Frodo (EDH / Commander)

Strategy

Take the fight to the Black Gate to attract the attention of Sauron's eye while Sam shepherds Frodo through Mordor into the heart of Mt. Doom.

Actual Strategy

Play [[Frodo, Sauron's Bane]], protect him, and use his ability to kill people. The first iteration of this deck focused on a lot of protection and unblockability for [[Frodo, Sauron's Bane]]; however, some changes have been made to make the deck a little more controlling. Typically you want to treat [[Frodo, Sauron's Bane]] like it's a 5-drop for late in the game. That way you can sit back for a while and surprise kill people once you have amassed enough resources rather than trying to get people dead as fast as possible.

Getting Tempted by the Ring

There are a number of cards in the deck that can help get the ring emblem up to its 4th level. There aren't too many other options that were left out here, since the mechanic was only present in 1 set. I had to stoop down to cards like [[Claim the Precious]]. Time will tell if there are enough cards in this category or not. I don't imagine [[Frodo, Sauron's Bane]] himself getting leveled up twice, hitting 4 times to level the ring emblem, and then finally getting 3 more hits in to kill people, so the other cards here will have to help along the way.

Protecting [[Frodo, Sauron's Bane]]

Many of the cards in this category were chosen because they can continually protect [[Frodo, Sauron's Bane]] turn after turn. However, some of them are one-shot effects. Either way, this is an important part because you don't want to sink a bunch of mana into [[Frodo, Sauron's Bane]] and then have him get killed.

Getting a Hit in

As with the section above, the cards in this category were also chosen to be repeatable. Protection is a two-sided mechanic overall. If your name is [[Frodo, Sauron's Bane]], protection helps you not be blocked and it also helps you not die.

Mana Notes

This deck uses the mono-white land deficit strategy, including [[Lotus Field]], [[Lotus Vale]], [[Orzhov Basilica]], [[Urza's Saga]], [[Silent Clearing]], and [[Strip Mine]]. These can help out [[Land Tax]], [[Weathered Wayfarer]], [[Knight of the White Orchid]], and [[Loyal Warhound]]. Unfortunately, [[Scorched Ruins]] and [[Guildless Commons]] are just too colorless for this deck because leveling up [[Frodo, Sauron's Bane]] costs so much colored mana.

Notable Cards and Interactions

• [[Access Tunnel]], [[Rogue's Passage]], [[The Black Gate]], [[Shizo, Death's Storehouse]], and [[Minas Morgul, Dark Fortress]] are lands that provide evasion.
• [[Dowsing Dagger]] is easier to flip when you are playing a deck that centers around evasion.
• [[Vesuva]] is a good inclusion when you have multiple lands that can tap for more than one mana (see above). Plus, you can find it with [[Weathered Wayfarer]].
• [[Sword of the Animist]], [[Bitterthorn, Nissa's Animus]], and [[Sword of Forge and Frontier]] are good in a deck that focuses on evasion.
• [[Land Tax]] is especially good when you are throwing away cards to level 2 of the Ring emblem.

Tutoring

• [[Weathered Wayfarer]] can search for [[Vesuva]] or [[Cabal Coffers]] to make a lot of mana, or it can search for a land that grants evasion to [[Frodo, Sauron's Bane]].
• [[Stoneforge Mystic]] has options that include ramp, card draw, evasion, and protection for [[Frodo, Sauron's Bane]].
• [[War of the Last Alliance]] levels up the ring emblem and can search for various options including [[Lotho, Corrupt Shirriff]] for ramp, [[Loran of the Third Path]] for removal, [[Boromir, Warden of the Tower]] for protection, [[Skrelv, Defector Mite]] for evasion, [[Witch-king of Angmar]] for staying alive, or [[Samwise the Stouthearted]] for value.

Maybeboard

There are some generic cards in here that are powerful, but as always I wanted to make room for more on-theme cards. These are here to remind me of them. And also there's always the question of balance: how much removal, how much evasion, how much ramp, etc.