Commander Set Review - The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth

The crossover between Lord of the Rings and Magic: The Gathering is certainly one of the most anticipated in the game's history. Considering that almost every RPG or related content was inspired by the work of J.R.R. Tolkien, the hype created over this crossover is even understandable.

And much to the delight of Commander players, the set is fully legal in the format, and with its launch, it guaranteed several cards that can be seen playing their role at tables around the world.

The cards were separated by color, and each one will have a brief explanation of why it was chosen. Remembering that here we are analyzing them separately for Commander decks in general, not limited to only one color and/or archetype.

In white, we had 10 interesting highlights.

Starting with one of the first spoiled cards, Reprieve is a great answer for its color. Its effect is very similar to Remand, with the difference of bouncing the spell rather than countering it. Not much to linger here, as Reprieve explains itself, slowing down your opponents' game by being played at just the right moment.

Boromir, Warden of the Tower is another strong highligh. Its passive effect "disables" cards that can be cast for free, such as cascade (Maelstrom Wanderer or Hidetsugu and Kairi. Its effect is similar to that of Lavinia, Azorius Renegade, with the difference is that it is a great response to sweepers.

A 3/3 body with vigilance plus these two "bonuses" definitely deserves a certain mention, not least because there are already combos with this Lord of the Rings icon!

Not much to say about Gandalf the White. Basically, a second Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines with the bonus of having flash and also granting flash to legendary and artifact spells. Blink archetype decks were already strong, so now, you could even say that it's a redundancy of so much power that is offered for this play style.

Forge Anew is a card that every equipment deck dreamed of. Equip on instant speed, equip 0 once a turn, and bonus is a reanimate for equipment. It will see a lot of play in classic equipment Boros decks.

War of the Last Alliance offers a great recursion of two tutors for legendary creatures and, on top of that, a possible finisher in its third chapter. Good overall functionality for its mana cost, and being a saga, it clearly can see play in the Tom Bombadil decks to come.

Flowering of the White Tree is a card that proposes an absurd power for the number of things it does. Provides protection for legendary creatures, also buffs, and buffs non-legendary and all that for only 2 mana.

Sweepers never hurt, which is why here we have The Battle of Bywater. Depending on the deck's proposal, it is possible to keep all your creatures alive while eliminating the frightening and gigantic creatures on the opposing boards, with a bonus of creating several food tokens. Rocco, Street Chef is one of those who can take advantage of this card.

The white color is known for lacking efficient card draw. Dawn of a New Age came to counteract this and offer the necessary support.

For 2 mana this enchantment will guarantee 2 draws per turn, and it also gives 4 life when sacrificed when running out of counters. Not that 4 life is a lot, but considering that it is 10% of your starting total, we can even highlight this effect.

And speaking of gaining life, The Gaffer is another great card for decks with white in the life gaining theme to take advantage of draws. Offers a good 2/3 body for only 3 mana with the possibility to draw more cards.

And finally, Gilraen, Dunedain Protector. Another great addition to the blink archetype, with instant speed response power once it loses its summoning sickness. Apart from the possibility of delaying the arrival of the exiled card, leaving it buffed with lifelink and vigilance. A somewhat underrated card that I imagine will make it into many decks.

In blue, we have fewer highlights, but that doesn't mean less power.

Starting with Storm of Saruman. An enchantment that manages to protect itself with Ward 3. It is not at all difficult to take advantage of the enchantment to circumvent the famous Legends rule. Precisely because of this, it is expected that it will be present from now on in decks of different archetypes.

Council's Deliberation will probably not only see play in Commander, but also in other formats where it can be used. Despite looking weak at 2 mana draw a card, its triggered effect that only costs one scrying and controlling an island is worth considering. In a spellslinger or even combo deck that searches for pieces fast, an Opt, for example, might "draw two cards".

Ioreth of the Healing House is a strong piece for decks that use mana dorks that generate a lot of mana like Faeburrow Elder, Gyre Sage and even combo decks like Unctus, Grand Metatect.

