Magic: The Gathering Brings Lord of the Rings to Life in Tales of Middle-Earth Set

By Christian Hoffer

The worlds of Magic: The Gathering and Lord of the Rings are colliding this summer. Wizards of the Coast has released new details and previews of its upcoming Magic: The Gathering – The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth set, which will be released this summer as a full Magic: The Gathering card set. This marks the largest "Universe Beyond" set to date, as previous crossovers with other IPs have either been limited to Commander decks, Secret Lair drops, or small segments of cards that tie into larger Magic sets. 

Some of the unique mechanics in the new set are pulled directly from themes in the book. For instance, there's an emphasis on Food tokens (due to the Hobbits' love of food) and there's also a "Tempt Ring" mechanic that involves choosing a Ring-Bearer and the Ring slowly gaining more abilities as players feel the draw of the Ring. Sagas also make their return in the book. 

The Lord of the Rings Magic set clearly comes from a deep-seeded love of Middle-Earth and The Lord of the Rings books, with Wizards of the Coast looking to add a different aesthetic flair than what was used in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Sauron, for instance, is portrayed more as a dark wizard in the set, with a malevolent energy pouring out of his helm to represent his all-seeing "eye." Frodo, meanwhile, is portrayed more heroically and adult-like than in the movies, with the designers leaning into Frodo being middle-aged in the books. 

Another interesting part of the new Lord of the Rings set is the various variants present in the set. For instance, the Showcase Ring variant treatment will showcase some of the iconic Lord of the Rings characters as they are tested in some form over the course of the story. Meanwhile, the Nazgul will feature nine standard card variants, with each card featuring a different Nazgul. And the set will also notably feature an eighteen-card connected art variant called "scene cards" that depicts the Battle of Pelennor Fields.

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Even the lands in The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth play upon the themes of Lord of the Rings, with the art in the basic land cards showing members of the Fellowship as they make their trek through Middle-Earth. 

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Wizards of the Coast will also release four Commander decks featuring Eowyn, Frodo, Galadriel, and Sauron as commanders. The Riders of Rohan focuses on the combined Gondor/Rohan forces, the Food and Fellowship deck focuses on using the partner mechanic that allows both Frodo and Sam to be active commanders at the same time, Galadriel's Elven Council deck focuses on diplomacy, and the Hosts of Mordor focuses on bringing characters back from the Graveyard. 

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As with other Magic sets, there will be standard booster packs, Jumpstart packs, and Starter decks, along with a special holiday release of even more Lord of the Rings cards. There will also be a Secret Lair drop based on the 1978 animated Lord of the Rings movie. Wizards also announced they had brought on Elijah Wood for a commercial to talk about the Lord of the Rings cards. 

The full release of Magic: The Gathering – The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth is as follows:

  • Prerelease: June 16–22, 2023.
  • Digital release: June 20, 2023.
  • Launch party: June 23-25, 2023.
  • Bundle: Gift Edition release: July 7, 2023.
  • Magic Celebration Event: July 7 – 9, 2023.
  • Commander Party: July 21-23, 2023.
  • Store Championship: August 5-13, 2023.
  • Holiday Release: November 3, 2023. More details to come.

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