(Flame of AnorFlame of Anor | Art by Yigit Koroglu)

The Ring is Mine!The Ring is Mine!

Hey, everyone! Final Fantasy has been out for a couple of weeks now, and I hope you all are enjoying the set, whether it's by jamming with precons or by slotting your favorite cards from the set into your existing decks. It's the latest in a growing line of Universes Beyond (UB) products, the banner under which Wizards of the Coast releases Magic cards set in the universes of other IPs. In honor of FIN's release, I want to look back at the last big UB release, a set that made a pretty big splash in Commander: The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth (LTR). Here are the top 10 most played cards from this set in EDH!

10. Flowering of the White TreeFlowering of the White Tree - 130,079 decks

LTR as a set was very good to the legends matter theme in EDH. Number 10 is a great example of this: Flowering of the White TreeFlowering of the White Tree is a two-mana Glorious AnthemGlorious Anthem whose legendary drawback doesn't matter in the format. What does matter is how it buffs your whole team on top of giving legends an extra point of power and ward 1! That's so much value in a cheap card, making this a very strong inclusion in Legends decks helmed by popular commanders Aragorn, the UniterAragorn, the Uniter, Jodah, the UnifierJodah, the Unifier, or Dihada, Binder of WillsDihada, Binder of Wills.

And, because the card is so cheap and powerful, you can still slot it right into Humans and other go-wide kindred decks, including Soldiers, Faeries, and even decks built around Kudo, King Among BearsKudo, King Among Bears that aim to make your 2/2s better than opponents' 2/2s.

9. Rising of the DayRising of the Day - 148,904 decks

This pump enchantment is more expensive than Flowering, but it also offers better upside in a lot of situations: haste! Three mana is about the going rate for a permanent that grants only your stuff haste. Hammer of PurphorosHammer of Purphoros, Rhythm of the WildRhythm of the Wild, and Fires of YavimayaFires of Yavimaya all offer their own upside while being harder to cast. There's always Mass HysteriaMass Hysteria, if you're brave!

Rising is an especially powerful inclusion in Krenko, Mob BossKrenko, Mob Boss, where it can net you a ton of hasty damage with Goblin tokens, even when you're not assembling this lethal infinite combo:

There are more ways to go infinite with this enchantment that you can read about over at Commander Spellbook.

8. Lotho, Corrupt ShirriffLotho, Corrupt Shirriff - 177,923 decks, 1,528 as commander

There are a ton of legends in this set, but Lotho is the only creature that has cracked the top 10 most played cards. Creatures like Aragorn and the various incarnations of Frodo, Sam, Sauron, and more are certainly powerful, but this set also introduced a ton of potent nonlegendary creatures and noncreature permanents to the format.

Anyway, as a commander, Lotho is not incredibly popular, but he's still an interesting option for a Treasure-sacrifice Orzhov () deck that looks to generate a bunch of material with Monologue TaxMonologue Tax, Revel in RichesRevel in Riches, and Academy ManufactorAcademy Manufactor, among others, then drain your opponents to death with Marionette MasterMarionette Master, Nadier's NightbladeNadier's Nightblade, and more.

In the 99, Lotho is pretty flexible as a cheap creature that can generate multiple Treasure tokens in a turn cycle, allowing you to cast more spells and do things like turn them into 3/3s with Vihaan, GoldwakerVihaan, Goldwaker or draw extra cards with Marneus CalgarMarneus Calgar.

7. Entish RestorationEntish Restoration - 190,470 decks

This instant provides redundancy alongside Roiling RegrowthRoiling Regrowth and HarrowHarrow in a Landfall theme deck. The upside of getting a third land can also be relevant because Landfall likes to play big creatures alongside thicc commanders, like Omnath, Locus of CreationOmnath, Locus of Creation (who goes absolutely bonkers when you can trigger them fully even on your opponents' turns), Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre StraitAesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait, and The NecrobloomThe Necrobloom.

And, as Omnath shows, you definitely shouldn't sleep on this being an instant that lets you trigger Landfall on opposing turns.

6. Minas TirithMinas Tirith - 208,646 decks

Magic's representation of one of the Two Towers is such a powerful card in a creature-oriented deck that really doesn't ask too much of you. Even if you're not playing mono-white, having ways to draw extra cards that don't take up spell slots can be crucial, especially when your main gameplan involves attacking and you don't have too much room for card advantage shenanigans. According to EDHREC data, you'll see this card pop-up in a mix of creature decks, from mono-white kindred builds with Myrel, Shield of ArgiveMyrel, Shield of Argive or Giada, Font of HopeGiada, Font of Hope to the aforementioned Aragorn and multicolor Humans led by Éowyn, ShieldmaidenÉowyn, Shieldmaiden.