Borne Upon a Wind is one of the dreams of combo players incarnated as an instant. The power of being able to combo on the pass is increasingly real, and even if you can't, it forces opponents to spend resources, opening up more ways to finish a game without opposing answers.

It will definitely be very recurrent in decks of the combo archetype, spellslinger, and derivatives.

When you combine Narset's Reversal and Venser, Shaper Savant into one card, Press the Enemy is born. Not that it's literal, but it's just as good.

Considering that when returning a permanent to the owner's hand and being able to cast some high-cost or even recursive counter like Unwind or Rewind, it's a very versatile two for one and can appear in several decks from here on.

Lost Isle Calling will catch many players off-guard. Decks like Elminster and the like love this type of card, especially as it's a long-term investment. I can also see it in strategies like Ezuri, Stalker of Spheres.

And closing our blue part, Birthday Escape joins the family of 1-cost blue cards like Consider, Ponder, Opt, Serum Visions and Preordain . Swapping a card for a new card, and still activating the ring's temptation effect.

In black, we start with a "variant" of Phyrexian Arena, that being Call of the Ring. Its effect, art, and flavor are incredible, considering you pay life to draw cards when the ring tempts you. A 2 mana enchantment that is almost a Phyrexian Arena really deserves some mention, after all, drawing cards never hurts, even if some price has to be paid.

Lobelia Sackville-Baggins will be heavily featured on Commander going forward. Dealing with some gigantic, problematic creature or combo piece by responding with Lobelia Sackville-Baggins and still creating tokens equal to its power to ramp is wonderful.

It's an excellent answer to sweepers, especially if, for some reason, a card like Kozilek, Butcher of Truth was removed.

Mirkwood Bats is the type of card that will be ignored at the beginning and requested in the future. The vastness of archetypes and the number of decks it can enter is quite vast: Ziatora, the Incinerator, Chatterfang, Squirrel General, Vazi, Keen Negotiator or Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver and others accept this card with open arms as a staple or even a finisher.

Orcish Bowmasters needs no comment. Absurd and self-explanatory, as it has Flash and deals damage to any target with its triggered ability, while also punishing infinite draw combos.

Shadow of the Enemy is a lot more interesting than it looks. Every reanimate player's nightmare is losing their graveyard, and even worse if there is the possibility of losing to their own deck.

Of course, this is totally relative to the game and the decks being played against it, but the point is that Shadow of the Enemy works well on countless decks overall, even on Dimir mill lists, like Phenax, God of Deception.

And speaking of exiling graveyards, not only do we have Shadow of the Enemy, but we have Shelob, Dread Weaver. A great alternative to Dauthi Voidwalker, but if you can use both, there's no reason not to.

And finishing remarks about the black cards, One Ring to Rule Them All. Another card with amazing flavor and art, which works as a very efficient short-term sweeper, and still punishes opponents with its third chapter. Very versatile for alternatives to Damn or Damnation.

Within red, we have a great addition with Rising of the Day. Haste will always be good, even more if it buffs your commander.

Smite the Deathless is an excellent answer to troublesome creatures like Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre, Avacyn, Angel of Hope and any other indestructible creature that causes problems, as it allows them to be dealt with by a sweeper.

Cast into the Fire is another one that has amazing flavor. It is here precisely for its effect of exiling the target artifact, being able to get rid of possible Darksteel Forge and/or any other Darksteel artifact, such as Darksteel Plate or even the new Mithril Coat. It's also a relief against Blightsteel Colossus.

Moria Marauder is yet another addition to Goblin decks like Krenko, Mob Boss. It's a double-edged sword considering you can lose cards, but a Skirk Prospector plus as many goblins as possible to cast the exiled cards this way makes it quite powerful.

