Lightly Upgrading The Hosts of Mordor LOTR Deck - Magic the Gathering Commander

[@fcl.]

Finally an upgrade video that's limited to lotr cards. This is much appreciated, definitely subbing.

[@twilightscallmtg]

Thank you for your support of the channel. I find it's much more challenging to rein yourself in when doing upgrades rather than grab the 10-15 most powerful spells in a color and jam them into a deck. I also love Lord of the Rings and didn't want to chop the decks into just generic power piles. I will do some content for those that want to go wild, but that'll be in a bit. For now I just want to enjoy these, mostly, as they are.

[@josephcarey8999]

The only I changed in mine was all dragons some goblins I’m running 9 Nazgûl w/ the Witch King of Angmar they get beefy quick

[@jl5177]

I've been waiting for this too lol

[@evilkim973]

I’m so agree that people do that too well i really want to play lord of the ring deck without adding samurai and transformers in my setup

[@D00ML0RD1]

​@@twilightscallmtgme who decked the shit out to be a 3500$ renimator cancer deck 😅

[@tiagodoresalmeida]

There were Giants in Tolkien's work! They were a mysterious race living in the Misty Mountains and North Moors of Middle-earth, they are portrayed in both The Hobbit's Book and Films, in the films they are rocky just like that Inferno Titan's art.

[@twilightscallmtg]

Ah. So I was wrong. Thanks for the correction. I do feel that one random giant is out of place but it's good to know they didn't go left field like they did with Colossal Whale in the Elf precon.

[@ethanhoffmann338]

Thanks so much, I wanted to upgrade but still wanted to keep the LOTR art and theme

[@twilightscallmtg]

Glad this was some help.

[@olivers6044]

Exactly the video I was after! Flavourful upgrades while staying true to the theme

[@twilightscallmtg]

Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed the video.

[@hepic2874]

The biggest upgrade would be swapping to the dark lord sauron, its objectivley better in almost every way.

[@poeskey]

I really like the idea of running an amass deck using saruman as the legendary. Lots of good goblin and orc cards to combine together to swarm your opponents.

[@eduardogoulart438]

Man, congrats on the video. I’m from Brazil, back playing now. Most complet video so far!!!

[@maulbp2]

Exactly the video I needed. Thanks. I want only LotR cards in the deck. Great!

[@cameronwilloughby6869]

OMG FINALLY!!! A video limiting to lotr cards!! You should go back and do this for the Urza and Mishra Precons and keep it at an old border theme lol.

[@Torttelini1]

I absolutely loved this guide. I was looking into other videos, and although they had good suggestions they completely teared appart the LOTR flavor. This reccomendations also do a great job refining the amass mechanics of this deck. I am not quite sure, but I also think it leaves unscathed the spellslinger side of this deck also untouched. It is always great to enjoy other mechanics as a plan B. Thank you very much for this video!

[@twilightscallmtg]

You're welcome and I'm glad you liked it. I wanted to keep as much LOTR in as I could without taking a wrecking ball to the base of the precons when I did these videos (though I did goof a little on the Rohan one and put some off-world legends into the original build).

[@Torttelini1]

@@twilightscallmtg I will be checking that video as I plan to get a Riders of Rohan precon deck too. I've seen it can pack a punch out of the box without upgrades. Can't imagine how stronger it could get with them. I also loved what you did with the Lord of the Nazgul deck. But getting all those cards might come out of budget in a blink of an eye lol. Someday...

[@twilightscallmtg]

Awesome. I did a lot of LOTR content over the summer and fall and didn't even get to everything I wanted to.

[@dougcerulli8826]

Yes, let me also echo the appreciation of keeping your upgrades within the set! I want this to be a Lord of the Rings deck, not just another meta list. I have subscribed.

[@twilightscallmtg]

Glad you liked it and thanks for the support. I started off not doing that then realized there's enough support to stick with mostly LotR cards since we got the set with the precons. I wish they would do more of that so it's easier to change things without breaking theme too heavily.

[@HardcoreHall]

Echoing what others have said awesome job keeping the set flavor instead of jamming in good cards that don't match the theme. Subbed just for that reason!

[@themadhatter444]

What a great video! I'm a relatively new player and just bought this deck because I couldn't say no to the Costco bundle deal. Really looking forward to playing it for the first time on Sunday. I'm really interested in using Saruman and making it more of a spell slinger deck and/or adding a bunch of Nazgul + synergy. Super helpful video! I'm adamant about staying on theme. Thanks for making this for us.

