The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth weaves together the beloved story of The Lord of the Rings with Magic: The Gathering. It will feature four pre-constructed Commander decks that will launch alongside the main draftable set on June 23, 2023. Each deck will be helmed by some of the strongest characters in Middle-Earth that are set to wage war for the fate of the world.
Like most Commander decks, each Tales of Middle-Earth Commander deck comes with a main etched foil Display Commander card as well as a standard version of the Commander, letting you pick who you want to play with. The will contain 20 new-to-Magic cards and, if these decks are anything like the Warhammer 40,000 Universes Beyond Commander decks, the reprinted cards cards will be either brand-new creations or will feature new, The Lord of the Rings-themed artwork.
For example, check out Banishing Light, Feed the Swarm, and Mind Stone from the Commander decks. All three of these cards are reprints from previous Magic sets but which feature art inspired by Lord of the Rings in these decks.
Now, on to the four decks themselves!
Riders of Rohan
From the rolling hills of Rohirric comes Eowyn, Shieldmaiden leading the armies of the Riders of Rohan Commander deck. This White, Red, and Blue deck creates powerful Human-based synergies for you to take advantage of. The card showcase Eowyn decapitating the Witch-king of Angmar’s fellbeast with a single stroke, an impossibly impressive feat during the Battle of Pelennor Fields,
For five mana you get a 5/4 Human creature with first strike, as well as a powerful ability to create tokens during your combat. If a human entered the battlefield under your control this turn, you get to create two 2/2 Human tokens with trample and haste at the start of your combat step. You then can also draw a card if you control six or more Humans.
In a creature-heavy deck, or one with some token synergies, you can easily keep up the pressure by consistently pumping out attackers every turn.
Food and Fellowship
The only Commander deck with two commanders, Food and Fellowship features Sam, Loyal Attendant and Frodo, Adventurous Hobbit come together to build some powerful Food and lifegain synergies to power your deck. Sam is wielding his trusty frying pan (which would make a hilarious equipment if included in the deck), while Frodo looks absolutely heroic posing with his Elven blade Sting before him while not so subtly gripping the One Ring.
With both these partners out you’ll have a very efficient engine up and running after just a few phases. While a little less impressive than Frodo, Sam creates Food tokens at the start of combat on your turn and reduces the cost to activate them from two mana down to just one.
Frodo then works heavily with the Tempt mechanic, relying on the power of the Ring to limit the creatures that can block Frodo to help keep him on the battlefield. Every time you attack with Frodo after gaining three or more life this turn, the Ring tempts you. If Frodo is your Ring-bearer, and you have been tempted two or more times this game, you get to draw a card.
Likely loaded with ways to keep Frodo alive, either by making him unblockable or giving him all sorts of protection, this deck will likely bring some powerful Green, White, and Black synergies to play with.
Elven Council
One of the oldest and most powerful Elves in Middle-Earth, and one of the few entities alive to have seen both Telperion and Laurelin which brought light to Valinor before their destruction, Galadriel, Elven-Queen brings her absolute will to the Elven Council deck. In the artwork for her, you can clearly see her ring of power, Nenya, also known as the Ring of Adamant upon her hand.
With her Will of the Council ability, Galadriel lets you vote for dominion or guidance at the start of combat on your turn if another Elf entered the battlefield under your control this turn. If dominion gets more votes, the Ring tempts you and your Ring-bearer gains a +1/+1 counter. If guidance has more votes or you tie on votes, you then draw a card.
The alternate commander for the Elven Council deck is Radagast, Wizard of Wilds, who, through his love of nature, can turn your five mana or more creature spells into bonus Bird or Beast tokens.
The Hosts of Mordor
The final Commander deck is the immensely powerful Sauron, Lord of the Rings himself. Decked in his full and terrible glory, this seven-mana 9/9 creature has an impressive cast trigger, capable of swaying the game before he even hits the battlefield. When Sauron is cast, you amass Orcs 5, either pumping an existing Army creature with +5/+5 or creating a 5/5 Orc. Then you mill five cards and reanimate any creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield.
As if that wasn’t enough, Sauron tempts you any time an opponent’s commander dies. It doesn’t matter how their commander died, Sauron only cares that it is off the board and rewards you with a boon from the Ring. With a healthy amount of targeted removal and a few other cards that grant bonuses from being tempted by the Ring, you’ll have a dominating commander to control the game with.