Commander blueprint · The Hobbit Eternal

How to build Gandalf, Party Guest

Every legendary Wizard you control lets Gandalf, Party Guest cast a bigger spell for free when your combat begins, two more mana value each, and he counts himself. So this list brings twenty three more of them, four other Gandalfs among the guests, and spells big enough to be worth the wait.

Art by Dmitry Burmak

He counts himself, so the ceiling starts at two and climbs in twos

X is worked out as the trigger resolves, and Gandalf is in the count. On his own he can cast anything with mana value 2 or less, and every other legendary Wizard on your side adds two. This is what the core list can cast for nothing at each head count:

• Gandalf alone, up to 2: ten of the twenty eight. Fire // Ice is one, because a split card is judged by the half you cast, and Flameshape, the Adventure on Gandalf, Goblins' Bane, is a two as well.
• One more Wizard, up to 4: seventeen, with Fact or Fiction, Akroma's Will and Mizzix's Mastery the ones worth waiting for.
• Two more, up to 6: twenty three. Raise the Palisade, World at War, Urza's Ruinous Blast, Mystic Confluence, Karn's Temporal Sundering and Recurring Insight come in here.
• Three more, up to 8: twenty seven, adding Approach of the Second Sun, Treasure Cruise, Dig Through Time and Insurrection.
• Four more, up to 10: all twenty eight, Storm Herd the last of them.

Fourteen of the twenty eight need a ceiling of 4 or more, and those are the ones to hold for a combat. A free Ponder saves you one mana. A free Dig Through Time saves eight, or saves the graveyard you would otherwise exile to pay for it. That is also why the two eights are Treasure Cruise and Dig Through Time rather than something like Enter the Infinite: delve makes both cheap to cast by hand on a turn when Gandalf is not around, so neither one sits dead in your hand waiting for him.

Eleven creatures are named Gandalf, and ten of them are welcome at this party

The legend rule only stops you controlling two legendary permanents with exactly the same name, and no two of the eleven share one. So Gandalf the White, Gandalf the Grey, Gandalf, Goblins' Bane and Gandalf, White Rider can all sit beside the commander, and each is a legendary Avatar Wizard that adds two to his ceiling. Ten of the eleven fit inside Jeskai colours. The eleventh, Gandalf, Westward Voyager, is green and blue, so a deck led by this one cannot run it.

Gandalf the White is the most useful of the four. It has flash, it lets you cast legendary spells as though they had flash, which covers every Wizard in this list and both legendary sorceries, and it makes a triggered ability that a legendary permanent entering causes trigger an additional time. That last part is what makes Cadric so strong here, below. Gandalf the Grey triggers on every instant or sorcery you cast, including the free one, and each of its four modes can be picked once while it stays on the battlefield: tap or untap a permanent, 3 damage to each opponent, a copy of the spell, or the Grey himself back on top of your library, which resets the other three when you draw and recast him. Gandalf, White Rider gives your creatures +1/+0 and you a scry 1 for every spell, and Gandalf, Goblins' Bane deals 1 damage to each opponent for every noncreature spell.

The other five Gandalfs are left at home. Gandalf, Shadow's Foe costs seven. Gandalf, Spark Starter is six mana for 3 damage, and Gandalf, Wandering Wizard five for a 4/5 with ward. Gandalf, Friend of the Shire gives your sorceries flash, and this list casts its best sorceries during its own combat, where flash adds nothing. Gandalf of the Secret Fire rewards spells cast on other players' turns, and this commander only does anything on yours.

The count is taken when the trigger resolves, so flash a Wizard in on top of it

The trigger goes on the stack as combat begins, and X is not set until it resolves. Any legendary Wizard that arrives in between is counted. Vendilion Clique, Venser, Shaper Savant and Naru Meha, Master Wizard have flash of their own, and Raff Capashen, Ship's Mage and Gandalf the White let you cast every other Wizard in the list at instant speed, since all of them are legendary. So the usual turn is to keep one Wizard in hand, let the trigger go on the stack, and cast it then. A four becomes a six before you pick the spell.

It works the other way too. An opponent who kills one of your Wizards in response lowers X, and the six you were saving may no longer fit. Keep a cheaper spell in hand for that turn, so a ceiling knocked down to four still buys Fact or Fiction. Naru Meha is the one Wizard to hold back for a different moment. Cast it after the free spell instead, with that spell still on the stack, and its enters ability copies it: a free Dig Through Time digs twice.

Cadric makes every legendary Wizard you cast before combat count twice

Cadric, Soul Kindler switches the legend rule off for your tokens. Whenever another nontoken legendary permanent enters under your control, you may pay for a token copy of it with haste, which you sacrifice at the next end step. So a legendary Wizard cast in your first main phase is two of them by the time combat begins. Add Gandalf the White and Cadric triggers twice for each arrival, and for every Wizard you cast is three for the turn. With Gandalf, Cadric and the White on the battlefield the ceiling is already six, and casting Talrand, Sky Summoner before combat takes it to twelve, which is enough for anything in the list.

