Middle-Earth Madness | Extra Turns 47 | Magic: The Gathering Lord of the Rings Commander Gameplay

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Show Notes:
The Command Zone crew is venturing back into Middle-earth for a truly immersive Extra Turns showdown. Rachel Weeks has prepared a perfectly balanced pod of upgraded precons, using ONLY in-universe Lord of the Rings cards. Do these bolstered hobbits, humans, and elves stand a chance against the new and improved forces of Sauron? Find out as JLK, Jake, and Murph face off with Rachel to find out which deck will rule them all.
It’s Sauron vs. Galadriel vs. Eowyn vs. Frodo & Sam
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VESSI:
Elevate your summer activities with Vessi shoes. Get your pair today and get an automatic 15% off your first purchase by going to www.vessi.com/EXTRATURNS
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CARD KINGDOM:
The Command Zone is sponsored by Card Kingdom! If you want to receive your cards in one safe package and experience the best customer service, make sure to order your Magic cards, sealed product, accessories, and more at Card Kingdom: www.cardkingdom.com/command
ARCHIDEKT:
Discover, build, catalog, and playtest on Archidekt, the deck-building website that makes it easy to brew brand new lists or manage your old favorites. Get started today: www.archidekt.com/commandzone
ULTRAPRO:
Huge thanks to UltraPro for sponsoring this episode! Be sure to check out their PRO GLOSS eclipse sleeves and super classy MYTHIC COLLECTION deck boxes. If you want to keep your cards protected and support the show, visit: ultrapro.com/command
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Follow Our Guests Online:
Jake:
Twitter: @JakeBossMTG
Murph:
Twitter: @alsonamedjosh
Instagram: @alsonamedjosh
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Deck Lists:
Rachel’s Sauron:
www.archidekt.com/decks/65397...
Jake’s Galadriel:
www.archidekt.com/decks/65398...
Murph’s Eowyn:
www.archidekt.com/decks/65397...
JLK’s Frodo & Sam:
www.archidekt.com/decks/65397...
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Credits:
Directed by: Jake Boss
Executive Producer: Josh Lee Kwai
Co-Producer: Jimmy Wong
Edited by: Eric Lindvall
VFX, GFX: Eric Lindvall
Additional Editing: Megan Yip
Sound Mix: Eric Lindvall
Post Production Supervisor/Director of Photography: Jake Boss
Deck Coordinator: Rachel Weeks
Intro Theme Arrangement: Jake Boss
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@CommandCast
Follow us on Twitter:
@CommandCast
@JoshLeeKwai
@jfwong
@wachelreeks
Email us:
[e-mail]
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Commander Rules and Ban List:
mtgcommander.net/

[@NerdoftheRings]

I heard I've been summoned! :) Gollum is 100% a hobbit. His kind are the Stoors, which is one of three varieties of hobbit. The film line where Frodo says "you were not so different from a hobbit once" has led many to a false assumption over the years, unfortunately. Saying Gollum (a Stoor) isn't a hobbit (or the way the Rings of Power folks say Harfoots aren't hobbits for that matter) is a bit like saying "This creature isn't a dog, it's a labrador!"

[@JordanPridgen]

Hell yeah #hobbitfacts

[@therachelweeks]

This is great to know and exactly where the confusion came from! Thanks for the clarification.

[@commandcast]

The authority hath spoken!! Thanks Matt. We gotta get you out to LA to come play some Magic with us again!! -JLK

[@abrahamwilliams2280]

@@commandcast Smegal, or gollum, is a kin to hobbits. He was exiled from a community of halfing like folk, that lived on the river and he killed his cousin, to get the ring and slowly became gollum. His life and death was heavly entwined with th ring and the pitty of the other halflings was crutial for success.

