Chris InglisHaving recently played through The Lord of the Rings: Gollum and feeling that my LOTR hunger was not satiated enough, along comes an update from Wizards of the Coast regarding the next box set for Magic: The Gathering. It’s time to embark on a different sort of journey as Magic presents characters, locations, and epic moments from the epic fantasy novels of J.R.R. Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth is packed with exciting new cards and a few marquee keywords and mechanics to review.
Magic: The Gathering’s compelling characters, fantastic worlds, and deep strategic gameplay have entertained and delighted fans for 30 years. Fans can experience Magic through the tabletop trading card game, the digital game Magic: The Gathering Arena, a New York Times bestselling novel, and a critically acclaimed comic book series. You can see my unboxing of the most recent set, March of the Machine that launched in April.
To get us all super excited for The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth set, Wizards of the Coast revealed details for the upcoming Universes Beyond set in a 22-minute video covering everything you need to know, with a special cameo surprise at the end. Social media spoiled it for me, but definitely give the video a watch.
The One-of-One Ring
“The Ring passed out of knowledge and legend; and even so much of its history is known only to a few.” – Gandalf (Shadow of the Past)
The Lord of the Rings follows Frodo’s journey to Mount Doom with Sauron’s Ring, and MTG wanted to pay tribute to the Ring by creating a one-of-one unique Magic card. The most iconic element of The Lord of the Rings is the One Ring itself: the treasure—and temptation—of Sauron’s power. While other Rings of Power were forged for Elven-kings, Dwarf-lords, and the Mortal Men of Middle-earth, there is only one that matters most: the One Ring to rule them all.
And so, as part of an extraordinarily rare and exciting promotion only for The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, MTG made one such card. Serialised as the only one of one, this “Precious” is a traditional foil card printed in the Black Speech of Sauron using Tengwar letterforms and can only be found in a single English-language The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Collector Booster.
The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth key dates:
- The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Debut and Previews Begin: May 30
- Card Previews: May 30–June 9
- Commander Previews and Decklists: June 8
- Complete Card Image Galleries: June 9
- Pre-Prerelease with LoadingReadyRun: June 10
- In-Store Prerelease Events: June 16–22
- CommandFest Events: June 16–July 23
- MTG Arena Digital Release: June 20
- Command Zone Podcast’s Game Knights Gameplay: June 21
- Global Tabletop Release: June 23
- Launch Party Events: June 23–25
- Bundle: Gift Edition Release: July 7
- The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth In-Store Celebration Events: July 7–9
- Commander Parties: July 21–23
- MagicCon: Barcelona featuring The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth: July 28–30
- Store Championships: August 5–13
- Holiday Release: November 3
You can read all about the booster packs and cards you will see in the box sets over at the official website. The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth will release in Magic: The Gathering Arena on June 20 and the global tabletop release will launch on June 23, 2023, available to preorder now online at Amazon and at your local game store.
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