How to Become a Riddle Master

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

Introduction

When Gollum, Riddle Masterwas first previewed, it made many people (myself included) ask: “An ability like this got printed as a mythic?!” Little did we know that figuring out how to use this card to match its mythic price tag is precisely the first exam question Riddle Master sets for players.

An Interesting Design

Gollum, Riddle Master {1}{B}

Legendary Creature — Halfling Horror

As Gollum enters, choose odd or even. (Zero is even.)
Whenever an opponent casts a spell with mana value of the chosen parity, choose one that hasn’t been chosen before —

• Put a +1/+1 counter on Gollum.
• Each opponent loses 2 life and you gain 2 life.
• Draw a card.

Choose one of three, and you only get a reward if you call it right, and you can’t choose the same mode twice. If all three modes have already been chosen, this ability is removed from the stack and nothing happens. Incidentally, the rules wording for choosing odd or even as Gollum enters is the same as Pithing Needleand Cavern of Souls, all being ” As … enters, … ”. It doesn’t use the stack and can’t be responded to.

• Scenario one: At first glance the requirement seems a bit high, and if you miss, a two-mana 3/1 “vanilla” in today’s Standard may be unacceptable.
• Scenario two: What if we call it right? If the opponent doesn’t interfere, we get a 4/2 creature for two mana, a 4-point life swing, and a card drawn, and that investment is terrific! Not to mention if Gollum attacks and deals damage, or trades with an opponent’s creature on defense, which is even more wonderful!

In actual play, our experience will fall somewhere between the two scenarios above, and what this article is about is how to get as close to scenario two as possible.

How to Become a Riddle Master?

Once Gollum enters and you choose odd or even, to a large extent his floor and ceiling are decided. Next, let’s use an extreme example to see how we can use Gollum in constructed.

In Legacy, suppose you’re on the play with a black-based deck, your opponent mulliganed once, and after playing a Swamp you cast Dark Ritualon turn one, then cast Thoughtseizeand see the following hand:

You discard Kappa Cannoneerand cast Gollum, Riddle Masterwith the remaining two black mana, and at this point the answer to the riddle should be quite clear: choose “even”.

Of course, the above is just a hypothetical example. But this case actually shows the two key points of using Gollum, Riddle Master well:

1. Use cards that let you see the hand, such as Thoughtseize, or effects that can read the opponent’s hand like Arachne, Psionic Weaver.
2. If the opponent’s hand is unknown, try to read which deck in the meta they are on, and study the card configurations of the meta decks thoroughly before the tournament.

Riddle Master in Standard

With the release of HOB, a few decks on MTGO have also tried putting Gollum in, for example this mono-black aggro deck.

Mono-black aggro decklist

As said above, using black discard to read hand information is the same as using Gollum while knowing the answer. But to raise our hit rate, studying the metagame thoroughly is essential. Next we’ll break down the Standard environment after the August 10, 2026 banned list update. Taking the high-usage Standard decks within 14 days on MTGGoldfish as of August 20, 2026 as examples, supplemented by a few decks that are more common at Taiwan events but have a smaller meta share.

1. Mono-Green Landfall

The mana value in the screenshot is the total of main deck and sideboard. When actually deciding, take into account main deck games, sideboard games, and any sideboard plan the opponent may have, which will help the hit rate of your Riddle Master guesses!

Mono-Green Landfall has about the same number of odd and even cards, so our choice is relatively harder. The upside is that the opponent’s main deck has almost no removal, so as long as you call it right, Gollum can earn us a lot of value. When calling, look at the turn number of Gollum.

• Suppose we’re on the play and the opponent plays Llanowar Elveson turn one. If we have no removal on turn two and choose to play Gollum, we can consider calling “odd”, aiming at the opponent ramping into Earthbender Ascensionor Lumbering Worldwagon.
• Likewise on the play, the opponent plays Sazh's Chocoboon turn one, and again we play Gollum choosing odd. The opponent may slam another chocobo and then play a land-fetching land. Here I recommend preferring to put on a +1/+1 counter, making it a 4/2, which can buy us some time; choosing to draw a card is also fine, but soon the opponent’s Chocobo will grow to 3/4 or larger and our Gollum won’t be able to trade with it.
• On the draw on turn three, since the opponent should slam a four-mana threat next turn, if you cast Gollum here I recommend choosing even. If the opponent plays a creature, choose to put on the +1/+1 counter and try to hold off a creature with 4 toughness. If the opponent plays Sapling Nursery, we’re probably about to lose, so quickly draw a card and look at the future.

All of the above scenarios are only played when your hand lacks the right answers to the threats and has nothing better than Gollum. If you have a better option, there’s no need to play Gollum.

