Precon Upgrade Guide
The Hosts of Mordor Upgrade Guide
What to cut, what to add, and how to play the Grixis Orc Army precon from Tales of Middle-earth, commanded by Sauron, Lord of the Rings.
The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth
The Hosts of Mordor
Amass one enormous Army: simple and effective. Out of the box, before any upgrades. How we rate precons
Buy The Hosts of Mordor on TCGplayer →Quick verdict
The Hosts of Mordor is a powerful deck built around one enormous turn. Casting Sauron, Lord of the Rings amasses Orcs 5, mills five cards and returns a creature from your graveyard, all before the 9/9 trampler itself resolves. The rest of the deck amasses Orcs with spells and plays strong creatures to reanimate. Its main weakness is getting to eight mana, since it has few ways to ramp past four, along with a handful of cards that only work in specific matchups.
TurnZero HQ rates The Hosts of Mordor a 2 out of 5 on difficulty and a 4 out of 5 on power, as it comes in the box. That is our editorial read, not an official Wizards rating. The full hundred cards are on the The Hosts of Mordor decklist page, and every other precon we cover is on the precon directory.
How the precon plays
Sauron, Lord of the Rings costs eight. When you cast him, before he resolves, you amass Orcs 5, mill five cards, and return a creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield. He is a 9/9 with trample, and the Ring tempts you whenever an opponent's commander dies. Because the bonus happens on cast, you get it even if Sauron is countered, and again every time you recast him from the command zone.
Until then, Saruman, the White Hand does the work. Each noncreature spell you cast amasses Orcs equal to its mana value, and your Orcs and Goblins have ward {2}. Lord of the Nazgûl makes a 3/3 Wraith with menace on every instant or sorcery, and cards like Fact or Fiction , Forbidden Alchemy and Faithless Looting feed both of them while putting creatures in the graveyard for Sauron to return.
The reanimation targets are the deck's best creatures. Inferno Titan deals 3 damage every time it enters or attacks, The Balrog of Moria exiles a creature from each opponent when it dies, and Hostage Taker steals a creature or artifact. Reanimate , Extract from Darkness and Living Death give the deck ways to return them before Sauron arrives.
What works out of the box
Sauron, Lord of the Rings ↗
Amass Orcs 5, mill five, and a free reanimation just for casting him, then a 9/9 trampler. Even a countered Sauron leaves most of the value behind.
Saruman, the White Hand ↗
Every noncreature spell amasses Orcs equal to its mana value, and Orcs get ward {2}. He turns the deck's card draw into a growing Army.
Lord of the Nazgûl ↗
Each instant or sorcery makes a 3/3 Wraith with menace. A few spells in a row build a real board.
Hostage Taker ↗
Exiles an opponent's creature or artifact and lets you cast it with any mana. It is removal and a threat in one card.
Inferno Titan ↗
Deals 3 damage split however you like each time it enters or attacks. One of the best creatures for Sauron to return.
The Balrog of Moria ↗
An 8/8 with haste and trample that exiles a creature from each opponent when it dies. Cycling it makes two Treasures and puts it in the graveyard to reanimate.
What needs improvement
Sauron costs eight, and the deck has only a few rocks that make more than one mana. Sol Ring , Basalt Monolith and Worn Powerstone help, but the two-mana rocks that fix colors are mostly missing, and the deck has several three-color cards that want all of blue, black and red early.
A few cards depend on what opponents are doing. Cavern-Hoard Dragon costs nine unless an opponent controls artifacts, and Treasure Nabber does nothing unless an opponent taps an artifact for mana. Subjugate the Hobbits is seven mana and only takes creatures with mana value 3 or less. See how much ramp a Commander deck needs for a target count.
Upgrade ideas
Each upgrade below starts from something the deck does poorly and says what a replacement card has to do. The cards named are examples, not the only answer: if you own something else that does the same job, or a newer printing does it better, it goes in the same slot. Make one change at a time and play a few games between them, so you can tell which change helped. The general method is in how to upgrade a Commander precon →
1. Ramp toward eight mana
Every turn earlier that Sauron comes down is a turn earlier his cast trigger refills the board. The deck needs more rocks that make colored mana on turn two or big chunks of mana on turn four.
What to look for Two-mana rocks that make two of the deck's colors, or rocks that make three or more mana for four or less.
Cut, for example
Shiny Impetus Goads an opponent's creature and makes a Treasure when it attacks. It is slow ramp that depends on another player's board.
Treason of Isengard Puts a spell back on top of your library and amasses 2. Three mana to effectively redraw a card is a weak trade.
Add, for example
Talisman of Dominance ↗
Two mana for a rock that makes blue or black. It fixes the deck's most common pair on turn two.
Talisman of Indulgence ↗
Two mana for black or red, with the same 1 damage cost for colored mana.
Thran Dynamo ↗
Four mana for a rock that adds three colorless. On turn five it puts Sauron one land away.
2. Reanimate before Sauron arrives
Sauron's mill and the deck's looting put strong creatures in the graveyard early. Cheap reanimation turns those into a threat on turn three or four instead of waiting for the eight-drop.
What to look for Reanimation that costs three mana or less and returns any creature card.
Cut, for example
Cavern-Hoard Dragon Nine mana minus the number of artifacts one opponent controls. Against decks with few artifacts it is too expensive to cast.
Subjugate the Hobbits Seven mana to steal only creatures with mana value 3 or less. In most games that is a few small creatures at most.
Add, for example
Animate Dead ↗
Two mana to put any creature card from any graveyard onto the battlefield. An early Inferno Titan or Balrog usually wins the table's attention.
Necromancy ↗
Three-mana reanimation for a creature in any graveyard. It can also be cast at instant speed, though a creature returned that way is sacrificed at the end of the turn.
3. Protect Sauron
Sauron is the deck's biggest investment, and each time he is removed he costs two more. Hexproof or shroud keeps him on the battlefield to attack.
What to look for Cheap Equipment that gives hexproof or shroud and haste.
Cut, for example
Treasure Nabber Only steals artifacts that opponents tap for mana, which many decks barely do. It is often a 3/2 that does nothing.
4. Untap the mana base
A three-color deck with an eight-mana commander needs every land to make colored mana on time. Lands that enter tapped or make only colorless slow both the early spells and the turn Sauron comes down.
What to look for Two-color lands in blue-black, black-red or blue-red that enter untapped most of the time.
Cut, for example
Crumbling Necropolis Always enters tapped. Three colors is nice, but untapped duals do the job better.
Field of Ruin Colorless, and destroying an opponent's land gives every player a basic.
Desolate Lighthouse Colorless unless you spend three mana to loot. The deck already has plenty of card filtering.
Win conditions
The deck wins with big creatures and a large Orc Army. Spells grow the Army through Saruman, the White Hand and make Wraiths through Lord of the Nazgûl , cheap reanimation puts Inferno Titan or The Balrog of Moria out early, and Sauron, Lord of the Rings arrives with five more counters for the Army and another reanimated creature. Trample on Sauron and menace on the Wraiths get the damage through.
Who should buy this precon
A strong choice for a newer player who wants a powerful deck with a clear plan. You ramp, play big creatures, and cast Sauron, and his cast trigger does most of the work for you. The deck is among the stronger precons in power, so at a casual table expect to be the player others watch. Players who like small, fiddly interactions will find less to do here.
Checked against the printed decklist on October 10, 2026.
Track how the upgrades actually perform.
TurnZero HQ keeps a win rate per deck version, so you can change a few cards, play some games, and see the difference instead of guessing.
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