Magic: The Gathering is already gearing up for its very next set, as the halo glow of Marvel Super Heroes fades. If you’ve not had time to catch up, the train has already left the station: the preview season for The Hobbit is here, and it’s not stopping for anyone.
When this set arrives, you can expect a new cohort of cards inspired by the classic JRR Tolkien novel. Where the Lord of the Rings-themed set introduced Frodo, Sam, Pippin, Merry and the rest of the crew who brought the One Ring to Mordor and saved Middle-earth, The Hobbit set will introduce the troublemakers who started the drama in the first place.
That includes Hobbit protagonist Bilbo Baggins, his cohort of rowdy Dwarves, Smaug the Dragon, the Lake-men, the Woodland Elves, and more. Of course, MTG players will already have been introduced to Gollum and Gandalf, and a few other of the key players in the events of The Hobbit.
All can be found across this smaller Universes Beyond MTG set, which comprises booster and collector booster packs, two scene boxes and various bundles. (There are no commander decks this time around.)
Ahead of the full reveal for the new set, ScreenHub has one exclusive card to preview, relating to one of the main parties privy to the early discovery of the One Ring, and the battle against Smaug.
Please welcome: Bard’s Company.
MTG The Hobbit exclusive card preview – quick links
Bard’s Company, and the strength of Humans
Bard’s Company is a four-mana (two generic mana, one blue mana, one white mana) 2/3 Creature – Human Citizen which is available in two treatments: regular ol’ MTG style by Jarel Threat, and a lovely full art style by Denman Rooke.
In either form, it’s a fairly powerful creature, with multi-modal impact on the battlefield. If you’re considering building a deck around the iconic Bard the Bowman (who will likely be a Legendary Creature that’ll synergise with other Humans), you’ll want this card in your deck.
First up, if you’ve already got another Human played on the battlefield, Bard’s Company has Flash, which means it can enter at Instant speed. That’s great to block any sudden attacks where needed, although you might like to keep Bard’s Company alive where possible, as it has additional benefits.
The most obvious is that it buffs all other creatures – not just Humans. Any other creature you play will automatically get +1/+1 to its stats, giving you a boost until Bard’s Company exits.
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The new recruit mechanic
In addition, the card has a novel mechanic: recruit.
Whenever Bard’s Company enters or attacks, you may recruit. This is a bit like the existing connive mechanic, with a twist. When you recruit, you can draw a card, then discard a card. If you discarded a nonland card, you can create a 1/1 white Human Soldier creature token.
It’s a nice, flavourful mechanic. You’re essentially adding to your armies every time you play this card, or it attacks. Given it’s a white card, you can also lean heavily into flicker-type cards (Cloudshift, Ephemerate, Conjurer’s Closet, Another Round) to repeat recruit as many times as you’d like, creating an army of Human Soldiers to buff.
The Hobbit set will be defined by factions
For its cost, this card is particularly handy, with its multi-pronged impact giving you an array of benefits for any Human decks. As mentioned, you will need to build those decks yourselves, as MTG: The Hobbit doesn’t come with any pre-cons, unlike its Lord of the Rings predecessor, but there are clear lines to be drawn.
We expect this upcoming set will be defined by its various factions, with helpful synergies between its Humans, Elves and Dwarves. This is just one tool in the arsenal of the Humans, and they’ll need all the help they can get when facing off with other factions in their travels.
In the coming weeks, we’ll be seeing most of this new set revealed, ahead of its anticipated launch in pre-release next month. We’ll have much more on MTG: The Hobbit in future.
