How fitting it was that when Wizards finally announced the first true Universes Beyond booster set release, it was The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth. This classic book series has remained in the popular zeitgeist for ages, providing a massive amount of influence to Magic, Dungeons & Dragons, and innumerable other games as well. That's to say nothing of the beloved movie trilogy by Peter Jackson as well, which made it all the more popular among the mainstream.

Players everywhere were thrilled to get their hands on the set's cards so they could relive the adventures of Sam, Frodo, Gandalf, Aragorn, and more. The numbers reflected it as well, with the set quickly becoming the best-selling Magic set of all time until Final Fantasy finally released earlier this year.

With so much love behind it, there's sure to be some especially sweet cards to discuss. We're going to have a look at the mythic rares of the set and rank every one of them. Let's get right to it!

• 22.Hew the Entwood
• 21. Arwen, Mortal Queen
• 20. Sauron, the Lidless Eye
• 19. Anduril, Flame of the West
• 18. Shadow of the Enemy
• 17. The Watcher in the Water
• 16. Radagast the Brown
• 15. Glamdring
• 14. Saruman of Many Colors
• 13. Storm of Saruman
• 12. Dawn of a New Age
• 11. Witch-king of Angmar

10. Aragorn and Arwen, Wed

Usually, the unique rares and mythics that come in a set's "Starter Set" release tend to be pretty weak and undesirable. That's certainly not the case with Aragorn and Arwen, Wed. The card provides tons of +1/+1 counters to your board turn after turn and gives you a ton of life in the process. Even if your opponent manages to kill it, you'll still at least get some value off of the card's enters ability. This solid mix of effects has made it a great inclusion for many Commander deck's 99, even if it's not quite so great in the command zone.

9. Mount Doom

Mount Doom might not look like all that much. The damage ping is pretty mediocre and the board wipe is both expensive and requires quite a bit of setup. Despite this, it remains a staple of just about any deck that can run it. This is likely due to the card's low opportunity cost as a dual land, meaning it's great to play as a land first, and potentially get to use the other effects later as needed to further the game along. Still, despite the frequency of use, the utility is still a bit narrow compared to many of the other cards on this list and thus among the ones I'm providing a write-up for, it remains on the lower end.

8. Gandalf the White

Getting to cast spells with flash is always a big deal, especially on a non-Blue card. Moreover, it's even better when the spells you cast get to double up on their triggers on a non-Blue card. Gandalf the White allows you to do just this with legendary and artifact spells, meaning he's able to provide a ton of value in a color that might not have many other ways to do so. That's made him an absolute staple of casual tables everywhere, and a continually in demand card.

7. Tom Bombadil

By now, we've seen a number of legends that care about sagas. However, at this point in time there were next to none. In fact, the only one before this was Satsuki, the Living Lore. Being only in two colors, the amount of things you could do with sagas with that card felt limited. With a full five color legend like beloved character Tom Bombadil, however, the options become limitless. This made him an instant favorite and saw players scrambling to assemble the coolest sagas around under a single legend.

6. Spiteful Banditry

Board wipes tend to be a dime a dozen these days. Even in Red, it's become all too common to see a variety of effects that just wipe out everything. Most of those creatures don't give you treasure tokens in the process, though. Spiteful Banditry has often been called Red's version of The Meathook Massacre and has made it a standout staple in Commander, even if it can't be used very well in other formats.

5. Last March of the Ents

This card really just does it all. So long as you have a massive creature on the battlefield, you'll get to draw a ridiculous amount of cards and then dump your entire hand. Best of all, your opponents can't do anything about it, short of killing off your biggest creatures in response. This powerful effect has made it one of the best casual options around, and easily one of the more chase mythics of the set.

4. Palantir of Orthanc

Funny enough, this silly little artifact has seen a decent amount of Modern and Legacy play, with a surprisingly higher amount in the latter! For very little investment, it continually provides your opponents with a damned if you do, damned if you don't choice that almost always ends up in your benefit. This has also made it one of the most played mythics in the set for Commander and Cubes. Given such a well-rounded resume, it only makes sense to put this card right up here near the top.

3. Aragorn, the Uniter

Aragorn is an absolute house, doling out tons out powerful effects based on the colors of spells you cast. If you cast lots of multicolored spells, you can double, triple, and sometimes quadruple up on the effects that you can tap into. This - coupled with the character's iconic status - has made him one of the top commanders of all time (27 on EDHREC at time of writing) and easily one of the best mythics of the set.

2. Sauron, the Dark Lord

Who doesn't love getting to play as the Dark Lord himself? This is probably one of the most flavorful legends of all time, especially for this particular property. With how legendary Sauron is as a character, it's no wonder players flock to him as not just one of the best commanders of the set but of all commanders! Seriously, at the time of writing, he sits well within EDHREC's top 10 commanders and if that doesn't say enough, I don't know what does.

1. The One Ring

Ah yes, the Precious. The one Magic card...TO RULE THEM ALL!

And rule it did. The moment this card hit Magic, it completely dominated the Modern format and was so powerful, it's been in the discussion for a possible ban in Legacy at some point. The One Ring is a messed up and powerful card that earns its distinction as the ultimate weapon of Middle-earth. It was even further elevated by the special 1-of-1 serialized card promotion that the card received - reaching new heights for what was already far and away the best mythic rare of the set.

Paige Smith

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