Ways to Win With All 4 Smaug Commanders in MTG

Last updated on August 12, 2026

Gleaming Splendor | Illustration by James Bousema

With The Hobbit printing many familiar characters, I can’t help but want to build them all. I’ve looked over how to build every Bilbo and win with the new Gandalfs; now it’s time to turn in a more wicked direction and master Smaug in Commander.

#4. Smaug, the Great Calamity

Smaug, the Great Calamity isn’t good and would be a meme deck before anything else. If you insisted on building it, use dragon synergies like Dragonspeaker Shaman to get it out early, then use a bunch of red copy effects like Rionya, Fire Dancer, plus Mirror Box to break the legend rule, and beat face with a storm of Smaugs.

While this Smaug is unimpressive, don’t let it color your impression of the following — the next three are seriously powerful commanders.

#3. Smaug the Magnificent

Smaug the Magnificent was one of the first cards we saw from the set, and the Smaug made into the set’s headliner. I want to acknowledge the flavor win of the attack trigger; most Treasure payoffs encourage spending Treasure, but Smaug’s justifies hoarding it in a fitting way. That attack trigger's also the primary way this dragon wins, so you need to get it high.

The first step is making the treasure. Smaug producing a treasure each upkeep is nice but not enough. Luckily, red excels at making treasure at practically every stage of the game, from cheap creatures like Magda, Brazen Outlaw to bigger spells like Big Score and Goldspan Dragon.

Damage doublers like Solphim, Mayhem Dominus and extra combat spells like Karlach, Fury of Avernus get more bang for your Treasure, and stack extremely well. I also want to shout out Firebender Ascension as mono-red’s only attack trigger doubler.

#2. Smaug the Impenetrable

The ranking of the Rakdos () Smaugs is largely a formality; both are excellent, and you could argue it either it way. I’m giving Smaug the Impenetrable a slight demerit because the best things you can do with it (two-card infinite combos) belong in Bracket 4, and most players aren’t running such high-power commanders.

I previously wrote about Smaug combos in detail, but the gist is simple: Smaug’s treasure production + something that damages the indestructible dragon infinitely = infinite treasure and often mana. High-power Smaug decks want all of them, and tutors to assemble the combo.

If you want to do something more casual with Smaug the Impenetrable, it has merit as a manual storm commander. Making cards like Lightning Axe into hyper-efficient rituals is a great mana engine. There’s even card draw connected to damaging your creatures, like Expedited Inheritance and Requiem Monolith. Whether you win off Reckless Fireweaver making your “burn” damage, or an actual storm card, there’s some sauce here.

#1. Smaug, Wicked Worm

Smaug, Wicked Worm puts treasure to great use with its bonus for taking basic game actions. Any commander that rewards you for a basic game action rather than relying on an actual synergy is always a little good, and this one is very strong.

Like Smaug the Magnificent, you’ll need additional treasure production. Most of the cards listed there work here, though you also get black treasure production from cards like Grim Hireling, Prosper, Tome-Bound, and Deadly Dispute. Now you just need to convert it into a win, which, in my mind, requires two elements.

The first are cards that convert treasure into damage. It doesn’t matter if it’s Reckless Fireweaver so they deal damage on the way in, or The Sackville-Bagginses and Mayhem Devil so they burn as you sacrifice them. Mastermind Plum and Rain of Riches are also important to reward you for casting spells with treasure.

The other element is good cards. Your treasure production means you have more mana, Smaug (and similar payoffs like Mastermind Plum and Rain of Riches) mean you’re often up a card for every spell you cast. The above section means those spells burn your opponents. That makes already great cards like Fire Covenant and Bonehoard Dracosaur even more impactful because they’re coming with extra cardboard. This deck almost always takes more game actions that its opponents, so maximizing the quality of those actions overwhelms. It’s honest Magic, but it doesn’t feel fair.