The Hobbit (HOB) Limited Review — White

Note: This article was translated from Chinese by AI and may contain errors. Read the original Chinese version.

The Hobbit (HOB) will hold its prerelease events on August 7, 2026, and officially launch one week later on August 14, 2026. Want to learn more about card ratings and advice for Limited? Then check out this series of HOB Limited reviews!

• For the mechanics, see this article: The Hobbit Mechanics Breakdown

Rating Scale

5.0: Unconditional first pick, gives a near-winning advantage
4.5: Unconditional first pick if you are in the right colors, gives a huge advantage
4.0: Worth first-picking, extremely synergistic with the color pair’s theme, and can be the deciding card for splashing/switching colors or moving into a color pair
3.5: Top uncommon or common of the set, or another strong card, synergistic with the color pair’s theme, and can be the key card for moving into a color pair
3.0: Important card for the color pair’s theme, or another above-average card that you want in your final deck
2.5: Average, usually a solid curve filler
2.0～1.0: Below average, generally leave it out, can be used as filler when necessary but not too many
0.5～0.0: Unplayable, basically don’t play it, playing it only helps you lose

Card Ratings

Score: 2.5
Comment: Quite good if the deck supports it (if you can trigger the second ability and draw cards). Stronger in Constructed.

Score: 1.0
Comment: Normally you can’t be sure you are the one who is ahead, yet this card is completely unusable when behind, so you only get a chance to use it when you are sure your deck is fast and the opponent’s is slow.

Score: 2.5
Comment: A protection spell plus a decent card for achieving Enduring Story.

Score: 3.5
Comment: Removal with looting and a chance to make a 1/1 is already great, very strong.

Score: 3.0
Comment: A 2/2 with vigilance that also helps with Enduring Story, and once achieved it locks down the opponent’s mana, which is pretty good.

Score: 2.5
Comment: Just a plain Grizzly Bears that can grow in the mid to late game.

Score: 2.5
Comment: Four mana for a 3/4 plus an Equipment giving +1/+2, also a good card for achieving Enduring Story and filling the curve.

Score: 3.0
Comment: A flier with such a big rear end is quite rare; with about two other creatures its body is stronger than most five-mana fliers, and it even has a higher ceiling, purely a stats monster.

Score: 4.0
Comment: At 2 mana it is just an ordinary protection spell, but at 6 mana if it can return two or more creatures to hand, the board pressure it gives is nearly an outright kill, a strong card.

Score: 3.0
Comment: Better suited to decks that need lots of tokens, but 5 toughness plus looting is still a decent blocker.

Score: 4.0
Comment: Four mana for two 2/2s, and if Enduring Story is achieved it also gives you an anthem effect, and playing Dwarves afterward keeps making 2/2s; the opponent has to spend a removal spell on it, and can’t clean it up completely.

Score: 2.0
Comment: If the opponent really draws a lot you might consider it for the sideboard, but its payoff in the main deck is low.

Score: 3.0
Comment: The basic version of the two-mana 1/1 double strike uncommon, and the extra Equipment is usable late; a decent card.

Score: 4.0
Comment: It draws whenever a Dwarf or Equipment enters, and it only costs 2 mana to cast, definitely a strong card.

Score: 2.5
Comment: It loots when it dies, can chump one attack, and can fill the curve in color pairs that benefit from card draw.

Score: 3.0
Comment: Paired with Recruit you get a free punch every turn, which is pretty strong.

Score: 3.0
Comment: A decent defensive card, and the 5-mana mode works as ordinary removal later.

Score: 3.0
Comment: Early on the pump can steal life, and late it pumps everything for the final blow, suited to more aggressive decks.

Score: 3.0
Comment: One for one-and-a-half, a looter that sends out little guys to build advantage, a good lubricant for the deck.

Score: 3.0
Comment: After seeing the cards in this set I feel achieving Enduring Story is too easy, and a 4/3 with vigilance for 3 mana is already a good body.

Score: 3.5
Comment: Very annoying: draw one, discard one, make a 1/1, slowly building your advantage, but in theory the opponent will kill it first when they play a noncreature spell, so there is a high chance you won’t enjoy it more than twice.

Score: 3.5
Comment: One for two that also thins the library and can still deal a big punch, with a guaranteed 3 or 4; a good card.

Score: 3.0
Comment: Harder to use when ahead, but when the game is tied or you are behind, if you can get a one-for-two or better it turns the game around.

Score: 3.0
Comment: It can kill and protect, you can’t ask for more, a good card.

Score: 2.5
Comment: Four mana to pump the whole team is a bit clunky, but there are not many cards in this set that can answer artifacts and enchantments, and quite a few bombs happen to be artifacts or enchantments, so it may be stronger than you think.

Score: 4.0
Comment: X spells like this are strong topdecks in the late game; the Adventure side costs 3 mana + X to send out X creatures, which is a bit pricey, but if the opponent has no answer, they face a nearly unanswerable board within two turns.

Score: 3.0
Comment: A three-mana 2/2 flier is already passable, and it also has instant-speed tap, a great card for stealing life in aggressive decks.

Score: 2.5
Comment: A somewhat bigger combat trick, but if you have lots of Equipment it may give the opponent a surprise punch.

Conclusion

White’s cards roughly divide into two types: one focuses on going wide with Recruit, and the other achieves Enduring Story or brings Equipment to accumulate late-game advantage.

At first glance I thought Storied might have the higher payoff, because the proportion of legendary creatures is really high, so it might be achieved in around 4 turns; and if it is achieved that quickly, the card advantage may be better than other cards.

As for Recruit, because it adds no toughness, I imagine it may not perform as well in Limited as connive did before, especially if the card itself already gives up stats.

That’s about it for white; let’s test which side is stronger in practice, see you at the prerelease!