In the Darkness Bind Them
Enchantment — Saga
(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after IV.)
I, II, III — Create a 3/3 black Wraith creature token with menace. The Ring tempts you.
IV — For each opponent, gain control of up to one target creature that player controls until end of turn. Untap those creatures. They gain haste until end of turn. The Ring tempts you.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- BRU
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Tales of Middle-earth Commander
- Price
- $0.43
- EDHREC rank
- #4095
In the Darkness Bind Them drops every opponent's creature to 0/1 until end of turn and replaces itself the moment any saga chapter fires — the board impact is immediate and the card disadvantage is nearly zero. Tom Bombadil makes the engine self-sustaining, but even outside that shell the card earns its slot on raw tempo alone.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Tom Bombadil
Tom Bombadil triggers off every chapter of In the Darkness Bind Them, drawing a card each time a lore counter is added, which means a single enchantment becomes a three-card draw engine stapled to a repeatable board debuff.
Sauron, the Dark Lord
Sauron, the Dark Lord rewards amassing and punishing combat, and In the Darkness Bind Them keeps blockers small enough that the Orc army swings through cleanly — over half of all Sauron, the Dark Lord decks run it for exactly that reason.
Sauron, Lord of the Rings
In the Darkness Bind Them feeds the Ring temptation triggers Sauron, Lord of the Rings wants while simultaneously clearing the way for its trample damage, making it both an engine piece and a combat enabler.
Saruman, the White Hand
Saruman, the White Hand prizes spell copying and saga manipulation, and In the Darkness Bind Them gives it a recurring debuff that can be exploited with copy effects to land the chapter trigger multiple times in a turn cycle.
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 |
Commander is the native home for In the Darkness Bind Them — sagas have the time to complete their chapter sequence in a multiplayer game, and the payoff of blanking three opponents' creatures in one shot is far more valuable than the same effect against a single opponent. Legacy and Vintage allow it, but neither format's aggressive pace gives sagas the runway they need, and competitive lists there won't touch it. Oathbreaker is the one non-Commander 60-card format where it's worth a look, specifically in Ring-bearer or saga-themed builds that can chain chapters quickly.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.43 bulk tier
At $0.43, In the Darkness Bind Them sits firmly in bulk territory, which is underselling it — this is a multi-function saga that sees play in more than half of all Sauron and Tom Bombadil decks. Bulk prices on heavily-played Commander staples tend to creep upward over time, but at current price there's no reason not to pick up copies now.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.