[@nickmason2310]

Sorry to be THAT GUY, but... source? I haven't dug much into the HoME or the like, but from what's in LOTR, Gandalf says of Gollum's people, "I guess that they were of hobbit-kind; akin to the fathers of the fathers of the Stoors, for they loved the river, and often swam in it, or made little boats of reeds." It's more like saying "that creature isn't a dog, it's a wolf!" in my understanding. Edit: Just to add a source, since I'm being *that guy*, this is from the Shadow of the Past chapter.

[@TheAuthor597]

As a huge Lord of the Rings fan and command zone fan. 'This episode was never late, nor was it early, it arrived precisely when it meant to.' Great content as always 🙂

[@zephyrus2569]

Ackshually, Gollum is absolutely a hobbit. He's from a group of hobbits very distantly related to the Brandybucks that never migrated over the mountains to the Shire. All the other differences are due to keeping the Ring for 500 years and being twisted and mutated by it.

[@putdownthreads]

I wonder if the powers that mutated Gollum could be considered the same forces that mutated Elves into Orcs in the Silmarillion

[@doomclaw9787]

He was a hobbit but was also an early ancestor called the Stoorish hobbits from a different place. Just an interesting fact.

[@victormanjarinsala2253]

​@@putdownthreadsGollum didn't really mutate or was affected by external forces (besides the ring). He was just corrupted and consumed by the ring. Also he's like 600 years old, which doesn't help keeping a good appearance I wager!

[@shadowstrike4262]

Also it shows in the first movie a bit of golems past, he was a Hobbit and killed his friend to claim the precious ring

[@bryceosborne4357]

​@@shadowstrike4262 nah mate that was his birthday present!

[@docauch5938]

Rachel: I will cast Sauron, and bring out my second Sauron. Jake: In response, I will make a 1/1 and hope to Scry.

[@quesog32]

I absolutely love how much everybody (except Jake) was nerding out with the Lord of the Rings quotes and references in this.

[@jakebossmtg4899]

What the heck is a lembas??

[@TuneL0wDieSl0w]

he did say, " PO-TA-TOES" when everyone was referencing that sam and gollum scene lol

[@bartoszkuzminski3709]

@@jakebossmtg4899 elven bread

[@SonnigesDeutschland]

Speak, friend, and ENTER A WORLD OF PAIN XD

[@Lycandros]

That felt like the most Hobbits of wins. Hiding as a non-threat as bigger powers go after each other, then coming in like a blade in the dark to finish the the biggest threats then winning the game with an eating contest.

[@markuskramer8666]

That’s how Josh likes to play lol he aims his opponents at each other meanwhile preserving his resources unless he absolutely has to. Sweeping in at the end when his opponents are out of resources and out valuing them.

[@semicolon_cancer1243]

Accompanied by Josh complaining he is behind the whole game, with a full grip and high life total. It's predictable at this point, but it is what it is.

[@weirdo82]

​​​@@semicolon_cancer1243 Except he was behind, for pretty much the whole game? The two biggest threats were mostly dealing with each other, and he allied with the elf player who was consistently stronger than him for most of the game but never in a position to challenge the two biggest threats. You can call it being "sneaky", but he didnt overpopulate his board, didn't make himself the threat, and was playing a deck by FAR more subtle than most of the table. Commander 101: You overextend, and you lose the most in a board wipe. You become the threat, everyone gangs up on you. You try to end the game quickly, you often lose to the players trying to play slowly. Etc etc etc etc.

[@wtfire]

At 23:00 Josh got SOOO salty at having to use premium removal to save his Commander 🤣Good play by Jake 👏

[@hamzasaber4245]

Josh since the beginning was a little bit disappointed with his commanders not doing much on the table, but that is how Frodo deck works, behind the scenes until it hits 🎯

[@MasterMaximo5]

Jake: "That's a Wraith. It's from Stargate Atlantis." That made me smile and laugh so hard.

[@Argusthecat]

I loved the straight faced "What are you guys TALKING about." right before it.