5. Mithril CoatMithril Coat - 280,706 decks

The combination of having flash, granting indestructible, and auto-attaching to a legend makes this the perfect protection card in strategies that lean heavily on commanders. Kaalia of the VastKaalia of the Vast immediately comes to mind, as a deck built around this commander will often be built to power her out and hope she lives long enough to put a bunch of expensive creatures into play ahead of schedule. Without her, the deck can function like a clunky ramp deck. Enter the Coat to help make sure she gets more than one hit in, especially in draws where you don't have the Lightning GreavesLightning Greaves or Swiftfoot BootsSwiftfoot Boots. Even when you're not keeping up an extra three mana to play Kaalia and Coat on the same turn, which sounds pretty clunky, suiting her up with this also lets you ignore blockers that would otherwise delete her in combat.

There are a lot of other commanders that want to get into combat and survive, including Anzrag, the Quake-MoleAnzrag, the Quake-Mole and Obeka, Splitter of SecondsObeka, Splitter of Seconds. Others don't need to brawl but do like sticking around and accumulating value, like Aragorn and Jodah.

4. Orcish BowmastersOrcish Bowmasters - 284,429 decks

Bowmasters has an illustrious history of dominating Constructed formats at certain times throughout its tenure in Magic. In EDH, it also boasts several combos, including this popular two-card kill in mono-black:

It also threatens to get out of hand pretty quickly in a regular game of EDH, because players love drawing cards. Even when you're not taking advantage of the synergy between this and various cards that key off pinging the opponents, you can pick off opposing utility creatures and amass quite an army, all for just two mana and at instant speed. When you are putting together synergies, you get stuff like triggering Ob Nixilis, Captive KingpinOb Nixilis, Captive Kingpin or Valgavoth, Harrower of SoulsValgavoth, Harrower of Souls pretty easily. Orcish BowmastersOrcish Bowmasters is also a punishing addition to Nekusar, the MindrazerNekusar, the Mindrazer.

It can truly be a game changer, even when you're not applying the bracket system to your play groups.

3. Mirkwood BatsMirkwood Bats - 313,905 decks

Another black combo card, Mirkwood BatsMirkwood Bats can win you the game as long as you have the highest life total:

Even if you aren't looking to assemble a one-hit-KO, Bats still works well in the sacrifice theme that can be so prevalent in black EDH decks. Under Lotho, I talked about the Orzhov token sacrifice deck. This is one of the best payoffs for that because it drains each opponent, is cheaper than Marionette MasterMarionette Master, and is easier to cast than Mayhem DevilMayhem Devil. Of course, you're going to just be playing all three, plus more redundant effects, in decks that are all-in on sacrificing tokens.

As for sacrifice outlets, artifact tokens like Clues, Treasures, and Food take care of themselves, but there are also mass sacrifice outlets available, like Krark-Clan IronworksKrark-Clan Ironworks and, to an extent, Breya, Etherium ShaperBreya, Etherium Shaper, while Ashnod's AltarAshnod's Altar and Viscera SeerViscera Seer are among the most efficient creature (and thus creature token) sac outlets.

2. Delighted HalflingDelighted Halfling - 348,939 decks

Mana creatures that cost just one mana are basically moxenmoxen that are legal in EDH, so it's no surprise how much play Delighted HalflingDelighted Halfling sees. Its ability making legendary spells uncounterable and fixing mana for them can also matter a lot in this format, where a lot of decks do play counterspells. All you have to do to understand how important mana generators are to green decks is check out my list on the most played mono-green cards in the format.

1. The One RingThe One Ring - 524,474 decks

It's so wonderfully fitting that The One Ring is the most played card from LTR from a flavor standpoint. Mechanically, too, as a colorless artifact that draws cards and keeps you from dying sounds like the text on a card a control player invented in their sleep. It's probably too good at its job, hence it going on the list of Game Changers. Check out where it ranked on Michael Celani's list of best ETBs in the format.

The ability that gives you protection from everything is so good partly because you can recur it with effects like Displacer KittenDisplacer Kitten and Hullbreaker HorrorHullbreaker Horror, which also give you the added bonus of taking less damage from the card draw effect, though, because it's EDH with a higher life total, you might not even be too bothered taking damage, because drawing a ton of cards is bound to help you win the game one way or another.

Keep it secret, and keep it safe!Keep it secret, and keep it safe!

That's it for LTR! I know many people aren't fans of UB cards for several reasons. Marvel and Final Fantasy do seem a bit far out to me, but I like the concept in general. Lord of the Rings was the best execution of using another IP to me, because the cards are pretty faithful both to Magic mechanically and LOTR in terms of flavor. It'll be interesting to see how well-loved FIN is a year or so down the line. Let me know in the comments what your favorite UB card or LTR card is!