The 7 Best LOTR: Tales of Middle-earth Cards for Commander

Bowmasters and more to impress even your Old Gaffer.

Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth is a spectacular set for Commander, and I want to take a moment to highlight the best cards for the format that come packaged in the set. Here, I will show off the best cards that each color received (and an honorable mention), plus the biggest multicolor and colorless game pieces. I strongly recommend you add all of these to your pool of potential Commander cards.

White
The GafferCommander: The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, Rare

Normally, I avoid highlighting legendary creatures here, as they get their own list. However, The Gaffer belongs in the 99 of so many lists that he is still unquestionably the card I most recommend for plenty of white lists. If you have any kind of lifegain theme (which most white decks have at least some notable amount of), this old halfling should be in your list.

Close second, however, is Flowering of the White Tree, buffing up your entire team efficiently while also giving additional stats and protection to your commander(s) and any other legends you have hanging around. If you’re running partners in particular, this should be on your short list.

Blue
Raise the PalisadeCommander: The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, Rare

Creature-centric decks have gotten an increased focus overtime, and a one-sided mass-bounce spell can do a lot of work. Raise the Palisade does a lot to raise the power level of blue creature decks, and I look forward to naming Eldrazi and crashing in with some of the biggest beats imaginable.

Stern Scolding is blues honorable mention. 1 for 1 counterspells are only okay in Commander, typically, and narrowly focused counters will often stay on the cutting room floor, but Stern Scolding has a ton of relevant targets. The more efficient your table plays, the better this gets.

Black
Orcish BowmastersUniverses Beyond: The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, Rare

The best card in black will surprise precisely no one, as Orcish Bowmasters are already making waves and getting banlist cries. I don’t think Orcish Bowmasters are quite that powerful, but they do represent an excellent way to punish mass card draw and can put in quite a bit of work. Once again, it’s better in even more competitive metas, where the pings will matter even more, so try it before you cry for bans.

Mirkwood Bats is similarly the unsurprising honorable mention (and very close to topping the list itself). With so many treasure tokens hanging around, and lots of sacrificial shenanigans for tokens of all kinds, Mirkwood Bats is poised to do amazingly painful things in the format.

Red
Cavern-Hoard DragonCommander: The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, Rare

Cavern-Hoard Dragon isn’t Dockside Extortionist, but it does a reasonable impression and does so while crashing in for six in the sky. It isn’t quite worth the hype it has generated, but the power is absolutely there and the more artifacts you see at your table the more you should consider putting this in your next build.

Spiteful Banditry comes in second place for red, wiping the board and generating treasure for the rest of the game. Take note, that it’s “each turn,” not just your own, so this can generate as many as four treasures per standard turn rotation.

Green
Elven ChorusUniverses Beyond: The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, Rare

Anything that helps you generate mana is good, with Cryptolith Rites already proving to be a solid enough card. Add the ability to start chaining together creatures from the top of your library and you’ve got something serious brewing. Add haste to get immediate value out of all your mana dorks and things get even more impressive.

Last March of the Ents comes in behind the chorus (and is incidentally a great spell to cast with all that chorus mana), letting you draw a huge stack of cards and then immediately play out the best creatures from your fresh fist. Again, you really want haste for this to feel as good as it can, but the table will have to sit up and take notice whenever this card gets played.

Multicolored
Doors of DurinUniverses Beyond: The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, Rare

Cheating out powerful creatures is good, as attested by the previously mentioned Last March of the Ents. Getting to do it turn after turn is even better, and Doors of Durin lets you set up your plays with scry on top of the shot at cheating out massive beaters. Still better, there are lots of utility elves in the game that will just incidentally give your creatures hexproof.

There is a lot of competition in multicolor, but the card most worth highlighting once you get past the door is Ringsight. Keep in mind, that your Ring-bearer is turned into a legendary creature, so it essentially lets you tutor for a card that shares a color with a creature you control. Three mana is perfectly efficient for current tutors, and this is a great pickup.

Colorless
GlamdringUniverses Beyond: The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, Mythic

Free spells continue to be good, and Glamdring lets you cast spells for free while getting to beat down with a first strike threat. Personally, I’m looking forward to giving Gandalf’s sword to The Locust God and casting as many Wheel of Fortunes as I can manage in the process, though it’s good with practically any kind of instant or sorcery.

Darksteel Plate is a personal favorite, and while indestructible has gotten worse over time (exile removal is becoming increasingly common), being able to throw it down at instant speed is still quite powerful. Mithril Coat lets you do exactly that, protecting your commander (or any other incidental legend) and sticking around to keep up that defense.