The Hobbit Cards, Mechanics, and Set Information

Last updated on July 29, 2026

My Precious | Illustration by Valera Lutfullina

In summer 2023, Magic players made their first foray into J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth. We shared in Food and Fellowship, we deliberated with the Elven Council, we fought alongside the Riders of Rohan, and we faced the Hosts of Mordor.

Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth was a massively popular set, and one of the earliest draftable Universes Beyond sets (for better or worse, I’ll let you debate that). In summer 2026, we return to Middle-earth to follow Bilbo Baggins, Thorin Oakenshield, and the Company of Dwarves as they venture to reclaim their home under the Lonely Mountain from the fearsome, avaricious dragon, Smaug.

The Hobbit Basic Information

Set Details

Set Symbol
Set Code	HOB, HOC
Hashtag	#MTGxHobbit
Number of Cards	TBA
Rarities	TBA
Mechanics	Recruit, Storied, Adventure, Amass, Ferocious

Important Dates

About the Set: The Story

Unnamed The Hobbit art | Illustration by Serena Malyon

A hat-tip to Robert at In Deep Geek on YouTube; I haven’t re-visited The Hobbit since I read it with my dad as a bedtime story, so I’ve appreciated his videos to help jog my memory on plot points and lore.

The Hobbit is the precursor to The Lord of the Rings, which both come from bedtime stores that J.R.R. Tolkien told to his children. It was first printed in 1937, and it has a more episodic narrative and a lighter tone than The Lord of the Rings. This makes sense: Tolkien came up with The Hobbit when his children were younger, and his stories evolved as his children grew up.

The Hobbit tells of the story of Bilbo Baggins, the titular hobbit who did something absolutely bonkers and remarkable: He left home and went on an adventure. His friend Gandalf, a traveling wizard, introduces him to Thorin Oakenshield and a Company of 12 other dwarves, who seek a thief to join them in their quest to reclaim their home from Smaug, a wickedly avaricious and dangerous dragon. They promise Bilbo an equal share in the treasure should they succeed, and, despite much protesting, Bilbo agrees to go along.

Bilbo and the dwarves encounter both friends and perils in their travels: goblins and trolls, elves and humans, eagles, a skin-changer, and a peculiar, wretched being with a precious ring that turns the wearer invisible.

Bilbo and the dwarves manage to reclaim the Lonely Mountain, and Smaug is eventually slain due to a weak spot in his armor, though this leads directly to the Battle of Five Armies as humans, dwarves, and elves must set aside their difference to face off against goblins and wargs.

This is a bare-bones summary, so I encourage you to read the book for yourself. It’s rather short compared to The Lord of the Rings, and it’s much closer to a children’s story than that later work.

The Hobbit Mechanics

Recruit

Recruit is like a white version of connive in that you loot, and if you discard a nonland, you get a 1/1 human soldier instead of a +1/+1 counter.

Storied

Storied asks if you control three historic permanents and cares if you have an enduring story or not. No question about it, Tolkien gave us some enduring stories.

Amass

This time amass includes goblins to give you a sense of a growing army that doesn't go as wide with tokens.

Ferocious

The wargs are wolves and the are ferocious, don't count these animals out.

Kicker

Magic R&D indeed uses the old standby kicker when you just need an optional extra cost on a card.

Landfall

Elevensies of landfall cards, and what are players to do? Stop playing lands?

Set Types

Adventure

Adventure cards are awesome and still let you get two cards out of one.

Dwarf

The dwarves are a major type and you can find an army of them in The Hobbit.

Elf

Elves do work with the graveyard in this set!

Halfling

Can't have this story with out halflings. Sometimes the smallest things are of the greatest importance

Historic Permanents

You want at least three cards with the super type, legendary, card type, artifact or subtype of saga. Graciously, it doesn't need to be one of each.

Speculation

Unnamed The Hobbit art | Illustration by Tomas Duchek

A note: I said you should read The Hobbit, and you should. But there are story spoilers ahead for a 90-year-old children’s book.

