OUTRAGEOUS LOTR EDH! Tom Bombadil v Samwise Gamgee v Gollum v Aragorn and Arwen | Commander Gameplay

Deck Strategies

• 

  Samwise Gamgee

  Focuses on generating food tokens and using them as a resource to repeatedly recur historic cards, creating value and resilience over time with a combo element built around food sacrifices.

• 

  Gollum, Patient Plotter

  An Aristocrats-style deck that uses sacrifice outlets and value creatures to chip away at opponents, ramping into disruptive threats like Shielded Apocalypse to punish opponents and gain life advantage.

• 

  Aragorn and Arwen, Wed

  A go-wide token deck that pumps creatures with +1/+1 counters, leveraging Hardened Scales and anthem effects to build a large threatening board aiming to overwhelm opponents through sheer numbers and combat damage.

• 

  Tom Bombadil

  Saga-centric deck focused on controlling the board and leveraging saga triggers to build incremental advantage, with a political twist and utility to influence player interactions.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Playing Shielded Apocalypse early created a significant life drain on opponents whenever they drew cards, forcing careful resource management and slowing the game pace.

• 2

  Samwise’s ability to sacrifice food tokens to recur historic cards repeatedly provided a strong engine for value and resilience, making it difficult to remove key threats permanently.

• 3

  Aragorn and Arwen’s synergy with Hardened Scales and Conclude Mentor amplified their token production and board presence, turning small incremental advantages into a growing threat.

• 4

  Gollum’s strategy relied on sacrificing his own creatures like Gollum himself to generate value and chip away at opponents, showing the strength of Aristocrats synergy in multiplayer Commander.

• 5

  Players balanced aggression with diplomacy and defense, as early turns saw minimal attacks, with the focus on building board states and political considerations.

Notable Cards

• 

  Phyrexian Arena

• 

  Hardened Scales

• 

  Samwise Gamgee

• 

  Gollum, Patient Plotter

• 

  Jukai Naturalist

• 

  Canopy Vista

• 

  Castle Garenbrig

Summary

The game begins with all four players developing their boards in typical midrange fashion, focusing on ramp, token generation, and incremental value. Samwise Gamgee leverages food tokens and historic card recursion to build resilience, while Gollum, Patient Plotter embraces an Aristocrats-style strategy, using sacrifice outlets to generate value and chip away at opponents. Aragorn and Arwen aim to go wide with tokens and pump them with +1/+1 counters, supported by Hardened Scales for explosive growth. Tom Bombadil focuses on sagas and political plays, with an emphasis on board presence and control. Early conflict is minimal, as players establish resources and synergies. A key turning point occurs when the Gollum player summons Shielded Apocalypse, a high-impact threat that punishes opponents for drawing cards while sustaining itself through life gain, shifting the tempo and increasing pressure on others. Meanwhile, Samwise starts ramping food token production and recursion, seeking to outlast and outvalue opponents. Aragorn and Arwen’s token swarm, enhanced by Hardened Scales and Conclude Mentor, steadily grows threatening, setting up a potential wide board win condition. Tom Bombadil’s reliance on sagas hints at a slower, more controlling game plan. The game unfolds with players balancing aggression and defense, with Gollum’s Aristocrats package and Shielded Apocalypse providing a disruptive edge. Samwise’s combo potential through food sacrifices and recursion presents a persistent threat, while Aragorn and Arwen’s growing army of counters and tokens poses increasing risk. The match is defined by incremental value generation, board state manipulation, and carefully timed attacks rather than explosive combos or quick kills.