Moment of GloryMoment of Glory | Art by Jarel Threat

Friendly greetings, and welcome to Middle-earth. I'm John Sherwood, and today I'm arguing with myself about which Bard is best. Each version of Bard from The Hobbit has potential as a card draw matters commander. I'm going to present you with a deck list. Then you decide via poll which legend should be the leader, and which legends should fall back into the 99.

Before we dive into a battle of the Bards, let's take a look back at our last poll. That article featured a mono-black equipment deck with legends from Marvel Super Heroes vying for the command zone. Whiplash, Vengeful EngineerWhiplash, Vengeful Engineer easily whipped the competition, Ronin, Shadow StalkerRonin, Shadow Stalker and Swordsman, Sharp ScoundrelSwordsman, Sharp Scoundrel. At the time of this writing, he leads that poll by 89 votes. I was thrilled by the number of responses (444!) and I hope to see our numbers grow.

Battle of the Bards

Our friendly head-to-head competition kicks off with a brief look at the contestants.

Bard the BowmanBard the Bowman

For the low cost of three mana, Bard the Bowman offers a card draw payoff. His variant of the Faerie VandalFaerie Vandal ability includes a minor bonus of temporary lifelink.

So he has the potential to get bigger and incidentally gain life. At three mana, this Bard is perfectly reasonable, not flashy, but will get the job done.

Bard, Heir of GirionBard, Heir of Girion

For one more mana than a Glorious AnthemGlorious Anthem, Girion's progeny pumps the rest of your creatures.

More importantly, his inheritance includes drawing a card when any of your creatures attack. This guy is an enabler, pushing the rest of the deck to do its thing.

The Heir of Girion won't be apparent until sometime in 2027. The Battle of Five Armies Co-op Kit doesn't come out until next year, but the cards share a set code with The Hobbit Eternal-legal (HOC) cards already available through The Hobbit Collector Boosters.

Bard, King of DaleBard, King of Dale

Anyone who remembers the '90s will know this Bard's brand of chewing gum. Double your pleasure, double your fun.

The coronated version of Bard has two replacement effects. The first increases your card draws with the same caveat as Alhammarret's ArchiveAlhammarret's Archive and Teferi's Ageless InsightTeferi's Ageless Insight. The second doubles token production, like Exalted SunbornExalted Sunborn or Anointed ProcessionAnointed Procession.

Bard's Budget and Bracket

Card Draw-Matters is one of those deck themes that easily accumulates a pile of 130 possible inclusions before the builder realizes they need to start making cuts. If you've ever suffered from decision paralysis making cuts from a new deck, you aren't alone. Many Commander players feel the same way. Facing the card cut conundrum with this deck, I found relief in setting a budget restriction.

What's the difference between Daughter of the DeepDaughter of the Deep and Emrakul's MessengerEmrakul's Messenger? Reductively, not much. They both cost two mana, they both trigger from drawing a second card to make a token. Their primary function in this deck would be the same. However, at time of writing, Daughter of the Deep costs more than $3 USD, and Emrakul's Messenger is less than 50¢.

By setting a strict rule of less than one dollar per card, this deck is affordable without sacrificing the main theme. The budget card choices lend themselves to keeping the deck squarely in Bracket 2 territory. Consecrated SphinxConsecrated Sphinx would be great in this deck, but it's $30 and a Game Changer.

If you have a bigger budget, or if Bracket 3 is more your speed, check out the deck's Maybeboard to see all the $1+ cards I cut from the 99.

Beginning With the End in Mind

Card draw payoffs come in three main flavors: tokens, +1/+1 counters, and mill. The first two work really well together as a Bracket 2 strategy for winning through combat damage. The third is kind of its own thing.

As much as I love a good mill deck, cards like Jace's ErasureJace's Erasure would pull this deck in too many directions. Some decks benefit from incidental mill, but this one needs room for the tokens and +1/+1 counters to breathe.

By combining the payoffs between +1/+1 counters and tokens, this deck is going wide and tall. Pairing these effects will help the deck pivot to contend with different approaches to combat in the battlefield grind that is Bracket 2. The end game is adaptive to opponents' defenses, and locked in on reducing their life totals to zero.

Tokens

One area where token decks struggle is connecting creatures' power to opponents' life totals. Fortunately, many blue cards make tokens with evasion.

At two mana, Mischievous MysticMischievous Mystic is a genuine bargain. With flying and 2 power, it's ready to get in some early chip damage while creating Faerie friends to join the fray. On later turns, it's a handy second spell to pair with the deck's abundant three drops.

Speaking of three drops, Thopter FabricatorThopter Fabricator costs just three mana and makes more Thopters. I would like this card better if it weren't a Vehicle. The crew mechanic is an outright flavor fail, of the same caliber as Walls being creatures. Regardless, given a choice between attacking with 2 power on the ground, or 4 power in the air, I would crew this thing and swing.

Of course, Thopter Fabricator isn't in the deck for its stat line. Its primary role will be value production, cranking out Thopters for the war effort.

