Sam, Loyal Attendant Commander Deck Guide

Last updated on February 18, 2024

Sam, Loyal Attendant | Illustration by Campbell White

One great thing about the Lord of the Rings Commander precons is that they include a lot of new legendary creatures that you could also choose to build some decks around. The Riders of Rohan deck for example includes Gimli of the Glittering Caves in the 99 which I think would make for a very interesting mono-red Commander deck.

Sam, Loyal Attendant is one of two partner Lord of the Rings commanders for the Food and Fellowship precon, but it’s also a card that I think can stand on its own as a commander. While you lose out on being able to use black cards without Frodo, Adventurous Hobbit, there’s still a lot you can do in Selesnya by focusing on Food tokens and lifegain.

From my experience playing with this deck, it probably sits around midrange power levels like 5 or 6, though it can hit above its weight class if you get a good opening hand. I also think it’ll be worth revisiting this build once Wilds of Eldraine comes out because it might give this deck some fun new tools to use in terms of Food token support.

The Deck

Arcane Signet | Illustration by Dan Scott

This deck focuses on both creating Food tokens and using them for either lifegain or other abilities. This means cards like Tireless Provisioner and Meriadoc Brandybuck end up generating you lots of value in this deck. Academy Manufactor is also a great value engine here since you’ll be making a variety of different tokens.

With any lifegain deck, payoffs are important. I included classic lifegain payoffs like Aetherflux Reservoir and cards that specifically interact with Food tokens. This way you have the flexibility to sacrifice your Food tokens for life or other powerful effects depending on your situation.

I also included a good amount of token support that can get you some additional value out of your Food tokens or just make you additional Food. Since your commander is making you tokens on a consistent basis, cards like Bennie Bracks, Zoologist become very useful tools.

The Commander

Sam, Loyal Attendant is a nice commander for a few reasons. First is its ability to create a free Food token once each turn. This synergizes very well with token support cards and also gives you a consistent form of lifegain. Sam’s second ability is also great for lifegain because you’ll be able to sacrifice one or more Food tokens more easily than usual.

Another aspect of Sam that I really like is that it’s a low mana value option. You can get it out pretty quickly and start generating Food tokens early. While it’s very helpful for your strategy, you also won’t be completely lost if it’s removed. This is a nice quality in any commander, since it’s risky to rely on having your commander on the battlefield at all times.

Food Tokens

Apart from Sam, this deck has other ways to generate Food tokens to ensure you don’t run out. Many of your cards like Bill the Pony and Gilded Goose make you Food tokens when they enter the battlefield. The goose is especially helpful because it can also make more Food tokens.

Farmer Cotton can be a very powerful way to generate Food tokens because later in the game it can make you a lot all at once. You also have the flexibility to balance how many you make, so you can sacrifice them immediately if need be.

Peregrin Took makes you extra Food pretty consistently, especially if Sam is on the board. Academy Manufactor is an even better version of this effect because it also helps you with ramp and card draw as well as creating Food tokens.

You have a decent number of halflings in this deck, so Meriadoc Brandybuck can be another good source of Food tokens for you.

Food Support and Payoffs

While your Food tokens can be used to gain life, there are other ways to utilize them in this deck. For example, Elanor Gardner also turns your Food tokens into a source of ramp on turns when you sacrifice them.

You also have creatures like Feasting Troll King and Samwise Gamgee that give you alternative effects to sacrifice Food tokens for. Some cards like Banquet Guests both benefit from you having Food and allows you to sacrifice them for an ability.

Feasting Hobbit can become an incredibly powerful creature for not a lot of mana if you have enough Food on the board when it enters the battlefield. Because it has a form of evasion, it can end up dealing a lot of damage directly to your opponents.

Wicked Wolf can scale pretty quickly in this deck and can become a very powerful form of removal. If you keep some Food tokens around, you can also keep this card around much longer thanks to its built-in protection.

Trail of Crumbs gives you an option to not only gain life from your Food tokens, but also to possibly draw an extra card. This card works especially well with Sam on the field because you’ll only need two mana to activate it and the Food token.

