Summons of Saruman card art

Summons of Saruman

Sorcery MV 2

Tracked across real Commander games played through TurnZero HQ.

What it does

Amass Orcs X. Mill X cards. You may cast an instant or sorcery spell with mana value X or less from among them without paying its mana cost. (To amass Orcs X, put X +1/+1 counters on an Army you control. It's also an Orc. If you don't control an Army, create a 0/0 black Orc Army creature token first.)

Flashback—3, Exile X cards from your graveyard.

Rulings

10 official rulings, in the order Wizards published them.

  • 2023-06-16

    If you want to cast one of the milled cards, you cast it as part of the resolution of Summons of Saruman. You can't wait to cast the spell later in the turn. Timing permissions based on the card's type are ignored.

  • 2023-06-16

    To amass Orcs N, if you don't control an Army creature, create a 0/0 black Orc Army creature token. Then you choose an Army creature you control and put N +1/+1 counters on it. If that Army isn't already an Orc, it becomes an Orc in addition to its other types.

  • 2023-06-16

    Some cards refer to the "amassed Army." That means the Army creature you chose to receive counters, even if no counters were placed on it for some reason.

  • 2023-06-16

    If you don't control an Army, the Orc Army token you create enters the battlefield as a 0/0 creature before receiving counters. Any abilities that trigger when a creature with a certain power enters the battlefield, such as that of Mentor of the Meek, will see the token enter as a 0/0 creature before it gets +1/+1 counters.

  • 2023-06-16

    In the rare case that you control multiple Army creatures (perhaps because you played a creature with changeling) while you amass Orcs, you choose which of your Army creatures to put the +1/+1 counters on. If that creature isn't an Orc, it becomes an Orc in addition to its other types.

  • 2023-06-16

    Amass Zombies works the same way, except you create a 0/0 black Zombie Army creature token if you don't control an Army. If the Army creature you chose isn't already a Zombie, it becomes a Zombie in addition to its other types. By combining cards with amass Orcs and amass Zombies, you can end up with an Orc Zombie Army.

  • 2023-06-16

    Amass abilities are now written as "amass [subtype] N." Previous cards with amass have received errata to say "amass Zombies N."

  • 2023-06-16

    If you cast a spell "without paying its mana cost", you can't choose to cast it for any alternative costs. You can, however, pay additional costs, such as kicker costs. If the card has any mandatory additional costs, those must be paid to cast the spell.

  • 2023-06-16

    Some spells and abilities that amass Orcs may require targets. If each target chosen is an illegal target as that spell or ability tries to resolve, it won't resolve. You won't amass Orcs.

  • 2023-06-16

    If the spell has X in its mana cost, you must choose 0 as the value of X.

Rulings are Wizards of the Coast's own, mirrored from Scryfall and refreshed nightly.

In the 99

Every deck whose current list includes Summons of Saruman, whatever its commander.

Decks running it 1
Games played 0
Win rate — Fewer than 5 completed games, which is not enough to publish a rate yet.
Confirmed on board 0 Games where a board photo caught it actually in play.

Most played under

Commander Decks Games Win rate
Sauron, Lord of the Rings 1 0 —

Colors it shows up in

  • Grixis 1 deck

Every version of Summons of Saruman

3 printings, newest first. Prices are the market figures Scryfall publishes, refreshed nightly. A printing with no figure shows a dash rather than a zero, because Scryfall publishes none for some of them.

Prices from Scryfall, which tracks the TCGplayer and Cardmarket markets. They move daily and are a guide rather than a quote. Search TCGplayer for Summons of Saruman. It runs a name search across every version, which covers the printings TCGplayer publishes no direct link to.

Aggregated from Commander games tracked in TurnZero HQ. Every figure counts decks and games only. No individual deck list, player or playgroup is identified. Win rates are withheld below 5 completed games, where the sample is too small to mean anything.