Sauron, the Dark LordSauron, the Dark Lord | Art by Kieran Yanner

This week on Commander Makeover, where we add new cards to older commanders, we turn our eyes to the east with dread. Whispers of a nameless fear echo through the halls of EDHREC. The Dark Lord himself has returned.

Sauron, the Dark LordSauron, the Dark Lord is a nasty piece of work, worthy of the terror he brings to the hearts of the World of Men (and ours; let's be clear). That ward cost is brutal, ensuring that getting rid of him requires a rough sacrifice. The amount of times opponents will be casting spells will ensure that the Army token will be huge. His wheel effect is easily exploited, too. Not to mention the great wall of text known as the Ring tempts you mechanic.

However, even with his increasing seniority, Sauron has some new tools for this endgame, summed up by an iconic line: One Ring to Rule Them All.

Grave ResearcherGrave Researcher

The most obvious way to exploit Sauron, the Dark LordSauron, the Dark Lord's wheel ability is to treat our graveyard as a second hand. In this case, reanimating the monstrosities we discard.

Grave Researcher can easily be prepared constantly, short of graveyard hate. Its other half, ReanimateReanimate, is perhaps one of the best reanimation spells in the game. Just be sure to back up that life total if or when we use it frequently.

Emeritus of WoeEmeritus of Woe

Another creature that's easy to prepare, especially with something like Fleshbag MarauderFleshbag Marauder. In doing this, we gain access to Demonic TutorDemonic Tutor, grabbing anything we need. In addition, a 5/4 for four mana is a solid rate for what it's worth.

The Emeritus also enters prepared, so we can use the Tutor right away. Perhaps we can be monsters and keep looping the aforementioned Fleshbag Marauder to repeatedly get Emeritus prepared, creating a soft lock in the process.

FlashbackFlashback

Enough about reanimating creatures. What about instants and sorceries instead? For a measly one mana, this card does just that. In a pinch, we can cast this on a card that already has flashback, but gives us a cheaper option instead.

The fact that this is an instant helps the card out a lot, because we can cast it in response to Sauron, the Dark LordSauron, the Dark Lord's Ring tempts ability. At worst, we can use this to saber rattle our opponents, holding up a CounterspellCounterspell in our graveyard.

My PreciousMy Precious!

Cue all the Smeagol/Gollum voices from across the globe. That said, this is not the same as The One RingThe One Ring (though it is in the lore, and you should be running it with a Sauron deck if you have one). The Adventure half of the card nets us a few cards at the cost of a creature (probably that Army token if it's small enough).

Equipped to Sauron, the Dark LordSauron, the Dark Lord, though, it's nasty because it makes death by commander damage very possible. And hexproof is just a much better ability than ward, turning our commander into a real threat.

Hexing SquelcherHexing Squelcher

Paying two life on top of a legendary artifact or creature is rough. Even more so is our spells becoming uncounterable. That being said, it's frail, and two life is something that can easily be paid in Commander. Still, it's quite an array of strong effects on such a small, easily cast body.

Spreading that ward cost across all of our creatures isn't too shabby either.

The Soul StoneThe Soul Stone

An indestructible Charcoal DiamondCharcoal Diamond that enters untapped is nothing to sneeze at. So, too, is the infinity ability. However, to get there, we'll need to exile a creature we control. This is easily done through the Army token, but it also costs a whopping seven mana to activate.

The only downsides to this card are that it costs a lot to pick up (unfortunately, like The One RingThe One Ring), not to mention that this adds the color that'll be most dominant.

Warren SoultraderWarren Soultrader

Now this, on the other hand, can absolutely fix our mana. All for a low, low cost of a creature and a life. Sacrificing Army tokens will help get us to our commander.

Unfortunately, Sauron, the Dark LordSauron, the Dark Lord costs six mana, so relying on the Soultrader to get us there is risky. That said, combine the two, and we can drop Treasures as fast as a slot machine.