My hope is that Magic’s The Hobbit will stick to the source material rather than incorporate Peter Jackson’s films, which added a lot of material that just… wasn’t in the original. Some of it is stuff that likely happened off-page, while some of it comes from The Silmarillion, or thin air.

Wizards takes this opportunity to reprint The One Ring, I wish this didn’t happen, and not because I’m a collector or anything. Tolkien hadn’t fleshed out the world or the Ring’s importance when he wrote The Hobbit, so it feels tonally disjointed.

I’d much rather a less powerful card called “The Precious” or something that’s just an equipment that grants shroud or hexproof along with unblockable or something.

— Alexis, Draftsim Writer and Editor (October 2025, well before the reveal of My Precious)

It is still a powerful card, but hopefully not an immediate Game Changer. Besides, this set will be in Standard, and I’d like fewer cards that are banned from formats almost immediately after release, please. If you want something more powerful, there are more cards to be made around the Arkenstone, the Heart of the Mountain (perhaps a treasure card that could also use the “stone” artifact type introduced on The Soul Stone?).

LTR had many side characters, and this set would be an opportunity to include them. Spider-Man has shown that not every named character needs a legendary creature card; Captain Stacy gets Selfless Police Captain, Silvermane gets Mechanical Mobster, etc. The trolls that Bilbo and the Company count as legendary creatures, especially since we don’t really meet other trolls, but the trio of auctioneers who liquidate Bilbo’s things make more sense as non-legendary creatures.

Further surrounding those trolls, there’s so many different avenues you could take. You could make troll creatures, and a white spell to represent the dawn that turns them to stone. You could make a dual-faced card that transforms into an artifact or a land after a certain number of turns, perhaps tracked by a type of counter that you could proliferate outside of Limited formats. The only reason I don’t suggest a saga like Final Fantasy’s summons is that “enchantment creature – saga troll” just doesn’t feel like the right flavor notes here.

I expect that Bilbo, Thorin, and the other dwarves in the Company will get multiple cards to reflect their personal growth over the course of the narrative, especially if we get Commander decks. There's also mention of a Five Armies co-op kit that is ripe for a Turtle Team-Up revamp, or perhaps you'll find five welcome decks or preconstructed decks for Standard? We shall see.

Elrond could make another appearance, and Beorn could be a transforming bear in the mold of Casal, Lurkwood Pathfinder. Gandalf should return, the eagles should return, we should get at least one if not two legendary goblins, and Smaug finally gets a real card rather than a legendary token.

We don’t visit the Mines of Moria, Minas Tirith, or Barad-dûr, but the Mirkwood Forest, and Lake-town make sense as replacements if you want a mythic land cycle.

As for sorceries, instants, etc., I expect that we’ll see cards to represent iconic moments. Perhaps a green spell that kills fliers and costs less if you control an archer or if the spell targets a dragon. Perhaps a spell to show Bilbo’s betrayal of Thorin. I really want either a saga or a card that creates a mini-game with your opponent to reflect the “game” that Gollum and Bilbo “play” over the Precious.

I also like the idea of using at more of the chapter names for cards. I want to see “A Short Rest”, and I’m sure I could come up with a card for almost each chapter in The Hobbit if I really set my mind to it.

Official Spoilers

Like a letter from a wizard, open up our gathering place for all the latest spoilers and leaks from The Hobbit with more detail, filters, and sorting.

Notable Cards

None other than Smaug the Magnificent is the headliner for The Hobbit, and it makes for a formidable commander. Bilbo gets his cards, but Smaug is a major player in this story and this not-quite serialized card is a lucrative treasure. Wizards says there will be “approximately 500” of these deep fantasy classics.

At least three Commander favorites return outside of the main set in Sauron, the Dark Lord, Orcish Bowmasters, and Tom Bombadil.

