Warg Rider
Creature — Orc Warrior
Menace
Other Orcs and Goblins you control have menace.
At the beginning of combat on your turn, amass Orcs 2. (Put two +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
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth
- Price
- $15.58
- EDHREC rank
- #6938
Warg Rider enters the battlefield as a 4/4 menace for three mana — that rate is genuinely above the curve. In Sauron, the Dark Lord decks specifically, the Orc typing and aggressive stats do real work, and the cost of inclusion is low enough that cutting it is hard to justify.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Sauron, the Dark Lord
Sauron, the Dark Lord rewards running Orcs, and Warg Rider's efficient stats and menace make it a natural slot — it attacks well, survives blocks, and fills out the tribal spine the deck needs to pressure opponents.
Saruman, the White Hand
Saruman, the White Hand's spellslinger-adjacent gameplan still wants cheap, threatening bodies to apply early pressure, and Warg Rider delivers a 4/4 menace that opponents can't easily chump.
Zurgo Helmsmasher
Zurgo Helmsmasher decks want attackers that are hard to block cleanly, and Warg Rider's menace means it forces two blockers every combat — useful when you're trying to clear a path for Zurgo to connect.
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 |
Warg Rider is legal in Commander, Legacy, Modern, Vintage, and Oathbreaker. In Commander it belongs specifically in Orc-tribal or Tolkien-universe builds — outside those contexts, a 4/4 menace for three with no additional text doesn't clear the bar for most 99s. In Legacy and Vintage it has no competitive application; neither format needs a vanilla-adjacent beater at this cost. Modern is legal but irrelevant — aggressive three-drops in that format demand more than a good rate. The card's real home is Commander, and within Commander it's a tribal card first.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
If you want a three-mana aggressive beater with evasion or disruption upside, options like Orcish Bowmasters or other efficient Orc creatures in the same color identity can fill a similar role — though none replicate Warg Rider's exact stat line. Outside the Tolkien-universe tribal shell, the honest answer is that Warg Rider's role is narrow enough that you'd simply swap in whatever aggressive three-drop fits your theme, accepting the loss of the Orc subtype if tribal synergies aren't the point.
Price Context
Current price
$15.58 mid tier
At $15.58, Warg Rider sits in the mid tier — steep for a card whose value is almost entirely dependent on Sauron, the Dark Lord and Saruman, the White Hand tribal builds. That price is driven by set availability and Tolkien-universe demand, not by the card's raw power, so budget-conscious players should weigh whether the Orc typing justifies the cost over a cheaper beater.
Explore
Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.