Deck Overview
This is an Abzan Food and token deck led by:
- Merry, Warden of Isengard
- Pippin, Warden of Isengard
It is built specifically for competitive 1v1 play. It is not a casual lifegain deck and it does not attempt to include every Food-themed card in the universe.
The deck's central plan is to:
- Establish efficient mana.
- Deploy Pippin and Merry.
- Turn Food, Treasure and other artifact tokens into creatures.
- Protect the resulting battlefield.
- finish through Pippin, Mirkwood Bats, Overwhelming Stampede or one of the large Food payoffs.
The two commanders provide both an engine and a win condition from the command zone. This lets the library focus on consistency, interaction and cards that multiply their abilities.
Why Merry and Pippin?
Two Commanders
Merry and Pippin begin in the command zone together, leaving 98 cards in the library.
This provides an additional guaranteed resource and makes the deck less dependent on drawing a specific engine naturally.
The commanders are also inexpensive:
- Pippin costs two mana.
- Merry costs three mana.
They can be deployed before most opposing engines become active.
Pippin, Warden of Isengard
Pippin performs two essential functions.
First, he creates Food repeatedly:
{1}, {T}: Create a Food token.
Second, he provides a command-zone finisher:
{T}, Sacrifice four Foods: Other creatures you control get +3/+3 and gain haste until end of turn. Activate only as a sorcery.
Pippin means that every Food card contributes toward an eventual alpha strike. The deck does not need to draw a separate Overrun effect to threaten lethal damage.
His ability does not grant trample, so large opposing boards can still absorb the attack. Overwhelming Stampede, Shadowspear, Feasting Hobbit, Banquet Guests and Mirkwood Bats solve that problem in different ways.
Merry, Warden of Isengard
Merry creates a 1/1 white Soldier with lifelink whenever one or more artifacts enter under our control. This ability triggers only once each turn.
Food and Treasure are artifacts, so many ordinary development plays become two-for-one effects:
- Pippin creates a Food and Merry creates a Soldier.
- Prosperous Innkeeper creates a Treasure and Merry creates a Soldier.
- Tireless Provisioner creates a token and Merry creates a Soldier.
- Lembas replaces itself and creates a Soldier.
- Gilded Goose creates a Food and, if Merry is already present, a Soldier.
- Farmer Cotton creates Foods and an additional Soldier.
- Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit produces additional bodies during its first two chapters.
Merry can trigger during both players' turns. Once both commanders are active, leaving one mana available allows Pippin to create a Food during the opponent's end step. That Food creates another Soldier even if Merry already triggered during our own turn.
Core Game Plan
Early Game
The ideal opening develops green mana and then casts the commanders in sequence.
Common starts include:
Normal curve
- Turn one: mana creature, Many Partings or interaction.
- Turn two: Pippin.
- Turn three: Merry.
- Opponent's end step: activate Pippin and create a Food plus a Soldier.
Accelerated Merry
- Turn one: Birds of Paradise, Delighted Halfling, Elvish Mystic or Gilded Goose.
- Turn two: Merry.
- Turn three: Pippin plus an artifact-producing play.
Pippin is normally cast before Merry when there is no immediate way to trigger Merry. Pippin can begin accumulating Food and threatens the finishing ability as soon as four Foods are available.
Merry should be cast first when an artifact can enter immediately afterward. This avoids spending three mana on a creature that produces no immediate value.
Midgame
The midgame is about multiplying every token event.
The most important engines are:
- Peregrin Took
- Rosie Cotton of South Lane
- Samwise Gamgee
- The Gaffer
- Mentor of the Meek
- Tireless Provisioner
- Savvy Hunter
- Mirkwood Bats
The deck should not sacrifice Food casually. Four Foods represent a Pippin activation, while three Foods represent a card through Peregrin Took or a historic card through Samwise Gamgee.
Use Food for life when the life total, The One Ring or Call of the Ring makes it necessary. Otherwise, preserve it as a strategic resource.
Endgame
The main closing routes are:
- Pippin's team pump.
- Farmer Cotton producing a lethal board in one spell.
- Mirkwood Bats draining the opponent through token creation and sacrifice.
- Overwhelming Stampede granting the entire team trample.
- Feasting Hobbit becoming extremely large and difficult to block.
- Banquet Guests becoming a large trampling and potentially indestructible threat.
- Treebeard placing large numbers of counters on a Halfling.
- Rapacious Guest converting sacrificed Food into counters and eventual life loss.
Key Synergies
Merry plus Pippin
With both commanders active:
- Pay one mana and tap Pippin.
- Create a Food.
- Merry triggers.
- Create a 1/1 lifelink Soldier.
This can be done during the opponent's end step. The following turn, a different artifact entering can trigger Merry again.
