Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, Food, and Fellowship included four Commander precons, all designed around token/life gain strategies. One such deck, however, lacks some key cards that would push it past its current limitations and become genuinely competitive.
Upgrades may be in order. Mirkwood Bats and Eagles of the North provide much-needed card draw, while Elanor Gardner creates food and searches out basic lands.
Frodo & Sam
Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee are the default partner commanders in this deck, emphasizing food tokens and life-gain payoffs. This deck seeks to maintain low life totals over time instead of trying to wipe you out instantly, as with most swarm decks.
Sam is at the core of this deck, showing unfailing devotion and loyalty towards Frodo beyond mere friendship. Regardless of the immense dangers associated with The One Ring or Shelob’s Lair, he remains there to support and defend Frodo in every battle or momentous event that threatens it, such as Osgiliath or even Crack of Doom, he stays by his friend’s side as their fates collide.
Treebeard
Treebeard is an intimidating figure who seems to have been around forever. He can easily consume anyone if left unsupervised and may eat their brain out!
Merry Brandybuck and Pippin Took were encountered while fleeing a Uruk-hai and brought back to Fangorn by Elrond. At the same time, he explains its history and shows them his famous Ent Draught.
He invited them to an Entmoot, where they decided to destroy Isengard, liberate its inhabitants, and imprison Saruman in Orthanc until the end of time. Additionally, this deck has life gain and token synergies thanks to cards like Bilbo Birthday Celebrant Sanguine Bond Treebeard Gracious Host, which provide life gain or token gain when played together.
Gracious Host
Frodo, Adventurous Hobbit, and Sam, Loyal Attendant, are the default partner commanders in this prison, forming an effective, balanced core for Food and Fellowship. As Food and Fellowship is a hybrid token/life gain deck, having strong token producers and cards to help restore life is critical. Cards like Bilbo, Birthday Celebrant, Field-Tested Frying Pan, and Rosie Cotton of South Lane work great, while Banquet Guests or Gwaihir, Greatest of Eagles, offer massive payoffs for sacrificed tokens on your opponents’ turns!
Showing our guests that we appreciate them at your table can help them feel loved and welcome and aid them in saying their farewells on an upbeat note!
Feasting Hobbit
This deck boasts life and token synergies, but what sets it apart is its prominent Hobbit characters, Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee, both legendary hobbits who took up arms against Mordor to destroy its One Ring.
Both commanders possess abilities that mesh perfectly with the cards in your deck, something not always the case when two commanders are included together. Frodo’s unique ability can allow an extra turn of play!
On the downside, this deck lacks powerful board wipes like Toxic Deluge and Birds of Paradise; however, there are a couple of good enchantments, such as Meathook Massacre, that can stay on the table and trigger all sorts of effects, including life gain or drain.
Sanguine Bond
Food and Fellowship can be further improved with upgrades. Cards that increase token production or promote life gain will further enhance its play, especially in multiplayer settings.
Bilbo, Birthday Celebrant, and Farmer Cotton can help increase the number of food tokens produced with each playthrough of this deck – they work exceptionally well when combined with Banquet Guests, Rapacious Guest, or Feasting Hobbit as food token producers.
Toxic Deluge and Birds of Paradise are vital instant-speed life manipulators in any green Commander deck, making them even more helpful because both target creatures. Voidslime also stands out as an enchantment that can disrupt opponents with hexproof or shroud – two traits that should come in handy against several of the threats present here.
Mentor of the Meek
Frodo and Sam, the Adventurous Hobbits of this deck, focus primarily on creating Food tokens and gaining life, with Frodo at the helm as a Loyal Attendant and Sam as an Adventurous Hobbit, respectively. Cards such as Bilbo Birthday Celebrant Treebeard Gracious Host Of Herbs Stewed Rabbit Banquet Guests Rapacious Guest Gwaihir, Greatest of Eagles Sanguine Bond all help drive this strategy forward.
The deck also contains direct card draws like Night’s Whisper and Harmonize and triggered abilities, such as those provided by Merry and Pippin, Halflings. Their capabilities enable players to produce food while drawing cards; other triggered abilities like Dearly Departed allow players to reanimate creatures for more excellent value.
Mentor of the Meek is unique in that his ability only cares about the actual power of creatures entering play rather than their printed ones (for instance, a Kessig Wolf with Virulent Wound would activate his command while Slayer of the Wicked would not). This can make things tricky in a few cases.
Gyome
Gyome is a Demon Slayer known for his extreme physical strength. When Kokushibo threw an iron-spiked flail and axe at him, Gyome quickly crushed them both in one blow! Gyome values the principles that led him to become a Hashira and refuse to become corrupted like other demons.
Food and Fellowship decks typically boast many food tokens and life gain, making them the ideal place for Gyome to shine. His ability to grant your creatures temporary indestructibility makes him suitable for protecting them against board wipes or targeted removal spells; food generated from tapping creatures by Gyome can then be cashed in for cards by your other heroes. When playing Gyome as part of your deck builder team, include cards like Parallel Lives or Doubling Season in flex spots to increase token production even further.
