Last August, Wizards of the Coast announced that more crossover sets would be coming to Magic: The Gathering. The wildly popular card game has played host to other popular series in the past like The Walking Dead and Stranger Things through its Universes Beyond line, but the company announced that the future would feature complete sets within these other worlds. Those crossovers would include the enduring British sci-fi series Doctor Who, the grimdark far future of Warhammer: 40,000, and the iconic land of Tolkien's Middle-earth. Now, we have new info on the first of these sets, The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth.
What is in The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth
According to an official press release, The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth will allow Magic players to experience Tolkien's rich fantasy world through the iconic card game. The set will include multiple interpretations of iconic characters like Frodo Baggins, Gandalf, Radagast, and Tom Bombadil, as well as locations like The Shire and Mount Doom. Alternate artwork was also teased, including borderless variants as well as Ring Treatment borders. The set will also feature a new mechanic where you are tempted by the power of the One Ring. The cards in this set will be legal in both Modern and Commander formats and playable in Draft and Sealed Deck formats.
Naturally, the Rings of Power themselves will feature prominently in The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth. Collector Boosters for the set may contain versions of Sol Ring, based on the magic items made for the Dwarves, Elves, and Men of Middle-earth. These cards will feature the language of the High Elves, Quenya, in Tengwar letterforms. These cards will be serialized and printed in a limited number of double rainbow foil and non-foil versions. The (thematically appropriate) number of cards printed is as follows:
- 300 Serialized double rainbow foil Sol Ring (Elven)
- 700 Serialized double rainbow foil Sol Ring (Dwarven)
- 900 Serialized double rainbow foil Sol Ring (Human)
- 3,000 Non-foil Sol Ring (Elven)
- 7,000 Non-foil Sol Ring (Dwarven)
- 9,000 Non-foil Sol Ring (Human)
Finally, there is a promotional foil for The One Ring. The card's text will feature the Black Speech in Tengwar letterforms, and may also be found in Collector Boosters. Only a single copy of this promo card will be printed. In addition, it will only be found in English-language Collector Boosters.
For those interested in more details about The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, Wizards of the Coast have set up several dates. The official debut and preview of the set will be May 30, official in-store prerelease events will be June 16-22, the MTG: Arena digital release will be June 20 and its official global tabletop release will be June 23.
