Bilbo, Birthday CelebrantBilbo, Birthday Celebrant | Art by Billy Christian

Greetings and salutations, and a warm welcome to a party you'll remember for ages to come. I'm Arnaud, and I'm thrilled to take you on a journey of life celebrations, ageing Hobbits, and birthday cakes!

When we parted ways last time, I left you with the usual three choices. Third spot went to Magda, Brazen OutlawMagda, Brazen Outlaw, with 12 votes (15%). I got the message: this Magda is boring, let's move on. Second place was awarded to Anzrag, the Quake-MoleAnzrag, the Quake-Mole, with 28 votes (35%). This is more like it, but still quite a ways behind the winner. No multiple attacks it seems. Our top contestant is therefore none other than (you guessed it) Bilbo, Birthday CelebrantBilbo, Birthday Celebrant, with a whooping 41 votes (51%). Talk about a large majority.

Bilbo is a jolly guy, despite hiding a dark past. Getting to 111 is no joke, and this is exactly what this deck wants to do: reach an absurdly high life total to activate his second ability and make sparkles.

Without further ado, let's grab each and every card lurking on Bilbo's page, both on the regular and budget options.

This nets us a grand total of 341 cards. Time to trim.

First Trim – The Cardboard Chainsaw Massacre

Aaaah, Summer time. Relaxation. Parties. Pools. Board Games. The eventual trimming of each and every expensive card there is. In a word, Heaven.

All jokes aside, in this series I try my best to brew a very low-budget deck, including no cards worth more than $1.10.

Cutting out everything above the $2 mark trims down the list to 245 already. Before axing some more, let's take a look at what worthwhile stuff stands between those two marks:

• Blood ArtistBlood Artist: While I'm not sure why blood-sucking aristocrats have been invited, each and every bit of life helps.
• Swiftfoot BootsSwiftfoot Boots: Make no mistake: your opponents will try to kill Bilbo before he can activate.
• Trostani, Selesnya's VoiceTrostani, Selesnya's Voice: One of many major lifegain outlets down the drain.
• Tireless ProvisionerTireless Provisioner: Usually used for Treasure, this time it's out for Food.
• Cleric ClassCleric Class: Bilbo on an enchantment, for a puny . Would be an instant in if if was more affordable.
• Blind ObedienceBlind Obedience: Lovely control outlet, and with Bilbo out, each extort will net you four life.
• Suture PriestSuture Priest: The cheapest of the Sisters. Sadly, you won't get to play with any.
• Druid ClassDruid Class: Ramp and lifegain all in one? Yes please!
• Exemplar of LightExemplar of Light: It grows big, it grows fast, and it gives you cards. Fantastic outlet.
• Rhox FaithmenderRhox Faithmender: One of the several lifegain-doublers you'll be missing out on, and that's a bummer.
• Essence WardenEssence Warden: I still find it hard to believe that one-mana Sisters cost between $2 and $4.50.

This leaves a couple of cards between $1 and $1.10

• Sol RingSol Ring: I look forward to the day when this rock will cost 25 cents so that I can stop getting it in and out and in and out...
• The Battle of BywaterThe Battle of Bywater: Interesting outlet, but I'm still uncertain on its potential in this specific brew.

This first cut crushed about a third of the list, but there are still 219 to tinker with. Let's proceed.

Second Trim – Cardward Scissorhands

Any good table will have food aplenty, enough to keep the guests merry and with a full belly.

Except in this case, the belly's your hand and the merriment your ability to do things in the game. But you get the idea.

At the moment, our usual veggies count stands thus:

A good place to start. More importantly, there aren't that many cards in each of these categories, which implies more toys to tinker with later on.

Let's keep a healthy Draw/Ramp base (around 12/12), a 4-6 removal package, and 2-3 board wipes. A somewhat minimal spread, but I really want to keep some room for the juiciest bits.

Let's get cutting.

There, isn't this better? After trimming down the land base, the list is down to 142 cards. Time to get this party started.

Third Trim – Cutting Off the Rough Edges

Now that the annoying preparations are out of the way, let's take a closer look at what this deck tries to achieve.

