The Hosts of Mordor Upgrade Guide: 17 Easy Changes You Can Make

Last updated on January 9, 2026

Witch-king of Angmar | Illustration by Anato Finnstark

Fans of Lord of the Rings have a perfect opportunity to also become fans of MTG. The release of LotR-thematic Commander decks are meant to provide a ready-to-play deck and a great Commander experience.

If you’re like me and always root for the villains and bad guys, The Hosts of Mordor might be the deck for you. I also enjoy black and blue decks, so I knew that I’d enjoy this LotR precon the most. It’s a mix of baddies ranging from orcs, goblins, and trolls to the dark lord Sauron himself, one of the baddest legendaries from Tales of Middle-earth.

Here’s my analysis of the deck, what works and what doesn’t, and how you can turn this precon into a well-oiled machine while maintaining a budget and keeping the deck casual-friendly. Let's get to it!

Deck Overview

The Hosts of Mordor is a Commander precon from the Tales of Middle-earth Commander set. It’s a Grixis () deck with Sauron, Lord of the Rings as its commander. It offers an alternative commander in Saruman, the White Hand, but I’ll focus on the original commander.

This deck is part reanimator thanks to Sauron’s ability, and part spellslinger thanks to Saruman’s ability. This flexibility is nice but ultimately hampers the deck, having cards that aren’t very synergistic with each other. I'll lean towards the reanimator strategy, so some of the more “instants and sorceries matter” cards will have to go.

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Strengths and Weaknesses

The Hosts of Mordor’s gameplan is to play powerful cards as a midrange deck. Early in the game you’ll cycle some cards, deploy your mana base, and get a few blockers in play, all while filling your graveyard with powerful creatures.

You’ll either sweep the board, play a powerful threat, or draw a few cards. Your spells get better and better as you hit the 5- to 7-mana range. Some sorceries even have flashback, so you’ll always have something to do with your mana.

Your commander is very expensive at eight mana, but it’s a very powerful one that grants you at least a 9/9 plus a free 5/5 creature and a reanimate effect. Once you cast your commander, you’re in a very good spot.

Here’s where the problems start. You’re not playing green, so this deck can have problems developing the mana base on a bad draw. Mana rocks and generating Treasure help, but you can improve it.

Another big problem is that the deck is divided between cards that work well with either Sauron or Saruman; it’s built to have Saruman as a potential commander. Cards like Guttersnipe get better when you’re firmly in the spellslinger route, and that’s not what this deck usually does.

Dual Lands

The deck has 38 lands, which is a good number considering your spells are expensive and your commander costs at least eight mana. But there are 19 basic lands, so half the lands you play are basics. You have fixers like Terramorphic Expanse and Evolving Wilds which is nice, but will fetch a basic land tapped.

Here’s how to improve the mana base.

Low-Budget Mana Base

Take out 10 basic lands and replace them with lands that add two or three colors of mana. The most expensive land is Xander's Lounge by far, but it’s a great Grixis land. Most will still come into play tapped, but you’ll get mana screwed way less often.

I'd suggest removing four Mountains, three Swamps, and three Islands to make room for:

• Xander's Lounge
• Darkwater Catacombs
• Shadowblood Ridge
• Temple of Deceit
• Temple of Malice
• Temple of Epiphany
• Temple of Epiphany
• Crypt of the Eternals
• Vivid Crag
• Vivid Creek
• Vivid Marsh

Mid-Budget Mana Base

You can improve the mana base much more by removing 12 of the basic lands (four of each) and three of the worst dual-land cycle (Choked Estuary, Foreboding Ruins, Frostboil Snarl). Each of the 15 dual lands I recommend replacing them with cost approximately $10. The more the merrier, so it’s totally fine to add some of these.

Most of these basic lands come into play untapped, granting a much more reliable mana base. It's also important to note that you’re not adding really expensive lands like the original duals or fetch lands. Here are the suggested replacement lands:

• Xander's Lounge
• Watery Grave
• Blood Crypt
• Steam Vents
• Graven Cairns
• Cascade Bluffs
• Sunken Ruins
• Morphic Pool
• Training Center
• Luxury Suite
• Shipwreck Marsh
• Haunted Ridge
• Stormcarved Coast
• City of Brass
• Reflecting Pool

Mana Rocks

Suggested Cuts: Basalt Monolith, Worn Powerstone, Commander's Sphere

You can also replace some mana rocks from the list with better ones. You want to play more 2-drop mana rocks, so the Talisman cycle (Talisman of Dominance, Talisman of Indulgence, Talisman of Creativity) is a good option as they fix mana and come into play untapped.

Invasion of Amonkhet / Lazotep Convert

Suggested Cut: Gríma, Saruman's Footman

Invasion of Amonkhet is a card I want to add because it mills all players, and it goes well with the reanimation theme. You can reanimate creatures from every graveyard with cards like Extract from Darkness, and if you flip the battle at a given point you’ll gain a good threat.

I don’t think Gríma, Saruman's Footman is doing a good job in the precon, especially if you’re moving away from the instants and sorceries theme.

