(Legolas, Master Archer | Campbell White)

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I Eat Punks Like You For Second Breakfast

Hello, everyone! It’s your friendly neighborhood Jesguy here, and welcome to the Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Green Set Review!

Before we start, I want to level with you all: I'm a pretty casual Lord of the Rings fan. I don't know a whole lot about Middle-earth outside of what I saw in the movies, even though I have been researching a lot of Youtube videos in order to be more informed during the lead-up to this set. There are probably going to be a ton of references or flavor gems I will miss, so if you have any interesting trivia or facts you'd like to elucidate, please feel free to share them in the comments once you're done with the article!

Before we jump to whatever juicy J.R.R. Tolkien information you have for me, though, we can't forget why you've come here! Let's begin our long, Harrowing journey there and back again, and luckily for both of us, I have the perfect guide to help us along...

Legends

Radagast the Brown

...Radagast the Brown, best friend of Volo, Itinerant Scholar!

Radagast the Brown being stuck to mono-green seems like a disadvantage when compared to both other Volos, as they often lead multicolor decks, but I don't think that hurts him all too much! We all know how powerful green has become over the last few years, so filling a deck with powerful, diverse types of creatures won't be difficult whatsoever. We might be losing out on a color, but we gain the ability to have our creatures chain into one another near endlessly if we build the deck correctly. As loathe as I am to say it, you don't lose a lot in terms of creature potency when you cut blue out of the equation.

While I doubt Radagast the Brown will hit Volo, Guide to Monsters' impressive 6,700 decks, I wouldn't be surprised if he became a popular mono-green commander. People seem to love crafting decks that have low creature type redundancy, and frankly, I like Radagast the Brown's reward for jumping through this hoop better than Volo, Guide to Monsters. Creature-based decks will never turn down consistent card advantage, and at the head of his own deck, Radagast the Brown provides that in spades.

Elanor Gardner

Samwise Gamgee's daughter is here, and she comes to us from this set's JumpStart product...I think? This is all very confusing. I just want cards from different products to have different set symbols, please.

Light complaining aside, Elanor is a sweet little card. She's a tad under rate and will have difficulty helming her own deck, but (like a lot of cards I'll be talking about), she is right at home in the Abzan Food precon as well as other Food-centric decks. Whether you sac a Food to gain life, or to effects like Gilded Goose, Elanor will still Rampant Growth for you at the end of your turn.

Elanor Gardner joins a whole host of Hobbits that are excellent in the 99, but aren't suited to lead them. In those decks she performs excellently, netting you a bunch of free value.

Galadriel, Gift-Giver

Galadriel, Gift-Giver is from the Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth starter decks, and you can tell, because she certainly reads like a starter deck card.

She isn't bad, per se, but she is fairly underwhelming. Modal spells are nice, especially when they trigger on both entering the battlefield and attacking, but the effects here are pretty small-ball. She could potentially find a home in Token or Treasure decks, but more importantly, I think she falls flat in her potential to lead a deck herself.

Luckily, Galadriel's two other versions make up for this one's lackluster presentation, so it isn't a massive letdown. She'll have a few homes, but I wish she was a bit splashier.

Legolas, Master Archer

I know Legolas is quite the Heroic Elf, but it being this on-the-nose is silly. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

I wish I could say that Legolas, Master Archer is an interesting style of legend for mono-green decks that lets you play more of a Heroic-style build, but that would be ignoring the Hydra in the room. If I were looking to build a deck around a commander that wanted me to target creatures and remove pesky problems, I would certainly opt for Gargos over Legolas.

Legolas needs time to build up, and he has to split spells between himself and opposing creatures in order to get his work done. Conversely, Gargos starts out big and only needs to target your own creatures in order for him to fight things. Yes, biting is better than fighting, but it isn't so much better that I would build around a worse commander to take advantage of it. On the subject of deckbuilding, Gargos helps you fill out your creature curve with plenty of great Hydras, while Legolas has a pitiful amount of Heroic and Heroic-like creatures to include. It's downsides all around.

I try to not directly compare legends, but it is hard not to with these two. Legolas, Master Archer is flavorful, but I think he falls behind an already available option in the same color. He has the potential for +1/+1 counter synergies, but I don’t know if that is going to be enough of a reason to build him. Luckily, he has two more cards, so hopefully they will perform better that this one.

