TCG STRAT · Magic: the Gathering

Card of the Day · July 21, 2026 Salt Pick

Tom Bombadil

Legendary Creature — God Bard · Mythic

EDHREC #5,284 The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth

Powerful five-color payoff engine that's also a genuine table-patience test.

LTR #685 $2.23 ▼ $47.76 (-95.5%) 7d
Cheapest printing $2.23 Full price history & printings →

Why it stings

Tom Bombadil has been sitting at the top of Saga decks for a while now, and the complaint hasn't changed: once the chapters start resolving, one player's turn stops being a turn and starts being a show.

What it does

Every time a Saga you control finishes its final chapter, you dig through your library until you hit another Saga and drop it straight onto the battlefield. Chain enough Sagas together and you're generating card advantage and board state without giving anyone else a turn to react. Once your Sagas have racked up four or more lore counters total, Tom Bombadil is also hexproof and indestructible, so good luck answering it.

Where it shines

Any five-color Saga pile that wants to keep triggering final chapters back to back. Tom rewards you for stacking cheap, fast Sagas that finish quickly and refill the chain rather than one slow bomb.

Plays well with

The catch

Once you commit to five colors, your mana base has to work overtime, and the Saga-chaining turns can genuinely eat ten or fifteen minutes while everyone else waits to see what you found.

← Back to the home page