It brings basically any permanent into play, which is often a 6- or 7-drop artifact creature, or even an Omniscience
The various Merlin cards offer advantages when they are played and when they leave play
Now heres the real question: What counters are you moving, and what are you putting them on
The major characters like the Fellowship of the Ring, their closest allies, and the major villains like Sauron all get multiple mechanically unique cards to represent them during different parts of their long journeys
So, I sat down with a bunch of Magic players, newbies, seasoned wizards, and a few absolute goblins, and asked them one simple question: Which Commander decks are worth grabbing this year
Great in pods where you know people tend to not politic a lot or want to storm off or build stack-wars early on