[@andrewlindenschmidt5533]

Words i never thought I'd hear Josh say "I path your birds of paradise" 😂

[@FistKoozie]

I see rachel weeks? I click

[@UN.SUNG-ZERO]

s i m p i n '

[@trevormceuen6216]

Me tooooo I love Rachel!

[@tatecarter60]

@@UN.SUNG-ZEROyou’re the guy with the sus anime pfp. Some times people are fans of people for non sexual reasons, even if they’re women 😱

[@ldsjim]

Damn right, she’s a legend!

[@lanceholtz444]

I also enjoy her as a host. She is not obnoxious.

[@TeaGarrison]

This is the same concept I used to get my brother and friends into Magic about a year ago! I love that Rachel had the same idea.

[@j-dubz2349]

This is how I got my dad to play. Now he's more addicted than I am.

[@Hurricane1990]

I bought all 4 precons and upgraded them with only cards from the set as well. I think I have a well balanced pod of 4 decks. Its very fun to play.

[@elWhiteNinja1]

the wraith king: "you go that way...I'll go home."

[@Jaksonbaus]

Wee-oh Wee-Oh Wee-Oh Wee

[@covertgoblue]

Just a comment to say Rachel’s baddie voice is a true hidden gem

[@travis_approved]

My playgroup got all of the lotr decks together and I am currently in the process of turning them into a battle box! They were a little underwhelming out of the box, and a lot of the upgrades I made match what you did, but these decks are going to be EXTREMELY helpful in getting me the rest of the way there. Thank you Rachel!

[@crawdaddy2004]

Path to Exiling a BoP is one of the strangest plays I’ve ever seen. 😂 INSTEAD OF A MANA DORK, YOU WILL HAVE A LAND!

[@tigerwarrior1787]

Office meme: They're the same thing...

[@crawdaddy2004]

@@tigerwarrior1787 Ummmm… that was my point.

[@rhenestofel]

This was awesome and I loved the ending, but I never expected Josh to play the Hobbits, and Rachel as Sauron definitely became a threat quickly. Great decks Rachel!

[@nimalith6143]

I don't really know if thats just me, but I really loved how cozy those more thematic decks feels

[@foreal7712]

Played against my friend’s Eowyn deck this past weekend and it snowballs so fast!

[@iancunningham9297]

Rachel Weeks is always peak content. Also love the LOTR set!

[@hyoroemongaming569]

peak = good God these millenial buzzword

[@JT-ft7jo]

didn't need to salt my food watching this game, it was provided abundantly.

[@wulfender327]

OMG! Yes! "Thats a Wraith, thats Stargate Atlantis." Loved!!!!! That reference!!!!!

[@WayneyMTG]

"You...go get her...he's read the books" 🤣

[@mikes7423]

would love to see these decks play again in a future extra turns. Was a very enjoyable watch.

[@TheSPARTANusm]

I enjoyed most of the video, but the part that made me actually lol the hardest was in Josh’s pitch for the Vessi shoes when he’s replying to Jimmy about hiking and says “oh I don’t, I just like to look like I might” while nodding.

[@sethriehl4905]

Naming the elf Doug must make Brandon Sanderson proud.

[@dougiedoug7543]

I am Doug from Michigan! 😂 spooky

[@kryptoxeen5261]

Hello, fellow Michigander.

[@GalaxyHap]

Hello from Pennsylvania!

[@lunatickgeo]

Kudos to Rachel on building brilliant decks! I'm a fan of token building decks so having four at a time was a treat!

[@kyidro]

Honestly this has been my favorite Extra Turns yet!

[@christopherlayne-te8kj]

I started playing magic in 1995 in elementary school, i stopped playing around early 2000 and got back into it during the pandemic and started watchingnyiu guys first. You all are the ones that lit the fire again so thank you and magic is just as fun as ever but damn if it ain't expensive playing commander lol.