There and Back Again is yet another card who surprises with its Lord of the Rings flavor and effects. In addition, it offers a ramp to Mono Red, outside its combo potential with Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage after the resolution of the third chapter, probably in a deck of Ghired, Conclave Exile. Great card with great potential in Commander.

Display of Power has a very literal name. A well-buffed Reverberate that can take advantage of that counter war that occasionally happens in Commander. A very unusual answer and one that will probably gain a lot of space in the future months.

And ending the red cards, Cavern-Hoard Dragon. Flying, trample and haste at a 6/6 which can have its cost reduced considerably. As if that weren't enough, you can create a treasure token for each artifact the player you dealt damage with controls.

It is very strong and will surprise many opponents, especially those who like to play with artifacts like Urza, Chief Artificer, Breya, Etherium Shaper and others.

Green is famous for its mana dorks. Delighted Halfling is another one of them, and it's one that will gain a lot of prominence in Commander. An effect similar to Cavern of Souls, but not limited to the type of creature, as it works for all legendary spells.

That is, Planeswalkers and legendary artifacts cannot be countered either. It will probably be highly sought after in the format.

And speaking of not being countered, Last March of the Ents came to support even more green. Despite its high cost, which has never been and never will be a problem for green decks in general, its effect is devastating. Couple that with some haste effects, like with Concordant Crossroads, and depending on how the match plays out, it could be a game finisher.

The Ring Goes South has great potential in Jodah, the Unifier or Sisay, Weatherlight Captain decks, even more so in a gate build, for example. But it's good to be aware that this spell is situational, and may not be as efficient as Open the Way.

Entish Restoration is a variant of Harrow with the potential to fetch an additional land. It's a good replacement option, as it'll play the same role as Harrow, and might be even better if we fulfill its requirement.

Elven Chorus managed to be an even better Cryptolith Rite. Now you don't just have to make all your creatures turn into mana dorks, you also have to "clean" the top and speed up the game by playing creatures from the top. Yeva, Nature's Herald or Vedalken Orrery further empowers the card. By not giving a single effect like Cryptolith Rite, it is possible that it will see a lot of play in different decks.

Arwen, Weaver of Hope is yet another creature that is generically good and sees play in a multitude of +1/+1 counter decks, and even those that aren't focused on that: Shalai and Hallar, Ghave, Guru of Spores, Atraxa, Praetors' Voice, Chishiro, the Shattered Blade, Falco Spara, Pactweaver and a variety of other decks.

Ending the green session, Galadhrim Ambush. Even in decks that aren't focused on Elves, a Fog that can remove attacking creatures and still grant you plenty of creatures. It reminds a lot of a certain card that also does the same thing, but with other creature type,Arachnogenesis

Anyway, it fulfills the function very well and as a bonus, it creates elves, that is, depending on the deck, these elves will not be just 1/1 tokens.

Starting with a card that was almost on the verge of not being here, Pippin, Guard of the Citadel. Its versatility to protect creatures of specific types is great, but what limits Pippin, Guard of the Citadel, are its colors.

It's almost a custom that cards of this type like Mother of Runes or Giver of Runes are mono white, increasing their range of decks, but the addition of blue limits a bit where Pippin can be placed. Still, it has good potential.

Friendly Rivalry: an instant removal of the famous "fight target creature" type with the difference that, in addition to being an instant, it makes up to two creatures fight with one at once. It can get large, troublesome creatures out of the way. A very versatile and underrated card.

A 3 mana tutor that still makes the ring tempt you? Here we have Ringsight. For every deck that has this color, it is almost essential to have one of these. Being able to tutor any card as long as it's the color of a legendary creature you control (usually your commander) and still enjoy the ring's effects can only be nice.

Aristocrats will appreciate Lotho, Corrupt Shirriff's newest addition to decks. Lists without green need to keep up with the ramps of others when they need to, so the use of cards like Smothering Tithe is often necessary, and Lotho, Corrupt Shirriff fulfills this role as well.

