The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth

The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth

 

Commander decks

 

Jumpstart

 

Starter Kit

 

Box Toppers

 

Trivia

 

The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Lord of the Rings.png}}|250px]]
Set Information
Set symbol
Symbol description	The one ring on a triangle
Design	Ben Hayes (lead) Mark Rosewater
Development	Glenn Jones (lead)
Art direction	Ovidio Cartagena
Release date	June 23, 2023
Set size	TBA
Expansion code	LTR
Universes Beyond
Warhammer 40,000 Commander Decks The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Doctor Who
Magic: The Gathering Chronology
N/A The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Lord of the Rings Commander

Key art

The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth is an upcoming booster-based product in the Magic: The Gathering Universes Beyond series released by Wizards of the Coast. The set will be released on June 23, 2023. It is designed to be drafted and goes straight-to-Modern.

Set details

“

Join the Fellowship

”

Expansion symbol

This is a cross-over product based on the The Lord of the Rings, the epic high fantasy novel by J.R.R. Tolkien. It was created in close cooperation with Middle-earth Enterprises, the firm which owns the rights. Hasbro, the mother company of Wizards of the Coast, has earlier published a board game based on the same franchise. The cards in this set feature the triangular holofoil stamp of non-canon cards.

Like all Universes Beyond products, the set will not be legal in Standard. In the eyes of R&D, Modern (and historic) legality provides the greatest opportunity for most people to experience this beloved world while still holding Standard as its own space. While the set isn't focused on Modern as a Modern Horizons set might be, R&D wanted to allow as many players to play with these cards and enjoy them. The set will also be released on Magic Online and Magic Arena, where it will be legal in Alchemy and Historic.

The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth contains 281 regular cards (), and includes randomly inserted premium versions of all cards. The regular cards include a cycle of full-art basic lands that feature art from different sections of Middle-earth’s iconic map (#271-281).

The set features multiple representations of iconic characters to capture the depths of the story and changes. The circular shape of this set’s showcase ring treatment is meant to express what happens “inside” the Ring, symbolizing “the power that the quest for the One Ring can have in the different characters’ internal struggles.”

There are no Planeswalker cards in the set. According to Blake Rasmussen, this is because "there aren't any Planeswalkers in Lord of the Rings". This contradicts previous approaches to other IP's.

Storyline

The title names the story's main antagonist, the Dark Lord Sauron, who had in an earlier age created the One Ring to rule the other Rings of Power as the ultimate weapon in his campaign to conquer and rule all of Middle-earth. From homely beginnings in the Shire, a hobbit land reminiscent of the English countryside, the story ranges across Middle-earth, following the quest mainly through the eyes of the hobbits Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin.

Marketing

Gift Edition bundle

This set has two primary launch windows (June 2023 and a holiday launch in November 2023) and is the first full set release as part of Universes Beyond.

The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth will be sold in regular 16-card Draft Boosters (one card being a marketing card), Collector Boosters, Set Boosters, Jumpstart Boosters, the The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Bundle (also in a Deluxe Edition), four Commander decks, Scene Boxes and a Starter Kit.

The set is accompanied by some Secret Lairs featuring the same IP. Unlike these Secret Lairs, the cards of the main set won't automatically have a Magic equivalent printed later, though R&D have the ability to make Magic versions of any UB card if the need arises.

Box Toppers

Each Lord of the Rings Draft, Set, and Collector Booster display includes a traditional foil Realms and Relics Box Topper card, a skinned reprint with artwork and treatment at home with The Lord of the Rings.

Rings

The One Ring (Serialized 001 of 001)

Found exclusively in Collector Boosters, players may find Sol Rings with art modeled after Elven, Dwarven, and Human rings from the novels, and text written in Tengwar script. These Ring cards can be found in both traditional foil and non-foil. The traditional foil versions of these specialized Sol Rings are serialized — there are 300 Elven Sol Rings, 700 Dwarven Sol Rings, and 900 Human Sol Rings. The non-foil versions are not serialized. There are 3,000, 7,000 and 9,000 respectively.

The serialized version of The One Ring, which is a variant of The One Ring Mythic Rare card from the main set, features a raised gold foil treatment applied to the frame, art, and text written in the Black Speech of Sauron using Tengwar letterforms. The serialization denotes that this card is 001/001 — the only one of its kind available in the world. The One Ring (Serialized 001 of 001) can only be found only in a single English-language Collector Booster.

Scene cards

The set includes borderless scene cards. When brought together these cards form recognizable scenes from the books. These can be found in Collector Boosters.

Scene	# cards	Notes
The Ring is destroyed in Mount Doom	2 x 2	Also available in Bundles.
Battle of the Pelennor Fields	6 x 3
		Also available in prerelease packs.
		Holiday release
		Holiday release
		Holiday release
		Holiday release

Events

• Prerelease: June 16–22, 2023
• Digital release: June 20, 2023
• Launch party: June 23-25, 2023
• Bundle: Gift Edition release: July 7, 2023
• Commander Party: July 21-23, 2023
• Store Championship: August 5-13, 2023
• Holiday Release: November 3, 2023
  • More details to come

Promotional cards

• Prerelease: a stamped card that can be any rare or mythic rare of The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth and a scene card.
• Buy-a-Box promo: Lórien Brooch (skinned Trailblazer's Boots)
• 30th Anniversary promos: Japanese Tarmogoyf, Glen Elendra Archmage, Acidic Slime and Terastodon
• Bundle promos: borderless scene: Frodo, Sauron's Bane, Samwise the Stouthearted, Gollum, Patient Plotter and The One Ring

Tokens, emblems and markers

The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth has at least 12 tokens and one marker.

1. Food artifact for The Shire.
2. The Ring marker.

Themes and mechanics

The Ring marker

A new mechanic is The Ring Tempts You, showing the corrupting influence of the One Ring on its' holder. Each time the Ring tempts you, two things happen. First, you choose a creature you control to become your Ring-bearer. If you have a Ring-bearer, you may choose to have that creature remain your Ring-bearer, or you may choose another creature you control to carry that burden.

Second, The Ring gains its next ability, if it can. Once The Ring has all four of its abilities, it has reached its full power and won't gain additional abilities as the Ring tempts you in the future. Notably, The Ring will gain its next ability even if you didn't control any creatures as the Ring tempted you, meaning you didn't choose a Ring-bearer.

Counter types

Lord of the Rings introduces Burden counters

Cycles

TBA

Preconstructed decks

Starter Kit

The Starter Kit comes with two Modern-legal 60-card decks, designed to create an interactive learning experience for two.

Commander decks

Tales of Middle-earth features four commander decks.

Theme deck name	Color Identity					Commander
Riders of Rohan	W	U		R
Food and Fellowship	W		B		G	Frodo, Adventurous Hobbit
Elven Council		U			G	Radagast, Wizard of Wilds
The Hosts of Mordor		U	B	R

Gallery

• 

  A long-expected party

External links

• LOTR wiki