Food tokens aren’t just a token, but an artifact token. That means that Teething Wurmlet gains you life and buffs itself when you create a Food token. It’ll also have deathtouch if you’ve stored up three Food tokens. It also means that any Food token triggers Merry, Warden of Isengard’s ability and make you a Soldier token any time you make Food.

General Token Support

As of right now, there’s a limited number of cards that directly interact with Food tokens, and you miss out on some by only being in Selesnya colors. Luckily, there’s also a good amount of general token support you can rely on.

Bennie Bracks, Zoologist and Ellyn Harbreeze, Busybody both give you ways to get extra cards for just creating any kind of tokens. Rosie Cotton of South Lane buffs one of your creatures each time you create any kind of token, making token-generating cards that much more valuable.

Killer Service won’t just make you some Food tokens when it enters, it can also give you an alternative way to put any type of token to use. Swapping a Food token or one of the 1/1 soldiers you can produce in this deck for a 4/4 Rhino Warrior is a pretty good trade for just two mana.

Token doublers like Anointed Procession and Parallel Lives can put in a lot of work for this deck, allowing you to accelerate your Food output dramatically. Mondrak, Glory Dominus may be the best of these because it can keep itself safe with an indestructible counter.

Lifegain Payoffs

Having a lot of Food tokens also means having regular access to lifegain, so you’ll want ways to cash in on that. Cards like Gwaihir, Greatest of the Eagles and The Gaffer are great for this deck because you’ll only need to sacrifice one Food to trigger their abilities. Since The Gaffer makes sacrificing your Food easier, you’ll be able to get a lot of value from these cards.

Thanks to cards like Treebeard, Gracious Host and Lathiel, the Bounteous Dawn, you can buff some of your creatures equal to the amount of life you gain.

Nykthos Paragon can buff all your creatures this way once each turn, but even a single Food can give a significant boost to all your creatures. This means that your lifegain contributes directly to your opponents losing life through combat damage, or at least gives you some effective blockers. These cards can be especially powerful when paired with Beacon of Immortality because it’ll buff your creatures significantly and can be done at instant speed.

Well of Lost Dreams gives you a solid source of card draw, especially when Sam is making your Food tokens cheaper to activate. Even if you just have two mana, you’ll gain three life and draw a card, which can help you out if you’re running out of gas in your hands.

Ajani, Strength of the Pride can both act as a source of lifegain, and one of two payoffs for it. The tokens it creates can get pretty big in this deck, and if you have your token doublers out this -2 ability gets even better. Ajani’s 0 ability allows you to cash in on your higher life total by wiping a lot of your opponents’ permanents off the board.

Aetherflux Reservoir is one of your most powerful lifegain payoffs, possibly allowing you to take out one of your opponents. The earlier you get it out, the more effective it can be by helping you gain life, though it’ll be quickly targeted when it hits the field.

The Mana Base

Two-color decks have a wide range of options when it comes to mana fixing with dual lands. I prioritize duals that can consistently come in untapped like Temple Garden or Brushland. Bountiful Promenade is also very likely to come in untapped in a game of Commander. There’s also Command Tower which is basically an auto-include in any multicolor deck.

While not as good at mana fixing as lands that tap for both white and green, Branchloft Pathway’s two sides makes it a bit more versatile than other lands that only tap for one. Plaza of Heroes can also be helpful for casting your commander, and as long as Sam’s on the field you’ll have access to any of your colors. Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth is another helpful bit of mana fixing because it turns any of your Plains into dual lands or allows your few utility lands to also produce green.

When it comes to utility lands, you have The Shire to help with your Food theme and Inventors' Fair to help you find Aetherflux Reservoir. You also have generally good utility lands like Boseiju, Who Endures for removal or Reliquary Tower.

Felidar Sovereign gives you an alternative way to win the game through your lifegain. You’ll probably want to wait to drop this until you both have 40+ life and a way to keep it safe. I personally like to wait until I have Teferi's Protection to cast it, but if you want to be a little riskier Heroic Intervention can also keep it safe from a lot of different cards.

