Saruman's Trickery
Instant
Counter target spell.
Amass Orcs 1. (Put a +1/+1 counter 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
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth
- Price
- $0.45
- EDHREC rank
- #4852
Saruman's Trickery counters a spell outright and replaces itself — that's the whole pitch, and it's a good one. The amass rider is upside when you're running Saruman, the White Hand, but the card earns its slot on the counter-plus-draw line alone.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Saruman, the White Hand
Saruman, the White Hand mills opponents whenever you cast a noncreature spell, so Saruman's Trickery pulls double duty — it counters a threat and triggers that mill engine while growing your Army token.
Sauron, the Dark Lord
Sauron, the Dark Lord cares about Army tokens and amass payoffs across the board, and Saruman's Trickery slots in as cheap interaction that advances the token plan every time you use it.
Sauron, Lord of the Rings
Sauron, Lord of the Rings runs enough Ring-tempting pieces that any incidental amass from Saruman's Trickery fattens up a token that's already doing work.
Saruman of Many Colors
Saruman of Many Colors wants instants and sorceries in the graveyard or cast from the hand, and Saruman's Trickery is an efficient spell that checks both the interaction and amass boxes for that shell.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Saruman's Trickery is a clean two-mana counterspell that replaces itself — a bar that blue decks are happy to clear, especially in Tolkien-themed builds where amass is a free bonus. In Legacy and Vintage it's legal but irrelevant; both formats have access to Force of Will, Daze, and Counterspell, so a conditional two-mana counter with a negligible creature token doesn't compete. Modern is the most interesting non-Commander context — two-mana counters with card draw see real play there — but the amass clause doesn't advance any established Modern gameplan, and the competition from Spell Snare, Archmage's Charm, and similar options keeps Saruman's Trickery on the sidelines.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.45 bulk tier
At $0.45, Saruman's Trickery sits firmly in bulk territory and is unlikely to climb absent a major reprint or Standard legality. It's one of the cheaper ways to run a counterspell that replaces itself in Commander, which makes it an easy pickup if you're building around amass.
Explore
Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.