Sauron, Lord of the RingsSauron, Lord of the Rings | Art by Alex Brock

Hey, everyone! How's The Hobbit treating everyone? Instead of revealing which cards I think are sleeper hits from the set, I'm evoking some nostalgia rather than looking forward. After last week's article on most played Ring tempts cards, today I'm covering another mechanic that appeared in The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth: amass! Now, unlike the first mechanic, which debuted in the set and is inextricably linked with the identity of J.R.R. Tolkien's universe, amass in LTR is actually a riff on a keyword that first appeared in War of the Spark. It also returns with the new set.

Whether the card you're playing lets you amass an Orc Army or an original Zombie one, you're still only getting one token at a time. This means that if you play an Aven EternalAven Eternal on one turn, have your Zombie Army survive a turn cycle, then cast an Assault on OsgiliathAssault on Osgiliath, you don't create a separate Orc Army. You put the counters on the same token and that creature also gains the Orc creature type.

With that rules clarification out of the way, let's dive into the cards!

10. Orcish MedicineOrcish Medicine - 31,057 decks

Its art quite literally describes what the card does, so I like to imagine a bunch of Orcs climbing a giant creature to try and give it some cough syrup, like an Etali, Primal ConquerorEtali, Primal Conqueror. Realistically, EDHREC deckbuilders are instead sending field medics after lore-appropriate targets like Sauron, the Dark LordSauron, the Dark Lord, Saruman, the White HandSaruman, the White Hand, or Shagrat, Loot BearerShagrat, Loot Bearer to protect them from removal spells.

There is a whole class of spells, including Malakir RebirthMalakir Rebirth and Undying EvilUndying Evil, that are generally better than what Medicine can do, so the decks that run this probably care about amassing a big Army.

9. Saruman, the White HandSaruman, the White Hand - 31,517 decks

Speaking of Saruman, he actually ranked third in my 2025 list of most played Grixis () cards in Commander. Nearly a year later, he plays second fiddle to Sauron, the Dark Lord in around 80% of the decks he's in the 99 of. That's pretty fitting, given how his character arc unfolded in the books. The flavor triple becomes a home run when you consider his role in raising a massive host of Orcs under Orthanc. Mechanically speaking, he is a powerful weapon in decks building around amass or at least featuring it as a subtheme, acting as both an enabler and protector of Army tokens.

8. Saruman's TrickerySaruman's Trickery - 31,665 decks

Three ranks in and this list is threatening to double as a character deep dive! This CancelCancel variant flavorfully depicts the imprisonment of Gandalf the GreyGandalf the Grey by Saruman at Orthanc, before the former manages to escape atop Gwaihir in time to rendezvous with Frodo and to tell the tale of betrayal at the Council of Elrond.

Like several of the amass spells on this list, Trickery is at home in decks where you really care about getting an Army token into play, like Sauron, the Dark Lord and Saruman from number 9. It's also a clever inclusion in Jalira, Master PolymorphistJalira, Master Polymorphist, letting you protect your queen while providing fodder for a PolymorphPolymorph trigger.

7. Eternal SkylordEternal Skylord - 33,201 decks

This 3/3 is the perfect reminder that amass did in fact debut before LTR in War of the Spark. Still, you're going to see this in decks chock-full of cards from Middle-earth, because giving a humongous Army token flying is pretty sweet. What I love about this card, however, is that it's not-so-secretly just a great card in Zombie decks that don't care about amass, like Wilhelt, the RotcleaverWilhelt, the Rotcleaver, Temmet, Naktamun's WillTemmet, Naktamun's Will, and Gisa and GeralfGisa and Geralf.

You can always overwhelm the table with sheer numbers or sacrifice value, as Zombies mechanically and cinematically are wont to do, but sometimes you just need to get the JumpJump on your opponents to secure the win.

