Magic: The Gathering is leaning more heavily into Universes Beyond than ever before in 2026, but many fans agree that it’s perhaps not as egregious when it comes to Tolkien’s world of fantasy.
The Lord of the Rings set was not only great, but it’s only a hop and a skip from the realms of Magic, such is the influence of Tolkien’s original works on the wider fantasy landscape across just about any medium.
With the game returning to Middle-earth, though, there’s one question on my mind – Why doesn’t The Hobbit have any Commander Decks?
Something’s Missing
It’s worth stressing at the top of this that there are a LOT of products coming with The Hobbit’s new Universes Beyond set. From Play and Collector Boosters, to Scene Boxes and a co-op experience to come later, it’s looking well-stocked.
And yet, I felt so sure we’d get something for Commander players. It’s the game’s most popular format, and the four preconstructed decks in the Lord of the Rings set were fantastic.
Amassing Orcs as Sauron, sneaking past defences with Frodo, voting as part of the Elven Council, or just sending an army of humans at your foes was awesome, knitted together by unique card designs and amazing art.
While I’m pleased to see some cards being reprinted (and with fresh art), I’d have been happier just to see the Lord of the Rings decks reprinted – they’re expensive now, after all.
There Are Literally Five Armies
Oh boy, here’s the hill (or Lonely Mountain) I will die on – the precon theming is right there. While I don’t doubt deckbuilders will have a lot of fun building a Dwarven deck to highlight the lovable squad, or lean on well-worn Elf synergies, five Commander decks based around each race in the Battle of the Five Armies felt like a slam dunk.
Goblins, Wargs, Humans, Elves, and Dwarves? A perfect combination for all five colors. You could even aim to build a Smaug card into one of them, especially since he was done dirty with just a token card in the prior Middle-Earth set.
If we’re lucky, the co-op experience will help soften the blow somewhat, but as someone who plays in a Commander pod of Lord of the Rings superfans, I can tell you many of us would have picked up multiple decks.
Still, I suppose this means my wallet is a tad safer than it otherwise would have been. This year’s sets have already given us eight precons, and they’re all pretty great, too. And the lack of precons didn’t necessarily hinder Avatar: The Last Airbender.
What do you think? Should Wizards of the Coast have pushed forward with Commander precons? Are they waiting for a surprise third run at Middle-Earth? Or do we have enough Commander decks already? Let us know!
Lloyd Coombes is an experienced freelancer in tech, gaming and fitness seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar and many more. He’s a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife’s dismay.
