The Black Host of Mordor by DJ_PeePants

Format: Commander

Commander: Sauron, the Dark Lord

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 36

Deck overview

This Grixis deck is an aggressive midrange and reanimation strategy built around Sauron, the Dark Lord. It leverages the Lord of the Rings Ring-tempting mechanic to generate massive card velocity and board presence. Sauron generates an Orc Army whenever opponents cast spells, while Army combat damage tempts the Ring and lets you discard your hand to draw four fresh cards. This constant wheeling fuels a dense reanimation package including Reanimate, Animate Dead, Victimize, and Living Death, while simultaneously filling the battlefield with a redundant package of 8 Nazgûl that grow larger with every Ring trigger. Supported by secondary payoffs like Lord of the Nazgûl, Orcish Bowmasters, and Mirkwood Bats, the deck rapidly scales its board state into an overwhelming combat and drain win condition by Turn 8.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 An Offer You Can't Refuse
  • 1 Animate Dead
  • 1 Arcane Denial
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Azog, Moria's Ruin
  • 1 Barad-dûr
  • 1 Blackblade Reforged
  • 1 Blasphemous Act
  • 1 Blood Crypt
  • 1 Bloodstained Mire
  • 1 Bojuka Bog
  • 1 Bolg of the North
  • 1 Call of the Ring
  • 1 Cast into the Fire
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Dark Fortress
  • 1 Decree of Pain
  • 1 Demonic Tutor
  • 1 Dragonskull Summit
  • 1 Drowned Catacomb
  • 1 Exotic Orchard
  • 1 Feed the Swarm
  • 1 Fiery Inscription
  • 1 Gothmog, Morgul Lieutenant
  • 1 Grave Pact
  • 1 Grishnákh, Brash Instigator
  • 1 Gríma Wormtongue
  • 1 In the Darkness Bind Them
  • 5 Island
  • 1 Lazotep Plating
  • 1 Lidless Gaze
  • 1 Living Death
  • 1 Lord of the Nazgûl
  • 1 March from the Black Gate
  • 1 Mauhúr, Uruk-hai Captain
  • 1 Mines of Moria
  • 1 Mirkwood Bats
  • 1 Mithril Coat
  • 1 Moira, Urborg Haunt
  • 1 Moria Scavenger
  • 1 Morphic Pool
  • 1 Mount Doom
  • 5 Mountain
  • 1 My Precious // Allure of Power
  • 8 Nazgûl
  • 1 Necromancy
  • 1 One Ring to Rule Them All
  • 1 Orcish Bowmasters
  • 1 Orcish Medicine
  • 1 Orcish Siegemaster
  • 1 Polluted Delta
  • 1 Reanimate
  • 1 Relic of Sauron
  • 1 Ringsight
  • 1 Ringwraiths
  • 1 Rogue's Passage
  • 1 Saruman the White
  • 1 Saruman's Trickery
  • 1 Saruman, the White Hand
  • 1 Sauron's Ransom
  • 1 Sauron, Lord of the Rings
  • 1 Sauron, the Dark Lord
  • 1 Shelob, Dread Weaver
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Sulfurous Springs
  • 1 Summons of Saruman
  • 4 Swamp
  • 1 The Balrog of Moria
  • 1 The Black Gate
  • 1 The Great Goblin
  • 1 The Grey Havens
  • 1 The One Ring
  • 1 There and Back Again
  • 1 Thrill of Possibility
  • 1 Too Greedily, Too Deep
  • 1 Underground River
  • 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
  • 1 Uruk-hai Berserker
  • 1 Victimize
  • 1 Watery Grave
  • 1 Widespread Brutality
  • 1 Witch-king of Angmar