Fangorn, Tree Shepherd

Fangorn, Tree Shepherd gives us a mono-green option for Treefolk finally, and I have to say, I like it a lot!

You might not get the absolute head-knocking power of Doran, the Siege Tower, or the powerful recursion of Colfenor, the Last Yew, but what Fangorn does provide is the slow, plodding advancement of your board through mana advantage and constant attacks turn after turn.

A deck like this will need plenty of card draw to make sure it doesn't fold to a board wipe or two, as it doesn't have any natural recursion or card advantage, but I quite like this as mono-green's first foray into having a legend that supports Treefolk proper. He is excellent at the helm of a Treefolk deck, or as part of the 99 depending on what your build is. Fangorn, Tree Shepherd gets a thumbs up from me!

I am putting Glorfindel, Dauntless Rescuer and Celeborn the Wise together because they will go into the same kinds of decks: Elf decks, or scry decks. Sadly, despite these being cool characters, they are stuck with cards that are ostensibly draft chaff and won't make it into very many decks.

• Quickbeam, Upstart Ent is an excellent way to end a game in Limited, but in Commander, outside of Treefolk decks, he is sorely lacking that "oomph!" that I'm looking for. That said, a mini, repeatable Overrun is exactly what Treefolk decks want, so he is excellent there!
• Meriadoc Brandybuck wants to be at the head of a Halfling deck, but right now, there just aren't enough Halflings to fill out the rest of the 99. Regardless, Merry is an excellent inclusion into the Abzan Food precon where there are Halflings and Food aplenty!
• Peregrin Took is one of my favorite uncommon legends from the set. Whenever you make any kind of token he spots you an extra Food. How quaint! It isn't quite Academy Manufactor, but I am never going to complain about added value for little cost (or extra Food). Like Merry, Pippin is right at home in the Abzan Food precon, though he has additional homes in various Tokens or even Treasures decks if they are ever in need of some extra Food.

Mythics and Rares

Last March of the Ents

You took the words right out of my mouth, Matt.

Look, I'm not a green mage by trade, but even a souped-up Rishkar's Expertise will get me to feel things, okay?

Eight mana is a ton, I get it. It's a lot, but man, you get so much value from it, even though it counts your creature's toughness instead of power. With the amount of massive, chonky creatures green has, it will be incredibly hard for you to not get eight mana's worth of value out of this card. As long as a bunch of your creatures have at least four or more toughness, I'd say you're in business.

If nowhere else, Last March of the Ents fittingly has a home in Treefolk decks. I'm expecting it to see play in plenty of different lists, but it is nice for it to have a failsafe. I don't know where I'm going to be able to play it, but I can't wait for the thrill of doing so. Maybe in my Dragonlord Atarka list? Only time will tell!

Delighted Halfling

Never thought I'd see the day where Birds of Paradise stopped being the best one-mana mana dork, but here we are.

Delighted Halfling is a great little ramp spell. It's a 1/2 for one that will always put you up a mana, which is solid on its own. To top it off, it also fixes mana for your legends and makes sure they can't be countered. This is an excellent card all around, but I'm sure it will be even better in cEDH where things like Force of Will and Pact of Negation show up more often.

If you want to ramp and protect your legends from counter magic, Delighted Halfling has you covered. If Birds of Paradise inclusion rate of over 296,000 decks is anything to go by, this card is going to perform incredibly well.

Elven Chorus

WotC really started cooking when they put Elven Chorus to print, huh?

For the same mana cost as Vizier of the Menagerie, you get a harder-to-kill version that comes with a free Cryptolith Rite stapled to it? Now that is some real good value.

This is excellent in any creature-based strategy. The closer you get to having 30 or more creatures in your deck, the better Elven Chorus becomes. It isn't exactly Future Sight, but when you have the ability to cast one third of the spells in your deck off of it, it's damn close!

Fall of Gil-galad

I know Sagas are popular, but unless they're splashy, they tend to underwhelm me in EDH, and Fall of Gil-galad is no different.

Outside of dedicated Saga decks, I just don't think this does enough. Scry 2 is nice, some extra counters are cool, and the ability to fight and draw cards is a nice way to round it all out, but this is all so slow and telegraphed. Two mana is definitely a low price to pay for a bunch of small effects like this, but that's all these are: small effects.

Unless you have a dedicated build for Fall of Gil-galad, I say pass.