6. Gothmog, Morgul LieutenantGothmog, Morgul Lieutenant - 35,590 decks

Is this what you call it when someone looks better than you in band T-shirts and black makeup? Gothmog pulls the look off spectacularly, and he even takes a page out of the Skylord's book by helping all tokens. That earns him a somewhat infrequent place in go-wide decks touching , like Caesar, Legion's EmperorCaesar, Legion's Emperor and Chatterfang, Squirrel GeneralChatterfang, Squirrel General. Like many cards on this list, though, the amass theme deck is still the hottest place to shop for dark eyeliner, especially with The Hobbit cards providing that archetype with additional support in the form of The Great GoblinThe Great Goblin and Great Goblin, Foul-HeartedGreat Goblin, Foul-Hearted.

5. Gleaming OverseerGleaming Overseer - 54,929 decks

Completing the trio of amass enablers is probably the best one, because hexproof is great when you're going tall with an Army and menace does the job with 2/2 Zombie tokens when you're going wide. Just check out this middle manager's gleaming résumé: it's in around half of decks led by Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver, Temmet, Naktamun's Will, and The Scarab GodThe Scarab God.

Overseer's only downside is that you can't play it in amass decks like Shagrat, Loot Bearer or Mauhúr, Uruk-hai CaptainMauhúr, Uruk-hai Captain, but that's true of Skylord as well.

4. Lazotep PlatingLazotep Plating - 56,207 decks

You can get this effect for just one pip in Mizzium SkinMizzium Skin, Dive DownDive Down, and Shore UpShore Up. But, this is Commander, where "strictly better" doesn't really exist, so you'll see this as a more effective Orcish Medicine in the usual suspects: Sauron, the Dark Lord, Saruman, the White Hand, and Zombie commanders like Gisa and Geralf.

Like Saruman's Trickery, Jalira, Master Polymorphist decks absolutely want every part of this card, hence the 64% play rate, as of this writing.

3. Barad-dûrBarad-dûr - 87,560 decks

Getting this into play untapped is pretty easy in this format, and its payoff certainly justifies having to play this tapped once in a while, in the right decks. The right decks include the various amass decks I've already brought up, but also sacrifice decks like Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIERSephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER that value the ability to put cardboard into play. Legends-matter decks like Dihada, Binder of WillsDihada, Binder of Wills and Shanid, Sleepers' ScourgeShanid, Sleepers' Scourge also regularly take advantage of Barad-dûr's helpful typing.

Amassing X instead of a fixed number can also help you turn large amounts of mana into a game-ending threat, though I'm not sure how much that will come up versus, say, making a 1/1 then sacrificing it to a Village RitesVillage Rites. The sky's the limit in Commander!

2. Dreadhorde InvasionDreadhorde Invasion - 104,515 decks

It's no surprise that repeatable amass effects make up two of the top three places on this list so far. Decks built around the mechanic want a critical mass of the keywords to make sure they always have the ability to put the Army token into play. Whether that's for attacking with it in the air or just to sacrifice it for value, well, that's up to you, but Invasion does incentivize the former pathway with the lifelink reward.

Non-amass decks, on the other hand, will play this for the latter mode, because payoffs like Ayara, First of LocthwainAyara, First of Locthwain, Sephiroth, and Braids, Arisen NightmareBraids, Arisen Nightmare need as much material in play as possible.

1. Orcish BowmastersOrcish Bowmasters - 394,215 decks

This is technically a repeatable amass effect, but I think Bowmasters' play rate is more to do with it being an absurd card in most decks than with the Army it creates. It earned second place in Harvey McGuinness's list of top cEDH creatures, because (a) drawing extra cards is so common and (b) there are a ton of important one-toughness creatures that this easily picks off, especially in cEDH. That's why you'll see it in more than half of Sauron, the Dark Lord decks, and in a similar proportion of Nekusar, the MindrazerNekusar, the Mindrazer and Tymna the WeaverTymna the Weaver partner piles. The card is insane in Modern and Legacy, for crying out loud!

All I ask is complete obedienceAll I ask is complete obedience

I really enjoyed this two-part miniseries on mechanics from The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth! I look back on LTR as an excellent example of how a Universes Beyond set can explore worlds beyond Magic: The Gathering while still feeling familiar and like it "works" within the rules engine. Now, I'm also pretty excited to get back to my continuing coverage of the most played cards from MTG sets from years past. I hope you'll join me!