[@twilightscallmtg]

Glad you enjoyed it. I've tried my best to do my upgrade videos as thematic as possible. They could always be stronger but that's harder to do and stay on theme.

[@Onlyplaid5969]

exactly what I was looking for. Keep up the good content man!

[@SirJamesIGamerfuzion]

I was hoping to find pre con upgrades while using just LOTR Cards from this set only and this was a nice one I cant wait to try as for me of course I will replace that last card ( just wanting to be only LOTR cards ) :)

[@flakygaming2647]

i like that all versions of sauron are missing the fingers that issildur(dont spell check that) cut off but commander deck sauron has them still cause it is prime sauron from before it happened. cool attention to detail by wizards.

[@troysean9377]

Tempt with Immortality would be great flavor wise and for reanimating. Cool art too.

[@moritzkiefer1913]

Awesome Video, loved how u preserved the flavor of the deck

[@SVcreations43]

I really want to make a deck that has Sauron, the witch king, the one ring , the nazgul and the balrogs. I don't know if they will all work in the same deck but flavour wise I think it will be fun. Idk which way I'll go tho. Probably reanimator

[@twilightscallmtg]

One of the things I love about Commander is that there isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to build a deck unless you're angling into cEDH. Outside of that, you can get a creative as you want, flavorful as you want, or just straight wacky as you want.

[@themadhatter444]

I just bought this deck and am trying to figure out how to do the same. Did you ever get this working? I like the idea of Saruman + Nazgul but not sure how to build it. Videos like these are MASSIVELY helpful for a new player like myself.

[@SVcreations43]

@@themadhatter444 you will want ALL the "ring temps you" cards so when the commander is out you can get tempted and and get another 4 cards. Hopefully you get a card or a Nazgul. If you have enough lands you can do this 2-3 times per turn. And it get scary fast. Have a few board wipe protection / counterspell cards or the ozolith so you can save those +1/+1's

[@themadhatter444]

@@SVcreations43 I appreciate you!

[@georgegregory6083]

I know it seems contentious but in regards to replacing notion thief there is a set replacement in Orcish Bowmaster and it wins on the amass flavor.

[@twilightscallmtg]

It does. I was avoiding it due to being put through the screams of 'BAN IT', but it's come down from that level of discourse and would be a great addition, especially if you're sticking with LOTR cards since there's no 'Wheels' in the set that hit your opponents and leave them to the mercy of the Bowmasters.

[@Rabid_Wombat]

Monstrosity of the Lake won me a game at the LGS - Sauron's ability, Living Death and Reanimate in the PreCon make this Krajen bad boy worth running..it's a late-game wincon. Ditching Everflowing, Lidless Gaze and Shiny Impetus are all good calls though 🍻

[@twilightscallmtg]

I could see that, which is why I did the editors note. I think I was a bit jaded by the other landcyclers in the set and how meh they are overall as spells and I don't want to run them just for that cycling ability.

[@nistolar8627]

Super cool I’m going to definitely go with these to keep the theme! I also need to find something to take out for the one ring haha. He’s gotta have his ring!

[@twilightscallmtg]

I'm trying to figure how to make the ring work in the colors. I had it at prerelease and ended the game with 5 counters on it, burning through food tokens to keep ahead of it.

[@caskaptein9889]

Ill put it only in the Frodo and Sam deck. It is frodo who has the ring in his possession 😉. I was thinking of putting it in the Sauron deck and saccing it to Mount Doom, but I was like: “Sauron will never do that!” Also, the loss of life can be negated with the life gain from the food

[@antoniohenderson6090]

This is a sick looking upgrade and definetly appreciate the effort in making upgrades that are themed with it..... But can I just say I wish Saurons Trample text was above the other keywords? It would look so much better!

[@twilightscallmtg]

Glad you liked it. It might look better, but I think it's all about relevance in the game. Top line cast trigger that only matters on the stack so it will come before everything else. The same template is on Hydroid Krasis, with Flying, Trample coming in under the cast trigger.

[@hsgtz]

Really cool! Thanks for the ideas!

[@twilightscallmtg]

Glad you liked it.

[@MilkshakeSkunkette]

Nice video man! currently working on this commander deck myself! \o/

[@twilightscallmtg]

I hope the suggestions help in your build and thanks for the kind words.

