Darkness Creeps in as Hobbit Previews Press on

By Paige Smith

Posted on July 22, 2026

The journey through Middle-earth continues as we reach our third day of previews for The Hobbit.

Up until now, we've mostly seen the members of Thorin's company and the good folk of the world.

Today, we get a much greater look at the threats and adversaries they face along the way.

New Cards

Let's kick things off by looking at all the new cards revealed today through the Card Image Gallery.

First up is the Desert Were-Worm, a sweet Rare that creates a huge threat on the board. For the most part, it's little more than a huge pile of stats, which is something many players can easily deal with.

It costs and if you pay it all in Mountains, it will come in with 12 power. Doing this will automatically turn on its awesome second ability, granting you an extra combat phase.

Generally, Creature cards with this ability are good because they have some form of evasion. Desert Were-Worm doesn't, but it's still great if you have a wide board. Just imagine getting a second combat phase while you have an Ouroboroid on the field.

The second of the two Rare cards revealed today is one heck of a Limited bomb. Chief Warg's Company is a ton of stats for a low cost that can't attack unless you have two other Wolves in play.

Since it also makes those Wolves, you'll be attacking in no time flat, and still have a powerful blocker in the meantime. If you see this in your Drafts, you should definitely take it, and it could even be good enough to see play elsewhere.

Next up, we saw a ton of cool new Uncommons, mostly Black cards, perfect for fans of dark magic.

First was Gollum the Abandoned, a new uncommon Legend version of everyone's favorite character, which could really shine in Limited play. Players can repeatedly attack with Gollum, have him die, and bring him back to do it all over again.

Recursive threats like this are also huge in Constructed, which we see with Bloodghast and Bloodsoaked Champion; they also show up a ton in Commander.

Two more were shown off with Gathering of Darkness and Gnashing of Teeth.

Gathering of Darkness is a fantastic way to bring back a Creature from your graveyard to your hand. It might seem expensive at four mana, but it also comes with a 3/3 token or can pump one that's already on the board.

That effectively makes this a better Gravedigger without the looping nonsense, which is always going to be good.

Gnashing of Teeth, on the other hand, is a really strong removal spell. -5/-5 for three mana is already pretty solid, but having the flexibility to wipe out a board of small threats is even better. Sorcery speed holds it back from being super good, but even then, it could be a sweet sideboard card.

A new Saga was also revealed, this one featuring the moment when Thorin's company are taken to meet with The Great Goblin. This lets you force an opponent to discard a card, make a small Creature, and drain your opponent a couple times. It's not the most exciting, but it's a good mix of abilities to help get you through tough games of Limited.

We also saw some Blue Uncommons pop up in the Gallery.

Master's Councillors is a small Creature that gets bigger the more graveyards you're able to fill up with cards. As you draw more, you'll mill your opponents and create a huge attacker that stays untapped to block later. Pairing this with the new Recruit mechanic or cards like Opt could really tear through your opponents' decks.

There's also Sound the Trumpets, a new Cancel variant that lets you Recruit if the spell has a mana value of or less. This can be quite limiting, as there's only so many low-cost spells you'd be interested in countering in the first place. It's a fun bit of Limited glue that will be great to pair with your Councillors.

Booster Variants

A handful of new variant treatments were also revealed. This time, only some special versions of the two Rare cards were shown, giving a small look at what the set has to offer.

The first of these variants was the Dragon Hoard frame for the Desert-Were Wurm.

Additionally, we got a new Scene Art variant, this time on Chief Warg's Company. This one marks the second of six cards that make up "The Five Armies Clash!" scene by Denman Rooke.

The other Scene, "Fight with the Great Goblin" by Ted Nasmith, has received two cards so far. All twelve of these cards can appear in both Play Boosters or Collector Boosters, making for an exciting alternate treatment in your packs.

Classic Artist Cards

Cavern-Hoard Dragon, a popular Dragon that was originally in the Hosts of Mordor Commander deck gets all-new art by beloved artist Jim Pavelec. Jim first started doing art for the game with Champions of Kamigawa and continued through the 2000's with some very iconic pieces.

Not only is it a great way to put a massive threat into play against Artifact-heavy decks, but it also gives you lots of Treasures when it attacks. The high demand for the card has made it a little expensive, so it's an excellent inclusion on this sheet.

There's also a pair reprints: Aragorn, the Uniter and his sword, Anduril, Flame of the West.

Both cards are hugely popular, especially Aragorn. The powerful Legend ranks within the top 50 Commanders on EDHREC and this gives fans another fun version to put into the Command Zone.

These reprints are illustrated by Paolo Parente, one of the game's most prolific artists with over 200 pieces to his name. He's been illustrating for the game since Portal and has created some iconic card art throughout his tenure.

The most exciting versions that you can open of these Classic Artist cards are easily the Surge Foils. While each Play Booster Box and Collector Booster Box contains one normal reprint, the super special versions can only be found inside Collector Booster Packs.

Saruman of Many Colors and Palantir of Orthanc are the latest ones we've laid eyes on. Saruman has new art by the beloved rk post, who has been making art for Magic since Exodus. The art for Plantir of Orthanc is done by Chris Seaman, whose contributions started in Ixalan.

Conclusion

Day three ran light, but there's still plenty of cards to get excited about. There's exciting build-around Rares, great Limited threats, fancy new variants, and - of course - those enviable Classic Artist box toppers.

Prerelease events are right around the corner, kicking off on August 7th. You can get in on the fun by ordering your favorite cards from The Hobbit now on CoolStuffInc and get your cards shipped out the same day.