Hobbit’s Sting – LOTR: TALES OF MIDDLE-EARTH
Date Reviewed: July 31, 2023
Ratings:
Constructed: 2.50
Casual: 4.00
Limited: 4.00
Multiplayer: 3.00
Commander [EDH]: 3.13
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
Hobbit’s Sting is a pretty straightforward designed-for-limited removal spell – the “number of creatures” clause draws your attention to the fact that you’re likely to have a lot of creatures during a stalemate and that this can break one when used right. The Food clause is a nice bonus which is rather relevant in Tales of Middle-earth draft and sealed, and in a different context that might be the end of the story for this card. Except . . . we all know by now that Wilds of Eldraine is coming out soon, and we remember that the first Eldraine set introduced Food tokens; and there’s already some indication that the second one not only continues the trend, but seems to be hinting at creatures who are also Food. There’s a sentence I wasn’t expecting to type today, but it is one that definitely gives Hobbit’s Sting a little more play in casual decks, and maybe even Standard depending on how things go.
Constructed: 2.5
Casual: 4
Limited: 4
Multiplayer: 3
Commander [EDH]: 3
It’s probably easier when most or all of your flavor text source material was written by J.R.R. Tolkien, but there’s a lot of really quotable cards in this set. Saying “one for the Shire!” any time you take something out with this card seems like more fun than some entire decks.
White’s always liked to use its creatures as a source of removal, and Hobbit’s Sting adds a bit of a twist to the normal flavor by letting food weigh in on the removal. Two mana removal that scales well can pay off nicely, and while this isn’t ideal in an open board, with the large amounts of ways to generate bodies and food, there is a nice scaling to removal here that you sometimes don’t get. I think this isn’t quite Modern playable, but it’s a solid Limited removal spell.
Constructed: 2.5
Casual: 4
Limited: 4 (removal is always ace in Limited)
Multiplayer: 3
Commander [EDH]: 3.25
We would love more volunteers to help us with our Magic the Gathering Card of the Day reviews. If you want to share your ideas on cards with other fans, feel free to drop us an email. We would be happy to link back to your blog / YouTube Channel / etc. 😉
