The 49 Best Cards in Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Ranked

Last updated on February 18, 2024

Samwise Gamgee | Illustration by Ekaterina Burmak

Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth is upon us! This MTG premiere set is Modern legal, which Crim Nguyen has been at pains to point out isn’t the same as Modern playable. This isn’t Modern Horizons 3 dressed up in Tolkien cosplay; there are likely a half dozen cards that might see Modern play.

The good news for Commander players is that the many cards in this set that are sweet for EDH are likely to be a bit undervalued by the MTG community for a time. I think this set will be a sleeper Commander powerhouse like Battle for Baldur’s Gate was. It’s a little less raw power than people might have hoped, but there are some sweet cards in here.

So let’s delve into the best cards in the set! I know I’ll leave off a favorite, so sorry in advance.

#49. Landcycling Cycle

• Generous Ent
• Eagles of the North
• Lórien Revealed
• Oliphaunt
• Troll of Khazad-dûm

This cycle is the best rare for landcycling that we’ve seen. Probably the only really generally useful card here is Lórien Revealed. Generous Ent and Troll of Khazad-dûm will find homes in Golgari () decks that just want a critical mass in the graveyard. But Eagles of the North and Oliphaunt should slot nicely into Jeskai () cycling decks.

#48. Storm of Saruman

Storm of Saruman is a harder to use Double Vision in a much better color. Mono blue storm always seems like it’s on the cusp of greatness in EDH, and maybe this will help get it there.

#47. Frodo, Determined Hero

I don’t really buy this card. Maybe the smallest person can change the course of the future, but I need to see Frodo, Determined Hero find a place in the crowded equipment space before it gets my axe. Still, this is powerful, and I’ve been wrong at least once before.

#46. Bill the Pony

Stay golden, Bill the Pony! Some day you’ll lose to ponyboy Voltron, and you’re not even gonna be mad about it.

#45. Gandalf’s Sanction

In a spellslinger and/or storm deck, an opponent with a mana elf can just be domed for lethal out of the blue. Don’t believe me? Look, if you find me at a con, I’ll win with Gandalf's Sanction, in public, at least once. #shotsfired

#44. The Grey Havens + Great Hall of the Citadel

The Grey Havens is an awesome land to topdeck if you have to topdeck a land, and Great Hall of the Citadel is great early in a legendary creatures deck. And aren’t all decks slowly turning into that in EDH?

#43. Éomer, Marshal of Rohan

Isshin, Two Heavens as One, meet Éomer, Marshal of Rohan. Have a tankard of ale and just get to know each other for a bit.

#42. Radagast the Brown

Volo, Guide to Monsters wants Radagast the Brown, yes? Probably also Long List of the Ents, which someone is also gonna try to make work in Hardened Scales.

#41. The Ring Goes South

Huge ramp in a legendary creatures deck. Does that deck want this? Perfect flavor, though. Do I really want to see The Ring Goes South? A dangerous road indeed….

#40. Shadow of the Enemy

This is a really mean thing to do to someone’s graveyard deck. But someone else at the table with a Soul-Guide Lantern is not going to let you get away with Shadow of the Enemy. Powerful but likely overrated.

#39. Moria Marauder

Moria Marauder is huge value for goblins decks.

#38. Horn of Gondor

The decks that are rocking Horn of Valhalla want double fisted horns with Horn of Gondor.

#37. Flame of Anor

Gandalf’s Command here is much less flexible than staple Prismari Command. If I had a wizard commander in these colors, I might prefer Flame of Anor in quite a few situations.

#36. Flowering of the White Tree

Flowering of the White Tree is about the cheapest anthem we’ve got, and the ward text for legends is really helpful.

#35. Many Partings + Shelob’s Ambush

These join Gilded Goose as the only one mana plays that make a Food token. It seems likely that Many Partings and/or Shelob's Ambush will find a home in some sort of Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar shell. I’m in “wait and see” mode on the Frodo, Adventurous Hobbit and Sam, Loyal AttendantFood deck, so I’m not sure this makes it to Commander.

#34. There and Back Again

There and Back Again is the weirdest ramp spell ever. But that’s fun. The Hobbit is just a ramp spell for the trilogy to follow!

#33. Gandalf, White Rider

Later we’re gonna talk about a 4-color Aragorn storm deck. If that becomes a thing, on the first light of the fifth day, at dawn look to the east. Gandalf, White Rider will be there.

#32. Éowyn, Fearless Knight

There are so many good red cards to blink, but there isn’t even a page on EDHREC for a Boros () blink theme. Éowyn, Fearless Knight could change that. It just exiles things on ETB, and not contingency like Fairgrounds Warden and its clones. The protection clause means that you can flicker Éowyn to make your team unblockable pretty easily.

#31. Doors of Durin

There are enough elves, like Radha, Heir to Keld in Gruul () aggro decks like Wulfgar of Icewind Dale, which synergizes well with Doors of Durin. If you can fold in some decent dwarves, like Magda, Brazen Outlaw and maybe the new Bag End Porter, you’ve got the potential for fun.

