EDH Optimizer
Sméagol, Helpful Guide
Legendary Creature — Halfling Horror · 1BG
Color identity: Black · Green · Golgari
Sméagol, Helpful Guide is Golgari (black and green): its deck can only run cards of those colors plus colorless ones.
Rules text:
At the beginning of your end step, if a creature died under your control this turn, the Ring tempts you.
Whenever the Ring tempts you, target opponent reveals cards from the top of their library until they reveal a land card. Put that card onto the battlefield tapped under your control and the rest into their graveyard.
Reference price of the card: €0.43
Average lands in decks for Sméagol, Helpful Guide: 32
Lands MatterLandfallSacrificeMillAristocratsRampThe RingReanimator
Build your Sméagol, Helpful Guide deck step by step, with in-depth analysis and AI optimization of your list.
🛠️ Build a deck for Sméagol, Helpful Guide 📥 Analyze my deck🎲 How the average Sméagol, Helpful Guide deck starts over 4,000 games
The list people actually play per EDHREC (the 99 most-included cards, with its average land count), simulated with the EDH Optimizer engine: hands, mulligans, lands, curve and commander. It does not model opponents; it measures whether the plan gets going.
Deck health of the average list: B (73/100)
- Consistency63
- Speed62
- Interaction54
- Resilience83
- Closing98
See the cards of the average deck · 99 cards, 32 lands (22 nonbasic, 6 Swamp, 4 Forest)
Call of the Ring · Gollum, Patient Plotter · Sam's Desperate Rescue · Claim the Precious · Bombadil's Song · Sol Ring · Scute Swarm · Dúnedain Rangers · Nazgûl · Bloodghast · Sakura-Tribe Elder · Rise of the Witch-king · Rampaging Baloths · Viscera Seer · Inherited Envelope · Tireless Provisioner · Arcane Signet · Shortcut to Mushrooms · One Ring to Rule Them All · Syr Konrad, the Grim · Witch-king of Angmar · Assassin's Trophy · Avenger of Zendikar · Village Rites · Rise of the Dark Realms · Uruk-hai Berserker · Nasty End · The Ring Goes South · Reanimate · Beast Within · Wight of the Reliquary · Awakening Zone · Ashnod's Altar · Braids, Arisen Nightmare · Carrion Feeder · Morbid Opportunist · The Black Breath · Victimize · Accursed Marauder · Reassembling Skeleton · Skullclamp · Lotus Cobra · Springheart Nantuko · Deadly Dispute · Mirrormere Guardian · Zendikar's Roil · Cankerbloom · Gollum's Bite · Ob Nixilis, the Fallen · Eternal Witness · Haywire Mite · Jadar, Ghoulcaller of Nephalia · Llanowar Elves · Meren of Clan Nel Toth · Plaguecrafter · Breach the Multiverse · Entish Restoration · Cultivate · Heroic Intervention · The One Ring · Toxic Deluge · Woe Strider · Cauldron of Essence · Moldervine Reclamation · Old Man Willow · Birds of Paradise · Tireless Tracker · Command Tower · Woodland Cemetery · Bojuka Bog · Llanowar Wastes · Overgrown Tomb · Tainted Wood · Undergrowth Stadium · Golgari Rot Farm · Phyrexian Tower · Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth · Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth · Verdant Catacombs · Evolving Wilds · Deathcap Glade · Field of the Dead · Necroblossom Snarl · Twilight Mire · Exotic Orchard · High Market · Terramorphic Expanse · Temple of Malady · Barad-dûr
🃏 Recommended cards for Sméagol, Helpful Guide
The highest-synergy cards in decks for Sméagol, Helpful Guide, with their inclusion rate.
