The MTG Lord of the Rings crossover set is just around the corner now, with spoilers flying thick and fast. But one MTG Lord of the Rings card in particular has caught our eye. Like a hobbit, it’s unassuming, but may achieve great things. It’s Flowering of the White Tree, a two-mana legendary enchantment which may just be the best anthem effect ever printed in Magic: The Gathering.
‘Anthem’ is a term used for a card that buffs every creature on your side of the battlefield, typically by granting +1/+1. Glorious Anthem is the most basic example of this. As you can see, Flowering of the White Tree is a major upgrade. Not only is it one mana cheaper than Glorious Anthem, it gives legendary creatures a massive boost, granting an extra point of power and an MTG Ward effect.
In fact, the new card is much better than pretty much any anthem Wizards of the Coast has put out, providing so much power for so little mana. Day of Destiny is badly outclassed, and the only real possible competitors have niche uses. For instance Honor of the Pure only works in mono White decks, and Rally the Ranks is limited by creature type.
The only big downside to Flowering of the White Tree is that the card itself is legendary – so you can’t stack multiple copies on the battlefield. This might give you pause for thought before including in a 60-card Constructed deck, though even then, if you’re running an anthem, you should probably swap at least one of them out for this card ASAP.
The real place this card will shine – like so many cards in the ostensibly-for-Modern Lord of the Rings set – is… you guessed it, Commander. Legendary tribal is a growing theme in EDH, with Dihada, Binder of Wills; Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful; and Jodah, the Unifier all printed in recent years. Flowering of the White Tree will slot seamlessly into any of these decks.
For more ideas for Commander decks, check out our list of the best MTG commanders. And you can find an up-to-date version of the Magic: The Gathering release schedule here.
Also, did you know that while it’s not Standard-legal, the Lord of the Rings set is still coming to Arena? In case you’re missing any, we have a guide to every MTG Arena code ever released.