MTG’s Tales from Middle-earth cards let you recreate iconic scenes from Lord of the Rings
Modern-legal expansion will release on MTG Arena as Alchemy set.
Magic: The Gathering’s Lord of the Rings set, Tales from Middle-earth, will feature borderless cards that allow players to recreate iconic scenes and battles from the books.
The set was first announced last year as part of MTG’s Universes Beyond series of crossovers with pop-culture staples such as Warhammer 40,000 and Fortnite.
As you’d expect from a Lord of the Rings MTG set, Tales from Middle-earth will feature familiar faces from Tolkien’s books, including Fellowship of the Ring members such as Frodo and Gandalf, as well as the Moria-dwelling balrog Durin's Bane - shown pitted in combat with Gandalf the Grey.
Newly revealed during Wizards Presents are ‘borderless seam’ cards, which can be arranged to form panoramic scenes from across the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy.
The first scene to be revealed was Battle of the Pelennor Fields, Return of the King’s climactic siege of Minas Tirith, made up of 18 individual cards arranged in three rows.
Each row of six cards forms a standalone scene, from the Witch-king of Angmar and other Nazgul riding fellbeasts in the air, to a mounted clash between cavalry and oliphaunts, and what appears to be members of the Fellowship - including Legolas, Gimli and Aragorn wielding Andúril - surrounded by orcs.
Wizards of the Coast also confirmed that The Lord of the Rings: Tales from Middle-earth would release on digital app MTG Arena as an Alchemy set, the digital app’s spin-off from the tabletop Standard format that features new mechanics and rebalanced cards. The digital set will be accompanied by virtual gubbins such as a new battlefield, player avatars, pets and a mastery pass.
Wizards previously announced that Tales from Middle-earth would be a complete Modern-legal set on the tabletop, allowing it to be played in official tournaments and booster packs to be used in the game’s Draft format.
The Lord of the Rings: Tales from Middle-earth will be released for Magic: The Gathering in Q3 2023.