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 · wardward
• AbilityWard—Sacrifice a legendary artifact or legendary creature.

What a Sauron, the Dark Lord deck needs

Plays as amass. What the commander asks of the other 99 — read from the card and checked by hand.

• amass cards and Army growers (every opponent's spell amasses Orcs; one big Army is the attacker)
• evasion and protection for the Army (its combat damage tempts you with the Ring)
• Ring-tempts cards and wheel payoffs (each tempt may discard your hand for four cards)

The Sauron, the Dark Lord deck plan

The roles the Forge fills for this commander, and how many cards of each.

• 6× Evasion that does NOT target or attach — for a commander your own auras and equipment cannot legally touch
• 5× Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
• 9× Find the exact card the plan needs
• 6× Answer a spell or ability before it resolves
• 1× Answer a whole board at once
• 7× Refill your hand
• 2× Keep a permanent you control alive through removal
• 11× Get ahead on mana
• 8× Equipment and Auras — the things a suit-up commander's trigger and plan are actually made of

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