First printed in The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth (2023)
All 4 prints
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Legendary Creature — Avatar Demon
This spell costs 
less to cast for each permanent sacrificed this turn.
Haste
The Balrog can't be blocked except by legendary creatures.
When The Balrog dies, destroy target artifact or creature an opponent controls.
7/5
- Illustrated by
- Kekai Kotaki
Legality
- Legal in
- Modern, Legacy, Vintage, Historic, Timeless, Penny Dreadful, Gladiator, Commander, Duel Commander, Oathbreaker, Brawl, Competitive Brawl
- Not legal in
- Standard, Pioneer, Pauper, Future Standard, Alchemy, Premodern, Old School 93/94, Pauper Commander, PreDH, Tiny Leaders, Standard Brawl
Rulings (2)
- The Balrog, Durin's Bane's first ability can't reduce its cost to less than
. - The Balrog, Durin's Bane's first ability counts every permanent that was sacrificed this turn, by any player.
Prices
MTGO price: 0.006 TIX, the cheapest non-foil print (average sell price on GoatBots, 1 Nov 2026).
In Limited on MTG Arena
Win rates in Arena drafts and sealed, retrieved from 17Lands (CC BY 4.0).
| Set | GIH WR | vs set | IWD | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth (LTR), Premier Draft | 57.9% | +2.3 | +4.8 | 13144 |
| The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth (LTR), Sealed | 63.1% | +6.4 | +6.7 | 1028 |
- GIH WR
- win rate of the games in which the card was in the opening hand or drawn
- vs set
- points above or below the average win rate of all decks in the set
- IWD
- improvement when drawn: GIH WR minus the win rate when the card stayed in the library
- Games
- games in which the card was seen
Combos
8 combos, the most popular first:
- Infinite commander casts, Infinite death triggers…: Phyrexian Altar + Pitiless Plunderer + The Balrog, Durin's Bane
- Infinite commander casts, Infinite death triggers…: Pawn of Ulamog + Phyrexian Altar + The Balrog, Durin's Bane
- Infinite commander casts, Infinite death triggers…: Phyrexian Altar + Sifter of Skulls + The Balrog, Durin's Bane
- Infinite colored mana, Infinite commander casts…: Anax, Hardened in the Forge + Phyrexian Altar + The Balrog, Durin's Bane
- Infinite commander casts, Infinite death triggers…: Blight Mound + Phyrexian Altar + The Balrog, Durin's Bane
- Infinite commander casts, Infinite death triggers…: Ogre Slumlord + Phyrexian Altar + The Balrog, Durin's Bane
- Infinite commander casts, Infinite death triggers…: Open the Graves + Phyrexian Altar + The Balrog, Durin's Bane
- Infinite commander casts, Infinite death triggers…: Phyrexian Altar + The Balrog, Durin's Bane + Warbeast of Gorgoroth