If the opponent is a Selesnya Landfall variant, the decision is much simpler for us. Besides the threats seen in Mono-Green Landfall, the removal that Selesnya Landfall adds and the explosive threat Practiced Offenseare all odd, so calling odd has a higher hit rate.

2. 4c Control

In 4c Control, apart from Firebending Lesson, the removal is mostly concentrated on even numbers. But key threats such as Tablet of Discovery, Jeskai Revelation, and even the sideboard Thor, God of Thunderare all odd cards. My suggestions are as follows:

• The opponent’s Tablet of Discoveryhasn’t appeared yet and you have a way to deal with it: call even. It increases Gollum’s chance of staying on the battlefield, or at least soaks up a removal spell for your other creatures.
• The opponent’s Tablet has resolved and you have no resistance to the next threats: call odd. See whether there’s a chance to topdeck an answer when the opponent casts an odd threat.
• We’re on the draw, the opponent has mana open on turn two, we don’t have an answer to Tablet and decide to play Gollum: call odd. The downside is the opponent responds with an even removal spell to kill Gollum and slams Tablet on time on turn three; but if the opponent doesn’t, there’s a chance the opponent plays around it with even cards, and Gollum buys us time. (If the opponent’s hand is Stock Up, we have an even better chance to draw an answer before Tablet resolves.)
• We’re on the play and play Gollum on turn two: call even. This blocks the opponent’s two-mana removal and Consult the Star Charts; if they respond with Firebending Lessonit’s a slight loss, but not unacceptable.
• If the opponent may sweep the board next turn: don’t play Gollum. So no need to call XD

As for Jeskai Control, the opponent’s removal consists mainly of Lesson cards, almost all two-mana, so calling even has a higher expected value. But as with 4c Control, the opponent’s threats are concentrated on odd numbers, so you still need to consider what to call based on the current turn number and situation.

3. Dimir Midrange

From the picture, the number of odd and even cards looks about the same. But Dimir Midrange is a sharply trimmed tempo deck, and what we find harder to accept is having Gollum traded off by one-mana spot removal like Requiting Hex. So my suggestion is that in most situations you can call odd, especially when the opponent keeps one mana open.

And with Gollum’s 3/1 body, against the small-bodied Dimir creatures it can even beat Enduring Curiosityon its own! After we’ve chosen draw, the second time Gollum’s ability triggers we can choose to put a counter on Gollum. That lets us block the opponent’s Kaito, Bane of Nightmareswhen it hasn’t used its [+1], or an animated Restless Reef, and also attack through a 1/1 little flyer.

The worse case is getting hit by a flashed-in Floodpits Drowner; if you read that the opponent may have this card, you can consider calling even instead.

4. Dimir Excruciator

In the vast majority of cases call even, to answer the opponent’s key threats on turns two, four and six. Even if it gets killed by one-mana spot removal, soaking up a removal spell is good. But note that if the opponent’s Superior Spider-Manturns into our Gollum, we’ll be the ones with a headache.

The odd cards are mostly spot removal, discard, draw and sweepers. When these cards resolve in a game, apart from sweepers they usually won’t make you lose the game outright, so calling even has a higher synergy. If the opponent doesn’t spend all their mana because of Gollum’s presence and does something else instead, we’ve also bought time. Of course, if you want to get greedy, choosing odd isn’t wrong either.

5. Orzhov Lifegain

Although the opponent has quite a few odd cards, the even cards are usually more crucial. Since the opponent has little removal, apart from draw I recommend choosing the counter first or second. A 4/2 body can use its size advantage against cards like Deep-Cavern Batand Voice of Victoryto push damage and race. Although the opponent is super good at gaining life, offensive opportunities you can seize shouldn’t be missed. Draining 2 is usually the last option, unless you’ve already been beaten down nearly to death.

6. Izzet Spellementals

The opponent’s deck structure is heavily skewed toward odd, so our choice is much simpler. One of the few scenarios in which you’d consider even is not wanting to be two-for-oned by the opponent’s Prismari Charm.

7. Azorius Tempo

The opponent has quite a few even cards, but I’d recommend choosing odd, since three-mana flash threats are not to be underestimated. With High Noonalready resolved on the battlefield, if you can make the opponent wary of Gollum and play one fewer three-mana flash creature, the tempo advantage it brings is great.

8. Sultai Reanimator

The key threat Superior Spider-Manis an even card, and among the resource points to get going, Oblivious Bookwormand Dredger's Insightare also even, but Overlord of the Balemurk, Rapid Rescue, and the creature tutor before the kill, Formidable Speaker, are all odd. It’s not easy to choose. My preliminary understanding is that during the opponent’s first four turns of setup you can choose odd, but if it’s almost certain the opponent will play Spider-Man next turn, you can choose even and gamble on drawing an answer.