Hard to believe that an uncommon card like Rise of the Witch-king could offer so much potential. You can sacrifice any weak creature as a 1/1 token to reanimate any permanent. The possibilities are endless, so I leave Omniscience as an example of a possible target.

Sauron's Ransom is almost a Fact or Fiction for three mana. Two cards in hand for three mana, at instant-speed, and on top of that with a ring temptation trigger.

And not only the controls benefited, but also the aggro decks: Doors of Durin is yet another way to outwit large creatures.

Mayael the Anima and others take great advantage of this card type, which has now become a great addition to the big creatures archetype and many others. Despite depending on attacking to work, it is assumed that being able to attack won't be a problem.

And token decks aren't left out of the game either: Forth Eorlingas! have an incredible flavor and power. Neyali, Suns' Vanguard, Jetmir, Nexus of Revels or even Jinnie Fay, Jetmir's Second take full advantage of this card, with enough strength to even be a finisher.

And here Taunt from the Rampart ends the multicolored section. A card that will most likely cause chaos at the table and can guarantee that some players will lose the game until it comes back to your turn, that is, if you don't end the game with it. Great card with a huge potential to be a finisher.

In the artifacts, we have Horn of Gondor. Its flavor and mechanics illustrate the proposal of the card very well, making more and more tokens. Interestingly, because it is completely colorless in its color identity, it can go into literally any deck who might be interested in having Human creatures.

A card as good as Whispersilk Cloak, if not better (depending on deck build and point of view), Bilbo's Ring, despite reducing its cost to equip only for Halflings, is still a card with some prominence. After all, hexproof and unblockable, aside from being able to draw cards, there's no way this artifact won't draw a certain amount of attention.

Orange is the new black, and Mithril Coat is the new Darksteel Plate. Without having to pay the cost to equip and also having Flash, it is minimally interesting. Of course, jokes aside, its only problem is that it can only target legendary creatures.

But it's totally understandable, after all, for 3 mana to make any creature indestructible while also being indestructible would be too much, Even so, it can see a lot of play in Commander.

Ending the artifacts, Relic of Sauron. In addition to being a mana rock that offers any combination of the colors of , it offers a Tormenting Voice for 3 mana, not counting the discard part as an additional cost, of course.

It's a mana rock whose value is in multicolored decks, but even though it's limited to just that sector, it still performs well with its card draw bonus.

And to finish the article, the lands. And again, helping the white decks, Minas Tirith manages to draw cards without having to meet a dozen requirements.

Rivendell isn't left out, either. An alternative to Castle Vantress, or even a parallel use, after all, both lands are good and can be used in different situations. Its legendary creature requirement makes it a little trickier to use.

Great Hall of the Citadel is a good land to filter mana from commanders that have three or more colors. I would say almost essential to correct the curve in the early game.

The Grey Havens is another land that can be very useful in the vast majority of Commanders out there, especially those who deal with graveyards. It has the potential to be a second Command Tower, if played on a deck that can make the most out of it.

Decks like Marchesa, the Black Rose have dreamed of lands like The Black Gate for ages, and finally, their prayers have been answered. The fact that the target isn't limited to creatures you control, but any creature, like Rogue's Passage, makes it even more amazing, being able to finish off other opponents with creatures that aren't even yours, through good old diplomacy.

Mono Red decks might really like Mines of Moria, as it doesn't have as much recursion to retrieve certain cards from the graveyard, like creatures, lands, enchantments, etc. So, cards that really won't be used anymore can simply be used to stock up mana with Mines of Moria.

Finishing the lands and also the article, Mount Doom. It's a very situational card, but I think that for those who will run it, it will make sense for it to be there to use its last effect. After all, a sweeper coming from a land is entirely new and unusual, even for Commander.

It was really hard to choose the cards, considering the whole set looks wonderful. It's up to us to wait now and see what time shows us which of them will or will not enter the good old tables.

And you, do you think these cards are really the best staples? Do you think there are better ones, or that any are too overrated? Share with us!