<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sauron, the Dark Lord" href="#" target="_blank">Sauron, the Dark Lord</a> | Art by <a href="https://scryfall.com/search?q=a%3A%E2%80%9CKieran+Yanner%E2%80%9D&amp;unique=art" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kieran Yanner</a>
On Tuesday, September 15th, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sauron, the Dark Lord" href="#" target="_blank">Sauron, the Dark Lord</a>, another Universes Beyond legend, <a href="https://edhrec.com/commanders">has officially taken his new spot as the 7th Most Popular Commander</a>.
This new development has bumped <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kaalia of the Vast" href="#" target="_blank">Kaalia of the Vast</a>, a perennial Commander favorite since 2011, to the #8 spot. Let's dive into how that's going, why it happened, and more.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sauron, the Dark Lord"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kaalia of the Vast"></div></div>
<h2>A Sight for Sauron's Eye</h2>
Chronologically, Sauron is the second Universes Beyond commander to rise through the Top 10 list of most popular commanders, after <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Y&#039;shtola, Night&#039;s Blessed" href="#" target="_blank">Y&#039;shtola, Night&#039;s Blessed</a>. Currently, there are four UB legends on the list in total.
However, Sauron was on this list for a lot longer than Y'shtola's <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/yshtola-nights-blessed-is-now-edhrecs-1-commander" target="_blank" rel="noopener">near-ironclad tenure at the tippy-top</a>. Many readers have speculated that Y'shtola's expedited rise is about her being a catgirl waifu, but Sauron is decidedly... not that.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Y&#039;shtola, Night&#039;s Blessed"></div></div>
So, why has Sauron been on the rise? And what does all of this mean for Kaalia and her new company at spots #9 and #10, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Teval, the Balanced Scale" href="#" target="_blank">Teval, the Balanced Scale</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fire Lord Azula" href="#" target="_blank">Fire Lord Azula</a>?
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Teval, the Balanced Scale"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Fire Lord Azula"></div></div>
<h2>Not so Much a Rise, but a Fall?</h2>
So, it's plain as day that Sauron has the most to gain by taking the #7 spot away from Kaalia. However, it's entirely plausible that this phenomenon is more a result of Kaalia losing favor amongst a dwindling* player base.
Sauron seems to continue to climb steadily, perhaps spurred a small amount by the reprint of this card in The Hobbit. At this rate, Sauron would inevitably catch a "straggler" such as Kaalia.
(*"Dwindling" and "straggler," here, do not mean to imply that Kaalia of the Vast has very few people building her. After all, she is still the eighth most popular commander on the list.)
In any event, Sauron decks are probably picking up slack because of The Hobbit. Meanwhile Kaalia decks are losing steam because Kaalia hasn't seen a reprint since Modern Horizons 3 and has thusly fallen out of the zeitgeist.
Nevertheless, Sauron fans can rejoice that their favorite salty little necromancer commander has risen in popularity by yet another spot.
<h2>On Teval and Azula</h2>
