Corsairs of Umbar
Creature — Human Pirate
: Target Goblin, Orc, or Pirate can't be blocked this turn.
Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, amass Orcs 3. (Put three +1/+1 counters on an Army you control. It's also an Orc. If you don't control an Army, create a 0/0 black Orc Army creature token first.)
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Tales of Middle-earth Commander
- Price
- $0.30
- EDHREC rank
- #6231
Corsairs of Umbar enters the battlefield and immediately puts a -1/-1 counter on a creature an opponent controls — relevant interaction stapled to a body, no extra mana required. The cost is a five-mana 3/3 with no evasion, which is below rate everywhere except decks that specifically want the amass trigger or the Ring temptation rider.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Saruman, the White Hand
Saruman, the White Hand cares about casting noncreature spells to amass Orcs, and Corsairs of Umbar's Ring temptation trigger feeds directly into that — you're building the Orc Army and progressing the Ring simultaneously off a single play.
Sauron, the Dark Lord
Sauron, the Dark Lord rewards you for amassing and for the Ring tempting you, making Corsairs of Umbar a clean two-for-one that advances both axes of the engine on a single cast.
Sauron, Lord of the Rings
Sauron, Lord of the Rings leans on the Ring temptation payoffs, and Corsairs of Umbar is one of the cheaper ways to trigger it while also deploying a body and removing a small blocker.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Corsairs of Umbar is legal in Commander, Legacy, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but its real home is Commander — specifically the Lord of the Rings tribal and Ring-temptation builds where the enter-the-battlefield trigger and amass rider are worth something. In Legacy and Vintage, a five-mana 3/3 with a minor ETB effect has no competitive footing; those formats ignore it entirely. In Commander, Corsairs of Umbar is a role-player in exactly the decks that want it and a filler card in everything else.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.30 bulk tier
At $0.30, Corsairs of Umbar is bulk — easy to acquire and easy to cut without regret. Bulk rares from Lord of the Rings rarely recover value unless a combo or staple designation materializes, and nothing on the horizon points there for this card.
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Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.