Next, this four-drop is doing double duty. Ethereal InvestigatorEthereal Investigator enters and makes Clues equal to the number of opponents. Ideally, that number is three, which makes three opportunities to get a second draw on any player's turn for a minor mana investment. The cost of cracking the Clues is going to be well worth it when this flying Spirit rewards us with another flying Spirit.

Thopter, Faerie, and Spirit tokens with flying tend to be small, so it's crucial to make as many of them as possible. We'll touch on maximizing our triggers a little later.

Counters

Modification is one of the perks of the creature card type. It's fun to make the numbers go up and tack on extra abilities. As a reward for drawing cards, these abilities most often appear on the creatures themselves. We already saw this on Bard the BowmanBard the Bowman, and Lakeshore ApothecaryLakeshore Apothecary is another example from The Hobbit.

Kid LokiKid Loki and friends are playing fair, with checks and balances on the number of triggers they can get in a turn. Five of the creatures in the deck ditch the restrictions, and pick up a counter for every draw.

Chasm SkulkerChasm Skulker is a classic at this point; it's been around for more than ten years, and it still wins games. The new kid on Chasm Skulker's block is Shang-Chi and the Ten RingsShang-Chi and the Ten Rings. Shang-Chi also gets a +1/+1 counter for each draw, and carries a secondary benefit for piling on the counters.

Ideally, Shang-Chi will pick up that tenth counter on any turn that we haven't drawn our second card yet. If we can make that happen, then his ability will trigger those constrained second draw triggers.

Draw on Other Turns

Thanks to the way numbers work, we can only draw our second card one time each turn. In other words, a lot of the triggered abilities in this deck have a once-per-turn limitation baked in. To get the most out of those triggers, we need to draw two cards on as many of our opponents' turns as possible.

To that end, we're packing almost thirty draw effects between instants and permanents with draw abilities. Quick StudyQuick Study is kind of perfect for this deck, and our ramp can help too with cards like Azorius LocketAzorius Locket. I intentionally excluded any sorcery draw spells to maximize opportunities to draw outside of our own main phase.

Presently in 858K decks, BrainstormBrainstorm is one of the most overplayed cards in Commander. Its inclusion in eight preconstructed decks is partly to blame. The truth is, most Commander decks can't use it effectively, and are better off paying more mana for a spell that nets more card advantage. However, this deck is built around card draw triggers. We're not overly concerned with where the cards go after we draw them.

Unfortunately, none of Brainstorm's printings are less than $1. Fortunately, there are a couple budget alternatives.

BrainstoneBrainstone can sit on the battlefield until we need the draw triggers, kind of like a super Clue. Meanwhile, Harmonized TrioHarmonized Trio gives us Brainstorm on demand. One of the best lands for this deck is Cephalid ColiseumCephalid Coliseum, which can net a huge return on investment with absolutely no cost of inclusion.

Now that we've explored the nuts and bolts of the deck, let's take a look at the whole list before the final showdown between our potential commanders.

Battle of the Bards

The Showdown

Any of these three legends is able to lead this deck, but only one will win support from you, the readers. They each get one more shot to earn your allegiance. Then you decide via poll which one is the commander, and the other two have to drop down into the 99.

Bard the BowmanBard the Bowman a.k.a. The Payoff

All three Bards have reach. Unfortunately for uncommon Bard, rare and mythic rare Bards also have vigilance. Considering this one is coded to attack, and the others are primarily support pieces, this is the one that would make the most use of attacking without tapping.

Still, this version of Bard puts a card draw payoff in the command zone, sharing the same trigger as other cards in the deck. Bard the Bowman has combat trick potential, because timing that second draw before combat damage will pump him up and give him lifelink. Of the three candidates, this version of Bard is the most likely to be a serious commander damage threat.

Bard, Heir of GirionBard, Heir of Girion a.k.a. The Enabler

Supporting other creatures is crucial for Bard, Heir of Girion. A 4/4 without evasion doesn't really cut it as an attacker on the battlecruiser battlefields of Bracket 2. Because of the creature-heavy nature of casual play, the abundance of blockers is a major obstacle to breaking parity.

This Bard is a parity breaker. Of the three Bards, this is the only one with built-in gas to fuel the deck's 18 draw triggers. Combine that with a passive +1/+1 to other creatures, and Bard's anthem can help the other evasive creatures in the deck, plus the evasive tokens, finish the game.

Bard, King of DaleBard, King of Dale a.k.a. The Doubler

Like many doubling effects, his royal highness doesn't do anything by himself. Doublers have the potential to be a game-winning catalyst, but sometimes they just amplify an engine that would have won anyway.

However, Bard, King of Dale turns up the heat when the rest of the deck is online. Every other enabler and payoff in the 99 costs less mana. As a six-drop, he's in the right position to be the deck's crowning play.

Will of the Council

You, the readers, get to decide which legend leads the deck! Vote in the poll, and campaign for your commander choice in the comments. Please share this article with your friends. I'd love to see the number of participants double from last time. I'm excited to see what you all decide.