Lower rarity cards are the meat and potatoes of any draft deck but it's the Rares and Mythics that pull you into that deck in the first place. Which ones should you be gravitating towards in The Hobbit (HOB)? Let's find out.

The Hobbit's Top Rares & Mythics

White

Frankly, White has an embarrassment of riches at Rare. While its three Mythics are a mixed bag, almost all of White's Rares are excellent. It's going to be hard not being drawn into the color if you come across one cracking packs.

An Unexpected Party looks unbelievable. Even if you only pay for X (so, a total of four), the following turn that's a 4/4. Nothing special, but that's the minimum. The higher up the curve you go with the Adventure side of this card, the more your opponent is going to need a sweeper. This is a one-card win condition if it goes unchecked.

Speaking of sweepers, Settle the Wreckage is back. Settle's downside is more than worth the benefits it has over a regular Day of Judgment. Savvy players might play around it, but since "playing around it" means not attacking, you're probably fine with that. If they don't play around it, you're about to wipe their board and leave your own perfectly intact.

Blue

Blue looks like it has the opposite issue to White. It has some good Rares, but its Mythics look incredible. Bilbo, Thief in the Night is the best of the bunch.

He is a two-mana value machine, Flashing back Instants, Sorceries, and even Artifacts, if you have them. Not only that, but he reduces the mana costs of all of them. The really neat part is that he also reduces the cost of your Adventure Creatures.

Elrond, Moon-Reader is a bit narrower, but not as much as it might seem. Yes, you're not likely to have a ton of Activated Abilities, but he does bring his own to the party. Seven mana is a lot for one card, but if you get to re-trigger some Enters abilities, you're going to feel like a god.

If you do have some other Activated Abilities -- Gandalf, Wandering Wizard, for example -- you're really going to pop off.

At Rare, there's less game-winning power and more variety. Great Gilded Boat looks, well, great. The Lord of the Eagles is going to need a little help but will pay you off massively. Nine mana is a lot and there aren't tons of Flying Creatures. If you can get it down to six mana, it's going to be a Blue Murder that also attacks for eight.

Black

Black's higher rarity cards don't look too special overall. Gollum, Riddle Master is an obvious exception, providing more value than any two-drop has the right to. He dies to anything, sure, but he almost guarantees you a two-for-one, even if an opponent kills him right away.

Head of the Hunt also stands out. As a 4/3 for four with Flash, there is a real chance that you can trigger its ability right away by blocking a smaller attacker. If that happens, you are already crushing. Any further triggers are pure bonuses.

Along the Crooked Way is the other Rare that might draw you into Black. At three mana, it's a cheap Gravedigger with a slightly worse body. That body can quite easily grow, however. Giving your (hopefully large) Goblin Army Menace later on is going to make blocking difficult, too.

A lot of little things add up to a very solid package here. You won't necessarily notice this card blowing the game wide open, but it will slowly accrue advantages over time.

Red

In the lower rarities, Red didn't look great. At higher rarity, Red looks incredible. It only has a couple of Rares that are mediocre or situational (Getaway Barrel and Last Light of Durin's Day) and the rest are pretty much all bangers. Even Last Light can be good if you got really lucky and opened a Smaug the Magnificent.

The Rares look great and the Mythics look great too. Four-mana Smaug isn't very fancy, but he is going to smash your opponent's face in. Gandalf, Goblins' Bane is card advantage and a decent three-mana Creature wrapped into one.

At four mana, Thorin, Mountain-king is the Red Mythic that benefits the most from building around him. Fortunately, the Equipment theme is well-supported and Thorin rewards you greatly for playing into it.

This easily turn into Flametongue Kavu with a better body. Even if you just have an Axe token, Thorin kills a four-toughness Creature and sticks around as a 4/4 with Trample.

Green

Let's get this out of the way right away: Gigantic Big Bear is going to be miserable to play against and incredible to play with. Seven mana is a lot, but if you're even remotely still in the game when you cast this, it's going to turn things in your favor. Yes, it gets chumped, but that's not a sustainable route to victory without a Flyer or two to go back the other way.

Green's remaining Rares are all over the place. Through the Forest Gate is an easy F and The Notary Hobbits looks like a Commander card. Bejeweled Warg is the frontrunner for having the biggest delta between "opening hand win rate" and drawn later win rate."

Everything else is somewhere in the middle: worth considering, but not necessarily better than the best Uncommons.

Green's Mythics (both of which cost five) are absurd. Beorn The Fierce demands a removal spell but is still likely to provide some amount of value unless the opponent has it right away. If he doesn't die, the game is just over within a turn cycle.

Dancing from Dark to Dawn is more modest, requiring time and setup. If you do untap with it and cast a Creature or two, even the 2/2 Bear token is going to grow huge.

Conclusion

The Hobbit has a good spread of Rares and Mythics. Some of them are going to feel oppressive or unbeatable. A couple are basically unplayable. Most are somewhere in the middle, comparable with the best Uncommons. Hopefully, you should now have some idea of which are which.