There are five cards in Dwarvish language cards that are iconic reprints, and they're only available in collector boosters. In English they are:

• Arcane Signet
• Dwarven Warrior
• Mox Amber
• The Reaver Cleaver
• Treasure Vault

Available Products

This is the first Standard-legal Lord of the Rings card we'll see so we can find the usual Play boosters and Collector boosters, Prerelease kits, Bundles, and Booster boxes. LTR had Scene Boxes and Commander decks, but this time around, only Scene Boxes return. There will be a co-op Battle of the 5 Armies product for casual play. LTR had two rounds of Jumpstart boosters, but WotC tends to reserve those for fall sets because of Foundations Jumpstart and Avatar Jumpstart (Star Trek, perhaps?).

Play Boosters — $6.99

The Lembas bread and butter, The Hobbit play boosters are balanced for Limited formats yet collectible enough to fill your binder. You get foils and the chance at three rares per 14-card pack.

Sale

Magic: The Gathering | The Hobbit Play Booster Box | 30 Packs + 1 Foil Box Topper Card | Collectible Trading Card Game

• TO DUNGEONS DEEP AND CAVERNS OLD—Experience a timeless tale’s grand beginning! Journey from The Shire to The Lonely Mountain through cards that capture Bilbo’s unexpected adventure through warmth, wonder, and courage
• THE TALE TOLD IN CARDS—Even the smallest spark can kindle an unexpected adventure. Pour a cup of tea, gather your favorite moments, songs, and characters from The Hobbit, and savor the finer things in Middle-earth through Magic: The Gathering
• FOIL BOX TOPPER CARD—Journey through Middle-earth through the eyes of classic Magic artists; each full booster box includes 1 Traditional Foil reprint from The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth set featuring special borderless alt-art
• SEEK RICHES UNDER THE MOUNTAIN—In caverns deep lie treasures worthy of song. Each Play Booster contains at least 1 shiny Traditional Foil card and 1–3 cards of rarity Rare or higher, including the possibility of special alt-art, alt-border cards
• BEST BOOSTERS FOR PLAYING WITH FRIENDS—Play Boosters are the best way to discover what Magic has to offer; they're perfect for building decks, playing Limited games with friends, and are tons of fun to open

$199.95

Buy on Amazon

Collector Boosters — $37.99

Magic sets rarely get this focus on treasure. Save up so you can afford The Hobbit collector boosters. This gives you a chance at the headliner card, dragon's hoard frame cards and the sweetest reprints from The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth.

Magic: The Gathering | The Hobbit Collector Booster Box | 12 Packs + 1 Foil Box Topper Card | Collectible Trading Card Game

• TO DUNGEONS DEEP AND CAVERNS OLD—Experience a timeless tale’s grand beginning! Journey from The Shire to The Lonely Mountain through cards that capture Bilbo’s unexpected adventure through warmth, wonder, and courage
• CLAIM YOUR LONG-FORGOTTEN GOLD—Collector Boosters are the ultimate way to add unique and exclusive cards to your collection; tons of foils, special card treatments, Rares and/or Mythics, and more await you inside every pack
• COLLECTOR BOOSTER-EXCLUSIVES—In caverns deep lie treasures worthy of song. Each pack may contain Collector Booster-exclusive card treatments, including Surge Foils or the ultimate find, an ultra-rare Headliner card nestled atop the Dragon’s hoard
• FOIL BOX TOPPER CARD—Journey through Middle-earth through the eyes of classic Magic artists; each full booster box includes 1 Traditional Foil reprint from The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth set featuring special borderless alt-art
• WELCOME TO THE GATHERING—Magic: The Gathering is a collectible card game that weaves deep strategy, gorgeous art, fantastical stories, and a thriving fan community all together into a card game experience like no other

Buy on Amazon

Bundle — $69.99

The Hobbit Bundle is just the sort of thing you want to pick up if you can only grab one item. Carry away 9 play boosters, foil lands, the four seasonal lands, plus a great foil promo.

