Hello awesome folks and welcome to my newest article that looks at the Top Ten from a brand-new set, in this case Tales of Middle Earth. This will be my first of several articles looking at this deep set for casual kitchen table formats like Commander, multiplayer, Type Four, Cube, and Five Color and Highlander too.

Let's look at my top cards from The Lord of the Rings!

Honorable Mention #1 (#13 Overall). Fall of Cair Andros

This three-drop Red rare enchantment kicks off my first list at the 13 spot! Whenever you deal excess non-combat damage to a dork? Amass X where X is the excess damage. This slides into Red and Boros Burn builds that run burn enablers from the Command Zone like Firesong and Sunspeaker. Then you can really push this card with damage-based sweepers like Earthquake, or the really powerful one in Blasphemous Act which is a must play with this three-drop. Then this is also a mana sink for eight mana to shoot something for 7 damage. Nasty removal and amassing. That is great in Rakdos with Cabal Coffers and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth or with Gruul's ramp like Cultivate and Rampant Growth and Explosive Vegetation to reliably get to that 8 mana. This thing is very synergetic! What enchantment hits next?

Honorable Mention #2 (#12 Overall). Elven Chorus

This four-drop enchantment in Green does! It gives us back-to-back enchantments of the Gruul persuasion. This will let you look at the top card of your library until it's destroyed. You can cast dorks from the top of your library, and then they tap for any color of mana. This is awesome with a flash enabler like in Simic with Leyline of Anticipation. It's also great in mono-Green with the Command Zone eligible Yeva, Nature's Herald that gives all of your Green stuff flash. It's very strong at giving you free cards from the top of your library and letting them tap for mana to cast even more. It's very strong with other cards that want to know the top of your library, or with library manipulation like in color Sylvan Library or Sensei's Divining Top. Love this four-drop as a card advantage engine and mana enabler in one card! What Blue and Black card hits next?

Honorable Mention #3 (#11 Overall). Sauron, the Dark Lord.

Our first gold card and legendary dork for leading a Commander deck is this Grixis version of Sauron! Your six-mana investment nets you a 7/6 dork, so he's on-curve and will kill in three Commander damage hits. Then he cannot be targeted unless a foe sacrifices a legendary dork or artifact. Not planeswalkers or enchantments, by the by. Then whenever your foe casts a spell, you amass Orcs 1. Given how often that'll happen in multiplayer, that's a big commonly done trigger. Then when you deal combat damage with your Armies, you'll get tempted, so this is a Great Ringbearer deck. Then don't forget that when you are tempted, you discard your hand and draw four if you want. You can win with the amassing, draw the cards, and get a reliable set of tempting. You can see why this is on my Top Ten list, but just outside in my Honorable Mention section. What pair made the Top Ten cut?

#10. Delighted Halfling AND Wose Pathfinder

Mana matters. The Halfling is a one-drop rare with the ability to tap for colorless or for mana of any color but just for legendaries that cannot be countered. Wow...really? That's a one-drop that can cast a key three-drop Commander on turn 2 and it cannot be Counterspelled. That's nasty good! And it's a bigger 1/2 so it can block a 1/1 and survive. It's strong. The Wose is a two-drop common with a 1/1 body that taps for any color, like Utopia Tree. Then it's a mana sink for 7 mana to Giant Growth and trample-ify a dork you can target.

This mana tapping pair are quite obscene together. The Halfling could really push casual tables around as a one-drop tapper of mana, even colorless, but it's very strong in Commander since so many things are randomly legendary without even needing a theme to toss it into. Like Umezawa's Jitte or Sword of the Animist, or any random planeswalker or key dorks like the 50+ in this set alone! Good pair of mana making dorks for formats all up and down the block. Also note that the Wose is a rare mana ramper that's Human, not Elf, so that fits into Selesnya Humans. What flash card is next?

#9. Orcish Bowmasters

This is our first mono-Black card. This two-drop 1/1 has flash and a smaller 1/1 size. When it ETBs or when a foe draws a card that's not the first card in their draw step, this flashing things trigger. You shoot any target for a damage, like them, a dork with 1 toughness, or other things. Then you amass 1 Orcs. So, you get, for free, one damage and +1/+1 in size to your Orc army? That's seems pretty strong, and you can flash it out while their card draw is on the stack to resolve first. People are not going to stop their mad card drawing, so this'll shut down a lot of dorks or ting players, so it's a win con and creature control in one tight little package. What red critter hits the 8-spot?

#8. Moria Marauder

Our highest charting mono-Red card is this Goblin Warrior 1/1 with double strike, also a two-drop but harder to cast. Did it deal damage to an opponent this turn? Exile and cast, and since it has double strike, you can do twice each combat turn. That already existed on a three-drop 1/3 with double strike printed years ago called Prophetic Flamespeaker that dominated tables. This is better for a few reasons. First, it'll drop turn 2, so you can start attacking turn 3 before blockers are assembled rather than on turn 4. Also note that this will give you the bonus of impulsive card flow from any Goblin or Orc that damaged your foe as well. That could be one on the first turn, like Goblin Guide attacking on the second turn for a card then pre combat. Fun thing to finish our tribal two-drop! What gold card cracks our next spot?

#7. Saruman of Many Colors

Saruman of Many Colors, our next gold entry that's also legendary for Commander purposes. This hits around our halfway point on today's list! This is Esper, so you get three options for colors in your Commander deck. You cannot target him save by discarding an enchantment, instant or sorcery, so that's card advantage! Then when you cast your second spell each turn? Each foe mills 2 cards and you can exile an enchantment, instant or sorcery in their graveyard under the 2nd spell's cost and cast it for free.

