Deck & Commander Strategies
Frodo, Sauron's Bane
Aggressively applies pressure early with a low-cost lifelink creature that is difficult to block, aiming to chip away at opponents’ life totals while supporting midrange combat strategies.
Gandalf the Grey
Focuses on ramping mana quickly through artifacts and creatures, generating card advantage with spells like Brainstorm and Merchant Scroll, and eventually establishing a strong board presence with powerful artifact creatures.
Jan Jansen, Chaos Crafter
Leverages artifact synergies and sacrifice outlets to create tokens, generate value, and disrupt opponents, using combos such as Animate Dead with Blood Artist to create infinite damage loops.
Lord of the Nazgûl
Uses the Ring Bearer mechanic to control a legendary creature that grows stronger with counters, aiming to dominate combat by making the Ring Bearer unblockable by stronger creatures and generating incremental board advantage.
Gameplay Insights
- 1
The use of Jan Jansen’s Sculpting Steel to copy Wormcoil Engine was a critical power play, enabling massive life gain and board presence that shifted momentum.
- 2
The Animate Dead and Blood Artist combo allowed for an infinite loop of damage and token creation, highlighting the power of sacrifice and recursion synergies in the game.
- 3
Lord of the Nazgûl’s ability to make the Ring Bearer unblockable by creatures with greater power allowed for consistent damage output and forced opponents into difficult blocking decisions.
- 4
Gandalf the Grey’s careful sequencing of card draw and ramp spells like Brainstorm and Merchant Scroll kept the deck well-stocked with answers and threats, maintaining steady pressure.
- 5
Early aggression from Frodo applied consistent damage and life gain that helped stabilize against larger threats while progressing the board state.
Notable Cards
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Frodo, Sauron's Bane
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Jan Jansen, Chaos Crafter
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Lord of the Nazgûl
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Sculpting Steel
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Animate Dead
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Blood Artist
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Brainstorm
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Merchant Scroll
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Malakir Rebirth // Malakir Mire
Gameplay Summary
The game began with each player establishing their mana base and early board presence, with Frodo, Sauron's Bane coming down on turn one, providing an aggressive start.
Jan Jansen, Chaos Crafter set up artifact synergies early, while Lord of the Nazgûl focused on leveraging the Ring Bearer mechanic to boost his board.
Gandalf the Grey, meanwhile, developed a steady ramp and card advantage strategy with mana rocks and utility creatures.
As the midgame progressed, the players began to interact more aggressively, with combat damage and tactical sacrifices shaping the board state. A key turning point occurred when Jan Jansen used Sculpting Steel to copy the powerful Wormcoil Engine, significantly tipping the scales with a massive life-gaining and board presence engine.
The game saw an explosive moment when the Animate Dead and Blood Artist combo was deployed, generating infinite loops of damage and token creation by repeatedly sacrificing and returning creatures, putting immense pressure on all opponents.
The synergy between these combos alongside artifact and life drain interactions defined the late game tension, with players needing to manage the mounting threats carefully.
![Battle for the One Ring, ft. Frodo, Bilbo, Tom, and Gandalf [EDH/Commander Gameplay 2023] thumbnail](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/eBY9qYO50o4/sddefault.jpg)
![Jan Jansen vs Elminster vs Faldorn vs Tasha [EDH/Commander, Magic The Gathering Gameplay 2022] thumbnail](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/W_SLTY-vWwI/sddefault.jpg)
![Blue in a Blue World, ft. Sefris, Averna, Grazilaxx, and Jan Jansen [EDH/Commander Gameplay 2023] thumbnail](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/RLy6a-8MJiA/sddefault.jpg)
![Gandalf vs Urza vs Averna vs Dihada [EDH/Commander, Magic the Gathering Gameplay 2023] thumbnail](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/5CXLiWw55PA/sddefault.jpg)
![Everything is Fine. Don’t Click this Video, ft. Purphoros, Gandalf, Akiri, Braids [MTG EDH Gameplay] thumbnail](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lBhszeoeVoc/sddefault.jpg)