You only have a few mana rocks, just the typical Sol Ring and Arcane Signet. Birds of Paradise and Gilded Goose can also help with mana production. While it doesn’t tap for mana itself, Jaheira, Friend of the Forest can turn all your Food tokens into mana rocks, which can have a big impact in this deck.

The Strategy

The aim of this deck is to produce tokens, mostly Food, and then get as much value out of them as you can. You’ll probably want to get Sam, Loyal Attendant out early just because it offers a lot of free value each turn. You’ll also want other token-producing cards like Academy Manufactor or Samwise Gamgee. You probably don’t want to crack too much Food right away. Better to keep it around until you have other uses for it or a way to benefit from its lifegain ability.

Once you’ve built up a nice little reserve of Food, you can start using it to buff your creatures with effects from Treebeard, Gracious Host or similar cards. Cards like Merry, Warden of Isengard and Killer Service can also be helpful in establishing a wider board state. This makes it more difficult for your opponents to eat away at your life total and make it more difficult for you to use one of your big, game-winning lifegain payoffs.

While you can win through establishing a big board state with token doublers and buffing your creatures with cards like Nykthos Paragon, you may also need to rely on other win cons to finish out a game. Felidar Sovereign is a good option, and Worldly Tutor gives you an additional chance at finding it. Aetherflux Reservoir can both take players out or be a big bargaining chip if you have the life to activate it. Since you can do so at instant speed, you can essentially hold the table hostage and make advantageous deals to stay in the game.

Combos and Interactions

There aren’t any infinite combos in this deck, and I don’t really think anything in here is objectionable enough to warrant a rule 0 discussion.

One thing you’ll probably want to keep in mind; if you have enough mana to cast both Felidar Sovereign and Teferi's Protection, don’t just do so right away. If you have the sovereign on the field then cast the spell after it resolves, your opponents can respond to you and remove it. Best to hold out until someone tries to remove it, then respond with Teferi's Protection. The exception is when your opponents are tapped out and likely can’t stop you from just doing both.

Another fun interaction is with Rampage of the Clans. Always remember that your Food tokens are artifacts. This means if you have a ton of Food stored up, you can turn them all into 3/3 creatures. Just make sure you aren’t giving more to your opponents than you are to yourself.

Budget Options

The cards that carry the biggest price tags in this deck are going to be your token doublers. While you’ll probably want at least one, you can replace one of the others with an Idyllic Tutor. This way you have a card to search for a token doubler, making it not that much different than just having another one in your deck. While this is less efficient, this deck is more on the casual side anyway so it shouldn’t be a huge setback. You already have plenty of mana fixing in this deck, and at only two colors you might not need a fetch land. You can save money by ditching Windswept Heath and just throwing in another basic land instead.

Sylvan Library has worked its way back up in price a bit, so if you want a cheaper draw engine you can always swap it for Beast Whisperer. You have a decent number of creatures in this deck, so you can get a lot of use out of this card even if it isn’t quite as strong.

Other Builds

You probably don’t want to stray too far from either a Food or lifegain theme in a deck commanded by Sam, Loyal Attendant. Otherwise you’re going to find there are much better commanders to go with. That said, you can build this deck more toward a general lifegain build with less of an emphasis on Food.

You can include powerful lifegain cards like Heliod, Sun-Crowned and include the Scurry Oak combo that’s relatively easy to set up. With this type of build you’d want to swap out cards like Feasting Troll King because your Food tokens are going to be of more use to you as a form of lifegain.

Commanding Conclusion

Gilded Goose | Illustration by Lindsey Look

Sam, Loyal Attendant is an interesting commander because it allows you to play around with the somewhat under-utilized Food tokens. While there’s a limited amount of support for this archetype right now, I think it’s one that’ll continue to get more interesting over time. This could be a fun deck to make now, and update as more sets get printed introducing more Food support. I also think Sam makes a decent lifegain commander, if you want to take things in a slightly different direction than I have.

What do you think of Sam as a commander? Would you prefer to run him with Frodo as a partner? Let me know in the comments or on Draftsim’s Twitter.

Thanks for reading see you next time!