Mount Doom – LOTR: TALES OF MIDDLE-EARTH
Date Reviewed: July 3, 2023
Ratings:
Constructed: 3.00
Casual: 4.25
Limited: 3.88
Multiplayer: 4.25
Commander [EDH]: 4.25
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
The association fantasy novels often draw between volcanoes and sinister forces – or at least antagonistic ones – is largely because of the legacy of Mount Doom in Tolkien’s fiction. This location is quite likely the ultimate reason why Lego’s Nexo Knights theme kicked off with lava monsters as the antagonists, and why Magic’s iconic black-red painland is Sulfurous Springs (ie. volcanic surrounds).
And that, in a sense, comes full circle with the Mount Doom card’s mechanics. Volcanic environments in Magic usually provide black and red mana, but given this particular location’s power, it does a lot more than that. In days gone by, it was not uncommon to see people using cards like Keldon Megaliths and Treetop Village to give their decks a hard-to-stop way to win over a long game, and this card has a slow but cost-effective effect that reminds me of that strategy. It also has an even bigger effect for an even longer game, which makes it very hard for opponents to recover, and scales well to multiplayer. Its cost is very high . . . but it seems awfully coincidental that it comes at the tail end of several years of Treasure synergies in black and red. I think Mount Doom is destined (pun partially intended) to be a big hit at casual tables.
Constructed: 3
Casual: 4
Limited: 3.5
Multiplayer: 4
Commander [EDH]: 4
The place where The One Ring was cast, and the only place where it can be destroyed, Mount Doom is the final destination of Frodo’s quest to eliminate the Precious Supreme and the threat it represents to Middle-Earth. Mount Doom here is pretty interesting, very much capturing its destructive potential.
Mount Doom functions a fair bit like Sulfurous Springs from the painland cycle, though you can’t (normally) draw mana from it without penalty. In trade, it has two activated abilities: pinging each opponent, and an outright board wipe if you give up Mount Doom and a suitable permanent (probably to represent the ultimate fate of The One Ring and the surrounding lands). Seven mana is not cheap, but the upside here is twofold: you can spare up to two creatures (the Frodo and Sam of your board), and it’s a board wipe that also doesn’t cost you anything in deck building to have. Mount Doom is a solid enough black/red land, and the upside of having a board wipe in your back pocket is present.
Mount Doom is maybe not going to make a massive Modern splash; getting seven mana and a suitable sacrifice is a tough ask in a format that sometimes goes for the kill on turn 4 or 5. I can see room for it, though, as a bit of safety and inevitability for a slight cost while still being a solid land in every other case. It’ll shine in more casual play, though, and that’s a solid enough starting point.
Constructed: 3
Casual: 4.5
Limited: 4.25
Multiplayer: 4.5
Commander [EDH]: 4.5
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