Sauron's Ransom
Instant
Choose an opponent. They look at the top four cards of your library and separate them into a face-down pile and a face-up pile. Put one pile into your hand and the other into your graveyard. The Ring tempts you.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- BU
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #4946
Sauron's Ransom puts two cards in front of each opponent and forces them to make a painful choice: exile one or let you draw it, while the other goes to the graveyard — net result is two cards seen, one drawn, one fueling your bin, all for two mana at instant speed. The Celestial Toymaker is the card's spiritual home, but any deck that wants cheap, disruptive card selection with graveyard upside should be running it.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
The Celestial Toymaker
The Celestial Toymaker triggers off opponents losing life, and Sauron's Ransom's forced-exile mode chips away at life totals while simultaneously filtering your hand — it's both an engine piece and a value spell in one.
Lord of the Nazgûl
Lord of the Nazgûl wants to flood the board with Wraith tokens, and Sauron's Ransom slots in as cheap card selection that keeps the hand full while opponents agonize over which card to exile.
Sauron, the Dark Lord
Sauron, the Dark Lord rewards you for amassing Orcs and pressuring opponents, and Sauron's Ransom feeds the graveyard for reanimation synergies while drawing into the threats needed to close the game.
Sauron, Lord of the Rings
Sauron, Lord of the Rings punishes opponents for losing life, so the chip damage from Sauron's Ransom compounds over a long game while the card selection keeps your hand stocked.
Saruman, the White Hand
Saruman, the White Hand cares about casting noncreature spells, and Sauron's Ransom is a cheap, repeatable-feeling instant that triggers that payoff while generating card advantage through opponent decisions.
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, Sauron's Ransom punches well above its cost — two mana at instant speed to see two cards and create graveyard fodder is efficient by any measure, and the political friction it generates (opponents choosing what you get) adds real gameplay texture. In Legacy and Vintage, it faces stiff competition from Brainstorm and other broken one-mana cantrips, so it won't make those 60-card decks despite being legal. Modern is where it has the most theoretical 60-card appeal outside Commander: two-mana instants that draw cards and fill the graveyard fit self-mill and reanimator shells, though Sauron's Ransom hasn't broken through as a staple there yet. It's absent from Pioneer and Standard, and Pauper doesn't get it either, so Commander and Oathbreaker remain its primary homes.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Pricing data for Sauron's Ransom isn't confirmed in this snapshot, so check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for the current number before buying. Given its near-90% inclusion rate in The Celestial Toymaker decks and strong representation across Sauron commanders, demand is real — if it's sitting under $2, it's an easy pickup.
Explore
Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.