Magic: The Gathering | The Hobbit Bundle | Collectible Trading Card Game

• TO DUNGEONS DEEP AND CAVERNS OLD—Experience a timeless tale’s grand beginning! Journey from The Shire to The Lonely Mountain through cards that capture Bilbo’s unexpected adventure through warmth, wonder, and courage
• BUNDLE EXCLUSIVES—Explore the set with a Bundle full of cards and exclusive accessories, including a shiny foil card featuring Bundle-exclusive alt-art, a special die to track your life total, and a sturdy box to store all your hoarded treasures
• JOURNEY ACROSS MIDDLE-EARTH WITH 34 LANDS—Explore Middle-earth with 34 land cards, including 10 Full-Art Middle-earth Journey lands (5 with a shiny Traditional Foil treatment) and 4 Traditional Foil Full-Art Seasonal Hobbit lands
• 9 BOOSTERS FOR PLAYING WITH FRIENDS—Play Boosters are the best way to discover what Magic has to offer; they're perfect for building decks, playing games with friends, and are tons of fun to open
• THE TALE TOLD IN CARDS—Even the smallest spark can kindle an unexpected adventure. Pour a cup of tea, gather your favorite moments, songs, and characters from The Hobbit, and savor the finer things in Middle-earth through Magic: The Gathering

$99.95

Buy on Amazon

Draft Night — $119.99

Which night is it? The Hobbit Draft Night. One box to play the game in the Pick-Two draft format. One collector booster to entice them all. The 12 play boosters are what you fight with and the 90 lands help you build, the 10 tokens help you play. It may not be much different than gathering the boosters yourself, but convenience is important and given the right group, all you want to add are sleeves. Be sure to get at least 160 of them.

Magic: The Gathering | The Hobbit Draft Night | 1 Collector Booster, 12 Play Boosters, 90 Lands, 10 Tokens | Collectible Trading Card Game

• TO DUNGEONS DEEP AND CAVERNS OLD—Experience a timeless tale’s grand beginning! Journey from The Shire to The Lonely Mountain through cards that capture Bilbo’s unexpected adventure through warmth, wonder, and courage
• EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO DRAFT WITH FOUR PLAYERS—It's a draft party in a box! Draft Night has everything you need to host a Pick-Two Draft with just four players! Bring The Hobbit to your table for an unforgettable game night.
• DRAFT—Start with three Play Boosters each. Open the first pack, pick two cards, and pass. Repeat with the remaining cards and packs.
• BUILD—Construct a 40-card deck with your draft selections, adding any number of Basic Lands (we recommend 17!)
• PLAY—Pair off and play. Winners face off for fun and the grand prize: a Collector Booster full of Rare and/or Mythic Rare cards, shiny foils, and special alt-border cards

Buy on Amazon

Scene Box: Crack the Plates — $41.99

Do the dishes but don't Crack the Plates, a scene box from The Hobbit. This table of guests is a fun one to assemble and I'd put the art cards alongside the section of the book so I can visually see the feast that develops. The value on these boxes is highly dependent on how much you want the featured six cards, and great when you do.

Magic: The Gathering | The Hobbit Scene Box - Crack the Plates| 6 Foil Borderless Scene Cards, 6 Art Cards, 3 Play Boosters + Display Easel

• LEGENDARY SCENES COME TO LIFE—A combined picture worth a thousand words! Your Company of mechanically unique cards comes together to put the excitement, whimsy, and adventure of Middle-earth on display
• CRACK THE PLATES—Staring down Dragons, Goblins, and Spiders is nothing compared to thirteen Dwarves and a Wizard running roughshod with your dishware. That’s what Bilbo Baggins hates!
• COMBINE 6 BORDERLESS CARDS TO MAKE THIS SCENE—Crown your deck or collection with these six Borderless Scene cards and piece them together to reveal the full scene
• PUT YOUR ART ON DISPLAY—While each Scene Card is a playable Magic card (including game text), this box also contains 6 art-only cards, allowing you to appreciate the scene in all its glory on the included display easel
• GO ON AN ADVENTURE WITH PLAY BOOSTERS—Each Scene Box also comes with 3 Play Boosters; the best way to discover what Magic has to offer, they're perfect for building decks, playing games with friends, and are tons of fun to open

Buy on Amazon

Scene Box: Treasures of Smaug — $41.99

The colors on the Treasures of Smaug scene box are striking, so I hold a special place for this one in my nicest binder. I like the non-creature aspect of this scene box, and the power is pretty good.

