Sam, Loyal Attendant - Intelligence

Create Food before attackers, activate it for less, enable Frodo, and turn excess artifact tokens into cards, counters, mana, drain, or verified loops.

Sam is a {1}{G}{W} 2/4 legendary Halfling Peasant with partner with Frodo, a beginning-of-combat Food trigger, and a static ability reducing activated abilities of Foods by {1}.

Sam and Frodo may both be commanders. Their combined color identity is white-black-green, the remaining library has 98 cards, and only the named partner is allowed. Sam alone is a legal green-white commander with a 99-card library.

The two commanders are tracked separately for commander tax and commander damage. Casting one does not increase the other's tax, and 21 damage is not combined between them.

Food is an artifact type, not a creature type. A Food cannot be sacrificed to pay multiple costs, and effects referring to Food include nontoken Food artifacts.

Rules inference: Sam's trigger resolves in the beginning-of-combat step, then the active player receives priority before declare attackers. The new Food may be activated for {1} while Sam is present, gaining 3 life before Frodo attacks and allowing Frodo's condition to see that life gain.

Sam reduces generic mana in every activated ability of a Food, not only a Food token's printed activation. It cannot reduce colored mana or a cost below zero, and it does not remove tap or sacrifice costs.

Resolve Sam, preserve the beginning-of-combat window, use the discounted Food before Frodo attacks, and turn repeated Ring progression into cards.

Use Peregrin Took and Academy Manufactor to broaden each Food event into cards, mana, and bodies.

Use native Food sacrifices and recursive creatures as the substrate for drain and death/LTB payoffs.

Stay green-white and convert Sam's Food lifegain into counters and creature tokens.