[@caskaptein9889]

Nice! Very on flavor! Though I do feel that not enough LotR cards have a reanimator theme. I would have loved it to have a LotR style victimize or Dread Return. Especially since we have a Sauron, Nacromacer card for F’s sake!

[@twilightscallmtg]

Agreed. Fortunately we can slot some older cards in, like the ones you mentioned and I don't think the flavor takes too hard of a hit.

[@tommyosborne4776]

Great video! I’m new to magic and have some questions if someone could help: -thoughts on saruman commander? He completely changes the game with a heavy sorcery amass theme, but I want to stick with sauron. Is it worth it to stick to sauron or is saruman just better? -with all the milling talk this video is there enough opportunity in the deck to reanimate constantly? Thanks!

[@twilightscallmtg]

Better is subjective. Saruman is easier and quicker to cast, but isn't as splashy. Constant reanimation isn't as consistent with just the LOTR cards, but splashing in some more from older sets (and maybe more reanimation targets) makes it better. The deck at base tries pulling between the two themes and focusing it down to one or the other would play better overall.

[@D0V4K11N]

ive been doing super well using troll of khazad -dum

[@twilightscallmtg]

All in context. If I were to push this deck to be all about reanimator, I'd slot it back in. With the light precon upgrades, the deck is just a bit too watered down on which direction it wants to push (Reanimator vs. Amass) to get consistent reanimation going without using more out of universe cards, which I was trying to avoid mostly. I'm loathe to run the land cyclers simply as a land fetch but most of them are far too expensive to hardcast over many things that could be in their place save for Lorien Revealed. That one is on regular curve with the 5-mana, Draw 3 with a perk kind of thing.

[@jroq1235]

I've watched each of the your suggestions for the 4 LOTR precons. I'm considering making the suggested upgrades, but I am curious if you would say that the four decks remain evenly balanced against one another after making your swaps?

[@twilightscallmtg]

Since they are lightly changed, I'd say they are pretty close. The Elf deck gets more focused and likely benefits the most from just dropping out some of the random elements like the vote cards. Mordor started out kind of split on the reanimator vs. amass strategy but is still a strong deck and the changes bring it slightly more focused on the reanimator strategy. The food deck can do some silly things and lines up nice against just about any of the decks even with the changes. Riders is a little different in the final decklist vs the video. In the video, I rushed that one out first and added some strong cards but neglected some of the theme I wanted, then decided to twist down on the themes after it posted, so I went back and altered the list and pinned a comment to reflect that one. That updated list, is more on par with the Elf/Food deck on power level, where as several of the cards in first version likely would have pushed the deck above the other 3. Overall, even with the changes, Mordor is likely the strongest, but not miles ahead like some of the precon decks can end up.

[@jroq1235]

@@twilightscallmtg Hey I appreciate you coming back and taking the time to answer a question on an older video! Feel like it's appropriate for the Mordor deck to be slightly stronger anyhow since that lines up with LOTR lore. Great stuff!

[@twilightscallmtg]

@@jroq1235 No problem. It was a good question and I try to catch them from older videos (when KZbin plays nice and alerts me!).

[@silkar3028]

I did somthing similar, but with Nazgûl’s (and witch kings) in place of dragons and some crap, and… it’s like army/wraiths tribal, with some necromancy shaningans. And adding a ozzolit (lotr version ;)) it’s like archenemy ;)

[@twilightscallmtg]

The Nazgul are pretty nasty. I had 3 of them beating me down in Historic Brawl yesterday, so I fully endorse this plan!

[@almisami]

You're really undervaluing the landcycling abilities here.

[@twilightscallmtg]

I may be. My playgroup is higher powered and I don't give them much credit because they aren't worth playing outside of a dedicated reanimator deck within my group. Hard casting them isn't worth the mana for me, personally, and running them just for the land cycling seems wasteful when I could have just run mana rocks to accelerate. But your mileage may vary as I don't know what your personal group's power level is.

[@Andrea-jg3sh]

LOTR only upgrade, love it!

[@twilightscallmtg]

It's close. I did use a few regular cards but tried to keep it very on theme.

[@scottricks1676]

I’ve actually never owned a notion thief untill this precon and holy shit is that card good. Shuts down so much. Got the monarchy? Who cares lol.

[@twilightscallmtg]

Yup, it's a messed up card. Like, it's not as good as Hullbreacher, but it's on that axis of messing with your opponent's draw and you can be absolutely cutthroat if you pair it with things like Windfall or Dark Deal.

