Arcane Foundry › Commanders › Sauron, the Dark Lord

Sauron, the Dark Lord

Legendary Creature — Avatar Horror · {3}{U}{B}{R} · Black/Red/Blue commander

Ward—Sacrifice a legendary artifact or legendary creature. Whenever an opponent casts a spell, amass Orcs 1. Whenever an Army you control deals combat damage to a player, the Ring tempts you. Whenever the Ring tempts you, you may discard your hand. If you do, draw four cards.

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What Sauron, the Dark Lord actually does

Read off the card by the same engine the Forge and Analyzer use — this is the mechanical classification, not a summary.

• Triggered ability · cast_spellWhenever an opponent casts a spell, amass Orcs 1.
• Triggered ability · deals_damageWhenever an Army you control deals combat damage to a player, the Ring tempts you.
• Triggered ability · otherWhenever the Ring tempts you, you may discard your hand. If you do, draw four cards.
• Keyword · amassamass
• Keyword · wardward

What a Sauron, the Dark Lord deck wants

The plan the Forge derives for this commander: the roles it fills and how many of each.

• 8× Make the commander connect — a body that never deals combat damage never triggers
• 5× Evasion that does NOT target or attach — for a commander your own auras and equipment cannot legally touch
• 17× A creature that HAS the keyword the commander's trigger counts — a card that merely says the word is not one
• 9× Answer a spell or ability before it resolves
• 5× Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
• 1× Answer a whole board at once
• 2× Answer a spell or ability before it resolves
• 9× Find the exact card the plan needs
• 7× Refill your hand

Best cards for Sauron, the Dark Lord

Ranked by an engine that reads what each card does — its real cost, its delay and how reliably it works — rather than counting how often other people play it.

Build this deck in the Arcane Forge →

Arcane Foundry is free to join and every tool is included: the Arcane Forge deck builder, the ARCANE Analyzer that scores a deck by simulating games rather than counting staples, a card scanner, a collection vault, and live webcam Commander tables. Read the guide · Browse all commanders · Pricing