Magic: The Gathering has been growing at a record pace, and to reward employees who go above and beyond, they have a chance to create unique cards. Adorned with a unique card back, these Heroes of the Realm cards aren’t legal for play unless the named employee is the one playing the card. Even then, they aren’t really considered viable for sanctioned play. Despite that, because of their exclusivity, these cards are incredibly expensive.
Today, a new Heroes of the Realm card has been revealed, and it has some obvious references to MTG’s most successful release that MTG, before Final Fantasy came to town. Lord of the Rings fans will want this, but actually finding it is going to be very challenging.
Ormacar, Relic Wraith
Ormacar, Relic Wraith is an obvious reference to the Lord of the Rings franchise, but this isn’t an actual character from the IP. Referencing the Ringwraiths, Ormacar allows a noncreature artifact to be your Partner Commander. The obvious Precious reference refers to The One Ring. Even the statline of Ormacar refers to the serialized version of the card.
Unfortunately, because Ormacar is part of the Heroes of the Realm series, it’s not going to be publicly available. As a result, when Heroes of the Realm cards do go up for auction, it’s usually for tens of thousands of dollars. Fewer than ten copies of these cards generally exist, after all. In some cases, Heroes of the Realm cards demand $75,000+. Considering the unique possibilities that Ormacar, Relic Wraith allows, players may be incredibly interested in acquiring or, at least, trying it out.
Ormacar allows you to play any noncreature Legendary artifact as your Commander, and gets more powerful with the Precious in play. This allows about 150 cards that could not be your Commander previously to become your Commander. That alone makes Ormacar an incredibly powerful MTG Commander.
Best Precious Cards
There are a lot of different ways to take Ormacar, Relic Wraith. One of those is simply Voltron – something that’s rather easily accomplished by pairing Ormacar with Excalibur, Sword of Eden. With Excalibur equipped, you’ll be dealing 23 damage with one swing, easily taking a player out with Commander damage.
Pairing Ormacar with Cauldron of Eternity could also lead to some interesting strategies. Focus on self-mill to make the Cauldron cheap, and start reanimating the cards that hit your graveyard. You’ll buff Ormacar to massive amounts, and the Lifelink will more than make up for the life loss that Cauldron of Eternity causes. The cost reduction can even scale to accommodate Command Tax.
If you’re looking for raw power, it’s tough to beat Bolas’s Citadel or The One Ring. The One Ring can draw a ton of cards in a focused strategy, and Bolas’s Citadel can easily win the turn it resolves. You could also decide to simply play something like Mox Opal as your Precious to consistently have fast mana starts. Your goal would then be to assemble an infinite combo as quickly as possible.
Frankly, Ormacar as a Commander would be absolutely broken if considered tournament legal. The amount of power and flexibility this offers would easily take over cEDH in an instant. Whether you make your win condition your Commander or just want an eight-card opening hand with a Mox in the Command Zone, this card would be impossible to compete with. The only downside to Ormacar is his color identity, and even that’s barely a downside. You can’t play Underworld Breach, but counterspells and tutors are all fair game.
It’s very cool that Ormacar, Relic Wraith exists, but I am personally very thankful that it isn’t part of the larger world of MTG. Considering that Vehicles and Spacecraft are now allowed to be Commanders, there is a non-zero chance that the Precious ability will, one day, become a reality in Commander.