Magic: The Gathering | The Hobbit Scene Box - Treasures of Smaug| 6 Foil Borderless Scene Cards, 6 Art Cards, 3 Play Boosters + Display Easel

• LEGENDARY SCENES COME TO LIFE—A combined picture worth a thousand words! Your Company of mechanically unique cards comes together to put the excitement, whimsy, and adventure of Middle-earth on display
• TREASURES OF SMAUG—Inside the Lonely Mountain at last, Bilbo encounters Smaug and the treasure hoard of Erebor. Can he talk his way out of a fiery confrontation?
• COMBINE 6 BORDERLESS CARDS TO MAKE THIS SCENE—Crown your deck or collection with these six Borderless Scene cards and piece them together to reveal the full scene
• PUT YOUR ART ON DISPLAY—While each Scene Card is a playable Magic card (including game text), this box also contains 6 art-only cards, allowing you to appreciate the scene in all its glory on the included display easel
• GO ON AN ADVENTURE WITH PLAY BOOSTERS—Each Scene Box also comes with 3 Play Boosters; the best way to discover what Magic has to offer, they're perfect for building decks, playing games with friends, and are tons of fun to open

Buy on Amazon

Gift Bundle — $89.99

The Hobbit gift bundle releases on September 4, 2026, nearly a full month after the main set releases. The gift bundle includes one collector booster as well as the season lands, and a foil box. Sorry August birthdays, you may need to wait until December to unwrap this gift.

Magic: The Gathering | The Hobbit Gift Bundle | Collectible Trading Card Game

• THE GIFT OF MAGIC BRINGS A PARTY TOGETHER—The perfect present for fans of Magic and Middle-earth alike, this Gift Bundle is sure to bring a smile to any fan—especially if that fan is you
• TO DUNGEONS DEEP AND CAVERNS OLD—Experience a timeless tale’s grand beginning! Journey from The Shire to The Lonely Mountain through cards that capture Bilbo’s unexpected adventure through warmth, wonder, and courage
• 1 BOOSTER FULL OF RARES & FOILS—Seek riches under the mountain with 1 Collector Booster full of foils, Rares and/or Mythics, and beautiful alt-border cards. You may even find the ultimate treasure, an ultra-rare headliner card nestled atop the Dragon’s hoard
• COLLECT SURGE FOIL FULL-ART LANDS—Journey through Middle-earth with 34 land cards, including 4 Full-Art Seasonal Hobbit lands with a dazzling Surge Foil treatment and 10 Full-Art Middle-earth Journey lands (5 Traditional Foil, 5 regular)
• 9 BOOSTERS FOR PLAYING WITH FRIENDS—Play Boosters are the best way to discover what Magic has to offer; they're perfect for building decks, playing games with friends, and are tons of fun to open

Buy on Amazon

Wrap Up

Gandalf, Wandering Wizard | Illustration by Irvin Rodriguez

We don’t have much on The Hobbit yet, but we can make plenty of educated guesses by looking at Tales of Middle-earth and the source material. I must admit that it’ll be strange for The Hobbit to be in Standard while Tales of Middle-earth never was, and it’ll be equally strange for The Hobbit to abandon the Universes Beyond frame. Cards from such similar and adjacent properties won’t even look like they belong together on the battlefield, and that’s just a shame.

What do you expect or hope to see in Magic’s adaptation of The Hobbit? Do you hope to add to your Commander decks? Which alternative and showcase art do you think is the best this time around? Let me know in the comments, or over on the Draftsim Discord.

Until next time, stay safe, and keep an eye out for those Sackville-Bagginses!