The Food and Fellowship Commander deck, part of the Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth set, is a flavorful and thematic addition to Magic: The Gathering’s preconstructed deck lineup. Designed around the Abzan colour combination (white, black, green), this deck captures the essence of camaraderie and resourcefulness, drawing inspiration from the iconic journey of Frodo, Sam, and their companions.
The deck contains a pair of partner commanders in the form of Frodo, Adventurous Hobbit and Sam, Loyal Attendant. There are alternative commanders in here in the form of fellow partner commanders, Merry, Warden of Isengard and Pippin, Warden of Isengard, and the solo commander, Bilbo, Birthday Celebrant. For the purposes of this review, I’m going to focus on the face commanders, Frodo and Sam:
The deck revolves around the creation and utilisation of Food tokens, which serve as both a thematic nod to the hobbits’ love of sustenance and a strategic resource. These tokens can be sacrificed for life gain or leveraged for powerful effects, making them versatile tools in your gameplay. The deck also emphasises synergy between creatures, rewarding players for building a board state that embodies fellowship and teamwork.
Some Key mechanics include:
- Token Generation: Cards like Sam, Loyal Attendant and Pippin, Warden of Isengard ensure a steady supply of Food tokens.
- Token Synergy: Many cards have synergy with Food Tokens. For example, Banquet Guests lets you use food tokens to create a large creature, whilst Rosie Cotton of South Lane helps you grow your other creatures when tokens are created, and Rapacious Guest grows bigger when you consume food, also leading to further healing in later turns.
- Ring-based Card Advantage and Chip Damage: Frodo, Adventurous Hobbit finds himself tempted by the ring quite easily in this deck. See the effects of that below. Within a few turns, Frodo is doing a very small amount of commander damage which, frankly, is not going to win you the game. That’s okay. It’s unblockable damage that will allow you to loot cards and, before long, doing damage to all players whenever you hit one. That does add up.
The deck is a lot of fun and it has some real strengths going for it:
- Flavourful Design: The deck’s theme is beautifully integrated with lots of Hobbits and treemen, making it a joy for fans of The Lord of the Rings.
- Resilient Gameplay: With life gain and token generation, the deck can withstand aggressive strategies and grind out value over time. And if you do manage to get a good lifegain engine going, then you can have a lot of fun with Bilbo, Birthday Celebrant who can drag all of the creatures out of your decks after you pass 111 life. If you wanted to, you could set him as your commander and really build around life gain.
- Upgrade Potential: The deck includes solid reprints (hello, Birds of Paradise!) and synergistic pieces, making it a great starting point for customisation. There are some obvious directions to go in on this front:
- Life Gain and Drain: Utilise Food tokens to gain life while simultaneously draining opponents with cards like Mirkwood Bats and Nadier’s Nightblade. These two cards are not in the original deck, but are easy and obvious additions that will quicly make a big difference.
- Value Engine: Cards such as Academy Manufactor and Jaheira, Friend of the Forest amplify the utility of your tokens, turning them into engines of card advantage and mana generation.
Whilst this deck feels pretty strong out of the box, there are some glaring weaknesses
- Limited Power Level: As a preconstructed deck – albeit a strong one – it may struggle against more optimised Commander decks without upgrades. More removal would be really beneficial.
- Reliance on Tokens: The deck’s strategy hinges on token generation, which can be disrupted by board wipes or targeted removal, or mass artifact removal.
All in all, the Food and Fellowship Commander deck is a really quite delightful blend of theme and strategy, offering a fun gameplay experience that captures the spirit of fellowship. While it may not be the most competitive deck out of the box, it is strong, and can really pop off with a good opening. Its charm and upgrade potential make it a worthwhile addition to any Commander collection. Whether you’re a staunch fan of The Lord of the Rings, and Hobbits in particular, or simply enjoy token-based strategies, this deck is sure to bring a smile to your face… and maybe a second breakfast to your table.
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