This past weekend saw the prerelease for The Hobbit and today I'm happy to share my second brew from this new set. I may eventually put together a Dwarf kindred list, and I'm also thinking about Halflings after seeing a few of the previews, but today's list is centered around a very famous Dragon.

Any fan of J.R.R. Tolkien knows about Smaug. The story of The Hobbit is about Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf the Grey, a dozen Dwarves, and their quest to The Lonely Mountain where a Dragon named Smaug sits atop a hoard of stolen treasure. The big question is... which Smaug should I build my EDH deck around?

Three Unique Smaug Commanders to Choose From

Smaug, the Great Calamity can be sent on an Adventure to Spew Flame for , and then can be cast out of exile for a whopping seven mana. That seems like a steep cost for a 5/5 Flying Red Dragon, even if he does have a great name. Smaug the Magnificent is a four mana 4/3 Red Dragon that gives me a Treasure on my upkeep and has an attack trigger to deal damage equal to the number of Treasures I control. Of the two, I prefer the latter, but there are better options.

Smaug, Wicked Worm is another 5/5 Flying Dragon in Black and Red with an enter the battlefield ability that is reminiscent of a banned card - Dockside Extortionist. When Smaug enters I'll create X tapped Treasure tokens, where X is the number of Artifacts my opponents control. Whenever I cast a spell, if mana from a Treasure was spent to cast it, I'll draw a card and lose 1 life.

Not pictured above is Smaug the Impenetrable, a seven mana 8/7 Dragon with Flying, Indestructible, and Haste. Whenever Smaug, the Impenetrable, is dealt noncombat damage, I'll create that many Treasure tokens. This last version has the set code HOC and will not be available in normal play boosters.

I ended up picking Smaug, Wicked Worm, as I didn't want to get stuck with a 7 mana Commander in a deck without access to Green, and I think Smaug, Wicked Worm, provides the most interesting mechanics to build around. The fact that the Treasure tokens enter tapped definitely limits some of the combo potential for this powerful new legend, but there's still a lot to get excited about.

Wicked Ways to Win with Smaug

There are a few different ways Smaug, Wicked Worm should be able to push for a win in casual Commander games. I'll be building around his ability to create a lot of Treasure tokens. They entered tapped, but they still enter, so there are a few ways to turn that into a win.

Roaming Throne is a 4/4 Golem that will have me choose a Creature type and it becomes that type in addition to being a Golem. If a triggered ability of another Creature I control of the chosen type triggers, it will trigger an additional time. If I choose Dragon, I'll get an extra Smaug enter the battlefield trigger. I'm also running Panharmonicon, which does the same thing but for any Artifact or Creature entering play and causing a permanent I control to trigger.

Extra triggers is nice, but extra ETBs are also nice. Conjurerer's Closet will let me blink a Creature I control at the beginning of my end step, essentially getting me an extra Smaug, Wicked Worm trigger at the end of my turn. If I'm at a table with opponents that control a paltry three artifacts, and I have Roaming Throne, Panharmonicon, and Conjurer's Closet in play, the math gets interesting. Instead of untapping on my next turn with three Treasure tokens, I'd untap with ten.

Things get much more interesting if I have Mycosynth Lattice in play. This six mana Artifact will turn all permanents into Artifacts in addition to their other types.. All cards that aren't on the battlefield, spells, and permanents are colorless, and players may spend mana as though it were mana of any color.

With every permanent now also an Artifact, it's not unrealistic to think I could have Smaug enter and create 30 or more tapped Treasure tokens. Turning that into a win isn't that hard. In Red, cards like Reckless Fireweaver, Weftstalker Ardent, and Ingenious Artillerist will push out 1 damage to each opponent for each of those Artifact tokens when they enter play.

If I can make it to my turn and untap those Treasure tokens, in Black both Marionette Master and Marionette Apprentice will let me have each opponent lose 1 life whenever another Artifact I control is put into a graveyard from play. If I've got Mirkwood Bats in play, I can push out that life loss when I create and when I sacrifice those tokens.

