Overview:

This Sauron, Lord of the Rings deck focuses on amassing Orc/Army tokens through commander synergy and supporting cards, leveraging token swarms for incremental damage and sacrifice value. While it demonstrates thematic cohesion, it lacks competitive combos, protection, and fast mana, positioning it in the casual power range.

Primer:

Core Strategy: The deck aims to build an Orc army through Sauron's casting-from-exile/graveyard triggers and supplemental amass cards like Dreadhorde Invasion. Key payoffs include Mirkwood Bats drain effects, Gothmog, Morgul Lieutenant buffs, and Swarming of Moria treasure generation. Wins are achieved through gradual board dominance or Fanatic of Mogis/The Balrog, Flame of Udûn damage spikes.

Mulligan Priorities:

• Keep hands with 3+ lands and early amass enablers (Dreadhorde Twins, Easterling Vanguard)
• Prioritize cards enabling non-hand casting like Fires of Mount Doom or Deadly Plot
• Avoid slow starts with multiple 5+ CMC spells

Key Tips:

• Use Reassembling Skeleton with sacrifice outlets like Eaten Alive for repeated value
• Time Saruman, the White Hand instants/sorceries to maximize Army creation
• Protect critical engines like Mirkwood Bats with Lazotep Plating

Avoid Traps:

• Overextending into board wipes without recursion
• Holding interaction for "perfect" moments instead of protecting key pieces
• Casting Sauron prematurely without protection

Weaknesses:

Critical:

• No protection for key engines (0 hexproof/shroud sources)
• Locks/combos outpace its incremental strategy

Moderate:

• Slow recovery from board wipes
• Limited card advantage engines

Minor:

• Vulnerable to graveyard hate affecting 15% of cards

Most Important Cards:

• Mirkwood Bats
• Saruman, the White Hand
• Fires of Mount Doom
• The Balrog, Flame of Udûn
• Dreadhorde Invasion
• Gothmog, Morgul Lieutenant
• Swarming of Moria
• Commence the Endgame
• Reassembling Skeleton
• Jaxis, the Troublemaker

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 4/10

• Goldfish win around T9-10 through combat/drain
• No fast mana or <4 CMC wincons

Resilience: 3/10

• Minimal protection spells
• Relies on board presence vulnerable to wipes

Consistency: 5/10

• 8 cantrips but only 3 tutors
• Multiple amass enablers provide redundancy

Interaction: 4/10

• 10 targeted removals but no counterspells
• Reactive answers at sorcery speed

Rating Justification:

The deck sits between Casual/Precon (T10-12 wins) and Focused Casual (T9-11) tiers. While it has better synergy than a stock precon with cards like Mirkwood Bats, its lack of:

• Fast mana (<5 ramp sources)
• Combo finishers
• Free interaction keeps it below optimized casual levels. Comparable to upgraded precons but outpaced by focused tribal decks.

Power level: 4.0 - 4.5