And now, let's talk about Kaalia, and who she seems to be contending with for her #8 spot. At #10 is Fire Lord Azula, who is another Universes Beyond commander relatively new to the list (having just come out last year).
As of the time of writing**, she commands over 37,000 decks. That's not a big nothing, but with Kaalia leading over 39,000 decks right now, Azula will need to catch up big-time.
(**That's most likely the day before Sauron officially usurps #7.)
The same goes for Teval, the Balanced Scale, our current 9th most popular commander. Like Azula, Teval came out last year, but is a bit older. Teval currently has 38,000+ decks at her disposal.
Based on the precedent, I would be more surprised to see Teval knock Kaalia to #9 before Azula can knock Teval to #10, but this is all speculation and obviously remains to be seen.
There is, however, another important factor to be had in this discussion, and that's the #11 spot, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ms. Bumbleflower" href="#" target="_blank">Ms. Bumbleflower</a>.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ms. Bumbleflower"></div></div>
Ms. Bumbleflower is an ever-present specter at casual Commander tables, from my slightly panoptic field research, and from the looks of the list here as well.
Don't get me wrong, Ms. Bumbleflower is tons of fun, and I can absolutely see why she's just beyond the outlying end of the list. My point is that I can definitely foresee a future in which she pushes a commander out of #10. And I think that might end up being Kaalia of the Vast, at the end of the day.
<h2>What's Next for Sauron?</h2>
At the time of writing, Sauron is still in that #8 spot, but it looks as though, once that is no longer the case, Sauron will have to contend with another powerful Wizard in the form of <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vivi Ornitier" href="#" target="_blank">Vivi Ornitier</a>.
Vivi, a Final Fantasy IX fan-favorite***, is another boogeyman like Ms. Bumbleflower, but with a clearer presence thanks to Bracket 5 play, Universes Beyond presence, and his existence in a very popular property.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Vivi Ornitier"></div></div>
(***Say that five times fast!)
When/if Sauron gets past Vivi, he'll have to take on <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Krenko, Mob Boss" href="#" target="_blank">Krenko, Mob Boss</a> in order to grasp at the Top 5's #5 spot. Krenko is a very popular Goblin typal commander, to the point where people seem to often like to use him instead of <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Zada, Hedron Grinder" href="#" target="_blank">Zada, Hedron Grinder</a> to lead their Goblinstorm Secret Lair Commander precons.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Krenko, Mob Boss"></div></div>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
For the time being, Vivi and Krenko are the commanders Sauron needs to think about in the immediate term in order to get a leg up on the rest of the popular commanders.
For now though, Sauron fans can enjoy their major victory over one of the biggest and most longstanding gatekeepers of the Top Commanders list.
And now let's hear what you have to say, dear readers! Are you happy that another Universes Beyond commander has overtaken a juggernaut like Kaalia of the Vast on this list?
Are you a Sauron, the Dark Lord player? What are your favorite cards to use in Sauron's 99? Sound off in the comments below!

