THE HOBBIT SCOOP

The Hobbit Is Here: What’s Next for MTG at Purple Dragon Games?

Prerelease week has officially sent us out the front door of Bag End, and Magic: The Gathering | The Hobbit is now in full swing at Purple Dragon Games. If you joined us for Prerelease, you’ve already gotten a taste of what this set is like when the cards actually hit the table. Packs were cracked, decks were built, new mechanics started clicking, and players were already discovering combinations they wanted to try again. That’s one of our favorite parts of a major Magic release because everyone is learning the set together, even the experienced players. The good news is that Prerelease was only the beginning. We have several weeks of Hobbit events ahead of us with Draft, Commander, special WPN events, limited promotional cards, Dragon Coin prizes, and plenty of pizza. If you’ve been waiting for a good time to jump into Magic or come back after some time away, this is a pretty great stretch to do it.

August 14 & 15: The Hobbit Draft Nights

Our first stop after Prerelease is The Hobbit Draft, happening Friday, August 14 and Saturday, August 15 from 4–8 PM, with entry at $24.99 per player. Draft is one of the best ways to really learn a new Magic set because everybody begins the event in roughly the same place. You don’t need to arrive with an expensive deck or something you’ve been tuning for six months. Each player drafts cards from fresh packs, choosing one card at a time and passing the remaining cards around the table until everyone has assembled the pool they’ll use to build a deck. That means you’re evaluating cards, watching which colors seem open, changing plans when necessary, and occasionally wondering why everyone else apparently noticed something about a card that you completely missed. Once the draft is finished, players build their decks and put them to work against the other drafters. The cards you draft are yours to keep, so you’re building your Hobbit collection at the same time you’re playing.

Draft is especially fun immediately after Prerelease because we’re all still figuring out what this set can really do. Maybe you opened something at Prerelease that you loved and now you want to see whether you can build around it in Draft. Maybe you completely overlooked a mechanic until another player used it against you and now you’re determined to try it yourself. You might even discover a card that doesn’t look spectacular sitting in a binder but becomes an absolute workhorse once you’re actually building a Limited deck. We’ll also have Dragon Coin prize support, with $5 in store credit for every round you win, giving you another reason to see how far your drafted deck can go. If you’ve never drafted before, don’t let that stop you from joining us. Tell our staff or Game Leaders that you’re learning and we’ll help you understand how the draft works before those packs start moving around the table.

August 23: Our First Hobbit Commander Party

Then we get to something we’re particularly excited about. On Sunday, August 23 from 4–8 PM, Purple Dragon Games will host our first The Hobbit Commander Party, with admission at $10 per player. Bring your favorite Commander deck and we’ll organize players into multiplayer pods for an evening of Commander, prizes, pizza, and plenty of the wonderfully unpredictable situations that happen when four Magic players share one battlefield. Hobbit-themed decks are absolutely encouraged if you want to get into the spirit of the set, but they are never required. You can bring Hobbits, Dwarves, Wizards, Food, Treasure, or something involving a suspiciously enormous dragon guarding your board state. You can also bring the same Commander deck you played last month that has absolutely nothing to do with Middle-earth. We care considerably more about getting you into a game than whether your deck matches the decorations.

The August 23 Commander Party also gives participating players an opportunity to receive the special Bilbo, Luckwearer promotional card while supplies last. Our promotional supply is very limited, so these cards should never be considered guaranteed indefinitely. We’re also limiting Bilbo to one promotional card per person, including across any additional eligible events where the card may be offered. If you’ve already received one, we won’t distribute another copy to you while another participating player still hasn’t had an opportunity to receive one. We want these special cards spread throughout our local community rather than concentrated among a handful of people who happen to attend every event. If Bilbo is high on your Hobbit wish list, August 23 is the event to prioritize while our supply is at its strongest. Once our promotional allocation is gone, it’s gone.

