With The Hobbit getting its own dedicated MTG set this August, we don’t have long to wait before we’re back in Middle-earth once again. In the interim, however, there are still plenty of adventures to be had with the original Lord of the Rings set. This MTG expansion had so many legendary creatures that some, like Frodo, Sauron’s Bane, have gone relatively neglected so far. Give this plucky Hobbit a chance, however, and it’ll prove itself a worthy Commander indeed, capable of taking down the entire table with just one attack.
Frodo, Sauron’s Bane MTG
Right from the start, appropriately enough, Frodo, Sauron’s Bane gives you an epic quest to complete. You need to upgrade Frodo to his final form, have the Ring tempt you four times, then have him connect with an opponent. Your reward for completing this ordeal is an instant kill for that opponent, regardless of their life total.
To finish this quest in good time, you’ll need to run a fair number of ‘the Ring tempts you’ cards. The best options here are the cards that can tempt you multiple times, like Call of the Ring and Gollum, Patient Plotter. There are some efficient single-tempt cards available too, with Samwise the Stouthearted and Boromir, Warden of the Tower both being worth running regardless. Of course, the other benefits that the mechanic grants can make other cards like Urza’s Ruinous Blast and Scout for Survivors decent additions.
Outside of running the usual Commander ramp, there sadly aren’t a ton of ways to get around Frodo’s upgrade requirement. One thing you can do, however, is make Frodo a Scout with something like Maskwood Nexus or Mirror Entity. This will let you skip the initial two-mana upgrade, getting you to the endgame much quicker.
Once Frodo is ready, it becomes a truly terrifying threat, capable of taking out opponents with just one attack. Naturally, this will make it a prime target for removal in most games, so you’ll want to invest in protection like Lightning Greaves to keep it around. Whispersilk Cloak is a particularly good option here, since it also makes Frodo unblockable to guarantee a kill each turn.
One Shot, One Kill
Even if you do manage to complete Frodo’s quest and set up the kill condition, he can only take out one player per turn, giving opponents plenty of time to find answers. To speed up this clock, granting Frodo Myriad with Blade of Selves or Legion Loyalty can potentially take out the entire table in one attack. You’ll need either Mirror Box or Mirror Gallery to get around the legend rule here, but the payoff is well worth it. If you’re worried about slipping all three Frodos through for damage, Delney, Streetwise Lookout is a great solution to that problem.
If you’re willing to take a risk, you can pull off a similar play using any Scouts by exiling Frodo to Agatha’s Soul Cauldron. This lets you turn tiny evasive Scouts like Changeling Outcast into deadly threats for just three mana. Since Frodo encourages a low-to-the-ground aggressive strategy anyway, this makes an excellent backup plan for games where your commander tax gets out of hand.
The Ultimate Sacrifice
In addition to these combo-esque instant win lines, Frodo, Sauron’s Bane enables a true MTG infinite combo as well. All you need to pull this off is Frodo in play alongside Yomiji, Who Bars the Way and Phyrexian Altar. Simply sacrifice Frodo to Altar for W, then Yomiji will bounce it back to your hand, letting you replay Frodo and repeat the loop. Notably, Enduring Renewal also works in place of Yomiji here. This will net you infinite enters and dies triggers, letting you win with either Altar of the Brood or a Blood Artist effect.
Sadly, as effective as this combo is, some of the pieces are a bit expensive. While Phyrexian Altar makes this combo a pricey inclusion, you can easily bring it down to budget territory with some substitutions. Add in Pitiless Plunderer, for example, and suddenly any cheap sacrifice outlet, like Viscera Seer, can complete the combo. Though this is less consistent than the Altar version, it’s much kinder on your wallet.
An Unexpected Powerhouse
Thanks to its huge potential as a game-ender, Frodo, Sauron’s Bane is a risky proposition in MTG Commander. Opponents will likely be wary of you right from turn one, meaning you’ll need to be ready to stand your ground immediately. Perhaps because of this risk, the card isn’t played much at all in the command zone, with just over 4,000 players doing so by EDHREC numbers.
While it’s definitely risky, the potential upside with a cheap, powerful Commander like Frodo more than balances that out. What’s even better is that you can grab the card for basically nothing right now, with near-mint copies of the base version available for just $0.20 on TCGplayer. This makes it an ideal option as a unique budget Commander, especially given how affordable many of its specific support cards are.
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