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  3. Sauron, Lord of the Rings

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Sauron, Lord of the Rings

Sauron, Lord of the Rings

Legendary Creature — Avatar Horror

Sauron wants a deck that fills its discard pile and plays cards back out of it. It leads the ready-made The Hosts of Mordor deck (2023).

  • Mana cost5 genericblueblackred
  • Blue, Black, Red ()
  • Power / toughness9 / 9
  • RarityMythic

When you cast this spell, amass Orcs 5, mill five cards, then return a creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield.

Trample

Whenever a commander an opponent controls dies, the Ring tempts you.

Build a deck with Sauron Find it in the app

Cards That Fit Sauron, Lord of the Rings

Picked for what they do in Sauron's deck. When two cards do the same job, the one with the lower comes first. All of them fit Sauron'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

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The 6 Cards

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The 6 Cards

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The 6 Cards

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The 6 Cards

Decks Led by Sauron, Lord of the Rings

Sauron leads a ready-made deck.PreconShort for preconstructed deck: a ready-to-play deck sold in a box by Wizards of the Coast. A Commander precon comes with its commander and all 100 cards, so you can play it straight away and change cards later.Open the full glossary

Rulings for Sauron, Lord of the Rings

explain how Sauron 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

Amass abilities are now written as "amass [subtype] N." Previous cards with amass have received errata to say "amass Zombies N."

Wizards of the Coast 16 Jun 2023

Amass Zombies works the same way, except you create a 0/0 black Zombie Army creature token if you don't control an Army. If the Army creature you chose isn't already a Zombie, it becomes a Zombie in addition to its other types. By combining cards with amass Orcs and amass Zombies, you can end up with an Orc Zombie Army.

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

If you don't control an Army, the Orc Army token you create enters the battlefield as a 0/0 creature before receiving counters. Any abilities that trigger when a creature with a certain power enters the battlefield, such as that of Mentor of the Meek, will see the token enter as a 0/0 creature before it gets +1/+1 counters.

Wizards of the Coast 16 Jun 2023

In the rare case that you control multiple Army creatures (perhaps because you played a creature with changeling) while you amass Orcs, you choose which of your Army creatures to put the +1/+1 counters on. If that creature isn't an Orc, it becomes an Orc in addition to its other types.

Wizards of the Coast 16 Jun 2023

Sauron, Lord of the Rings's last ability will trigger even if the owner of the commander that died chooses to return it to the command zone after it dies.

Wizards of the Coast 16 Jun 2023

Some cards refer to the "amassed Army." That means the Army creature you chose to receive counters, even if no counters were placed on it for some reason.

Wizards of the Coast 16 Jun 2023

Some spells and abilities that amass Orcs may require targets. If each target chosen is an illegal target as that spell or ability tries to resolve, it won't resolve. You won't amass Orcs.

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 creature card you choose doesn't need to be a card you milled. You may choose a creature card that was already in your graveyard before you milled.

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.

Wizards of the Coast 16 Jun 2023

To amass Orcs N, if you don't control an Army creature, create a 0/0 black Orc Army creature token. Then you choose an Army creature you control and put N +1/+1 counters on it. If that Army isn't already an Orc, it becomes an Orc in addition to its other types.

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

Similar Commanders

Commanders that share the most with Sauron, 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 glossaryUBRPlayers write colors as letters: U for blue, B for black, R for red. Blue is U because B was already taken by black.Graveyard/Self-MillGraveyard decks fill their own graveyard on purpose, then play cards from it as if it were a second hand. Moving cards from the top of your own deck straight into the graveyard is called self-mill.Open the Graveyard/Self-Mill pageReanimationReturns a creature card from a graveyard straight to the battlefield, skipping its mana cost. That is why decks built around it put their biggest creatures into the graveyard on purpose. Named for Reanimate. Animate DeadOpen the Reanimation 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 pageSelf-MillPuts cards from your OWN library into your graveyard on purpose. Milling means moving cards off the top of a library into a graveyard. Aimed at an opponent that is an attack; aimed at yourself it is setup, filling the graveyard for the cards that want to use what is in it. Stitcher's Supplier, Hermit DruidOpen the Self-Mill pageAristocratsAristocrats 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 pageDeath TriggerTriggers when a creature dies, whether it is this creature, one of yours or an opponent's. These are the cards that pay you in an Aristocrats deck: something else makes creatures die, and these decide what you get each time. Blood Artist, Solemn SimulacrumOpen the Death Trigger pageReanimatorReanimator decks put big creatures into their own graveyard early, then bring them back onto the battlefield without paying their cost. It gets a huge creature into play far sooner than you could afford to cast it.Open the Reanimator pageThe 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 pageToken MakerCreates one or more tokens. Different cards make very different ones: creatures Grave Titan, Treasures Smothering Tithe, Clues Tireless Tracker or Food Gilded Goose. This is one of our largest tags, so pair it with an archetype or theme when you are hunting a specific kind.Open the Token Maker page