LoTR “Two Towers” Game-play

Updated August 12, 2026

Sauron, the Dark Lord and Saruman, the White Hand play as Commanders like The Two Towers in Middle Earth. Game-play is similar to the “two-headed giant” format, except that the hordes alternate turns.

Sauron’s library is almost all creatures (and 1 Grond, the Gatebreaker for flavor)

Saruman’s library contains 40% non-creature spells – including removal spells and enchantments to trigger the static ability to “grow” an Orc Army.

We recommend using upgraded commander precons from the LoTR set – and ONLY cards from the set for upgrades. Hobbits are necessary for life gain. Elves focus on Scry triggers (voting doesn’t seem fun in Horde). We also play with Aragorn, the Uniter.

LoTR “Two Towers” Horde Rules

• Waves end when an Uncommon, Rare, or Mythic ETB
• When damage occurs to the Horde, any Legendary card that goes to the Graveyard instead enters the battlefield and immediately Phases Out.
• Horde Commanders are treated as two players, each with a deck, a battlefield, and a graveyard (we use white sleeves for Saruman and black sleeves for Sauron)
• Horde Commanders alternate turns – drawing waves from only their deck and only attacking with creatures they control on their turn
• Triggered abilities occur on all players’ turns (see Sauron, the Dark Lord)
• Orc Armies triggered or created by Commanders “grow” as a single army
• Orc Army card tokens or tokens created by non-Commander triggers “grow” as a single army
• Note that Saruman’s Orc Armies show the White Hand markings; Sauron’s Orc Armies show red markings
• The Horde loses when both Horde libraries have no cards