightly pricier than Smaug is the Borderless, Surge Foil treatment of Bard, King of Dale. A six-cost 3/5 with reach and vigilance, it doubles your card draw outside of draw steps, and doubles up counters, too.
You can get this version for around $140 at the time of writing, and it’s actually climbing.
8 – Thorin, Mountain-king (Borderless) (Surge Foil) – $150
Thorin, Mountain-king (Borderless) (Surge Foil)
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Another book cover, Thorin, Mountain-King is core to the story of The Hobbit, and this Dwarf Noble attaches equipment to one of your creatures for free.
When one or more pieces of equipment become attached to that creature this way, that creature deals damage equal to its power to up to one target creature. It’s also a 3/4 body with Trample, and is selling for around $150.
7 – Thranduil, the Elvenking (Borderless) (Surge Foil) – $160
Thranduil, the Elvenking (Borderless) (Surge Foil)
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Another book cover treatment, Thranduil, the Elvenking is a 5/6 that has all activated abilities of Elf cards in your graveyard.
It also allows you to draw cards and discard a card when another legendary Elf enters, making it ideal for typal synergies — and green and blue have a ton of access to Elves. It’s around $160.
6 – The Queen of Dale (Showcase) (Surge Foil) – $180
The Queen of Dale (Showcase) (Surge Foil)
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Kicking off our list, this version of The Queen of Dale is sitting at $180 and lets you recruit when your opponents cast noncreature spells.
Recruit, you say? This mechanic allows you to draw and discard a card, creating a 1/1 white Human Soldier token if you discard a nonland card. You can swiftly ramp up your side of the board (and your graveyard) if you’re recruiting for every noncreature spell, especially at a cost of just two mana.
5 – Smaug the Magnificent (Borderless) – $200
Smaug the Magnificent (Borderless)
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One of the most striking visuals in the set, Smaug the Magnificent’s borderless treatment is going for around $200.
It doesn’t say it on this version of the card, but this card deals damage equal to the number of Treasures you control to any target, be that a creature or a player. And, at the beginning of your upkeep, you get a Treasure token, too. All of that, plus it’s a 4/3 with flying and haste.
4 – Gandalf, Goblins’ Bane (Borderless) (Surge Foil) – $250
Gandalf, Goblins’ Bane (Borderless) (Surge Foil)
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Gandalf, Goblins’ Bane was always going to be popular, but this version of the iconic Wizard is useful, too. Not only can he be cast as a 2/3 Avatar Wizard who gains +1/+1 with noncreature spells and pings opponents for damage, but he can act as a Sorcery, too.
Flameshape lets you exile two cards from your library and play them as long as you control a Wizard. He’s close to breaking the $250 mark with this book cover version.
3 – The Arkenstone (Borderless) (Surge Foil) – $300
The Arkenstone (Borderless) (Surge Foil)
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The MacGuffin before the One Ring, The Arkenstone is a Legendary Artifact that powers up your creatures and nets you end-of-turn card draw.
You can play it as a Sorcery, too, which lets you search for a legendary creature card and put it into your hand. It’s $305 right now.
2 – Smaug the Magnificent (Showcase) (Surge Foil) – $310
Smaug the Magnificent (Showcase) (Surge Foil)
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More Smaug, anyone? Functionally the same as the version mentioned above, this version shows the fearsome dragon napping on a pile of gold and treasure.
It’s selling for around $310 right now.
1 – Gleaming Splendor (Borderless) (Surge Foil) – $1000
Gleaming Splendor (Borderless) (Surge Foil)
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Going to the $1000 mark is Gleaming Splendor, an Enchantment that gets you Treasure Tokens as players draw their second card on a turn.
As the artwork suggests, this pairs nicely with Smaug, The Magnificent if you’re playing red and white, and you can even pay additional mana to force other players to draw a card. It’s $1000 right now.
Lloyd Coombes is an experienced freelancer in tech, gaming and fitness seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar and many more. He’s a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife’s dismay.