No Commander Deck? Talk to Us Anyway

We also want to address something we hear from newer players: “I’d come, but I don’t have a Commander deck.” Please talk to us before deciding that means you can’t participate. One of our goals at Purple Dragon Games is to build a collection of loaner Commander decks that can help newer players get into games before they have a complete deck of their own. We’re still growing into this, especially because this is our first Commander Party, so our loaner selection isn’t going to look like a giant library overnight. We’re going to keep building it as our Commander community grows and as we learn what players need. Eventually, we’d love to have plenty of different options available for people who want to try Commander, experiment with another play style, or simply forgot their deck at home. We never want someone interested in playing to feel like they aren’t welcome because they haven’t purchased enough cards yet.

If you need a deck for an event, the best thing you can do is contact Purple Dragon Games staff ahead of time. That gives us an opportunity to see what we have available and prepare before pods are being organized. We can also help if you own cards but aren’t sure how to turn them into a Commander deck yet. Commander uses a 100-card singleton deck built around a legendary Commander, and that can feel like a lot when you’re building your first one. Once you understand the basics, though, deck building becomes a huge part of the fun because your Commander gives the whole deck an identity. Our community is also full of players who love talking about decks, interactions, upgrades, and strange ideas that somehow turn into functioning strategies. Ask questions and use the people around you because that’s one of the best parts of playing Magic at a local game store.

September 4 & 6: Something Unexpected Is Coming

September brings another special Hobbit event with Magic Presents: Heart of the Mountain, happening at Purple Dragon Games on Friday, September 4 and Sunday, September 6 from 4–8 PM. Admission is $10 per player, and this time we’re taking casual Commander and throwing the Arkenstone into the middle of it. Heart of the Mountain introduces special gameplay surrounding control of the Arkenstone, giving everyone at the table another objective to fight over while playing Commander. The first player to deal combat damage can claim it, and other players have opportunities to steal it by dealing combat damage to its controller. That means normal Commander threat assessment gets an extra wrinkle because the player you planned to leave alone may suddenly be holding something you desperately want. Deals are going to be made, promises are going to become suspiciously flexible, and somebody is inevitably going to insist that attacking you is “nothing personal.” In other words, it sounds wonderfully appropriate for Commander.

These events also give participating players a chance to receive the special An Unexpected Party promotional card while supplies last. We typically receive a very limited allocation of promotional cards, often around 16 copies, which means the first scheduled event naturally provides the strongest opportunity to receive one. For Heart of the Mountain, that makes Friday, September 4 the date we recommend if obtaining the promo is especially important to you. Whatever remains from that event can carry into our Sunday, September 6 gathering for players who weren’t able to attend Friday. We also don’t distribute duplicate promos to the same person across our repeat events when that would prevent another eligible player from receiving their first copy. Our goal is simple: we want as many different members of our community as possible to have an opportunity to take one of these special cards home. Once our supply has been distributed, however, we cannot guarantee additional copies.

Ten Dollars Gets You a Pretty Good Night of Commander

For our $10 Commander events, we’re trying to keep the value straightforward and accessible. You get an organized evening of Commander, opportunities for limited promotional cards when applicable and available, Dragon Coin store credit as prize support for round wins, and free pizza for ticket holders. We’re not trying to turn casual Commander into a high-pressure competitive tournament just because prizes are involved. The Dragon Coins add a little something to chase while still keeping the focus on sitting down, playing your deck, and having a good game with the other people in your pod. Win some rounds and you’ll have store credit waiting for your next purchase. Maybe that goes toward another Hobbit pack, a card your Commander deck desperately needs, or something you absolutely did not know you needed until another player used it against you. Magic has a funny way of creating shopping lists during the game.