We all know how broken this can be at the kitchen table with free cards from a three-color drop that cannot be easily targeted (cough...Narset, Enlengthened Master...cough). That creates a powerful way to build around him, but you are casting your foe's stuff, not yours, so it's harder to break. He's also a sizable 5/4 for 6 mana, so he's a Commander damage clock. Our own Jason Alt already built a deck around him which you can check out here - Saruman's Caress of Steal | Article by Jason Alt (coolstuffinc.com). Next is our first Mono-White card!

#6. Boromir, Warden of the Tower

This three-drop 3/3 is our first mono-White card and last card before the Top Five proper! He has vigilance to swing and hold the fort, and that's great in multiplayer since someone is always open. He's legendary for leading a deck purposes. Whenever a foe casts a spell, if it wasn't spend with mana? It's countered. That shuts down things like Force of Will or Fierce Guardianship, pretty commonly played in Commander. Also, a zero drop Commander called Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh. It'll counter any free thing like a pitch spell or in the free if you control your Commander cycle. It's very strong at answering abuse.

This feels like a three-drop on curve dork that can lead, or participate in, Hate Bears brews around things like Aven Mindcensor and Esper Sentinel. Also, you can sacrifice this to give your team indestructible for the turn. It's a beater, a saver, and a Hate Bear all in one tight three mana package. See why Boromir is here? Yuppers Puppers! Next is the #5 card that cracked it.

#5. Mithril Coat

Our only artifact in today's Top Ten list is this three-drop that plays like Boromir. This legendary equipment costs three, equips for three, and has flash. When it ETBs, you equip a legendary dork for free if you control one, like, say, your Commander. It has indestructible as well as the Coat as well by the by, so they are both hard to answer. This will be a new standard bearer in Commander since it's colorless and fits into any deck. You can use it to save your Commander at instant speed and a three cost to equip later isn't that much of a tax like these normally have. Nicely done, Mithril Coat, nicely done. This is going to get all of the play there and back again. Get ready. I cannot overemphasize how strong this card is. What card beat it to the four-spot?

#4. Aragorn, the Uniter

This four-color, four-cost 5/5! This Human has a powerful board presence with the four cast triggers. White will make you a 1/1 dork, Blue will scry 2, Red will Bolt a foe, and Green will +4/+4 a dork. And if your spell was more than one color, you'll layer them up. This everything but Black powerhouse will get heavy play as a Commander, as four-color options usually just show up well at the kitchen table. And he wants you to run stuff that's multicolored for more triggers. Note that these are casts, and will resolve even if the spell was countered. Now, what will get played in the Command Zone more than this guy? Find out next!

#3. Tom Bombadil

Our highest scoring gold card and third highest legendary dork is good ol' Tom! This will be run in so many more decks than Aragorn, the Uniter. Take EDHREC right now - Aragorn is in 484 and Tom is in 1318.

Every new Five Color leader just gets all of the people to build around it. Even though Aragorn is more flexible with the build and Tom is just a Saga Commander, but still, it's true. Five Color brews always dominate in Commander. What do you get for your five mana? A 4/4 that has two abilities. If there are four or more loyalty counters on your Sagas, this gets hexproof and indestructible, so he's impossible to answer traditionally. Then when the final chapter of a Saga resolves, you can reveal your library until you reveal a Saga and put it into the battlefield for free. But just once per turn as a brake on it. There are 103 Sagas to build around, pretty tight in a Commander deck, but he'll get loads of play despite it. We have two Orzhov Commander left, but which ones and where? Let's find out!

#2. Gandalf the White

This five-drop 4/5 with flash is fine for on-curve trickery. When this is on the battlefield, your legendary spells and artifacts have flash. Note that all legendary spells are flashable, not just creatures. Also note that Gandalf will double your triggers for your legendary or artifact stuff entering or leaving the battlefield, like Solemn Simulacrum, Spine of Ish Sah, Ichor Wellspring or Astor, Bearer of Blades or even classics like Godo, Bandit Warlord. Doubling and casting at flash speed is awesome. He is not only a classic legendary option for Commander but he's very strong in Type Four with infinite mana but only one spell per turn. That way you can always flash something in your foe's turn that's legendary or a sorcery. Good stuff for the win-tuff!

By process of elimination you know that our top card is a Black legendary, but what?

#1. Witch-King of Angmar

Another five-drop is my top spot! This 5/3 with flying has two other abilities. Whenever one or more creatures damage you? Each opponent sacrifices a dork that damaged you. That's a limited No Mercy on a stick. That'll keep away larger sized dorks but smaller armies but larger going-wide ones like a token horde won't care to sacrifice a 1/1 Soldier. Then the Rings tempts you.

At any time, you can discard a card to give this indestructible and tap it. It's worth the card if this Wraith Noble is your Commander and you built your deck around it. And you can avoid Commander tax and the recast. Although you'd be in mono-Black, likely with Cabal Coffers and other mana ramps, so that may not really be something you care about. You have many instant answers in this stuff. Since it's mana free, you can use it when you've tapped out, or cast a mass removal spell like Damnation or Life's Finale to save it proactively not reactively to something else and have the only creature left on the battlefield. Sweep and keep baby, sweep and keep!

I hope that you enjoyed my initial Top Ten list and three Honorable Mentions here!