The engine requires only the two commanders and one mana per turn. Every additional Food payoff improves it, but none is required for the basic interaction to function.
Peregrin Took
Peregrin adds one Food to every token-creation event.
This does not mean one extra Food for each token. It means one additional Food each time an effect creates one or more tokens.
Examples:
- Pippin creates one Food. Peregrin makes it two Foods.
- Merry creates one Soldier. Peregrin makes one Soldier and one Food.
- Farmer Cotton creates several Halflings and Foods in one event. Peregrin adds one additional Food.
- Tireless Provisioner creates one Treasure. Peregrin makes one Treasure and one Food.
Peregrin can also sacrifice three Foods to draw a card, giving the deck a use for excess Food when Pippin's attack is not immediately available.
Farmer Cotton Burst
Farmer Cotton is the deck's strongest single payoff.
With Merry, Pippin and Peregrin Took on the battlefield, cast Farmer Cotton with X equal to two:
- Farmer Cotton creates two Halflings and two Foods.
- Peregrin Took adds one Food to that event.
- Three Foods entering trigger Merry.
- Merry creates one Soldier.
- Peregrin adds another Food to Merry's token event.
The result is:
- Two Halflings
- One Soldier
- Four Foods
- Farmer Cotton
Pippin can then sacrifice the four Foods. Every other creature gets +3/+3 and haste.
This produces 25 attacking power from Merry, Peregrin, Farmer Cotton and the three new creatures, before counting any other permanents or anthem effects. Pippin will normally be tapped to activate the ability and will not attack.
Without Peregrin Took, Farmer Cotton with X equal to four naturally creates the four Foods required for Pippin.
Farmer Cotton plus Mirkwood Bats
Mirkwood Bats causes the opponent to lose one life whenever we create or sacrifice a token.
With Merry, Pippin and Peregrin present, the X equals two Farmer Cotton sequence creates seven tokens:
- Two Halflings
- Four Foods
- One Soldier
Mirkwood Bats causes seven life loss from creation. Sacrificing the four Foods to Pippin causes four more, for eleven total life loss before combat.
The resulting hasty attack will usually finish the game.
Rosie Cotton of South Lane
Rosie creates a Food when she enters and places a +1/+1 counter on another creature whenever we create a token.
Farmer Cotton, Merry, Peregrin Took and Tireless Provisioner can generate many Rosie triggers in a single turn.
Rosie cannot target herself, but she can build:
- A commander that survives damage-based removal.
- A large lifelink Soldier.
- A threatening Feasting Hobbit.
- A creature large enough to make Overwhelming Stampede decisive.
Samwise Gamgee
Every other nontoken creature that enters creates a Food.
With Merry present, the first creature cast during a turn therefore creates:
- The creature itself.
- A Food.
- A Soldier.
Samwise can also sacrifice three Foods to return a historic card from the graveyard to hand. Important targets include:
- The One Ring
- Lembas
- Shadowspear
- Flowering of the White Tree
- Call of the Ring
- Farmer Cotton
- Peregrin Took
- Arwen, Mortal Queen
- Either commander if one somehow enters the graveyard
Mirkwood Bats
Mirkwood Bats is the deck's main noncombat win condition.
It triggers for every token created or sacrificed, including:
- Food
- Treasure
- Soldiers
- Halflings
- Orc Armies
- The token sacrificed to Shire Shirriff
- The four Foods sacrificed to Pippin
- The Foods sacrificed to Peregrin Took or Samwise Gamgee
Do not expose Mirkwood Bats without obtaining value when possible. It is often correct to wait until the same turn as Farmer Cotton, Pippin or a large token event.
Legolas's Quick Reflexes and Pippin
Legolas's Quick Reflexes untaps and protects Pippin.
A useful finishing sequence is:
- Tap Pippin to create a Food.
- Cast Legolas's Quick Reflexes targeting Pippin.
- Untap Pippin.
- Activate Pippin's four-Food ability.
Pippin also gains an ability that deals damage when he becomes tapped. This can remove a small opposing creature while preparing the attack.
Finishers
Pippin's Pump
Pippin gives all other creatures +3/+3 and haste.
The ability is strongest after:
- Farmer Cotton.
- Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit's final chapter.
- A large Rosie Cotton turn.
- Rebuilding after Dusk // Dawn.
- Producing tokens during the opponent's end step with Merry.
Because the ability is restricted to sorcery speed, the opponent receives priority before combat and can attempt to remove a key creature. Protect the board with Heroic Intervention, Galadriel's Dismissal, Boromir or Arwen when possible.
Overwhelming Stampede
Overwhelming Stampede is included because Pippin does not grant trample.