Sauron, the Dark Lord kicks Kaalia of the Vast to #8 in EDHREC's Top Commanders

MagicCon Amsterdam Reveals More Cards From The Hobbit

<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The One Ring|LTR|451" href="#" target="_blank">The One Ring</a> | Art by <a href="https://scryfall.com/search?q=a%3A%E2%80%9CMarta+Nael%E2%80%9D&amp;unique=art" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Marta Nael</a>
On Friday, May 1st, Wizards of the Coast previewed a large number of cards from various upcoming Magic: The Gathering sets. Among them was The Hobbit, which includes multiple box toppers. One such topper is <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The One Ring" href="#" target="_blank">The One Ring</a>, the most sought-after card in Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth.
However, many keen-eyed players noticed that something appeared off about <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The One Ring|HOC|44" href="#" target="_blank">The One Ring</a>'s art. As it turns out, credited artist Dan Frazier used Marta Nael's Bundle promo rendition of the card as a reference for his iteration. Late on the evening of Saturday, May 2nd, Wizards of the Coast and Dan Frazier released joint statements on their social media platforms.
<h2>Wizards of the Coast's Joint Statement Regarding <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The One Ring|HOC|44" href="#" target="_blank">The One Ring</a></h2>
At the late hour of 7:00 PM Eastern Time, in the midst of MagicCon Las Vegas 2026's 4:00 PM, Wizards of the Coast released the following statement alongside Dan Frazier. In it, both parties apologized for missing the mark on properly vetting Frazier's art references:
<blockquote class="bluesky-embed" data-bluesky-uri="at://did:plc:rcyyjldt7topi6fz3dxnsaxx/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkvqoghxru24" data-bluesky-cid="bafyreiaegofc3kejptfltgxpsjnfdbvvn7u7lariyxjihi53r4lefjpuxi">
A message from Dan Frazier and Wizards of the Coast:
&mdash; <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:rcyyjldt7topi6fz3dxnsaxx?ref_src=embed">Magic: The Gathering (@magic.wizards.com)</a> <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:rcyyjldt7topi6fz3dxnsaxx/post/3mkvqoghxru24?ref_src=embed">2026-05-02T23:00:09.850Z</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://embed.bsky.app/static/embed.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
While the above post on BlueSky didn't use alt text to offer the text for the visually-impaired, we do have alt text courtesy of one user on the platform:
<blockquote>A message from Dan Frazier and Wizards of the Coast:
Recently, fans noted the similarities between The One Ring by Marta Nael, and the newly released image of The One Ring by Dan Frazier. Those similarities are not coincidental, unfortunately.
From Dan,
I made a mistake, and I feel awful. I especially feel for Marta, whose work I adore. In trying to create an iconic version of The One Ring, while looking at references online, I ended up using Marta's Ring as a reference and painted over it to try to depict the item fans hold dear to their hearts. In doing so, I didn't make it my own. I'm reaching out to Marta privately to apologize artist to artist. I love creating art for Magic, I've loved being a part of this artist community for more than 30 years, and I'm sorry I've let my fans down.
Sincerely,
Dan Frazier
From Wizards of the Coast,
Dan Frazier is a titan of the art industry and of Magic: The Gathering. He has created so many iconic pieces of art for the game that he will forever be a part of our game, and we value his contributions tremendously. With that in mind, we're disappointed our review process didn't catch the issue. Like Dan, we have already reached out to apologize to Marta Nael for not catching the use of her art in this piece.
None of this was intentional, but we're going to make it right as much as we can.
On digital versions of the card, we will credit both Dan Frazier and Marta Nael.
We will also make sure Marta is compensated for her work here.
This is a good moment to recognize that we are all humans who make mistakes.
Dan made a mistake. We made mistakes in our process to not catch the error.
We don't condone or accept either, but we still value Dan and his contributions and are grateful for his place in the game.
Thank you to the eagle-eyed fans who noticed this, and for all of you for being strong advocates for amazing art and artists.
Sincerely,
All of us at Wizards of the Coast</blockquote>
At this time, a statement by Marta Nael is yet to be released.
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
At the risk of editorializing this news piece, I will say that this series of statements is, at the very least, a good way to segue into closer examinations of, and further discussions about, the issues that led up to this mistake.
And now, let me open the floor to you, dear readers. How does this issue with The Hobbit's iteration of The One Ring affect your morale regarding the set? Will you be buying more or less of the product as a result of it? Alternatively, will you be buying Dan Frazier's version of the card, which will be circulating with the other Box Toppers? Or will you buy another copy, namely Marta Nael's Bundle promo? Let us know in the comments below.

