CommanderTestLabor DE
Price
€491.23of €500.00
Overall win rate
18%43 wins in 241 scored games
Games
260 (19)played in 26 tournaments, 19 not scored (time limit)
Rank
40in the rankings up to €500 · Elo 1437 (start 1500)
Cards
100incl. commander · 36 lands, 14 of them basic
Game Changer
3of at most 3 allowed
Combos
1complete in the deck
Rules check
Passed100 cards, colors, banlist

At most €500 including the commander. If prices rise above that, the shopping list is rebuilt automatically.

grey: role in the deckGame Changer counts for the bracketCombo part of a comboAI can't play replaced in tournamentsAI limited played weakly by the AI

Commander (1)

Creatures (19)

Instants (10)

Sorceries (12)

Artifacts (14)

Enchantments (8)

Lands (36)

Sauron, the Dark Lord
Card image: © Wizards of the Coast, via Scryfall

Combos in the deck (1)

Detected from the decklist (Commander Spellbook): theoretically possible, see Spellbook for requirements. Whether a combo actually came together in games is shown above under “What the games show”.

  • Fall of Cair Andros + Blasphemous Act → Infinite +1/+1 counters on a creature, Near-infinite damage to creatures

Adjusted for the Forge AI

The list above is the best tested version, the way you would play it in real games. The Forge AI can't play a few cards – they were replaced in the tournament (the deck builder also rearranges other slots within the budget). The win rate comes from games with these replacements; the original cards themselves were not tested by the AI.

In the list (original cards)
  • Dimir Signet: AI can't play it
  • Faithless Looting: AI can't play it
  • Swan Song: AI can't play it
  • Toxic Deluge: AI can't play it
Played instead in the tournament
  • Archfiend of Ifnir: replacement
  • Black Market Connections: replacement
  • Foray of Orcs: replacement
  • Spiteful Banditry: replacement

What the games show

From 241 analysed games in 26 tournaments (tournament lists as played by Forge). Games that hit the time limit don't count, just like in the rankings. Values in brackets: average of all decks in the same price class. “logged”: recorded in the game log. “indication”: recurring pattern, but no proof of cause and effect.

Play style: wins through combat – 88% of the damage to opponents is combat damage

Strengths

  • Shrugs off removal: 20% wins when opponents cast 5+ removal spells, 0% with at most one (all-deck avg: 22% vs 29%) indication (122 / 15 games)

Weaknesses

  • Depends on its commander: only 0% wins without it, 23% with it indication (55 games without, 186 with commander)
  • Often eliminated first: in 37% of games (all-deck avg: 25%) logged (90 of 241 games)
  • Attacks often get blocked: 22% of attackers blocked (all-deck avg: 16%) logged (1726 attackers in 241 games)
  • Slow to win: wins on average only on its 12th own turn (all-deck avg: 11th) logged (43 wins)

Damage per game all games

Total damage to opponents ÷ all 241 games – what the card contributes over the whole test

  1. Orc Army Token avg 9.2hit in 135 of 241 games
  2. Sauron, the Dark Lord avg 6.0hit in 104 of 241 games
  3. The Great Goblin avg 2.0hit in 35 of 241 games

Damage when used when it hits

Total damage ÷ games in which the card dealt damage – its strength when used

  1. Orc Army Token avg 16.5hit in 135 of 241 games
  2. Sauron, the Dark Lord avg 13.9hit in 104 of 241 games
  3. The Great Goblin avg 13.7hit in 35 of 241 games

Top finishers eliminates opponents

Cards that most often knocked an opposing commander out of the game

  1. Orc Army Token 50×241 games in deck
  2. Sauron, the Dark Lord 20×241 games in deck
  3. The Great Goblin 10×241 games in deck

Best interaction answers threats

Opposing cards destroyed, exiled, bounced or countered when this card resolved (tokens excluded)

  1. Sauron, the Dark Lord 208×avg 0.9 per game · 241 games in deck
  2. One Ring to Rule Them All 95×avg 0.4 per game · 241 games in deck
  3. Living Death 68×avg 0.3 per game · 241 games in deck

Biggest walls blocks the most

Opposing cards that blocked this deck's attackers most often – 22% of 1726 attackers blocked in total, 10% of those by flyers or reach

  1. Zombie Token 10×blocked in 4 games
  2. Soldier Token 9×blocked in 5 games
  3. Sam, Loyal Attendant 6×blocked in 5 games

Rarely cast candidates to cut

Cards in this list that were cast least often in their games – often too expensive or too slow (lands excluded)

  1. My Precious // Allure of Power 0%cast in 0 of 241 games
  2. Sauron's Ransom 0%cast in 0 of 241 games
  3. Orcish Medicine 0%cast in 1 of 241 games

Wins by turn speed

On which own turn the 43 wins came

  • by turn 70%
  • turns 8–97%
  • turns 10–1142%
  • turns 12–1326%
  • turn 14+26%

Combos in play logged Fall of Cair Andros + Blasphemous Act: all pieces cast in 9 games, 3 won

Mana curve without lands

Average 3.05

0
9
1
19
2
18
3
7
4
6
5
6
4
7+

Roles in the deck

Ramp
11 / 9
Card draw
8 / 6
Removal
11 / 10
Board wipe
3 / 3
Protection
3 / 3
Strategy
27 cards no target

Count / target from the EDHREC average deck (the line), red means clearly below. Strategy: the remaining cards without one of these roles, such as the creatures and effects the deck is built around. 63 non-land cards in total.

Card types

Creatures
19
Instants
10
Sorceries
12
Artifacts
14
Enchantments
8
Lands
36

Most expensive cards

Mana Drain
€44.28
Rhystic Study
€36.66
Orcish Bowmasters
€35.30
Morphic Pool
€28.83
Scalding Tarn
€28.11
Warg Rider
€25.78
Nazgûl
€20.25
Polluted Delta
€19.12

What the program has learned

Each tournament the deck tests one card. A verdict needs at least 40 games with and without the card. Since the deck is rebuilt every tournament with current prices and data, tested cards can drop out again later.

  • no clear difference Thrill of Possibility instead of Birthday Escape · win rate 21% with, 17% without (56 / 185 games)
  • no clear difference Sauron, the Necromancer instead of Foray of Orcs · win rate 21% with, 17% without (57 / 184 games) · from an earlier version, not in the deck now
  • no clear difference Black Market Connections instead of Inherited Envelope · win rate 17% with, 19% without (168 / 73 games)

6 more tested cards are still collecting games.

Shopping list for Cardmarket

Copy the list, create a new list under “Wants” on Cardmarket and paste it.

Total €491.23 Cardmarket average as of Oct 27, 2026

Open Cardmarket Wants

Prices without shipping. Individual cards may have become cheaper or more expensive on Cardmarket.

Placement in every tournament

Oldest on the left. Green: top 3, blue: top 10.

3255232253203062282755524143414636434247413648381849

Best place 18 · average place 39.5 · 0× top 3 · 0× top 10 out of 26 tournaments

Played by the Forge AI, four players per game. An average deck wins 25%. How are decks tested?