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Commander Nexus
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  3. Gollum, Patient Plotter

Command zone

Gollum, Patient Plotter

Gollum, Patient Plotter

Legendary Creature — Halfling Horror

Gollum wants a deck that sacrifices its own creatures to drain opponents' life. It also suits a deck that gives up its own cards on purpose to get something back.

  • Mana cost1 genericblack
  • Black ()
  • Power / toughness3 / 1
  • RarityUncommon

When Gollum leaves the battlefield, the Ring tempts you.

black, Sacrifice a creature: Return this card from your graveyard to your hand. Activate only as a sorcery.

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Themes

Cards That Fit Gollum, Patient Plotter

Picked for what they do in Gollum's deck. When two cards do the same job, the one with the lower comes first. All of them fit Gollum's color identity.Mana ValueThe total amount of mana a card costs, all added up. A card costing two generic and one green has a mana value of three. Wizards renamed this from "converted mana cost" in 2021, so older cards and articles may still use the old name.Sol RingOpen the full glossary

plan6

The 6 Cards

plan6

The 6 Cards

plan6

The 6 Cards

Rulings for Gollum, Patient Plotter

explain how Gollum works in tricky situations. They come from Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic.RulingThe official answer to how a card works in a tricky situation. Most rulings are written by Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic, and a few are notes from Scryfall, the card database Magic players use. A ruling explains a card. It does not change what the card says.Open the full glossary

Wizards of the Coast 16 Jun 2023

As the Ring tempts you, you get an emblem named The Ring if you don't have one. Then your emblem gains its next ability and you choose a creature you control to become (or remain) your Ring-bearer.

Wizards of the Coast 16 Jun 2023

Each player can have only one emblem named The Ring and only one Ring-bearer at a time.

Wizards of the Coast 16 Jun 2023

Each time the Ring tempts you, you must choose a creature if you control one.

Wizards of the Coast 16 Jun 2023

If the creature you choose as your Ring-bearer was already your Ring-bearer, that still counts as choosing that creature as your Ring-bearer for the purpose of abilities that trigger "whenever you choose a creature as your Ring-bearer" or abilities that care about which creature was chosen as your Ring-bearer.

Wizards of the Coast 16 Jun 2023

Some spells and abilities that cause the Ring to tempt you may require targets. If each target chosen is an illegal target as that spell or ability tries to resolve, it won't resolve. The Ring won't tempt you.

Wizards of the Coast 16 Jun 2023

The Ring can tempt you even if you don't control a creature. In this case, abilities that trigger "whenever the Ring tempts you" will still trigger.

Wizards of the Coast 16 Jun 2023

The Ring gains its abilities in order from top to bottom. Once it gains an ability, it has that ability for the rest of the game.

7 rulings, all written by Wizards of the Coast. Read the originals on Gatherer ↗

Similar Commanders

Commanders that share the most with Gollum, and what they share.

Color identityEvery color of mana symbol on a card, in its cost and in its rules text. Your commander's color identity sets the limit for your whole deck: every other card has to fit inside it. A deck led by a green and white commander cannot play a card with any blue in its color identity.Open the full glossaryBPlayers write colors as letters: B for black.AristocratsAristocrats decks sacrifice their own creatures on purpose and profit every time one dies, often by draining life from each opponent. A sacrifice outlet, a card that lets you sacrifice whenever you like, decides when that happens.Open the Aristocrats pageSacrifice OutletA permanent that lets you sacrifice your own creatures or artifacts whenever you want, usually for free. Every Aristocrats deck needs one, because cards that reward a creature dying only help if you choose when it dies. Ashnod's Altar, Viscera SeerOpen the Sacrifice Outlet pageRecursionBrings cards back from the graveyard: to your hand, to the battlefield, or letting them be cast again from where they lie. Eternal Witness, Reanimate, VictimizeOpen the Recursion pageMana SinkGives you somewhere useful to spend spare mana, usually through an ability you can activate again and again. Rogue's Passage, Mind StoneOpen the Mana Sink pageSacrificeSacrifice decks give up their own creatures, Treasures and other cards on purpose and get something back each time. A sacrifice outlet, a card that lets you sacrifice whenever you want, is the heart of the deck.Open the Sacrifice pageGame ChangerCards that warp the game disproportionately around themselves, requiring immediate answers.What the brackets meanThe Ring Tempts YouWhenever the Ring tempts you, you choose one of your creatures as your Ring-bearer and the Ring gets stronger. It comes from Magic's Lord of the Rings cards, and the Ring gains up to four abilities.Open the The Ring Tempts You pageThe RingFrom the Lord of the Rings set. When "the Ring tempts you", you choose one of your creatures to be your Ring-bearer, and it gains new abilities. Each time the temptation happens, the Ring grows stronger.Open the The Ring page