Sauron, the Necromancer

Suggested Cut: Lord of the Nazgûl

Let’s add more Saurons to the Sauron deck, shall we? Sauron, the Necromancer is a nice threat to have in a deck that already wants to fill its own graveyard.

Lord of the Nazgûl is a fine card, but it’s tied to that pesky spellslinger theme.

Sauron, the Dark Lord

Suggested Cut: Inferno Titan

Many players will argue that Sauron, the Dark Lord is a better commander for this deck, and maybe they’re right. It’s a strong threat to reanimate and you can have total awesomeness with two strong Saurons on board.

Inferno Titan is a little bit behind Sauron, the Dark Lord, and that’s why I suggest this change.

Animate Dead

Suggested Cut: Revenge of Ravens

Revenge of the Ravens looks like a nice card when you’re facing a token deck, so you can leave the enchantment in the deck if that’s the case.

Animate Dead is a way to add more reanimation spells that work in the early stage of the game. Cycle a good threat early on and Animate Dead is a nice play, not to mention that this deck can use this 2-drop well.

Entomb

Suggested Cut: Subjugate the Hobbits

I want to lower the deck’s overall curve. Your commander is already a strong late-game spell, and you have lots of expensive cards already. Entomb is a nice reanimator staple that allows you to find a good creature to put in your graveyard, and casting it before your commander will always be a good idea.

Subjugate the Hobbits is powerful but costs seven mana.

Infernal Grasp

Suggested Cut: Bitter Downfall

I wanted to lower the cost of the interaction overall with this change, Infernal Grasp is a nice catch-all removal spell that always costs two.

Bitter Downfall is a conditional removal spell at one mana or unconditional one at four, so let’s opt for a better consistency here.

Murderous Rider

Suggested Cut: Guttersnipe

Murderous Rider does a nice Hero's Downfall impression, and it’s also a creature later on. That goes well with the theme of having what to do with your mana.

Guttersnipe has to go because it doesn’t have enough synergies in this deck. You could do things differently and make this deck more aggressive if your commander were Saruman, the White Hand, but that's not the case so out it goes.

Sauron’s Ransom

Suggested Cut: Fact or Fiction

Besides the thematic change, Sauron's Ransom is cheaper than Fact or Fiction while being similar. It also adds more The Ring tempts you triggers.

One Ring to Rule Them All

Suggested Cut: Fiery Inscription

A Sauron deck must have One Ring to Rule Them All, right? This saga adds nice things to your deck: more mill, more wrath effects, damage to your opponents, and more The Ring tempts you triggers.

Fiery Inscription gets the cut for the same reason as Guttersnipe.

Vile Entomber

Suggested Cut: Treason of Isengard

Vile Entomber is a nice value creature that adds more Entomb effects to your deck. It’s also a good blocker.

Treason of Isengard is more related to the spellslinger theme, and for that it gets the axe.

Big Score

Suggested Cut: The Mouth of Sauron

I find The Mouth of Sauron too dependent on what your opponents are playing to be good.

Big Score is a more reliable card that adds more ways to discard cards and generate Treasure, which adds a better consistency to reanimator decks.

Release to the Wind

Suggested Cut: Summons of Saruman

Release to the Wind really shines as a way to remove your commander from the battlefield and cast it again for free. It’s a blink spell that works with casting triggers instead of ETB triggers. Getting all the benefits you’d get from casting your commander for three mana is a steal, and it works with other creatures.

Summons of Saruman is an expensive spell that doesn’t do much in my opinion, especially in a reanimator build.

Witch-king of Angmar

Suggested Cut: Goblin Dark-Dwellers

Here we’re switching 5-drops. Witch-king of Angmar is more related to the deck’s theme, and it’s a nice threat and discard outlet.

Since you have fewer good targets for Goblin Dark-Dwellers and you’re moving away from the spellslinger theme, this is a good swap.

Victimize

Suggested Cut: Forbidden Alchemy

Victimize gives you card advantage and selection if your graveyard is somewhat filled, and I get that Forbidden Alchemy does a similar job. This deck can generate Orc Armys as the game goes on and sacrifice them to reanimate up to two creatures using Victimize.

Archon of Cruelty

Suggested Cut: Siege-Gang Commander

Here’s a less budget-friendly upgrade, but I want to mention it anyway. Archon of Cruelty is one of the best reanimator targets for Commander, and you’ll have a massive benefit when it enters the battlefield or attacks. This precon already has nice reanimator targets, but Archon is in another league.

I’d cut Siege-Gang Commander for it. While it’s a nice and versatile card, you’re not doing any goblin typal in this deck.

Wrap Up

Sauron, the Necromancer | Illustration by Yongjae Choi

This build is more consistent and has a lower mana curve, a better mana base, and better interaction. Considering the cheapest mana base upgrade, this is a 70$ to 100$ upgrade.

Maybe you have a Grave Titan lying around and you want to replace Siege-Gang Commander with it, or maybe cut a draw spell like Deep Analysis for another strong creature; it’s your choice! And that’s the beauty of MTG: each player can express themselves as they want when building Commander decks.

What do you think of my alterations? Would you do anything different, or maybe build around Saruman? Let me know in the comments below, or tweet your thoughts at us.

Thanks for reading, and stay safe out there!

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