Withering TormentWithering Torment

A very simple card with the rare ability (in black) to destroy enchantments. For years, we relied on Feed the SwarmFeed the Swarm, but that was at sorcery speed, and we lost more life from the card than the Torment itself.

That said, if we're deciding whether to run one or the other, I offer a most classic answer: Why not both? Both is good here. We're not in green or white, after all.

Prepare for Trouble, and Make it Double!

Since these are modal double-faced cards (MDFCs for short), I figure they should be covered together. Both of them can come in tapped as lands, providing other ways to make our land drops, but what about their front faces?

Firstly, Sink into StuporSink into Stupor allows us to bounce a spell on the stack or a troublesome permanent. It's quite a versatile card, and bouncing spells while on the stack is not a common effect. Also, hitting any nonland permanent helps deal with annoying enchantments that Grixis colors will have a hard time dealing with.

As for Fell the ProfaneFell the Profane, there's nothing much to write home about it. Even the classic Hero's DownfallHero's Downfall is one mana cheaper. So, honestly, the only advantage Fell has over that is the flexibility to play it as a land instead.

Blasphemous EdictBlasphemous Edict

A contemporary take on another classic spell, Blasphemous ActBlasphemous Act, this one functions quite differently. Act got cheaper for each creature on the board, but Edict costs a single black mana if there are 13 or more creatures in play. That's quite a downside already, short of some unwitting token player. While Act blows up all creatures, Edict is restricted to, again, 13.

However, the one thing Edict has over Act is that everyone sacrifices creatures, getting around indestructible. We could play both, but it might be easier to cast Edict for the full five mana.

Monument to EnduranceMonument to Endurance

Now this is nuts with Sauron, the Dark LordSauron, the Dark Lord! We're almost guaranteed to choose all three modes when the Ring tempts you ability goes off. We'd ramp, get an additional card on top of the four cards we draw, and we hit each opponent for three.

The catch is that the Ring tempts you mechanic is restricted to one set, and we're barred from two of the colors, so we're likely to run as many as we can.

Mindless ConscriptionMindless Conscription

I noticed that our commander helms quite a few Zombie decks, perhaps off the back of the amass mechanic (since most of them have us make Zombie Army tokens. Thanks, War of the Spark!). While he can do some work at the helm of one, I'm not sure that's what we should be going for.

Anyway, this enchantment triggers when it enters, and when we draw our third card each turn. Again, the Ring tempts you ability will automatically activate this, but I'm sure there's also more consistent ways of getting here. One of the mechanic's abilities is to draw one and discard one when the Ring-bearer attacks. That's our second draw right there. Just one more, and this can be done on each of our turns.

Bonus Section: Changelings!

Did you know that Sauron, the Dark LordSauron, the Dark Lord can also be used as a Changelings deck? Since changeling encompasses all types, this includes Army, so we can actually amass on them, making them huge!

With that, I bring our attention to a recent set in Lorwyn Eclipsed. Not many changelings were released that fit into our colors, but it's certainly not zero.

The best of the bunch is Omni-ChangelingOmni-Changeling, which clones a creature in play, and still retains changeling. Meanwhile, Mischievous SneaklingMischievous Sneakling can be cast on someone else's turn, so we can keep amassing it until it gets around to our turn, where we can attack with it. Sizzling ChangelingSizzling Changeling sets aside a card for us to cast for a limited time when it dies.

From that same set, we also get Stalactite DaggerStalactite Dagger, which grants the equipped creature changeling. We can equip it onto Sauron, and amass him instead! Meanwhile, Changeling WayfinderChangeling Wayfinder is tragically not ramp, but it does give us a land drop while Rooftop PercherRooftop Percher helps hose someone else's graveyard.

Lastly, Firdoch CoreFirdoch Core is a mana rock that can become a creature temporarily, so we can amass counters, then attack with it.

The End of Mordor

That about covers it for Sauron, the Dark LordSauron, the Dark Lord, but he certainly won't be the last commander from Universes Beyond we'll cover. What cards have you added to your Sauron decks recently? Let us know in the comments.