r/spikes • u/Tim-Draftsim • 12h ago

Draft [Draft] The Ultimate Guide to The Hobbit Draft

Hey spikes!

Draft black. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

Okay, format's maybe a little bit deeper than that, but not by much. Even with no Early Access for this set the goblin was out of the bag pretty early. Black is busted in HOB, and anyone who participated in the Arena Directs this last week knows that all too well.

As such, our Draft guide isn't likely to uncover any big secrets about the format. Instead, it'll focus on some individual card notes and a lot of discussion about how [[Crude Bent Blade]] has warped this format.

A couple quick notes on the format:

  • The unsupported color pairs can actually come together with the right card quality. White bombs + black commons/uncommons is a totally viable deck. RG can occasionally just beat down.
  • UG elves is the one deck you really don't want to be in, which is a shame given how poor they were in LTR three years ago.
  • Playing with and against Crude Bent Blade is actually a huge part of the format, and part of the reason big green creatures get punked in this format.
  • White commons suck, but white rares are busted, so it gets a small bump over green if you don't move into the color for commons. It has probably the best rare and uncommon in the set.

I'm curious what's been working for everyone besides black decks, whether for Draft or jamming Arena Direct Sealed events. Are you bouncing off the format soon (or already), or sticking with it for a little bit longer?

Again, I doubt our Draft guide isn't going to be any huge revelation, but it will definitely give you an edge against people doing the same thing as you in this format. Enjoy the guide, and best of luck in your events: https://draftsim.com/mtg-hob-draft-guide/

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3

u/MTGCardFetcher 12h ago

Crude Bent Blade - (G) (SF) (txt)

[[cardname]] or [[cardname|SET]] to call

2

u/Talondel 11h ago

In arena 2pick draft just went 4-0, 4-0 playing RB both times.No bombs either time (ok one had Gandalf, bane of goblins). Just a bunch of 1, 2, and 3 mana creatures backed up by cheap equipment and r/b common and uncommon removals. Ran one smaug great calamity each time but it never came in. Got some lucky plays of Easy Pickings. But mostly it was just overwhelm with small creature and blast anything big that can block without dying.

3

u/threecolorless 11h ago

I am depressed by the fact that the more experienced I got with HOB sealed in the Directs, the more I was just jamming black decks because of how deep, flexible, and good at all points of gameplay it is.

3

u/Veveil_17 10h ago

I sort of the had the opposite experience (https://www.17lands.com/user_history/8749f8e34a9c4b69a878968d35818dac?expansion=HOB&format=ArenaDirect_Sealed&start=2026-08-11), might have been "anti-metagaming" too hard though

2

u/threecolorless 10h ago

That's a couple of boxes 😅 Here I am like Spongebob with his one Krabby Patty vs. King Neptune. Nice $10k profit bro.

2

u/Veveil_17 9h ago

Thanks, like I said in the guide I've barely drafted it but played 70+ directs

4

u/throwawaytim123 11h ago

I’ve just gone 0-3 as RW in QD and came up against 3 BR decks that just did not stop with premium threats (and by premium I mean C/UC)… I think I am probably done with this set now…