Too Greedily, Too DeepToo Greedily, Too Deep | Art by Anton Solovianchyk 

Hello, fellow burglars! I'm back to continue the search for budget cards from previous sets, and with The Hobbit hype in full swing, we're going to look back to Lord of the Rings for some budget gems to add to your draconic treasure hoard.

Settle in with some Second BreakfastSecond Breakfast and let's review my top Universes Beyond (UB) crossover that Wizards will ever do.

Lossarnach CaptainLossarnach Captain ($0.41)

I didn't talk about the Human-typal synergies much during my The Queen of DaleThe Queen of Dale deck tech, but the new recruit mechanic (which is awesome) does indeed make Human Soldier tokens, which works great with the Captain.

Human decks tend to be go-wide strategies with lots of tokens, and the Captain spots you a token per turn, plus allows you to remove blockers ahead of the big swing, or even tap down attackers if you have ways to make Humans at instant speed.

Four mana for a one-toughness creature is a little rough, but partner this with some pump effects that are probably in your Humans/tokens deck already and you should be fine.

Glóin, Dwarf EmissaryGlóin, Dwarf Emissary ($1.07)

Gimli's dadGimli's dad makes an appearance in the new set, but his older self is represented here.

I've recently been reflecting on my preferred playstyle and I find myself leaning more and more towards aggro strategies that can help move the game along.

Goad is the perfect mechanic for that, so having a repeatable way to do it tacked on to your commander is pretty nice. Not to mention, the bar isn't high to generate Treasures, so we get some ramp out of the command zone too, especially helpful in mono-red.

Of course, Gloin can go in the 99 of other goad decks, Dwarf decks, or artifact decks, so consider him as a ramp piece in those settings too. Even the incidental goad can be nice, directing a big threat away from you and towards an opponent.

Prize PigPrize Pig ($0.32)

Is it messed up if I say this Pig really brings home the bacon?

I'm shocked this is as cheap as it is. If I know one thing about lifegain decks, it's that they trigger constantly. Usually it's many instances of small increments, but the Pig doesn't even care. It adds counters equal to the life gained, so gaining one life three times or three life once will work.

This makes it really easy to add multiple mana in a turn, and maybe even leave the Pig untapped to cast an instant during an opponent's turn.

The Ring Goes SouthThe Ring Goes South ($0.45)

Open the WayOpen the Way at home?

Thankfully Open the WayOpen the Way got reprinted so its price came down a bit, but this is a great budget replacement regardless. The ring tempt spots you a legendary creature, and you always have access to another with your commander (unless you're playing a Vehicle I guess?). With the proliferation of so many legendary creatures lately, it's pretty likely you'll have more.

With four legends, this is becomes Open the Way for two less mana, getting the first four lands (any land, not just basic) directly onto the battlefield.

Of course, the ceiling is higher if you've got more legends, which is the trade off for the lower floor. I'd consider this in landfall decks or big mana decks with a lot of non-basic lands.

Too Greedily, Too DeepToo Greedily, Too Deep ($0.36)

I love doing my best Christopher Lee impression when I cast this card.

Here we have a ReanimateReanimate plus a board wipe, which justifies the expensive mana value. If you're in a Rakdos () reanimation deck to begin with, consider this for one of your board wipes, but since it can target creatures in any graveyard, it's even a bit more flexible than that.

It's sort of like a DuneblastDuneblast, but you don't even need a creature on the battlefield to begin with. Being the only one left with a creature can put you really far ahead

My favorite place for this is in decks with a lifelinking commander, like my old Piru, the VolatilePiru, the Volatile deck. At eight mana, I would almost never put her back into the command zone, and it's hilarious to have her enter and gain seven life per creature on the board. Power matters decks like ZiatoraZiatora could also make good use of this, so consider doing some greedy digging.

Doors of DurinDoors of Durin ($0.48)

Speak friend and smash face.

My memory is that Gruul () was much maligned in this set, from Limited to Commander. This card is the exception. The value is immediate assuming you have something to attack with.

The scry makes the set up for it trivial, and the creature doesn't leave the battlefield or anything at end of turn. It just flips onto the board immediately tapped and attacking.

