The world’s biggest fantasy franchise has teamed up with the most played card game in the world to bring us a Lord of the Rings-themed Magic the Gathering set. Does this mean that Gandalf is going to team up with Chandra Nalaar to defeat the Phyrexians? Will Ulamog and Gothamog get together? Probably not, but it does look like an amazing card set.
The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth™ card set will launch on June 23rd and will be a full range of cards, including Starter Kits, Commander Decks, Booster Bundles and so on. The folk at Wizards of the Coast have had a lot of fun with this set and have done some amazing things with it.
Does this mean that you’ll get to play Tom Bombadill or Gandalf as legendary creatures? Of course, it does. And, of course, there will be a card called You Cannot Pass. And, of course, there will be a card for The One Ring, which makes you indestructible whilst slowly destroying you.
The ‘true’ One Ring will be out there. A single English-language The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Collector Booster pack will contain a one-of-a-kind printing of The One Ring, called The Precious. They’re printing exactly one. Given the thousands of cards and packs produced, this card may never be found. Or maybe found years later as part of a dragon’s hoard. The card’s picture has not been released, but we know it is a traditional foil card printed in the Black Speech of Sauron using Tengwar.
Of course, Magic the Gathering already has its own magic rings, of course. For this set, they’ve been re-imagined. The Sol Ring is an uncommon card that gives the player two mana when tapped; it’s a pretty standard addition for most decks. In The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth™ card, they’ve reworked the card into one of the rings of power, with the text being changed to Tengwar writing and language Quenya (the language of the High Elves).
The art for this set is incredible, and the full range of cards seems comprehensive and full. The Borderless art cards also combine to show full scenes, just to increase collectability and to make games of Magic look really, really pretty.
Land cards will be snap-shorts of the classic map of Middle-earth. Why have a normal-looking plain card when you can have a map of Rohan? The mountain cards are The Misty Mountains, and so on. Gorgeous stuff.
The Starter Set will pitch Sauron (of the lidless eye) vs Aragorn and Arwen, who apparently, when married, count as a single legendary creature, which just goes to show what the power of love can do.
This is an astonishing set with artwork that sits up there with some of the Tolkien classics. You can find out more here.
