Although Lord Of The Rings: Tales Of Middle-earth was designed for the Modern format of Magic: The Gathering, its legality also extends to Pauper. Pauper is a format where as long as a card was printed at the common rarity, the card is playable in it (unless it is banned or illegal in all formats, of course).
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Lord Of The Rings: Tales Of Middle-earth introduces a lot of powerful cards that various Pauper decks can use both as counters to other decks or as a way to boost their own power levels. Pauper is an open format, and these cards give even more options to Pauper players.
Getting tempted by the Ring seems to be a powerful mechanic for Pauper, and Dreadful As The Storm is one of the better ways to do so. It gives a great stat boost to a creature at instant speed, which can be helpful if that creature is also your Ring-bearer.
Three mana is a bit expensive for a pump spell. However, the fact it also tempts you is what makes it worth playing. Blue is one of the best colors in Pauper, and Dreadful As The Storm can slot into many decks.
Token decks are fairly common in Pauper, with Affinity being one of the most notable decks of that archetype. Mirkwood Bats can act as a top-end finisher along with the deck's other burn options. It also has decent stats as well to make it a good attacker.
Since Mirkwood Bats burns both for the creation and sacrifice of a token, it is easy to do two damage with just one token creation. Decks like Affinity have no trouble with doing either, which makes Mirkwood Bats a worthy inclusion at a couple of copies to close out games.
Bombadil's Song is both a protection and a pump spell in one. This is already solid, but what makes Bombadil's Song worth playing in Pauper is that it also causes the Ring to tempt you. Since the first stage of this is turning a creature into a legendary one, this protects you from future Cast Downs - one of Pauper's best removal spells since there aren't normally legendary cards in the format.
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Bombadil's Song is easy to cast and can help you to catch the opponent off-guard thanks to its instant speed. It's a versatile card that many green decks will appreciate having.
It is rare for green to get a cantrip but they've gotten one that's legal in Pauper in Elven Farsight. The card guarantees you get a creature into your hand (assuming there is one on the top three cards of your library). You can also control future draws thanks to the large scry.
Elven Farsight is fantastic in creature decks as it not only puts a creature into your hand but also helps you ensure you do not draw too many or too few lands so that you can actually play your cards.
Erebor Flamesmith is very similar to popular Pauper cards Thermo-Alchemist and Kessig Flamebreather. They all share a theme of doing one damage whenever an instant or sorcery is cast (or any noncreature in Kessig Flamebreather's case). Erebor Flamesmith is another great addition to dedicated burn decks.
It's easy to cast along with its other burn partners and having multiple copies of essentially the same effect leads to all of your burn spells doing a ton of damage. Burn is already one of the best decks in Pauper, and Erebor Flamesmith makes it even better.
Tempo cards are very strong in Pauper and Soothing of Sméagol is a fantastic addition. It sets your opponent back by essentially erasing the casting of a creature. This is solid on its own, but what makes Soothing of Sméagol so good is that it also causes the Ring to tempt you.
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Soothing of Sméagol can be cast during the end step, causing your opponent to basically lose a turn while you get to start your turn with the benefits of the Ring. Many of Pauper's best blue decks play on your opponent's turn, and Soothing of Sméagol is a solid inclusion into those decks.
There are a few cards with similar effects to Nasty End in Pauper, such as Deadly Dispute, but what makes Nasty End special is that it can occasionally draw three cards instead of just two. Although there are no legendary creatures in Pauper normally, your Ring-bearer from being tempted by the Ring will always be legendary.
Nasty End in Pauper's case essentially means you can sacrifice your Ring-bearer to draw three cards. Even if you haven't been tempted, you can still draw two cards. It's an instant as well so you can use it to trade a chump blocker for two cards.
Burn spells are among the best in Pauper with Burn being one of the format's strongest decks. Improvised Club is another member of powerful burn spells. While it does require the sacrifice of an artifact or creature, this trade-off is worth it when you can do four damage to anything.
There are many cards that create artifacts when they enter the battlefield, like Voldaren Epicure. This gives you an artifact to sacrifice without losing any of your board presence. If your creature has done its job, it's also good fodder for Improvised Club to deal damage directly to your opponent.
One of the best blue cantrips in Pauper is now Birthday Escape. You get to draw a card, but more important is the Ring tempting you. It's the most mana-efficient way to start being tempted by the Ring, and if you have multiple you can make your Ring-bearer into a large threat.
Even if you do not have a creature, you can still be tempted by the Ring, meaning using Birthday Escape turn one is perfectly fine. If anything, it sets up your Ring-bearer to immediately be able to draw and discard a card whenever it attacks.
Mono-Red Kuldotha is one of the best decks in the format and creates a ton of 1/1 creatures. Cast Into The Fire is a way to easily take care of them. Even outside of this, artifacts are some of the most played card types due to the indestructible artifact lands. Cast Into The Fire exiles any artifact, which allows you to permanently get rid of artifact lands or any other problem artifact.
Cast Into The Fire is an instant as well, allowing you to use it to your opponent's turn. The card is an incredibly versatile card that's great against many of the strongest decks in the format.
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