The 25 Best Commanders In MTG LOTR Tales of Middle-earth – 4. Saruman of Many Colors

Saruman sits in some interesting design space, which in and of itself shoots him up the list. His Ward effect is surprisingly effective — we’ve seen discard ward costs can sometimes be hard to get over, and this takes that to an extreme. Starting with that protection is all well and good, but the real meat of Saruman of Many Colors is his curious, milling “Cascade” effect.

Every second spell you cast essentially cascades off of the top two cards of the rest of the table. However, note that it can choose from any of the appropriate permanent type in a graveyard, not just the cards most recently milled, so your odds of whiffing on this ability are actually fairly slim. Few cards really make you feel like a powerful Wizard, and Saruman here does the best job of replicating that feeling that I’ve seen in years.