New MTG Hobbit Dragon Makes Surprise Appearance In Competitive Format

While Reality Fracture preview season is now in full swing, The Hobbit isn’t done mixing up Magic just yet. Cards from our latest trip to Middle-earth are still finding homes as we speak, as evidenced by Smaug, Wicked Worm landing a surprisingly strong finish in a cEDH event. With a potent combination of grindy potential and combo lines, this could well be a new player in the format.

Smaug, Wicked Worm in cEDH

This Smaug, Wicked Worm deck, which Mukai Shori piloted to a top 16 finish in a 73-player cEDH event, is primarily a Treasure-matters brew. By itself, Smaug can generate a sizable hoard on entry, given how common mana rocks and Treasures are in the format. Paired with other generators like Rev, Tithe Extractor and Ruthless Technomancer, the deck can amass a lot of loot very quickly indeed.

With a good supply of Treasures in tow, the deck can start leveraging payoffs like Professional Face-Breaker and Ominous Harvest to convert them into advantage. Magda, Brazen Outlaw is particularly good here, pairing nicely with Goblin Welder and Goblin Engineer to convert your Treasures into powerhouse artifacts. Bolas’s CitadelBolas’s CitadelYou may look at the top card of your library any time.
You may play lands and cast spells from the top of your library. If you cast a spell this way, pay life equal to its mana value rather than pay its mana cost.
{T}, Sacrifice ten nonland permanents: Each opponent loses 10 life. and The One Ring are the top picks here, providing incredible draw engines to keep things going.

These two artifacts, along with NecropotenceNecropotenceSkip your draw step.
Whenever you discard a card, exile that card from your graveyard.
Pay 1 life: Exile the top card of your library face down. Put that card into your hand at the beginning of your next end step., are your best sources of card advantage in the deck. Citadel can even let you trade life for cards when paired with Sensei’s Divining Top, letting you see a ton of your deck. The list includes plenty of ways to abuse The One Ring, too, with Manifold Key, Voltaic Key, and Tezzeret, Cruel Captain all letting you untap it for bursts of card draw. Speaking of Tezzeret, it can also tutor up all manner of relevant artifacts, including Amulet of Vigor to massively speed up Smaug’s ability.

Wins Beneath Your Wings

All of this card draw helps Shori’s Smaug deck dig into a range of different combo wins. Perhaps the cleanest of these are the Dualcaster Mage lines, which let you make infinite Hasty tokens with cards like Molten DuplicationMolten DuplicationCreate a token that's a copy of target artifact or creature you control, except it's an artifact in addition to its other types. It gains haste until end of turn. Sacrifice it at the beginning of the next end step. and Devastating Onslaught. These copy effects are also great for generating bursts of mana by copying Smaug, so they pull double duty here.

The deck also has access to Underworld BreachUnderworld BreachEach nonland card in your graveyard has escape. The escape cost is equal to the card's mana cost plus exile three other cards from your graveyard. (You may cast cards from your graveyard for their escape cost.)
At the beginning of the end step, sacrifice this enchantment. combos, most notably using Grinding StationGrinding Station{T}, Sacrifice an artifact: Target player mills three cards.
Whenever an artifact enters, you may untap this artifact. to mill yourself out completely by sacrificing and replaying Mox OpalMox OpalMetalcraft — {T}: Add one mana of any color. Activate only if you control three or more artifacts. over and over. This will generate a huge chunk of mana, while also letting you sculpt your graveyard to pull off a win via Dualcaster Mage.

Alternatively, Breach lets you loop Jeska’s Will repeatedly, provided you have enough cards in your ‘yard, which can lead to Storm-esque wins with Storm-Kiln Artist and Mayhem Devil. Ominous Harvest also slots in nicely here, giving you a big burst of draw or a final burn damage push as needed.

It’s also worth highlighting Knuckles the Echidna here, as it’s essentially a win condition in itself. While it’s just a solid Treasure generator in most games, it can also allow you to win out of nowhere after you’ve popped off with Storm-Kiln Artist. This is doable on your own turn by firing off a Final Fortune to guarantee another upkeep, or you can simply generate your Treasures and cast Knuckles before your turn starts via Emergence Zone.

A New King Under The Mountain?

In the current cEDH metagame, the biggest advantage Shori’s Smaug, Wicked Worm deck has is how focused it is. The deck is all-in on the Treasure plan, with few concessions to generic staples that we typically see in the format. This means you can consistently tap into all your synergies, with a Commander that provides both mana and draw to see your combos through.

Smaug is also fairly speedy as a strategy, contrary to what a five-mana Commander might suggest. The deck is packed with fast mana like Mox DiamondMox DiamondIf this artifact would enter, you may discard a land card instead. If you do, put this artifact onto the battlefield. If you don't, put it into its owner's graveyard.
{T}: Add one mana of any color. and Rite of Flame, meaning you can start popping off surprisingly quickly. This lets the deck power out its engines, or burst draw like Ad Nauseam, very early on, meaning it can push for a turbo win with the best of them.

This focus comes at a cost, however, as it means Smaug struggles to push back against the heavily interactive blue decks in the format. Decks like Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy and Tymna/Kraum pack enough free countermagic to deal with the deck’s fairly limited combo suite. While cards like Hexing Squelcher and Red Elemental Blast certainly help here, it’s a bit of an innate weakness of the Rakdos color combination.

Overall, while it’s undoubtedly an interesting new strategy in the format, I don’t expect Smaug, Wicked Worm to take over cEDH just yet. The interactivity problem is a major hurdle here, and one that heavily impacts the deck’s potential for consistent wins. That said, given how hard Wizards has been pushing Treasure support lately, this is definitely a deck to watch as more sets are released.

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