[@后翼棄兵-p6l]

10:07 😊❤很美的藝術圖

[@waltkaylor5698]

There are giants in Tolkien just not referenced often though

[@twilightscallmtg]

Someone else pointed out my mistake. I either missed it or didn't remember. Either way a one off giant in the deck seems odd to me.

[@waltkaylor5698]

@@twilightscallmtg if it was a stone giant but I agree with your choice good video buddy

[@memelydcatting3049]

Cool video. I like the troll of kazadum

[@twilightscallmtg]

I like it for a solid reanimator strategy. Going with straight LOTR changes makes that a little harder to do. If I'm not restricting myself, I'd do the deck without the Amass and go big reanimator with things like the troll.

[@PaulSzkibik]

@@twilightscallmtg I think you should mention (unless this hasn't been brought to your attention already) that troll of Kazadum swampcycling for 1 is really good manafixing and slowly more and more utility "swamps" are being printed. Witches' Cottage, Kharlov Manor Surveil-Duals and really just Xander's Lounge (grixis triome) can all be fetches with this. And of course, if you just want the untapped manafixing, get a shock-land (blood crypt or watery grave). Like, the modality of Trolls and the other 1-mana land cyclers is ridiculous. They're a land or a relevant spell > They're basically MDFCs and those are considered strong additions for most decks. There's a reason these commons are amongst the most expensive commons from the set.

[@Dayman0war]

I got the dark lord you recommend as the commander in a prerelease box. Do you have any recommendations for getting this precon deck? My buddies tell me to wait until the prices drop but idk if they ever will

[@twilightscallmtg]

Precons *can* go down over time, but it's usually several months down the road unless they are unpopular (and generally aren't that great to begin with). For this particular precon, I would wait because the price is very inflated at the moment, going for about $30 more than when I did the video. This one is the most popular of the precons from this set and hard to find restocks right now. Once restocks hit the shelves in about 30-60 days, it should come back down more towards the $60-$65 range where it should be. Keep an eye out for Target, Walmart and the like. They don't use TCGplayer to adjust pricing, so if you see it there, it should be closer to real pricing (I wouldn't pay more than $65 for any of these). I prefer using LGSs to buy my stuff, but many are gouging the price because they can't get their hands on it and go with what the tracking sites show when they do get some. If you find a deal at a big box store, grab it while you can if it's reasonable.

[@jokerlover300]

Orcish Bowmasters is a must have for any Amass decks

[@Sam-wf8ww]

Great vid!

[@twilightscallmtg]

Thanks!

[@AkuaDragon]

Monstrosity of the lake sucks for this deck, but is amazing for atraxa deck.

[@twilightscallmtg]

Definitely a bad hard cast unless you're overwhelming an opponent. Might be better if you use Reanimate to get it out cheaper and be able to pay the trigger earlier, but you're going to need some beef out there to take advantage.

[@travismagico]

👍 🃏

[@AnthonyFontana]

Please include links to deck list

[@twilightscallmtg]

Sorry, took a couple days to circle back. Decklists are now on all 4 videos.

[@trexasaurus5322]

I’m curious on why you added Grima when you said you don’t like shutting down or slowing down other players. It makes the hobbit deck straight unplayable against you. Otherwise good video

[@twilightscallmtg]

I'm not a fan of locking out player draws. That means unless they have an answer right then, they are slowed to a crawl trying to answer it. Grima at least only affects lifegain but allows normal play to continue and the Food deck has more uses for the food than just lifegain if you have it updated as well.

[@Youtuber90sdude]

I’m don’t play magic tcg but I wanna make a nuzguel deck

[@twilightscallmtg]

I would definitely wait to try that. A lot of people are trying to build decks around the Nazgul and it's inflating the prices of the cards to well above what they should be as uncommons.

[@lukeyuginovich3962]

Im using sauron the dark lord instead for the commander 😁

[@twilightscallmtg]

A very viable option and cheaper to cast. 9 is a lot to pay for the front facing Commander of this one, but very powerful if you can cast it.

[@lukeyuginovich3962]

@@twilightscallmtg thanks for the replay buddy i also brought i cards on your list for the deck so which ones do i cut just the ones you mentioned ?

[@twilightscallmtg]

Those are the ones I'd cut if you're going with light touches. You could go further depending how you wanted to build the deck.