Granted, from the start there has been a strong emphasis on Food, and for good reason. This was the main focus of the precon Bilbo came from.

With this in mind, I really want to try something different: instead of focusing on gaining life through these tokens, let's try doing so by doing... basically everything else.

You'll have noticed I took care to remove most of the cards that would deal damage to their controller. You want your life total to go up, not down, and you'll be busy enough fending off your opponents' onslaught.

To be clear: getting to the fated 111 life and activating your commander is like an achievement in a video game: satisfying to pull off, but not necessary to beat the final boss.

There are currently 20 cards filed under the Lifegain category, and I'd like to keep as many there as possible.

Since there are many of these which either give you one life when something happens, or raises that life gain by one, just like Bilbo, I'll favour multiple triggers instead of big one-shot life increases.

For the same reason, I'm very keen on keeping token-makers if they come in form of creatures.

There are also a certain number of recursion outlets, most of which I'm not a huge fan of.

And finally I'm including a bunch of draining creatures. I'm not entirely certain they are 100% in flavour with the overall merry theme, but they could provide a steady stream of life. It's one thing to gain a life when a creature dies, it's another entirely when that becomes four or five per creature. However, the loss of life inflicted on your opponents each time you gain some is no joke.

All this to say that these will be difficult choices. Let's focus on getting to the final 10 for now.

I'll be honest, this has proven less difficult than I expected. However, now comes the daunting task of cutting the final 10.

And this one, my friends, is not going to be easy. 110 cards and counting.

Final Trim – Heart-Wrenching Choices

Before we begin, allow me my usual banter: if a card has made it this far, it's usually not a bad idea to keep it it.

Nevertheless, the rules of commander are clear: 100 cards, and 100 only.

So here are my 10 cuts.

• Pristine TalismanPristine Talisman: Synergizes well with our overall strategy, but is a tad expensive for the end result.
• Trail of CrumbsTrail of Crumbs and Welcome to SweettoothWelcome to Sweettooth: Hardly enough Food left for them to be worth it.
• DesparkDespark and Generous GiftGenerous Gift: The least efficient of the leftover removals in my opinion.
• Blunt the AssaultBlunt the Assault: Very cute, but one mana too expensive for my taste.
• Storm HerdStorm Herd: It's a spectacular way to win the game, and could bring your life total sky high... if you ever reach 10 mana.
• Righteous CauseRighteous Cause: Lovely effect, especially since your opponents will trigger it on a regular base, but five mana is a lot to spend on this.
• Trading PostTrading Post: Without a bunch of Food to sacrifice to it, it's much less appealing, and that lifegain is anecdotal.
• FarseekFarseek: The average value is below 3, so I think you can make do with one less ramp spell, and I'm reluctant to cut anything else.

And there you have it.

Additional Trim - A Look Into the Past

As it's now a tradition, let's take a look at a Trim from a year-and-a-half ago, and see how it stood the test of time.

Today, we're putting The Mimeoplasm back on the bench, and while there are indeed some cards that have significantly gone up in price, overall it's not so bad:

• WonderWonder: $1.35
• Nature's LoreNature's Lore: $1.37
• Kodama's ReachKodama's Reach: $1.38
• Reliquary TowerReliquary Tower: $1.89
• Assassin's TrophyAssassin's Trophy: $2.07

Not too bad, all things considered. Let's find some suitable replacements:

• Sol RingSol Ring: It's in our price range, so let's add it back while it's still low enough.
• Rampant GrowthRampant Growth: Definitely not as good as Nature's LoreNature's Lore, but still worth its salt.
• Hinterland HarborHinterland Harbor and Woodland CemeteryWoodland Cemetery: I'm upping the land count to 36, and these are both excellent options.
• Acidic SlimeAcidic Slime: It's no Assassin's TrophyAssassin's Trophy, but it's still quite versatile.

You can find the updated list here.

Conclusion

An interesting twist, this Bilbo offered. Looks a bit old to enter the Sisterhood, but if you can trigger that second ability... Mwah, a tale for the ages!

What do you think? Would you build this deck for the sole challenge of reaching 111 life? Do you have other strategies to offer?

Let me know in the comments below, and I'll see you in two weeks with a surprise brew!