The Ring Goes South

Four mana is a contentious slot for green ramp spells with lots of competition. Does The Ring Goes South hold up?

Personally, I say no.

As long as you have a single creature on board, you'll be able to hit a land from the top of your deck, since once The Ring tempts you, your new Ring-bearer will become legendary. Four mana for one land is a bad rate. At two legends, you're at Explosive Vegetation range, and at three, you're seeing a real return on your investment.

You have to put a lot of work into The Ring Goes South to get an acceptable amount of value out of it in my opinion. Yes, it can hit any land, but you'll have to be lucky with what the top of you deck is going to give you in order for that to matter. Legends decks, Reki, the History of Kamigawa in particular, will like this particular ramp spell, but not many others.

Uncommons & Commons

• Brandywine Farmer is a lovely little inclusion for new Food decks. A cheap creature that provides Food when it enters and leaves is solid value, especially since it's so cheap! It honestly reminds me of Satyr Wayfinder: it's cheap, low investment, and greases your wheels nicely.
• Dúnedain Rangers is a nice way for Landfall decks to capitalize on The Ring tempts you in that style of deck, but it will only trigger when you don't already have a Ring-bearer. This can be a little clunky for sure, but it's a nice option to have access to regardless.
• Elven Farsight seems like a better version of Adventurous Impulse in my estimation, which already seems play in over 7,500 decks. Being able to stack your top three cards however you want, and then potentially drawing a creature while setting up you next turn or two seems like a slam dunk! It even has additional scrying synergies!
• Entish Restoration, like Elven Farsight above, is another improvement on an existing card, this time with EDH staple Roiling Regrowth! Roiling Regrowth sees play in over 57,000 decks, and plenty of decks would appreciate an upgrade to it that isn't just Harrow. Having a creature with at least four power isn't difficult in this type of deck, so netting three lands will be commonplace. This card is awesome, thumbs up from me!

• Generous Ent is quite similar to Orchard Strider and will be at home in the same decks. A big ol' tree that can make Food or cycle itself away for a land has a home in plenty of places, but Food, Token, and Treefolk decks especially!
• Long List of the Ents is a cute card that I really liked, so I just wanted to mention it. It isn't wild, wacky, or even that good, but it might have a home in Radagast the Brown or Volo, Guide to Monsters decks as a fun tool. It's just a clever card.
• Many Partings is a Lay of the Land upgrade that slots nicely into Food and Token decks. Not every one of those decks will be in the market for this kind of effect, but if the 3,000 decks that Lay of the Land is in is any indication, there will be homes for it.
• Revive the Shire is a nice Regrowth variant that trades hitting any card type for the additional upside of creating a Food. Most decks would much rather have Regrowth proper, but Food and Lifegain decks might be in the market for a more narrow version of it that has additional synergies.
• Stew the Coneys is another nice get for Food and Shelob, Child of Ungoliant decks. Removal that has marginal upside is always welcome, especially in decks that can take advantage of the Food. I'm unsure if it's better than Khalni Ambush, but it's definitely worth considering in specific decks.

Now That’s ENT-ertainment!

And there we have it, all the tasty treats that green has to offer us in Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth!

I know I was down on a handful of these cards, but honestly, I am absolutely elated by this set. There are so many cool designs and outright powerful cards that it has a little something for everyone! I'll be buying at least one of each precon and tuning them with cards from the set so my polycule and I can have Lord of the Rings EDH nights, and you can bet I'll be including plenty of these awesome green cards.

What about you, though? What green cards caught your eye? Any of the brand new legends that you are chomping at the bit to build around? Any cards you agree or disagree with me on? (Any Tolkien trivia? 👀) Make sure you let me know down in the comments below!

You can reach me on Twitter (@thejesguy), where you can always hit me up for Magic- or Jeskai-related shenanigans 24/7. Do you have any comments, questions, or concerns? Please don’t hesitate to leave them below or get in touch! Stay safe, wear your mask, wash your hands, and keep fighting the good fight. I support you. No justice, no peace.

Angelo Guerrera

Angelo is a Connecticut resident who started playing Magic during Return to Ravnica, and has made it his mission to play Jeskai in every format possible. Along with Commander, he loves Limited, Cube, and Modern, and will always put his trust in counterspells over creatures. He is still hurt by Sphinx's Revelation's rotation out of Standard.