[@jacobtrahan1993]

I remember hearing about these decks a while back and I’m happy they are getting seen on xtra turns!

[@Lumi_xoxo2]

I am literally working on my Eowyn deck with my friend right now 🤣.

[@Agaures]

What an incredible game! I love the idea of in-set upgrades to the LoTR decks.

[@kstephenson5857]

Great game! Watching Murph and Josh get into an intermittent salt-off while Jake and Rachel just enjoy themselves was constantly entertaining

[@crawdaddy2004]

14:11 If Lord of the Rings and Lord of the Flies had a baby: Lord of the Flings. 😂 That sounds like a very different type of film.

[@rudysal1429]

Lord of the elflings

[@crawdaddy2004]

@@rudysal1429 😂

[@purpleBookworm765]

Isn't that Brion Stoutarm?

[@crawdaddy2004]

@@purpleBookworm765 Only if you’re thinking PG. 😂

[@griff_mtg6311]

So much flavor here in this episode. Rachel piloting Sauron with the Eye of Sauron in her right eye 😅

[@GarnettLeary]

Sweet theme! Really fun to watch. The story unfolded as it should. Thanks for sharing.

[@natehiggins6441]

My Sam/Frodo food deck is called, "What's Taters?!" Love it!

[@tigerwarrior1787]

PO-TA-TOES!!! Boil em, mash em, stick in a stew. *Gollum grumbles abundantly*

[@danielkrona4091]

An episode that arrived just when it was needed! Perfect.

[@chummer2060]

I love this concept. Cool to have a pod in a box so everything is fairly well balanced.

[@andreasmueller337]

This is exactly what I did. I split up the Sauron precon in Sauron the dark lord focussing on ringwraiths and reanimator plus a second spellslinger deck led by Saruman the white hand. The elf deck is led by Arwen Undomiel (scry plus elfball) and the other two are close to the precon. ❤❤❤❤❤

[@704Sypher]

Ive been keeping all of the universe's beyond commander decks bone standard in the BCW 4 XL deck boxes for precisely this reason; it's fun to have an in-universe pod of decks to be able to bust out board game style. Love it.

[@Someoneelse415]

Love these decks! Thanks for playing them!

[@godeck1121]

Always appreciate extra turns i actually fall asleep to the playlist every night 😅

[@jacobnestle3805]

I have an Eowyn Shieldmaiden deck (upgraded precon) and it's a ton of fun. I've just leaned hard on the Human tribal!

[@mong0038]

This was my favorite extra turns episode to date. I liked hearing more of the banter and some mistakes like the deck falling.

[@mmmbetter55]

Rachel went full midwestern with "He's workin on potatoes..." 😅

[@TheDortmunderJungs]

love it!! me and my friends also have lotr commander rounds with pure in world decks, very cool to see this also on screen from you guys! i got into magic because of lotr, so hopeing to see more of this in the future

[@JonnySniper243]

I play all of the Commanders myself. Love this so much.

[@rayaarianakobe3348]

Galadriel is my first commander. I love her and so excited to see this video

[@andyik9009]

The line: ''Sam will trigger Sauron.'' Did make me chuckle. YOU LITTLE SHIT DID WHAT WITH MY RING?!

[@lildecker72]

The “what’s taters” joke just completely missed but I’m here for it😂😂😂

[@Pishcott85]

I don't know why, but everytime I see Rachel playing I immediately love the game more....

[@roydenhunt]

I made a Lord of the rings only deck when the set first came out. It's full of so much power. It was a great build exercise!!

[@2andahalfletsplayer503]

One of the best episodes yet, great work!

[@andrewyarker7678]

Loved this concept. A re-match would be awesome 😎

[@TAJSAllDay]

Josh giving Murph hell the entire episode kept me laughing lol.

[@hamzasaber4245]

Josh is playing my fav commander, a dream came true ❤

[@DrumsTheWord]

I love Rachel's laugh! So infectious!

