We finally have our first look at cards from Magic: The Gathering’s upcoming crossover set with The Lord of the Rings!
IGN revealed two cards from The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth, which will be a fully draftable and Modern-legal set in the Universes Beyond product line, as well as some awesome art. Expect to see plenty more during tomorrow’s preview stream at 1 PM Eastern at twitch.tv/magic.
Check out our article covering the preview event for more card previews like Frodo and Sam!
The One Ring
First up is The One Ring, the powerful artifact that is core to the adventure that is the heart of The Lord of the Rings.
The card does an excellent job of conveying the power of The One Ring—it is indestructible and gives you protection from everything until your next turn. But then The One Ring offers you great power at great cost: you can draw an ever-increasing amount of cards, but at the cost of an ever-increasing amount of life.
Gandalf the Grey
The eccentric and powerful wizard Gandalf will be receiving three—yes, three—cards in The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth. IGN showed of one of those: Gandalf the Grey.
The standard variant of Gandalf the Grey shows the great wizard in the depths of Moria wielding Glamdring and a sword. Art Director Ovidio Cartagena heavily implied that Glamdring would be getting its own card, saying: “I think fans are going to be pleasantly surprised to find many of their favorite artifacts from Lord of the Rings in the card set.”
Gandalf the Grey will also have a showcase variant that shows Gandalf’s phyrric victory over the Balrog in the mines of Moria, just after the defeated Balrog pulled Gandalf into the abyss after it. The art is framed in a circle surrounded by the The One Ring’s inscription in Black Speech.
Gandalf the White
Art for Gandalf the White by Magali Villeneuve.
Gandalf will have two other cards in the set: Gandalf the White and Gandalf, Friend of the Shire. Unfortunately, we only have the art—though Gandalf the White will likely be a Planeswalker given the portrait orientation of the art—but the cards will likely be shown off during tomorrow’s preview stream.
Cartagena explained that “having different Gandalfs in the set gives us a chance to further explore the character in his various presentations. Tolkien’s rich storytelling allowed us to explore how Gandalf (and others) present themselves to different allies and at different times throughout the story.”
Gandalf, Friend of the Shire
Art for Gandalf, Friend of the Shire by Dmitry Burmak.
We’ve known about this art since the Lord of the Rings crossover was announced in August 2021 and now we know that it belongs to Gandalf, Friend of the Shire.
Full Art Basic Lands
The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth will have a very flavorful take on full-art basic lands that feature selections from the map of Middle-Earth.
Cartagena says that this “was one of the very first ideas for the set, even before we had illustrations, and it came from our creative director, Jess Lanzillo. Middle-earth has such a specific geography, and it is of course one of the genius details of storytelling that influenced a lot of subsequent works in fantasy and science fiction. That approach told us not only the challenges and natural obstacles the Fellowship had to traverse in this story, but also is linked to the rich and mythic history of Arda in the previous ages. Making those maps as full art lands compliments the card illustrations to create an immersive experience for players.”
Don’t forget to check out tomorrow’s preview stream for more previews from The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth at 1 PM Eastern at twitch.tv/magic.