#30. Hew the Entwood

Some landfall deck that I don’t fully understand wants this as part of some opaque combo. I see Hew the Entwood as a finisher in a big artifact deck that has something like Bitter Reunion out to make haste. Especially if you are doing topdeck manipulation, you can spin the wheel and see if you win. Sounds very red.

#29. Saruman of Many Colors

Saruman of Many Colors has a wicked ward cost. It might stick around a bit to grab enchantments from opponents’ graveyards. That sounds like I’d have fun if I’m sitting across from an enchantress deck, where usually the only person who has fun when someone brings enchantress is the bringer.

#28. Elven Chorus

Vizier of the Menagerie as a more durable enchantment that green can’t tutor for. Elven Chorus is going to be bank in certain kinds of decks.

#27. Gollum, Patient Plotter

This card is in the wrong spot on the list. Gollum, Patient Plotter as commander of a sacrifice deck is probably the very fastest way to finish the Ring’s dungeon-like levels. That’s either going to be cracked and this belongs in the top five, or this card isn’t good enough to even make the list. Let’s split the difference and put it here.

Next Year Me will look back on This Year Me and ruefully shake his head.

#26. Pippin, Guard of the Citadel

Another Mother of Runes effect would be a lot more desirable if they hadn’t just printed another in mono white in Skrelv, Defector Mite. But still, it’s a soldier, so we’ll see.

#25. Press the Enemy

I’d rather have Press the Enemy than Baral's Expertise in a Commander deck, and for sure if I run one I’d run the other. That said, how does that stack up in the pile of OP blue spells that cost four or more?

#24. Mithril Coat

If you’re a Lightning Greaves kind of player, Mithril Coat has to be in the conversation now. Colorless flash indestructibility on an indestructible equipment that snaps on? In 2017, this would be the best card in the set. With the proliferation of exile effects, not so much. Even just as a combat trick in an equipment deck, this is worth sleeving up.

#23. Aragorn, the Uniter

Folks seem meh on Aragorn, the Uniter, but this is going to combo kill a lot of people with 4-color storm.

#23. Tom Bombadil

How good will this deck be? We’ll find out, because a Tom Bombadil deck looks super fun and will only get better with every set that has sagas.

#22. Peregrin Took

Tireless Provisioner, meet Peregrin Took. Lemme pour you both a pint on the house so you can get to know each other a little better. Why are all the Pippin cards so much better than all the Merry cards?

#21. Spiteful Banditry

Starstorm, but like The Meathook Massacre it sticks around and gives you a few treasures. There are decks where, like Meathook, dropping this without paying the X gets your deck’s motor running.

#20. Lobelia Sackville-Baggins

This is my favorite flavor in a set of flavor wins. Lobelia Sackville-Baggins on an end step will win quite a few games with Revel in Riches, which is even bonus flavor!

#19. Boromir, Warden of the Tower

Boromir, Warden of the Tower does the work of Lavinia, Azorius Renegade to smash cascade decks with one less color and without the stax piece that make you universally hated. And the sac to save the team from most wraths is nice.

#18. Stern Scolding

Stern Scolding is the one card on this list that will likely hit Modern to some extent but not Commander. In the current meta it counters more than half of played creatures in the format. No way that’s true for Commander.

#17. Rosie Cotton of South Lane

Rosie Cotton of South Lane does the Scurry Oak combo with one less card. Does that make it good enough for Modern? Maybe. Good enough for a Commander deck wrapped around combos like that, but that’s not a great deck right now and lacks a decent Selesnya () or Abzan () commander.

#16. Ringsight

Ringsight is a 3-mana tutor with conditions, but if you’re in these colors, do you want another Grim Tutor cost tutor? It depends on if the Ring tempting mechanic is good enough to generate value. If it is, there are only just above fifty cards that do that, so this might be at a premium.

#15. Last March of the Ents

Because green stompy needed one more piece of top end. But Last March of the Ents gives you a lot more than Storm the Festival for two more mana, so if you are in that space anyway…?

#14. Fires of Mount Doom

Fires of Mount Doom lands as one of the top five red card draw spells in Commander, which means this is going in higher on the list than you might have thought. But if you’re one of the many players who doesn’t have a mono red Commander deck, the lack of cards like this is the reason why.

The fact that it serves as an overcosted Shock than can destroy whatever swords Sram, Senior Edificer is wielding against you is just bonus. This is obviously a card for longer games to help red keep up with its cantrippy neighbors, but I can see this as a quick storm payoff for an Izzet () deck with cost reducers like Training Grounds. Can that be a real deck?

#13. Stone of Erech

Stone of Erech is a decent egg that gives an asymmetrical Rest in Peace effect to all colors for one mana. That is really useful, not to mention the option to crack to blank a graveyard.

#12. Forge Anew

In Modern, a copy or two of Forge Anew might show up as additional “copies” of Sigarda's Aid. In the singleton format of EDH, that function is even more important.