[@StretchyPlays]

Oh this is sweet, I actually did the exact same thing, bought all four precons and upgraded them with LotR cards to play in a pod. Excited to see a different take on this and how it plays together.

[@jonathanwilliams7161]

Love this video! Tons of "flavor" in this episode! ❤️

[@MadHashashin]

The diss on straight up Path to Exiling the Birds was insane xD Gigantic Eowyn and Undying Nazgul on board and poor bird just took it to the face, one of the reasons I love EDH

[@MakerAcreNinjaNetwork]

Doug from Michigan, the Elven Hero they dreamed of!! 😂😂❤

[@Alphademongel]

So my wife and I have had LOTR only Eowyn and Sauron, the Dark Lord decks since the LOTR sets dropped. This episode is awesome!

[@yuen4817]

A perfect episode. Love the amount of things going on

[@franklingauthier-parker7253]

What fun! I played the Food and Fellowship deck (no mods) with my group recently and pulled off a win with exact lethal against a much stronger grw dino deck. The hobbits do a great job of making life-gain feel meaningful

[@stephenbrynildsen1874]

Count Chonkula made me laugh SO HARD

[@Aldrnari956]

I did something like this with the LotR decks I got. I upgraded them using only cards from the LotR set. I ended up with a similar kind of battle box. I did end up switching the 4 strategies up to varying degrees. The human deck now has the Aragorn at its helm and ended up leaning more into the monarch theme. For the elves, I used Galadriel, Light of Valenor to make it 3 color like the other decks and unify some of those disparate strategies. The Hobbit and Mordor decks are the least changed since they tend to be the most powerful out the box.

[@rodolfog.8087]

I just want to say that I did the exact same thing, Rachel 🥰 Glad to see I am not the only one who cares about the vorthos experience of these 😁

[@cstock56]

josh and rachel’s ‘yes and’ attitude with each other is so endearing and shows up as great chemistry on camera. singing the orc’s theme together is adorable.

[@craigjewell4720]

The more I watch Command Zone, the more convinced I am that Rachel is my EDH Spirit Animal. I've done the same thing with my LOTR. My Elf deck uses the Bant Galadriel and "Human" use Aragorn the Uniter, which leans a little into Legendaries as well.

[@nicolascasime9248]

Wow. Have all of the lotr precons, and upgraded them. I immediately removed prize pig because I thought it was absolutely trash... but I had misread it! It's a powerhouse in the deck. Thought it was only 1 ribbon for each instance of life gained, not for each life Gained. Adding it to the deck right away! Amazing video btw

[@jslrnzrbntn]

I think Jimmy's hair gets messier and messier every video.

[@xanderjones6239]

That's what happens when you become a dad

[@weedragonauts4729]

he's a red player

[@thefinoll1535]

Rachel Weeks? YES PLEASE!

[@ryanmann5497]

I’m thrilled the best deck won 😊 I loved the Frodo/sam deck the most in that set

[@Crushanator1]

awesome. I got all the precons for exactly doing this but the power out of the box is a bit all over the place, so these upgrades and tweaks look very cool

[@maxinesenior596]

I still miss when the health totals were on the extra turns overlay

[@DarkMewtwo1994]

I love episodes with Jake and murph! Great job everyone keep up the great work ❤😊 episodes like this is what commander should be for sure. I had a similar idea that I left the Warhammer 40k precons all in tact and just sleeved em up, but definitely Wana just upgrade them to be on around the same power level so they don't feel so preconny like Rachel did :) ty for the idea!

[@Underhill77]

“Rachel Weeks made all the decks” that’s all I need to hear to know it’s a good game. That woman can craft!

[@fushioon]

Great episode! I kinda wish we hadn't gotten spoiled in the intro but otherwise loved the interactions of the cube.