In Gruul, that's just about the most threatening thing that can happen. Imagine flipping into Ancient Copper DragonAncient Copper Dragon or Etali, Primal ConquerorEtali, Primal Conqueror? Pretty excellent.

Phial of GaladrielPhial of Galadriel ($0.75)

Ah yes, the always under-appreciated three mana rock.

The Phial falls into bulk bins as players look at the Signets and Talismans of the world, just like any of the other mana rocks at its point on the curve.

You know what Signets and Talismans don't do? Draw you cards. If you play like I do, and find yourself empty-handed and top-decking quite often, the Phial is the perfect enabler for your lack of self control.

The draw effect includes your draw step, so you can get two cards to help you continue to dig. The lifegain text is mostly flavor text in my opinion, since it doesn't really work in life gain decks to begin with.

However, if you're doing shenanigans with cards like Profane TransfusionProfane Transfusion and Axis of MortalityAxis of Mortality, well then maybe there's some value there too.

Press the EnemyPress the Enemy ($0.60)

Cards that perform two functions in a single package are always welcome in my decks. This is interaction and mana acceleration, and does pretty well on both. Bouncing a nonland permanent isn't the best form of removal, but comes in handy for blue decks.

Bouncing a spell off the stack is better, as it can interact with something that can't be countered, and set the player who cast it back the mana. Then you can turn that into casting a big instant or sorcery out of nowhere.

Spellslinger decks are the best home for this card, since they tend to want multiple spells being cast and they'll naturally have a higher density of instants and sorceries.

It could also slot into double spell decks since it allows for an easy way to do so, and on an opposing turn if that's relevant.

Peregrin TookPeregrin Took ($0.88)

I realized while writing this that Pippin adds second breakfast to any token.

This slots into basically any Food deck, and most token decks. He's a combo piece with Nuka-Cola Vending MachineNuka-Cola Vending Machine and Experimental ConfectionerExperimental Confectioner, but just like similar effects, the value is there even if you aren't comboing off.

Food as a mechanic isn't going away any time soon, so pick up a copy now while he's cheap. Who knows if we can get reprints of UB cards in the future?

RingsightRingsight ($0.37)

Grim TutorGrim Tutor at home!

Guess what? Unless you're in an artifact or Eldrazi deck, chances are that most if not all of your nonland cards will share a color with your commander.

If you know what card you want, even if you don't have your commander you can tempt something that's the appropriate color to allow you to tutor for your card anyway.

Flexible tutors are rarely on the budget list, so if you're in Dimir () and are looking to save some money on a tutor package, you probably won't do much better than Ringsight.

Rise of the Witch-kingRise of the Witch-king ($0.85)

Four mana edictedict effects are not the greatest rate, so this card should be viewed through the reanimate lens, in which case it's really good. Four mana to reanimate a creature is kind meh, but to reanimate any permanent? Now we're talking.

My first thought for this is some kind of enchantment deck like AniktheaAnikthea. You can put some high mana value enchantment like Legion LoyaltyLegion Loyalty of Zendikar ResurgentZendikar Resurgent into the graveyard and cheat it out into play.

It's also great in planeswalker decks, since it removes potential attackers and the planeswalkers often make tokens that you can sacrifice. Kethis, the Hidden HandKethis, the Hidden Hand comes to mind.

Nasty EndNasty End ($0.22)

I was going to make fun of everyone that thought Mirkwood BatsMirkwood Bats should be banned, but I couldn't justify it as a "hidden gem" from the set.

Instead, an actual hidden gem is this two mana draw three. We see variants of Village RitesVillage Rites all the time. Usually the extra grants some additional flexibility like Costly PlunderCostly Plunder, or just makes the card more powerful like Deadly DisputeDeadly Dispute.

Here, we get the option to get an extra card, which is about as powerful as it gets. If your commander or another legendary creature is on the way out thanks to an opposing removal spell, consider a Nasty EndNasty End for it instead.

Thanks for going there and back again with me for this dive back into Lord of the Rings. Now that we have The Hobbit, there is nothing that can top these two sets for me from Universes Beyond. Unless maybe we get The Silmarillion?!

Anyways, what do you think? Are there any cards that I missed? Do you have a set you want me to explore next? Let me know down in the comments and I'll see you next time!