New to Magic? You Belong at These Tables Too

If you’re reading all of this and thinking it sounds fun but you’re still very new to Magic, please don’t assume these events are only for experienced players. We’ve already had a handful of newer players start learning with our Friday and Sunday groups, and it has been awesome watching them go from asking basic questions to showing up excited for their next games. Magic is a complicated game, and nobody expects a new player to memorize decades of cards, mechanics, formats, and interactions before walking into a game store. You’re allowed to ask what something does. You’re allowed to need a mechanic explained twice. You’re allowed to look at the board and admit that you have absolutely no idea why everybody suddenly seems terrified of one harmless-looking artifact. Learning those things is part of becoming a Magic player, and a good local community makes that process a lot more fun.

Our existing players deserve a lot of credit for the atmosphere that has been growing around our MTG tables. They’ve been patient, passionate, and genuinely helpful with people who are still learning, and that matters enormously to us. A strong Magic community isn’t measured only by how many experienced players can build powerful decks; it’s also measured by whether the person walking through the door for the first time wants to come back next week. We’re already seeing that happen, with new players returning to play on Fridays and Sundays and gradually becoming part of the regular crowd. That’s exactly what we hoped would happen when we started putting more energy into organized Magic at Purple Dragon Games. Every new player adds another deck, another personality, another strategy, and another possible opponent to the local scene. We’re proud of what this group is becoming, and we want to keep growing it without losing that welcoming atmosphere.

Shout-Out to Our Game Leaders

We also have to give a well-earned shout-out to Jonathan and Wyatt, because our Game Leaders have been crushing it. Running a good game-store event involves considerably more than knowing how to play Magic. Players need help getting seated, understanding the format, resolving confusing interactions, learning new mechanics, and figuring out what they’re supposed to be doing when an event is unfamiliar. Newer players especially need someone they can approach without feeling like they’re interrupting or asking a ridiculous question. Jonathan and Wyatt have been helping create exactly that kind of environment, and we’re excited to see where they take these growing groups. Having knowledgeable Game Leaders working alongside helpful regular players gives newcomers several places to turn when they need assistance. It also means experienced players can settle into their games knowing there are people helping keep the event moving.

Join Us on Discord and Stay in the Game

If you’re playing Magic at Purple Dragon Games and haven’t joined our Discord yet, this is a great time to do it. You can join the Purple Dragon community here. Discord gives everyone a place to stay connected between Friday and Sunday games, ask questions, talk about decks, meet other players, and keep track of upcoming events. It’s also useful if you’re new and want to get to know some names before walking into the store for the first time. Tell people what format you’re interested in, mention that you’re learning, ask for deck advice, or just lurk for a little while and see what everybody is talking about. The community that exists around the tables doesn’t have to disappear when the store closes for the night. We’d love to have you become part of it.

The Hobbit Adventure Is Just Getting Started

Prerelease week may be behind us, but The Hobbit season at Purple Dragon Games is only getting started. We have Draft Nights on August 14 and 15, our first Hobbit Commander Party on August 23, and Heart of the Mountain events coming September 4 and September 6. Across those events you’ll have opportunities to draft the new set, play Commander, earn Dragon Coin store credit, enjoy free pizza, and potentially take home limited promotional cards while supplies last. More importantly, you’ll have a chance to become part of a local Magic community that is actively growing and bringing new players into the game. Our experienced players are helping beginners, our Game Leaders are stepping up, and new faces are becoming familiar ones on Fridays and Sundays. That is the part we’re most excited about because the cards are fantastic, but the people sitting across the table are what turn a collection of cards into a game night.

So pick an event, grab your deck, and come play some Magic with us. If you’ve been playing for years, bring that experience and help us continue building the kind of community that newer players actually want to join. If you’re brand new, tell us and give us the opportunity to help you get started. If you don’t have a Commander deck yet, contact the store and ask about our growing loaner options rather than assuming you have to sit this one out. We’re going to keep adding events, building resources, improving our loaner decks, and creating more ways for people to get into the games they’ve been curious about. Purple Dragon’s MTG community is still growing, and that means there’s plenty of room at the table for somebody new. With The Hobbit in full swing, there couldn’t be a much better time to pull up a chair.