The Best of Lord of the Rings in Legacy

Orcish Bowmasters

Let's get it out of the way first: is a ridiculously good card. It's by far the best one in the set and will have substantial influence on Legacy. The card's floor is quite high because, even without the opponent casually casting a in their main phase, it shoots 1 damage to any target and creates a 1/1 Orc Army token. This does not seem too strong, but then there's the ceiling. In a format that has become more and more driven by value, where card draw is key to winning games, being able to react to a draw spell by destroying a planeswalker, up to three creatures, or bolting the opponent directly and adding 4 power to the board is too powerful an option for most decks to pass on. In addition it is a hard counter to Elves, a deck that currently runs .

Going further, looks really bad, will have its problems, and appears to be completely dated in the face of the Bowmasters. You want to play ? Let's flash in the Orcs. You want to cycle your way through a pile? Let's see how many additional points of damage you can take! Many strategies will struggle against the pinger, the next-level . A fragile combo deck that uses 1/1 creatures? Their own cantrips turn into deadly weapons. Delver? You don't want to play your Brainstorm when the opponent has two untapped lands.

So what decks will include the Bowmasters themselves? My initial answer would be: All of them. Every deck that has access to black mana. It remains to be seen how creature lineups will change in general because every shoots down a , a , an early , , , and . Doomsday wants to improve its Delver matchup? One does not need to power out a clunky . Two mana are enough to get rid of their clock. It also looks like a no-brainer in . The list is endless, and therefore I expect Orcish Bowmasters to have huge impact on the format.

Boromir, Warden of the Tower

is the next card on the list. The dropoff in quality and potential is immense, but the card stands its ground in the face of an Orc army, at least for a bit. For three mana one gets a 3/3 body that does not need to tap, a decent sacrifice effect that comes with being tempted by The Ring, and—what's more important—a solid lock effect. It turns off , , , , , , and , just to name a few, and it does so asymetrically. As a kicker Boromir counters the opponent's , , , , , , and .

The card is, in fact, a on zero. Naturally, Boromir might find his new Gondor in the form of white initiative decks. Played on turn one via and a Chrome Mox, Boromir is forcing the opponent to play a fair game.

Reprieve

, although not too powerful, gives monowhite decks the option to run a blue card in disguise. It does not counter but bounces a spell to its owner's hand, which also works against , , and creatures played via .

Being able to replace itself is a useful secondary effect that does not happen a lot in white. It basically is a counterspell in most situations that delays the game state. Most white based decks that don't run blue are tap-out strategies, such as White Initiative, Death and Taxes, or Naya Depths. Whether they really want to hold up two mana is questionable, but it provides them with an angle they haven't had before.

Eowyn, Fearless Knight

benefits from being legendary because it becomes a reusable removal for , , any Reanimator target, and decks. In the style of or , and Eowyn are best friends in Red-White Initiative, which might be the only deck that really wants to try Eowyn.

A 3/4 haste body with a bit of protection can be quite helpful in situations where the board is in a deadlock. Maybe Eowyn is a neat sideboard card in a creature-heavy meta where exiling a large Orc Army token will be common business. Let's take a look at what a deck with all these cards could look like:

Call of the Ring

This one is a tempting little enchantment that doesn't look spectacular but could be a mini-dungeon. In control decks it's card draw and utility for only two mana. isn't the most powerful thing in the world, but when paired with creatures like , it's definitely an annoying threat. Just imagine an owl carrying The Ring, being unblockable, drawing extra cards, and making the opponent lose 3 life as well.

might be a reasonable play on turn two after a cantrip or discard spell and before a . Especially the Grixis color combination has been struggling to compete with Jeskai and Four-Color-Control variants. At the moment, black does not have enough good control elements to justify cutting white or green, but that could change with Call of the Ring—and Orcish Bowmasters of course. Here is a Grixis Control with the new toy:

The One Ring

Better known as the most expensive chase card ever, it's definitely worth it to have a look at The Ring's abilities. While it may not be the powerhouse it is in Modern, can be an insane draw engine in the right shell. Paired with and taxing artifacts like , The Ring provides much needed card draw in decks that used to live off the top of the deck.

Delighted Halfling

So why should you play this one over ? Both enable a powerful turn two play such as . Yes, but getting that uncounterable onto the battlefield on turn three can be the win against control and tempo decks. No need to think about or anymore. A deck that can consistently run out Uro against tempo as well as Teferi, Minsc, or even against control, with enough turn zero interaction against combo, might have a chance to establish itself among the many other three- and four-color control decks.

Here is an interesting list by Magic Online user AnziD. It includes both The One Ring and Delighted Halfling:

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Opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, not of Cardmarket.