The copies carry the original's enters abilities as well. A token Venser, Shaper Savant returns a second spell or permanent to its owner's hand, a token Barrin, Tolarian Archmage bounces a second creature, and a token Vendilion Clique sends a second card from an opponent's hand to the bottom of their library. Cadric copies the commander too. If Gandalf dies and you cast him again once Cadric is down, his token is a second Gandalf, Party Guest with its own trigger, and both of them count.

The two tricks stack. A Wizard flashed in with Gandalf's trigger on the stack still triggers Cadric, and Cadric's trigger goes on top and resolves first, so the token is on the battlefield in time to be counted as well: one card cast in response adds four to the ceiling, or six with Gandalf the White out. What does not work is casting a Wizard on an opponent's turn for Cadric's sake. The token is sacrificed at the next end step, which is the end of their turn, so it never reaches your combat.

Two free spells in one turn, as long as there are two in your hand

Four cards get more than one free spell out of a single turn. Spark Double enters as a copy of Gandalf that is not legendary, so it adds nothing to the count, but it carries the same trigger. Strionic Resonator copies the trigger for , and Gogo, Master of Mimicry copies it once for or twice for . World at War, free once two other Wizards are out, adds a combat after your second main phase, and that combat begins with another trigger. Because Gandalf cast it from your hand it has rebound, so it comes back at your next upkeep for free and adds a second combat to that turn as well.

Each copy sets its own X as it resolves, and each one needs its own instant or sorcery in your hand. That is the real limit on this commander, and it is why the list carries Rhystic Study, Mystic Remora, Fact or Fiction, Treasure Cruise, Dig Through Time and Recurring Insight instead of more Wizards. Recurring Insight draws as many cards as the opponent you choose is holding, and it rebounds too, so it refills the hand on two turns in a row. Gandalf the Grey's copy mode needs no second card at all, because it copies the spell itself. And Vraska, Soul of Stone makes a Sculpture Treasure for every noncreature spell, the free ones included, so each free spell also leaves a mana behind for your second main phase.

Urza's Ruinous Blast exiles your mana rocks and leaves every Wizard

Urza's Ruinous Blast exiles every nonland permanent that is not legendary. In this list it spares the commander and all twenty three Wizards, and it takes thirteen of your own cards if they are out: the eight mana rocks, Strionic Resonator, Lightning Greaves, Rhystic Study, Mystic Remora and Spark Double, plus every Drake from Talrand, Spirit from Kykar, Wind's Fury and Sculpture from Vraska. So it is a spell for the turn your lands can carry the deck without the rocks. It also spares opposing commanders, since they are legendary too, so it clears the board around them and leaves them where they stand.

Raise the Palisade is the other sweeper that reads this deck's own type. Name Wizard and every creature that is not one returns to its owner's hand, which sends each opposing commander back to hand or to the command zone and leaves your Wizards untouched. Your Drakes, Spirits and Sculptures go too, and a token that leaves the battlefield is gone for good. Neither card asks you to rebuild afterwards, which is the reason the list has no Supreme Verdict or Austere Command in the ninety nine.

Insurrection, Akroma's Will and Storm Herd resolve before attackers are declared

The free spell lands in the beginning of combat step, after your main phase and before attacks. For three of the big spells that is the best moment in the turn. Insurrection untaps every creature on the battlefield and hands you all of them with haste until end of turn, so the whole table attacks for you that same combat. Akroma's Will gives you both modes, since Gandalf is your commander: flying, vigilance, double strike, lifelink, indestructible and protection from each colour, for the attack you are about to make.

Storm Herd is slower than it looks. It makes a 1/1 flying Pegasus for each point of life you have, but tokens made as combat begins have no haste, so they block for a round and attack on your next turn. Approach of the Second Sun is the quieter way this list wins. Gandalf casts it from your hand, it goes seventh from the top of your library and you gain 7 life. Dig Through Time looks at exactly seven cards, so cast it by hand later that turn and it finds Approach again. The second cast from your hand wins, and the next trigger makes it free if four legendary Wizards are still out.

Mizzix's Mastery is the way back to a big spell you have already used. It costs 4, so it is free with one other Wizard beside Gandalf, and it copies an instant or sorcery card from your graveyard and casts the copy without paying for it. A spent Insurrection or Dig Through Time comes back as a four. Karn's Temporal Sundering exiles itself and Approach goes back into the library, so neither can be brought back that way.

