Best lord of the rings races

The Wizards lead The Lord of the Rings race preference ranking with 1385 ELO points over 157 duels, ahead of The Balrogs and The Dwarves.

The Wizards edge out The Balrogs by just 12 points at the top, a tight margin that reflects the community's appreciation for both Maiar beings. The Dwarves secure third place with 1352 points, while The Hobbits hold fourth at 1339 points. The sharpest divide appears between The Hobbits and The Dragons, where a 26 point gap separates the two. This split suggests voters draw a line between Middle-earth's humble heroes and its ancient terrors. At the bottom, The Goblins languish at 939 points with a 26% win rate, while The Giant Spiders sit just above them at 943 points. The Trolls round out the basement at 969 points, indicating these brutish creatures fail to capture voter enthusiasm despite their presence in key story moments.

This ranking draws from 1610 duels submitted by 31 players across 17 contenders, updated on 12 October 2026. The tight clustering at the top and the harsh judgment of Middle-earth's monstrous races reveal a community that values mystical power and narrative significance over raw menace. Cast your vote to shape how Tolkien's races stack up against each other.

Updated on October 12, 2026

How this ranking is computed

Every duel won lifts a contender and every loss drops them, by an amount that depends on the opponent's strength: beating the leader is worth more than beating the last. It is an ELO, the same principle as in chess. Duels are not drawn at random — an adaptive entropy sort puts the least predictable match-ups first, which settles the ranking far faster than a full round robin. A worldwide ranking is only published past 30 completed plays. Known limit: a contender who has faced few opponents keeps an approximate score, and the bottom of the table moves more than the podium.

How our rankings are made →