The deck frequently creates one large creature through:
- Rosie Cotton
- Rapacious Guest
- Treebeard
- Banquet Guests
- Feasting Hobbit
Stampede uses that creature's power to enlarge the entire battlefield and grants trample. It is the cleanest way to force damage through a board of blockers.
Feasting Hobbit
Feasting Hobbit converts accumulated Foods into three +1/+1 counters each.
After devouring several Foods, creatures with lower power cannot block it. This gives the deck a way to attack through a developed battlefield without requiring the entire team to have trample.
Do not automatically sacrifice every Food to it. Compare the resulting attack with the alternative of keeping four Foods for Pippin.
Banquet Guests
Banquet Guests has affinity for Food and enters with twice X +1/+1 counters.
Four Foods can reduce most or all of the generic portion of its cost. It naturally has trample and can sacrifice a Food to gain indestructible.
It is one of the best threats after the opponent has spent removal on the commanders.
Treebeard, Gracious Host
Treebeard creates two Foods when it enters and has trample, ward and high toughness.
Whenever we gain life, Treebeard places that many +1/+1 counters on a Halfling or Treefolk. A single normal Food activation places three counters. A lifelink Soldier can produce additional counters through combat.
Treebeard can target itself or most of the important creatures in the deck.
Card Advantage
The deck uses several overlapping engines rather than depending on one permanent.
The One Ring
The One Ring is the strongest independent draw engine in the pool.
Food offsets its burden-counter life loss, but 20 starting life still matters. Do not activate it automatically when the game is expected to continue for many turns.
Call of the Ring
Call of the Ring tempts us every upkeep and allows us to pay two life to draw when choosing a Ring-bearer.
Food compensates for the life payment. Small Soldiers and Halflings make safe Ring-bearers because replacing one does not cost a major threat.
The Gaffer
The Gaffer draws at the end of each turn in which we gained at least three life.
A normal Food activation guarantees the trigger. Lifelink Soldiers can trigger it without spending a Food.
Mentor of the Meek
Most generated creatures enter with power two or less.
Keep one mana available when possible before:
- Activating Pippin with Merry present.
- Casting Farmer Cotton.
- Resolving Rosie Cotton.
- Producing tokens through Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit.
Do not pay for every trigger if doing so prevents interaction or a Pippin activation.
Palace Jailer
Palace Jailer removes the opponent's best creature and makes us the monarch.
The creature returns if an opponent becomes the monarch. Our token production helps defend the crown, but Palace Jailer should not be cast carelessly against evasive creatures.
Interaction
Creature Removal
- Swords to Plowshares
- Path to Exile
- Go for the Throat
- Lash of the Balrog
- Shire Shirriff
- Palace Jailer
Lash of the Balrog can sacrifice an expendable Soldier, Halfling or Food-related creature to avoid paying its additional four mana.
Shire Shirriff turns any spare token into temporary creature exile. Food and Soldiers make its additional cost easy to satisfy.
Broad Answers
Anguished Unmaking and Beast Within answer almost any permanent.
Beast Within is especially important against Karakas and other utility lands. Do not spend it on an ordinary creature when a narrower removal spell will work.
Westfold Rider and Reclamation Sage provide additional answers to artifacts and enchantments. They can be recovered by Dawn, Revive the Shire, Rise of the Witch-king or Samwise the Stouthearted.
Protection
- Heroic Intervention
- Galadriel's Dismissal
- Boromir, Warden of the Tower
- Arwen, Mortal Queen
- Legolas's Quick Reflexes
- Samwise the Stouthearted
Galadriel's Dismissal can protect one creature for one mana or, when kicked, phase out an entire battlefield. It can also remove opposing blockers for the decisive attack.
Boromir protects the full creature board from destruction while also punishing spells cast without mana.
Arwen can transfer her indestructible counter to a critical creature and gives that creature lifelink, which is relevant for Treebeard and The Gaffer.
Sweepers
Toxic Deluge
Toxic Deluge handles creature swarms that Dusk cannot answer.
Choose X carefully. Merry has four toughness, while several important creatures have three toughness. In some positions Deluge can clear the opponent's board while preserving part of our engine.
Dusk // Dawn
Dusk destroys creatures with power three or greater.
Most of the deck's engine creatures have printed power two or less, including both commanders. Dawn later returns small creatures from the graveyard to hand.
Counters from Rosie Cotton and anthem effects can cause our creatures to have three or more power, so inspect the battlefield rather than assuming Dusk is always one-sided.
Dusk // Dawn is preferred to The Battle of Bywater because Dawn provides recovery and the opponent does not receive Food for the creatures destroyed.
Mana Base
The deck plays 40 lands:
- 7 Forest
- 5 Swamp
- 4 Plains
- 24 nonbasic lands
Green is the primary colour because the deck wants to cast a mana creature on turn one.
Black is needed early for Pippin and cheap interaction.