The core list

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The budget rung keeps twenty three Wizards, and bracket 4 makes the trigger happen twice

Neither rung touches the head count. The budget list trades Cadric, Soul Kindler and Ral, Monsoon Mage for Jori En, Ruin Diver and Gale, Waterdeep Prodigy, so it still runs twenty three legendary Wizards, and the bracket 4 list cuts none of them. All five Gandalfs, every flash enabler and all four sources of a second free spell are in all three versions.

The budget rung is nine swaps and comes to $172, against $358 for the core list. Rhystic Study is the core's only Game Changer and it goes, so nothing left in the list sets a bracket floor. Opportunity takes its slot: an instant that draws four, free once two other Wizards are out. Kindred Discovery replaces Mystic Remora and names Wizard, so every Wizard that enters or attacks draws a card. All four new lands enter tapped, and only one of the four they replace did, so six lands come in tapped where the core list has three.

Cadric is the real loss. Without him a Wizard cast before combat counts once, so the big ceilings arrive a turn or two later. Heroic Reinforcements takes the slot of Akroma's Will and does one thing that card could not. On a turn with five legendary Wizards out and a second trigger from Spark Double or Strionic Resonator, cast Storm Herd with the first and Heroic Reinforcements with the second, and every Pegasus gets +1/+1 and haste and attacks that same combat.

Ten swaps make the bracket 4 rung, and it comes to $854. It runs seven Game Changers, so bracket 4 is the lowest it can claim. Roaming Throne is the card that changes how the deck plays. Name Wizard as it enters and the triggered abilities of your other Wizards trigger an additional time, so Gandalf casts two free spells every combat if your hand holds two, and Talrand, Kykar and Vraska make two tokens for every spell. Mystical Tutor puts the spell you want on top of your library for next turn's trigger. Fierce Guardianship and Teferi's Protection keep the Wizards alive through the sweeper that would reset the count, and Time Warp joins Karn's Temporal Sundering as a second extra turn.

The rest is speed. Ancient Tomb, Mana Vault and Jeska's Will get Gandalf and his guests down a turn sooner, Cavern of Souls stops anyone countering a Wizard, and Three Tree City, naming Wizard, pays and a tap for one mana of a colour for every Wizard you control. The price is the cheap interaction (Lightning Helix, Arcane Denial, Wizard's Retort and Fire // Ice), Lightning Greaves, Storm Herd, Fellwar Stone and three lands that make coloured mana.

FAQ

Does Gandalf, Party Guest count himself as a legendary Wizard?

Yes. He is a legendary Avatar Wizard, so with no other Wizards out X is 2 and he can cast any instant or sorcery with mana value 2 or less from your hand. Each other legendary Wizard you control when the trigger resolves adds 2 more, so three others make it 8.

Can Gandalf, Party Guest cast a spell with X in its cost?

He can, but X will be 0. A spell cast without paying its mana cost has X set to 0, so a free Fireball or Comet Storm does nothing worth casting, and that is why this list has no X spells. Additional costs such as kicker or entwine can still be paid on top of the free cast.

Can you play more than one Gandalf in the same deck?

Yes. The legend rule only cares about identical names, and no two of these cards share one. This list runs four besides the commander: Gandalf the White, Gandalf the Grey, Gandalf, Goblins' Bane and Gandalf, White Rider. Each is a legendary Wizard, so each one raises the free spell's ceiling by 2. Gandalf, Westward Voyager is the only one this deck cannot use, because its green is outside the commander's colours.

Can Gandalf, Party Guest cast a sorcery during combat?

Yes. An effect that tells you to cast a spell as it resolves lets you ignore the normal timing rules, so a sorcery is fine in the beginning of combat step. The spell also resolves before you declare attackers, which is why Insurrection and Akroma's Will are in this list: both change the attack you are about to make.

What bracket is this Gandalf, Party Guest deck?

It starts at bracket 3. Rhystic Study is its one Game Changer, and its one extra turn, Karn's Temporal Sundering, exiles itself after it resolves. The budget rung swaps Rhystic Study for Opportunity, and after that nothing in the list sets a floor. At the other end, the bracket 4 rung adds six more Game Changers, Fierce Guardianship, Mana Vault and Ancient Tomb among them, and Time Warp as a second extra turn.

How much does a Gandalf, Party Guest deck cost?

$358 for the core list, with each card at the lowest paper price it has on the date in the summary box. Rhystic Study, Scalding Tarn and Akroma's Will make up a third of that, and the budget rung cuts all three to reach $172. The bracket 4 rung is $854, and Ancient Tomb and Mana Vault are its two dearest cards.

Which Gandalf is this deck for?

Gandalf, Party Guest, number 2 in The Hobbit Eternal: the blue, red and white 3/4 for four mana that casts a free instant or sorcery as each of your combats begins. Gandalf the White and Gandalf the Grey are both in the ninety nine as guests rather than as the commander, and a deck built to lead with either of them would look quite different.