[@Cleansweep38]

Good job Rachel! think that thou the elves had some great play, it seemed to have a slow engine, compared to the other decks. I’m not familiar with the cards and am not as experienced as any of you folks, but maybe there’s a land, artifact, or enchantment, that might be helpful. I was rooting for the elves, but the way Rachel’s engine was working, I thought she would win for sure. Very impressive!

[@Micro_Tyrant_Games]

It's funny you said "hobits aren't know for attacking, they're known for sneaking" back when the LotR TCG was a thing, people often played a hobit sneak deck, but not me. I had the hobit beat-down deck. It relied on some good equipment for them, like Sting and the Mithril Armor, but also I had all the followers that removed wound counters, so basically they'd take a lot of damage, but then heal it by passing around the wounds. It was so fun and people never saw it coming.

[@Ujabzaktok]

Not but most of the threat assessment hurt my head, still an amazing episode, and loved the flavor of the decks so much.

[@devindabney198]

I love that the hobbits won by having elevensies 😂

[@ItzSwarley]

Really fun episode. Love to see it

[@chrisramsey5017]

"yay the boss wins again" -- the underlings, probably.

[@danielgoldberg2129]

I’ve been a huge LoTR fan for decades and was super excited when this set came out. I ended up building two LoTR themed decks and they’re both led by the bad guys, Lord of the Nazgul and Sméagol. It’s fun having 9 Nazgul in each deck. I don’t know why I’m not interested in building any of the Fellowship characters.😊

[@Sithlordmikep]

This episode is so awesome!!! I am currently using the commander Rachel used and I learned a lot from this episode. It would be so cool if card kingdom and command zone did a collaboration to where they have these as special pre cons. I would so buy all of them!!!! Or maybe in the future to where they have command zone edition precons

[@xanderasherclegain5710]

My guy missed the opportunity to use that entire line so I finished it aloud for him lol

[@Doombot8336684]

This is a makeup for the original Upgrade guide for this deck. Instead of upgrading the deck I for Frodo and Sam, they picked to base it around Merry and Pippin. People were in an uproar over that.

[@MerpDerp-hz9tt]

“That’s a wraith from Stargate Atlantis” 😂

[@bigmustaoficial8996]

“He’s not done yet” jake is hilarious!

[@LddStyx]

One could interpret the ending as a cultural victory.

[@ElmoTheRed]

when murph drops the deck across the table was great

[@ehsanrahee7411]

I've been working on the exact same concept for my LOTR precons. So far I've only fully upgraded the Hobbits deck. The only differences I'm planning are to use 100% LOTR cards only, and I'm swapping the Sauron commander to The Dark Lord, and the Elves one to the newer 3-colour Galadriel (Light of Valinor). The latter is the weakest imo, so maybe having more colour options and keeping it tribal will work.

[@HenkRobbemondt]

I have those decks, and switched the commanders exactly as you said. The elves deck definitely needs the most love with the commander

[@ehsanrahee7411]

@@HenkRobbemondt any specific recommendations? I haven't had a chance to even think about it in months now. Too many new, shiny precons and deck ideas for my ADHD ass lol.

[@alexanderthurber4257]

Just finished my lotr limited hobit and rohan decks yall reading my minds

[@chiragasnani3437]

Awesome video! I don't know MTG very well, but I'm surprised the ring tempting doesn't work like monarch, where only one person can have a ringbearer at a time (for lore reasons), but I guess that would mess up the cards. Still very cool seeing a themed commander match, hope to see more, maybe for Assassins Creed!

[@Carracan]

Loved this episode! So happy to see more LOTR content.

[@johnrogers1334]

Me just seeing the thumbnail: Oh cool, Galadriel is gonna do something gross Me after hearing it's all in universe: Nevermind

[@adamtobiasz8793]

Josh referring to Hiei from Darker than Black with that eating. I actually wanted Murphy to win 🏆 😕 😪 😔 😩 😒 🏆.

[@Zerschnitzler77]

i see, they made this set very colorful!