White is required by turn three for Merry and later for the token and protection package.
Important Lands
Cavern of Souls and Secluded Courtyard
These normally name Halfling.
They cast both commanders and many of the deck's central creatures.
Great Hall of the Citadel
Great Hall fixes mana for the commanders and the high number of legendary permanents.
Murmuring Bosk
Murmuring Bosk normally enters tapped, but it provides all three colours and is a Forest. Farseek can therefore find it.
The Shire
Once a legendary creature is in play, The Shire enters untapped. It creates Food in longer games and can trigger Merry during a turn in which another artifact has not entered.
Wasteland
Wasteland is primarily reserved for:
- Karakas
- Powerful utility lands
- Lands central to an opposing engine
- A source whose destruction genuinely removes a colour
Do not trade it for an ordinary dual land without a clear reason.
Sequencing Concerns
The main lands that cost tempo are:
- Evolving Wilds
- Path of Ancestry
- Murmuring Bosk in most opening hands
- Canopy Vista before two basics
- The checklands and snarls when their conditions are not met
Sequence basics early when doing so allows later lands to enter untapped.
A hand with several restricted lands is not automatically functional. Cavern of Souls, Secluded Courtyard and Great Hall cast the commanders well, but they cannot cast every interaction spell.
Mulligan Guide
Strong Keeps
A good opening hand normally contains:
- Two or three lands.
- An untapped green source.
- Access to black for Pippin or white for Merry.
- A mana creature, fixing spell or cheap interaction.
- A meaningful turn-two or turn-three play.
Examples:
- Two lands, a green mana creature and access to the other colours.
- Three lands, Pippin's colours and a cheap answer.
- Two lands, Many Partings or Farseek and a commander.
- Sol Ring plus coloured mana and a spell it meaningfully accelerates.
- Three lands, Gilded Goose and a Food payoff.
Mulligan
Send back:
- One-land hands without several one-mana plays.
- Hands without green or a way to find it.
- Hands unable to produce black and green by the early turns.
- Hands composed mainly of conditional or restricted lands.
- Five-land hands without The One Ring, Horizon Canopy, The Shire or strong interaction.
- Hands containing only four and five-mana payoffs.
- Sol Ring hands that cannot produce the commanders' colours.
Matchup Approach
Fast Aggro
Prioritise:
- Cheap removal.
- Merry's four-toughness body.
- Lifelink Soldiers.
- Toxic Deluge.
- Treebeard.
- Food activations when necessary.
Do not spend the first several turns assembling every engine while ignoring the opponent's battlefield.
Control
Do not deploy all token engines into a sweeper.
Lead with one commander and force the opponent to answer it. Use:
- The One Ring
- Call of the Ring
- The Gaffer
- Palace Jailer
- Revive the Shire
- Rise of the Witch-king
- Dawn
Preserve Heroic Intervention, Boromir and Galadriel's Dismissal for the turns that matter.
Artifact and Enchantment Engines
Westfold Rider, Reclamation Sage, Anguished Unmaking and Beast Within should be preserved for high-impact permanents.
The One Ring is indestructible, so use exile or Beast Within rather than ordinary destruction.
Graveyard Strategies
The deck does not play dedicated graveyard hate in the starting list because the available options are narrow and low impact without a confirmed target.
Pressure the opponent and remove the permanent enabling recursion. A graveyard-heavy metagame may justify Stone of Erech as a later adjustment.
Combo and Noncreature Strategies
The deck has no conventional countermagic.
It must win through:
- Early pressure.
- Removing engines before they become active.
- Wasteland against critical lands.
- Boromir against spells cast without mana.
- A fast Farmer Cotton or Mirkwood Bats finish.
This is the main cost of choosing the stronger and more coherent Abzan card pool over Aragorn's blue identity.
Weaknesses
The main structural weaknesses are:
- Repeated removal of both commanders.
- Karakas.
- Exile-based sweepers.
- Fast flying threats.
- Noncreature combos that cannot be answered on the battlefield.
- Hands containing too many conditional lands.
- Pippin's pump failing to break through multiple blockers without trample.
- Drawing expensive payoff creatures before generating Food.
The deck should not be played as a passive value engine. At 20 life, it must convert its tokens into pressure before the opponent finds a more powerful late game.
Final Summary
The deck's central sequence is:
- Cast Pippin.
- Cast Merry.
- Produce Food and Soldiers during both players' turns.
- Multiply those tokens with Peregrin Took, Rosie Cotton and Samwise Gamgee.
- Protect the battlefield.
- Finish through Pippin, Mirkwood Bats or Overwhelming Stampede.
Every major package contributes to that same plan. The deck contains no incidental artifact combo, no weak countermagic package and no landcyclers added merely to make an unstable colour combination appear functional.