The Dark Lord by Tharris31

Format: Commander

Commander: Sauron, the Dark Lord

Bracket: 4

DeckCheck Threat Index: 54

Deck overview

This deck is a Grixis midrange powerhouse commanded by Sauron, the Dark Lord. It combines the Amass Orcs mechanic, the Ring Tempts You system, and nine copies of Nazgûl into a resilient combat and card-draw engine. Early turns focus on accelerating mana through artifacts like Sol Ring and Talismans to deploy Sauron by Turn 4 or 5. Once Sauron resolves, his formidable Ward protection and automatic Amass trigger turn opposing spellcasts into an ever-growing Orc Army. Connecting with an Army or triggering the Ring tempts you, allowing you to discard your hand and draw four fresh cards each turn cycle while steadily growing all Nazgûl with +1/+1 counters. The deck leverages high-impact free interaction like Fierce Guardianship, Deflecting Swat, and Deadly Rollick to protect its board while closing the game through massive evasive combat damage from an unblockable Army, lethal commander strikes, or a devastating Living Death mass reanimation.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Arcane Denial
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Barad-dûr
  • 1 Blasphemous Act
  • 1 Blood Crypt
  • 1 Bloodstained Mire
  • 1 Bojuka Bog
  • 1 Call of the Ring
  • 1 Chaos Warp
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Corsairs of Umbar
  • 1 Counterspell
  • 1 Crumbling Necropolis
  • 1 Cyclonic Rift
  • 1 Dark Ritual
  • 1 Deadly Rollick
  • 1 Deflecting Swat
  • 1 Demonic Tutor
  • 1 Dreadhorde Invasion
  • 1 Exotic Orchard
  • 1 Fall of Cair Andros
  • 1 Feed the Swarm
  • 1 Fellwar Stone
  • 1 Fierce Guardianship
  • 1 Foray of Orcs
  • 1 Gothmog, Morgul Lieutenant
  • 1 Grishnákh, Brash Instigator
  • 1 In the Darkness Bind Them
  • 6 Island
  • 1 Lazotep Plating
  • 1 Lightning Greaves
  • 1 Living Death
  • 1 Lord of the Nazgûl
  • 1 Luxury Suite
  • 1 Mana Drain
  • 1 March from the Black Gate
  • 1 Mauhúr, Uruk-hai Captain
  • 1 Morphic Pool
  • 1 Mount Doom
  • 5 Mountain
  • 9 Nazgûl
  • 1 One Ring to Rule Them All
  • 1 Orcish Bowmasters
  • 1 Orcish Medicine
  • 1 Orcish Siegemaster
  • 1 Polluted Delta
  • 1 Reanimate
  • 1 Reflecting Pool
  • 1 Relic of Sauron
  • 1 Rhystic Study
  • 1 Ringsight
  • 1 Rogue's Passage
  • 1 Saruman the White
  • 1 Saruman, the White Hand
  • 1 Sauron, Lord of the Rings
  • 1 Sauron, the Dark Lord
  • 1 Scalding Tarn
  • 1 Shadowspear
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Steam Vents
  • 1 Summons of Saruman
  • 4 Swamp
  • 1 Talisman of Creativity
  • 1 Talisman of Dominance
  • 1 Talisman of Indulgence
  • 1 The Black Gate
  • 1 The Mouth of Sauron
  • 1 The One Ring
  • 1 The Ozolith
  • 1 Toxic Deluge
  • 1 Training Center
  • 1 Untimely Malfunction
  • 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
  • 1 Vampiric Tutor
  • 1 Warg Rider
  • 1 Watery Grave
  • 1 Widespread Brutality
  • 1 Witch-king of Angmar
  • 1 Withering Torment
  • 1 Xander's Lounge