Denethor, Ruling Steward LTR 0198 · uncommon
Denethor, Ruling Steward · {1}{W}{B} · Legendary Creature — Human Noble · At the beginning of your end step, if a creature died under your control this turn, create a 1/1 white Human Soldier creature token. {2}, Sacrifice another creature: Each opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life. · Power / toughness: 2/4 · "Much must be risked in war."
- Price
- from $0.232 printings
- Win rate
- 59.0% GIH 40,082 instances · Premier Draft
Jun 15–Aug 28, 2023 · 17Lands - Draft
- ◆ Key pickUseful creatures to trade or sacrifice
- Job
- Payoffs
Game-in-hand win rate, all deck colors. 23,635 wins in 40,082 card-in-hand instances.
36,924 distinct games · 12,468 distinct drafts · games recorded Jun 15–Aug 28, 2023.
17Lands file dated Aug 30, 2023 · 100-instance minimum · 17Lands public data ↗
Trade small creatures, make flying tokens, and keep a Ring-bearer attacking. Denethor replaces one turn’s loss with a Soldier at your end step; legendary creatures help Errand-Rider draw without putting a card back.
How this changes your picks
Rules-derived- Take it when
- Useful creatures to trade or sacrifice.
- What to take next
- Trade small creatures, make flying tokens, and keep a Ring-bearer attacking. Denethor replaces one turn’s loss with a Soldier at your end step; legendary creatures help Errand-Rider draw without putting a card back.
- Wrong pick
- Denethor makes only one token at your end step. Sacrificing several creatures does not make several replacement Soldiers.
- Mana & splash
- Usually play both colors for a synergy reward. Splash only if it works with your existing cards and you already have reliable fixing.
Support cards
3Interactions from the card text, not a ranking.
More
- One-pick Draft
- Denethor makes only one token at your end step. Sacrificing several creatures does not make several replacement Soldiers.
Draft data
+3.4 pp vs 55.6% average · 40,082 instances
Premier Draft · Jun 15–Aug 28, 2023 · average from 980,485 games
#55 of 251 nonland cards by win rate · last seen around pick 3.3 on average (67,563 packs).
15 of 45 multicolor cards · 8 of 20 multicolor uncommon cards.
24,990.7 matches
Pick and maindeck observations: Jun 15–Aug 28, 2023. Played/benched cells use matches when available; the drawn cell uses game instances.
○ Opening hand 56.9% · 15,461 instances
● Drawn later 60.3% · 24,621 instances
In hand 59.0% · 40,082 instances
Unseen in deck 53.3% · 50,866 instances
+5.6 percentage points when drawn
Compared with multicolor cards
Ranks require 100 observations for that metric; comparisons are descriptive, not a pick order. Pick ranks put earlier picks first.
Best decks for it
no-splash decks only · card-level in-hand rates · 100 minimum
White–Black WB62.0%19,188 instancesEach tick is this card’s all-decks rate (59.0% · 40,082 instances). A high card rate does not prove that splashing it will improve your deck.
Best with
Adjusted associations, ranked by confidence.
Easterling Vanguard+3.1 pp28,667 games with both in the deck · 7,026 both drawnMirkwood Bats+3.1 pp20,727 games with both in the deck · 4,794 both drawnHow to read this
Observational, not a causal bonus. Both cards must be in the deck. Drawn means opening hand or normally drawn; each card counts once per game. Game-level approximate intervals do not account for repeated games by the same drafter.
At least 100 games in each of four drawn/not-drawn groups; adjusted for game length and screened by the lower confidence bound. Do not add these points to a card’s win rate.
Where it sits in the set
Above 78% of 251 nonland cards with 100+ instances, in win-rate order.
17Lands public datasets ↗ · CC BY 4.0 ↗ · Jun 15–Aug 28, 2023
Pick a printing for its prices and pull odds.
| Finish | Found in | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Nonfoil | draft · set | $0.23 |
| Foil | draft · set · Collector Booster | $0.33 |
Foil in a draft · Modeled · About 1 in 1,075 packs (0.09%) · 3.3% per display · MTGJSON model Oct 25, 2026 · How it’s modeled →
Nonfoil in a draft · Modeled · About 1 in 30 packs (3.35%) · 70.6% per display · MTGJSON model Oct 25, 2026 · How it’s modeled →
Foil in a set · Modeled · About 1 in 358 packs (0.28%) · 8.0% per display · MTGJSON model Oct 25, 2026 · How it’s modeled →
Nonfoil in a set · Modeled · About 1 in 24 packs (4.13%) · 71.7% per display · MTGJSON model Oct 25, 2026 · How it’s modeled →
Foil in a Collector Booster · Modeled · About 1 in 39 packs (2.53%) · 26.5% per display · MTGJSON model Oct 25, 2026 · How it’s modeled →
How to pull it
Official rates for the whole category, not this card.
| Booster | Slot | Per pack | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| Draft Booster | Common or foil | 33% | Main set and booster-fun foils |
| Draft Booster | Uncommons | 100% per position | Draft and Set Booster uncommon printings |
| Set Booster | Ten other Magic cards | 100% | Other Draft and Set Booster printings |
| Set Booster | Guaranteed traditional foil | 100% | Main set and booster-fun foils |
| Collector Booster | Foil uncommons | 100% per position | Foil uncommons other than Nazgûl |
Mike Turian and Adam Styborski · Collecting LOTR ↗ · Sep 22, 2023
Details & sources
- Legal in
- Historic · Timeless · Modern · Legacy · Vintage · CommanderLimited eligibility depends on the event and its booster pool.
- Illustration
- Campbell White, LTR 198 · Scryfall ↗
- More like this
- White–Black cards → · Regular printing printings →
- Sources
- Mark Rosewater · Crafting the Ring, Part 2 · Jun 5, 2023
Mike Turian and Adam Styborski · Collecting LOTR · Sep 22, 2023
Scryfall USD, snapshot Oct 25
Comprehensive Rules ↗