The full list for the new Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth for Magic the Gathering are out, and they have some fun exciting cards for the Commander and Modern formats. I have gone through the list and picked the three cards I found could be playable in these formats and just seem like a lot of fun. Let’s dive in!
Aragorn, the Uniter
This card sticks out to me as a really fun Human Commander but, could possibly see play in Humans decks in Modern if you can find a way to squeeze in four colors. With it being a 5/5 for four mana it feels like a nice value card but, what I love are the abilities it has and how you can really abuse them with multicolor cards. By casting a white spell, you are able to bolster your board with 1/1 tokens and I know in the Commander format there are plenty of ways to make more then just one token with cards like Anointed Procession and Doubling Season. Casting a blue spell let’s you scry 2 and allow you to fix the top of you deck to give you what you hopefully need in that moment. Casting a red spell lets you bolt an opponent which can help apply pressure at any given time. Finally, casting a green spell let’s you buff up a creature of your choice. All of these can really create some much-needed pressure at the right time. I do feel this card will primarily be used in Commander more then Modern but, it would be interesting to see if someone could pull it off in Modern.
Gollum, Scheming Guide
Gollum, Scheming Guide I feel is a card that will see play in Modern in some capacity. It’s a card that would require removal to get rid of since it’s combat tricks can allow it to keep living. On top of that, it allows you to play a bit of a guessing game with your opponent. You look at the top two cards of your deck and put them back in ay order, your then choosing land or nonland and now your opponent has to pick between the two. You reveal the top card and if they are right, Gollum is removed from combat. If they guess wrong, you draw the card and now Gollum can’t be blocked and allows you to get in for some easy damage. I love cards that make your opponents make difficult choices. This card could backfire a little bit since a lot of Modern decks run lower on land bases but, its still something I would keep an eye out to make an appearance. For Commander, this would be a card in the deck rather than it being your Commander. Again, it is all about making the opponent choose carefully and trying to prevent you from getting that card advantage and it’s something I am all for.
Pippin, Guard of the Citadel
Another two-drop creature that I feel like could see play in both Modern and Commander. Pippin, Guard of the Citadel is a fun 2/2 with Vigilance and Ward 1 that protects your other creatures from card types. I feel this is a card people will look past but, this card can protect your creatures at the same level as Mother of Runes and be a solid attacker at the right times. For Modern, this could see play in the sideboard for decks like Hammer Time or even Humans type decks. For Commander, this is a card that is going to help you against things like Blasphemous Act so that your Commander or maybe your main board presence survives the downfall. Again, this is a card I think people will sleep on and I could be wrong about it but, I feel it can be a good sideboard piece or a good card for the 99 of a Commander deck.
Wrap-Up
Obviously, there are a lot of cards that are interesting and fun. I think we are going to see some interesting things come out from Commander and Modern using these cards. Let us know in the comments which of the Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth cards are your favorite! Enjoy the new set and good luck on your pulls!