#11. Goldberry, River-Daughter

Goldberry, River-Daughter drops and is immediately the new best move counters card in the game. Clearly good in the 99 of the Tom Bombadil sagas deck, Goldberry also shines in superfriends and proliferate decks. I’m most interested in time counters or whatever weird old counters you can stuff into your Atraxa, Praetor’s Voice decks.

#10. Gandalf the White

Gandalf the White is a nice addition to both Teysa Karlov and Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines decks, but I think there’s a decent build of this Mithrandir as a commander of the kind of deck where you run Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle. This might be a real contender to rebuild monowhite artifacts beyond the Oswald Fiddlebender toolbox.

#9. Legendary Lands

• Barad-dûr
• Minas Tirith
• Mines of Moria
• Mount Doom
• Rivendell
• The Shire

I can see Mines of Moria finding a niche home in Modern. Maybe. But this whole legendary lands cycle is just value for EDH decks. They aren’t as much of a slam dunk as the legendary Kamigawa lands because they might enter tapped, but they all do the kinds of powerful things you want them to do.

Barad-dûr in a sac deck, Minas Tirith for go wide, and Rivendell in control. The Mines, Mount Doom, and The Shire ae more niche players, but all powerful.

#8. Sauron, the Dark Lord

It does seem like you need a fellowship to defeat this crazy ward cost, and because of that Sauron, the Dark Lord seems more powerful at better tables. If you can ramp it out quickly, its abilities get really out of hand, especially if you have synergies with his half wheel ability.

#7. Borne Upon a Wind

Borne Upon a Wind will take your broken combo piece and toss it onto the battlefield whenever you like. Sure, other cards do that, but this is superefficient and replaces itself. Probably not ready for Modern primetime, but there’s always something you want to drop on the last end step before your turn in Commander!

#6. Reprieve

The white Remand is big game. Reprieve can bounce uncounterable spells because it’s not a counter. If Hallowed Moonlight is a decent sideboard card in Modern, why not this? This is just a brutal card against combo decks and will be really welcome in EDH decks, especially those that don’t play blue.

#5. Samwise Gamgee

It seems wrong that perhaps the most likely degenerate card in this set is Samwise Gamgee. Flicker. Recursion. Sacrifice with a Cauldron Familiar. There are a lot of things we can do to break this card, in Modern and in cEDH. So much for Sam not wanting to be turned into anything unnatural.

#4. Orcish Bowmasters

The most likely card to find a deck in Modern, Orcish Bowmasters can do a lot. It can flash in and draw a card like Faerie Mastermind, but then it does damage for each card drawn!

For Commander, calling Peer into the Abyss and all wheel effects! This will matter a lot in cEDH but is also huge in more casual Commander. It might give a kick in the pants to 5-color versions of group hug.

#3. Mirkwood Bats

Mirkwood Bats is probably a better wincon than Marionette Master, and it comes down for two less mana. Why not pack them all with buddy Disciple of the Vault and your artifact token machineries of choice and go to town?

#2. Delighted Halfling

Destiny Spinner is a really mopey card to be played in so many decks. Making things uncounterable is big game, and Delighted Halfling is the perfect way to get your commander out. The two toughness might actually make this card viable for 60-card formats.

#1. The One Ring

Look, this has to be at the top of this list, right? Even if it’s not the actual best, it’s kinda de rigueur, non?

Fine, but let me make a case for why The One Ring is bananas.

That protection clause is no joke. With something like Raff Capashen, Ship's Mage, you can flash this out as needed. Things like Drafna, Founder of Lat-Nam allow you to reload the Ring and also wipe away those counters if the life drain gets too much. You can always sac it or move its counters off or blink it if it comes to that.

The card draw is also kind of insane, with or without proliferate. In a deck like the popular Shorikai, Genesis Engine where you’re running a lot of untappers, this goes off. I know most of that deck already goes off, but it goes harder!

Wrap Up

Dawn of a New Age | Illustration by Anato Finnstark

I really like the flavor and feel of this set. As a Lord of the Rings fan and player of every LotR deckbuilding game they’ve published, there’s just a great feeling entering the world. Heck, I even love Lord of the Rings Risk! (I am, btw, going to take the physical ring from that game to use as my tempted by the Ring marker).

What I like about this set is that it feels like those games. Compared to the Dungeons and Dragons sets, this feels truer to the experience of the Lord of the Rings than those were for D&D. Perhaps that’s not a fair comparison, as D&D is so huge and personalized. But I think LotR fans who are new to Magic will like this set more than D&D fans who did the same for Adventures in the Forgotten Realms.

And the fact that there are a lot of powerful cards here but that they’re almost all build-arounds in some fashion really works for me. These cards are legends amongst legends for fans. Tolkien is where this genre started, and I’m hopeful that seeing Gandalf or Galadriel hitting the battlefield years from now will still feel as special as I hope it will be.

Is your sword ready for the fellowship that awaits? If so, what cards did I leave off that you are salivating to sleeve up? Let me know in the comments below, or over in the official Draftsim Discord.

Take care and safe journeys!