Life loss is something I'm going to want to keep an eye on when piloting this deck, so I'm running Basilisk Collar and Shadowspear, and I could easily see adding in Loxodon Warhammer to have ways to give a Creature Lifelink.

The most powerful Lifegain Artifact in this deck is probably Aetherflux Reservoir. Using my Treasure tokens to cast spells will draw me cards, so I could have a turn where I draw and play enough spells to get me over 50 life. Once I've done that I can use Aetherflux Reservoir as a way to blast an opponent for 50 damage. The biggest use for this powerful card is really just to help claw back some of the life I'll be losing when I cast spells.

Alternate Win Conditions

Alternate wincons are well worth running in this deck, as there are a couple that work really well with Smaug, Wicked Worm. Revel in Riches is an Enchantment that will give me a Treasure token whenever a Creature an opponent controls dies. At the beginning of my upkeep, if I control ten or more Treasures I'll win the game. Hellkite Tyrant is a 6/5 Dragon with Flying and Trample that will steal a player's Artifacts if it deals combat damage to them. At the beginning of my upkeep if I control twenty or more Artifacts I'll win the game.

It's possible these "win the game" cards will be a little too easy to win games with, but I think it's fun to have a lot of options in early drafts of a deck. If it seems too easy I can always drop them out once I've won games with them.

I didn't put a spotlight on the fact that this deck might also win games through combat damage, but Smaug, Wicked Worm is a 5/5 Flying Dragon that makes a big pile of Treasure tokens. Equipping him with anything that gives +1 power for each Artifact I control could easily make him a two hit kill, if not a one-shot lethal threat. Adaptive Omnitool, Nettlecyst, and Cranial Ram can all provide that kind of power boost and they are all in today's list.

Tuning Our Smaug EDH Decklist

My lists are nearly always first drafts, so you should look at them as starting points, ready for you to tweak them to fit your playstyle and preferred power level. You should feel free to run your pet cards, adjust the list around the cards you already own, and just have fun making this deck your own.

If I were to tune this deck around presenting a Commander damage threat, I'd look at running Swiftfoot Boots, Lightning Greaves, and a few more traditional Voltron support cards. Boots and Greaves could probably make for good additions to the current list even if I'm not trying to kill anyone with Commander damage. Chances are good that after a few games I'd swap them in if I was finding key Creatures were getting removed too often.

Smaug, Wicked Worm | Commander | Stephen Johnson

• Commander (1)
• 1 Smaug, Wicked Worm

• Creatures (27)
• 1 Academy Manufactor
• 1 Bladewing the Risen
• 1 Cavern-Hoard Dragon
• 1 Chiss-Goria, Forge Tyrant
• 1 Furnace Hellkite
• 1 Goldlust Triad
• 1 Goldspan Dragon
• 1 Harvester of Souls
• 1 Hellkite Tyrant
• 1 Imskir Iron-Eater
• 1 Ingenious Artillerist
• 1 Kardur, Doomscourge
• 1 Magda, Brazen Outlaw
• 1 Mahadi, Emporium Master
• 1 Marionette Apprentice
• 1 Marionette Master
• 1 Mirkwood Bats
• 1 Morbid Opportunist
• 1 Nadier's Nightblade
• 1 Noxious Gearhulk
• 1 Reckless Fireweaver
• 1 Roaming Throne
• 1 Smaug the Magnificent
• 1 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Sunshot Militia
• 1 Weftstalker Ardent
• 1 Xorn

• Instants (5)
• 1 Chaos Warp
• 1 Deadly Rollick
• 1 Rakdos Charm
• 1 Wild Magic Surge
• 1 Withering Torment

• Sorceries (3)
• 1 Blasphemous Act
• 1 Damnation
• 1 Exsanguinate

• Enchantments (5)
• 1 Ghirapur AEther Grid
• 1 Phyrexian Arena
• 1 Rain of Riches
• 1 Revel in Riches
• 1 Underhanded Designs

