AI Summary
5 min readIn a single turn, Tom, Bert, and William can turn two mana into drawing six cards. The three trolls, a single five-mana legendary creature from The Hobbit set, let you pay one mana to sacrifice another creature, draw cards equal to its power, then discard one. When they die, they return to the battlefield as an artifact—meaning a kill spell barely slows them down. This is the engine at the heart of one of the most explosive commanders in the set, and it is far from the only one.
The Troll Engine: Power Matters and Graveyard Synergy
Tom, Bert, and William (TBW) are a Golgari (black-green) deck built around sacrificing high-power creatures for massive card advantage. The key is finding creatures with high power for low mana cost. Cards like Slumbering Trudge (one green mana for a 6/6 that enters tapped with stun counters—irrelevant when you're sacrificing it immediately) or Kalonian Hydra (three mana for a 7/7) let you draw six or seven cards for two mana total. Bygone Colossus (three mana for a 9/9) draws nine. The deck doesn't need to recast these expensive creatures; it just needs to hit the "go button" once.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (01:33) **Tom, Bert, and William (Trolls)** - Three-commander Power Matters graveyard deck that draws a ton of cards by sacrificing big creatures.
- 2 (13:43) **Smaug the Impenetrable** - An 8/7 indestructible haste dragon that creates untapped treasures equal to non-combat damage dealt to it.
- 3 (20:38) **Bard, King of Dale** - A six-mana token doubler and card draw engine that turns every draw into two and every token creation into double.
- 4 (30:42) **Bayorn the Fierce** - A bear commander that gives +2/+2 to other bears, makes one creature a bear each combat, and draws two cards if you control three or more bears.
- 5 (37:09) **Elrond, Moon Reader** - A mono-blue commander that draws a card the first time each turn you activate a creature's ability, and can exile and return two of your permanents.
- 6 (44:34) **Gandalf, Party Guest** - At combat, you may cast an instant or sorcery with mana value X or less for free, where X is twice the number of legendary wizards you control.
- 7 (56:24) **Radagast of Rosquell** - Mono-green flash commander that makes the first creature you cast each turn cost 2 less and have flash.
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Show Notes
These commanders may be from Middle-earth, but their power level is anything but mid! We’re breaking down the best new legends to build around from Magic: The Gathering | The Hobbit. We’ll lay out all the synergies and strategies you need to make your enduring story tell the tale of endless Commander victories. So don’t miss out on any of this precious info.
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Relevant Links:
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