9. Mardu Discard

On the play on turn two, choose even. On the draw on turn two, if the opponent doesn’t have a key two-mana threat on the battlefield, still choose even. If you hit, prefer draining 2, and then block whenever the opponent pushes in at Gollum; over a back-and-forth, Gollum alone can help you gain a 5 to 6 point life swing, which pays for itself.

Only choose odd if the opponent has everything on the battlefield and it looks like they will take off with Practiced Offensenext turn, or can even do it twice. In this matchup, surviving is the first priority.

10. Mono-Red Aggro

Odd, always choose odd!

Besides the opponent’s high density of one-mana creatures and one-mana burn, the key is not letting a Nova HellkiteWarped in by the opponent kill Gollum with its enter trigger. When the opponent plays the dragon, we can put a counter on Gollum first without it being killed, thereby keeping a blocker so that damage that turn doesn’t collapse.

Almost all of the creatures the opponent plays on turn two can be blocked and killed by Gollum (except Zhao, the Moon Slayer). And before the turn-four Sunspine Lynxshows up, we also have a chance to drain 2 first to hold on, and if it resolves a second time, we can put a counter on Gollum, which lets us hold off the Lynx. The more troublesome even card is the new Smaug the Magnificent, against which we can do nothing, and which can easily kill Gollum on the next turn’s attack.

But I think Taiwanese players who choose to play red aggro probably won’t want to spend extra money to pick up Smaug the Magnificent… right? Isn’t this also a kind of meta read?

11. Azorius Momo

Another matchup where you always choose odd. Benefiting from / constrained by Momo, Friendly Flier, this deck’s creature threats are all odd, so it’s also an easy matchup to choose for.

12. Izzet Prowess

Izzet Prowess is the phoenix of Standard, the centipede that dies yet doesn’t fall! Having gone through multiple bans, this deck can still stay in the meta, which shows how strong it must have been before!

And the nature of a prowess deck is that it’s stuffed with all kinds of one-mana cantrips. So our answer is obvious. Choose odd.

13. Boros Dragons

Although there’s Momo, Friendly Flierand spot removal at one mana, this deck’s resource point is basically two mana. Regardless of play or draw, on the opponent’s turn two on the draw they usually slam a Sarkhan, Dragon Ascendantor Magda, the Hoardmasterto earn Treasure; if on the play the opponent has already resolved Sarkhan on turn two, next turn they should ramp into a four-mana dragon. Statistically, choosing even should have a higher expected value.

Don’t forget, if Sarkhan creates a Treasure through behold when entering, he must reveal a Dragon card. Then we effectively know the answer in advance.

14. Selesnya Ouroboroid

The biggest victim of the Badgermole Cubban, but considering Taiwanese players may have already collected the cards and not want to switch decks, there’s still a chance some people will keep playing this deck, so it made the list.

How to guess for this deck is quite close to Mardu Discard introduced above: in the vast majority of cases choose even, unless the opponent will rush you out with Practiced Offensenext turn, in which case switch to odd.

15. Temur Kona

Although the key threat Kona, Rescue Beastieis even, we’d be wrong to choose even. For a combo deck, by the time it’s about to resolve its threat, it’s usually too late; what we need to do is make the opponent’s earlier draw and tutor pieces very uncomfortable. So we must choose odd to pin the opponent down. Even more conveniently, this deck’s removal is all one-mana bounce spells, so choosing odd lets the opponent suffer more in using it, and we can even do it again!

Conclusion

As I wrote, it turned into an inventory of the mana costs of the mainstream decks in Standard. But how concentrated the odd and even costs are, together with the game situation, has an intricate relationship with Gollum, Riddle Master’s guessing accuracy.

To summarize the guessing scenarios:

• If you have discard spells or effects that look at the hand, no need to guess, you already know the answer.
• If the opponent’s deck is unknown, study the format’s meta before the tournament to raise your hit rate, like the assumptions made in this article.
• If you can read in the game that the opponent may be holding a certain key card, boldly guess the corresponding cost. It’s fine if you’re wrong, but if you’re right, you’ll receive the opponent’s pained expression as your reward.

And for the rewards of the three correct answers to the riddle, we can also prioritize them differently against different decks:

• Against aggro, we must survive. First choose drain 2, then choose the counter to raise the blocking ceiling, and last choose draw.
• Against midrange, control, or even combo decks, first choose draw, then choose the other two based on the state of the game.

Of course, don’t forget that the situation of different matchups, and even the roles of the attacker and defender, keep switching. The above suggestions are only general references, and for readers to use them well, they must adjust dynamically.

The first step to becoming a Riddle Master is ready, and the journey from here is yours.