• Artifacts (21)
• 1 Adaptive Omnitool
• 1 Aetherflux Reservoir
• 1 Amulet of Vigor
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Basilisk Collar
• 1 Conjurer's Closet
• 1 Coveted Jewel
• 1 Cranial Plating
• 1 Cranial Ram
• 1 Fellwar Stone
• 1 Gilded Lotus
• 1 Howling Mine
• 1 Inspiring Statuary
• 1 Mycosynth Lattice
• 1 Nettlecyst
• 1 Panharmonicon
• 1 Rakdos Signet
• 1 Shadowspear
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Talisman of Indulgence
• 1 Temple Bell

• Lands (38)
• 13 Mountain
• 13 Swamp
• 1 Blazemire Verge
• 1 Blood Crypt
• 1 Buried Ruin
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Dragonskull Summit
• 1 Exotic Orchard
• 1 Foreboding Ruins
• 1 Haunted Ridge
• 1 Inventors' Fair
• 1 Luxury Suite
• 1 Rogue's Passage
• 1 Smoldering Marsh

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Lowering the Power Level

To play this list in a lower powered meta, you might want to pull out some of the cards that help to create more degenerate situations. I'm thinking of Mycosynth Lattice more than any other card, though I'm sure there are others you could pull out that would also help. Smaug is a famously solitary Creature, so a lore-focused build could have him as the only Creature in the deck, with a heavy focus on burn spells and general mayhem and murder.

Increasing the Power Level

Powering this list up would probably see a focus on tutoring out Mycosynth Lattice and trying to win the game with a single casting of your Commander. In a four-player game, it's not unrealistic to think your opponents could have more total permanents than the highest life total amongst them. Modeling this approach off of Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls deck to try to get life totals down so it's easier to kill the table might work, but I don't think Smaug, Wicked Worm will be able to push up into Bracket 4 or 5.

Another Way To Build the Deck: Aristocrats

It's worth noting that Smaug, Wicked Worm could represent a pretty serious aristocrats combo Commander. You simply need a few key pieces and you're off to the races. All you need are some very specific cards and tablemates that control at least 5 artifacts.

In Black, you've got access to loads of tutors, so you can dig for your combo pieces. Amulet of Vigor is in my list, and you'll need it to untap your Treasure tokens, Nim Deathmantle isn't in my list, but it can bring Smaug back into play when he dies. Once you have those two, you'll need both a sacrifice outlet and a payoff. Your sacrifice outlet doesn't have to generate mana, but many of them do. Ashnod's Altar, Altar of Dementia, Phyrexian Altar, Viscera Seer, and a ton of other cards in Smaug's colors can do the job quite nicely.

Your payoff can be anything from Impact Tremors or Purphoros, God of the Forge, to traditional aristocrats wincons like Blood Artist, Zulaport Cutthroat, Mirkwood Bats, or even a permanent that pushes out damage when Creatures or Artifacts either enter or leave play.

The problem with this plan is that you won't have a lot of redundancy for two key pieces of your combo. Amulet of Vigor doesn't have any similar cards in Black and Red and there's really only one Nim Deathmantle. Maybe more experienced combo players could find other ways to pull this off, but I'm looking at two cards the wincon will hinge around. It can be fun to try to assemble a complicated wincon like this, but if you're always hitting the same basic gameplan it can get a little stale.

Final Thoughts

I wasn't able to get this list into a game, but if I open up a copy of this card you can be sure I'll be brewing it up. I might even add in a few tutors to more reliably get Mycosynth Lattice into play. I don't think I'll be running Nim Deathmantle though. I have a bad habit of not keeping decks together for very long as I'm constantly brewing up new lists and I do like to play them in paper.

I don't think I'd bother building either of the other Smaug variants unless I didn't open a copy of Wicked Worm. Seven mana is a lot, and I'm not that interested in the one that can go on an Adventure. Smaug, the Impenetrable, is a little tempting, but I've had too many seven mana Commanders that just never see the battlefield when things go poorly. Long gone are the days when you can count on getting enough turns to get them out, and Commander tax is an enormous headache when you're start with such a high casting cost.

With any luck I'll be able to start sharing decks I'm building in paper in the coming weeks. I may pick up a prerelease kit and I've got product ordered from this fine retailer, so I'm looking forward to cracking some packs and finding out what my options are.

That's all I've got for today. Thanks for reading and I'll see you next week!