| Card | Inclusion | Synergy |
|---|---|---|
| Call of the Ring | 93% | +91% |
| Gollum, Patient Plotter | 90% | +88% |
| Sam's Desperate Rescue | 82% | +80% |
| Claim the Precious | 80% | +78% |
| Bombadil's Song | 74% | +72% |
| Dúnedain Rangers | 70% | +69% |
| Nazgûl | 68% | +66% |
| Bloodghast | 64% | +59% |
| Inherited Envelope | 59% | +58% |
| Scute Swarm | 71% | +57% |
| Rampaging Baloths | 60% | +56% |
| Shortcut to Mushrooms | 54% | +53% |
| One Ring to Rule Them All | 53% | +52% |
| Witch-king of Angmar | 51% | +50% |
| Rise of the Witch-king | 61% | +50% |
| Viscera Seer | 60% | +43% |
| Uruk-hai Berserker | 43% | +42% |
| Avenger of Zendikar | 47% | +41% |
| Nasty End | 42% | +41% |
| The Ring Goes South | 41% | +40% |
| Syr Konrad, the Grim | 51% | +39% |
| Tireless Provisioner | 56% | +38% |
| Rise of the Dark Realms | 43% | +38% |
| The Black Breath | 37% | +36% |
💰 The best cards for your Sméagol, Helpful Guide deck, by budget
Three tiers based on the maximum price PER CARD you are willing to pay. Paste your list and hit Optimize: you pick that cap and the AI only suggests swaps that fit under it.
Tier 1 · Budget up to €2/card
The most value for almost nothing. Coming from a precon? Start here.
- Gollum, Patient Plotter
- Sam's Desperate Rescue
- Claim the Precious
- Bombadil's Song
- Dúnedain Rangers
- Bloodghast
Tier 2 · Balanced up to €10/card
The real step up: pieces that are no longer cheap but still sensible.
- Call of the Ring
- Scute Swarm
- Witch-king of Angmar
- Tireless Provisioner
- Rise of the Dark Realms
- Lotus Cobra
Tier 3 · No cap no cap
The cards your price cap was hiding from you.
- Nazgûl
- Field of the Dead
- The One Ring
- Greensleeves, Maro-Sorcerer
- Phyrexian Tower
- Bloodchief Ascension
Reference prices (cheapest English printing). They change daily.
👥 Community decks with Sméagol, Helpful Guide
Full decklists published by players on EDH Optimizer, with their analysis, bracket and health. Clone them to your account and optimize them for free.
Other commanders
Frequently asked questions
What is Sméagol, Helpful Guide's color identity?
Sméagol, Helpful Guide is Golgari (black and green): its deck can only run cards of those colors plus colorless ones. Color identity comes from every mana symbol on the card, including those in the rules text, not just the casting cost.
What turn does Sméagol, Helpful Guide come down, and how often does the deck get stuck?
In the average Sméagol, Helpful Guide deck (the 99 most-included cards per EDHREC, with 32 lands), simulated 4,000 times, the commander comes down on turn 3.1 on average and is on the battlefield before turn 7 in 99 % of games. It misses at least one land drop in the first six turns 34 % of the time and floods 11 %. Deck health: B (73/100).
How many lands should a Sméagol, Helpful Guide deck run?
Real Sméagol, Helpful Guide decks run 32 lands on average. That is a starting point, not a rule: a lower curve can shave one or two, big-mana builds want more. The EDH Optimizer simulator tells you, over 10,000 games, how often you get mana screwed or flooded with your exact count.
What are the best cards for Sméagol, Helpful Guide?
The three highest-synergy cards are Call of the Ring, Gollum, Patient Plotter, Sam's Desperate Rescue. This page lists the top 24 with their real inclusion rate in Sméagol, Helpful Guide decks.
What combos does Sméagol, Helpful Guide have?
We have no known combos catalogued for Sméagol, Helpful Guide. That does not mean there are none — just that they do not show up in the public combo databases.
How much does a Sméagol, Helpful Guide deck cost?
You can start cheap: Gollum, Patient Plotter, Sam's Desperate Rescue, Claim the Precious are under €2 each. The "Level up" section on this page splits the best cards into three price caps PER CARD (up to €2, up to €10 and no cap), and the optimizer only suggests swaps that fit the cap you pick.