Wizards of the Coast, Dan Frazier Post The One Ring Statements

<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Necrobloom" href="#" target="_blank">The Necrobloom</a> | Art by <a href="https://www.artstation.com/atar" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Igor Krstic</a>
Magic: The Gathering's Commander format is going through a lot of metagame changes! There are a few shake-ups where trends are concerned, especially in the top-ranked commanders.
For instance, the topic of this article, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Necrobloom" href="#" target="_blank">The Necrobloom</a>, has recently overtaken the partnered pair of <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Frodo, Adventurous Hobbit" href="#" target="_blank">Frodo, Adventurous Hobbit</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sam, Loyal Attendant" href="#" target="_blank">Sam, Loyal Attendant</a>. This has caused The Necrobloom to become the #1 top-ranked <a href="https://edhrec.com/commanders/abzan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Abzan</a> () commander in the format by popularity. This particular upswing may have some players curious about how it came to be. Fret not, and read on! We'll explain it below.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="The Necrobloom"></div></div>
<h2>The Necrobloom - A Popular Dredging Field</h2>
At first glance, The Necrobloom clearly acts as an extremely scary commander. It's a <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Field of the Dead" href="#" target="_blank">Field of the Dead</a> and more, and that's just its landfall ability. Its second key feature gives lands in your graveyard dredge 2. That is a potentially overwhelming ability for opponents to contend with on its own. Together with the landfall ability it possesses, The Necrobloom becomes an almost instantaneous threat once it hits the field.
Anecdotally, when Modern Horizons 3 first came out, a friend of mine warned me that if either of two commanders was pitted against him from the set, he'd forfeit instantly. One was <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Nadu, Winged Wisdom" href="#" target="_blank">Nadu, Winged Wisdom</a>, an obvious example that thankfully he no longer has to contend with. The other was The Necrobloom.
Many players in my local meta haven't really caught on to how powerful the big, stinky Plant really is. However, it seems likely that soon, it'll catch on like the meat-scented stench of a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafflesia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rafflesia</a> to a housefly.
<h2>Concerning Hobbits</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Frodo, Adventurous Hobbit"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sam, Loyal Attendant"></div></div>
As for the two Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth commanders that are getting left by the wayside in second place, they'll largely be fine. The Necrobloom has 21,308 decks to its name on EDHREC, which is formidable by and large. However, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Frodo, Adventurous Hobbit" href="#" target="_blank">Frodo, Adventurous Hobbit</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sam, Loyal Attendant" href="#" target="_blank">Sam, Loyal Attendant</a> are actually not far behind it. With 21,211 decks and fewer than 100 decks standing between them and the Plant, they could potentially reclaim their Abzan throne.
<h2>Why That Could Be a Lie</h2>
...Or, of course, the Hobbits might never reclaim their throne. In all seriousness, there are a few factors that could potentially keep Frodo and Sam from getting their spot back from The Necrobloom. For one, the Plant is a newer card. This means that more people are likely brewing it compared to Frodo and Sam.
Furthermore, the Plant is more ubiquitous and versatile in what it can do. Frodo and Sam are kind of locked into Food decks right now. Sure, there are probably a few outliers in EDHREC's databases, but for the most part, this remains true. Meanwhile, The Necrobloom's land-matters theme is so widely utilized in each of its colors that it has a glut of options when building for it.
A third major factor as to why Frodo and Sam are built less today is the Universes Beyond scarcity factor. Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth was a Universes Beyond set. Prior to Final Fantasy, it was the biggest one. However, the tricky issue with Universes Beyond is that, as of right now, it has a licensing issue that creates a pseudo-Reserved List. My own thoughts about the Reserved List aside, this much is clear. So, as a result of this, Frodo and Sam are cards that are harder to obtain due to the scarcity the licensing issues present.
Add to this the fact that they're a partnered pair of cards, and now you have double the trouble.
So, from various perspectives, it's actually less about why The Necrobloom only just now overtook the Hobbits, and more about why the Hobbits were such an obstacle in the first place.
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
Overall, this is an interesting case to examine for EDHREC. Over the course of the next month, it's also possible that a few other cards from 2025 will assume the mantle of being the most popular in their color identities. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Teval, the Balanced Scale" href="#" target="_blank">Teval, the Balanced Scale</a>, for one, might overcome <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Wise Mothman" href="#" target="_blank">The Wise Mothman</a>, of which I could cite similar reasoning to Frodo and Sam. And <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hearthhull, the Worldseed" href="#" target="_blank">Hearthhull, the Worldseed</a> could soon follow Teval, to many players' surprise, getting past <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Korvold, Fae-Cursed King" href="#" target="_blank">Korvold, Fae-Cursed King</a>.
Is this a trend? Were black-green-plus commanders that much better in 2025? Or are people just now waking up to the idea that Golgari is just a great color core for Commander?
Let's talk about this, dear readers! What do you think about the above questions that I've posed? Sound off in the comments below!

mtgltr

Sauron, the Dark Lord kicks Kaalia of the Vast to #8 in EDHREC's Top Commanders

MagicCon Amsterdam Reveals More Cards From The Hobbit

Wizards of the Coast, Dan Frazier Post The One Ring Statements

The Necrobloom Is Now the Most Popular Abzan Commander