Today brought our first look at The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, the upcoming Magic: The Gathering crossover with Tolkien's famous fantasy universe. In a presentation with host Blake Rasmussen, we got to see Frodo, Samwise, Tom Bombadil, and Gandalf's iconic "you shall not pass!" all turned into Magic cards, with many of them referencing a new mechanic that's all about the One Ring.
We don’t know what it means to be tempted by the Ring yet, but we do know it’s a pretty tempting card. The One Ring is an artifact that can give its owner protection from everything at the cost of four mana and the occasional loss of life if you also have a penchant for drawing extra cards. Despite the name, you'll be able to find multiple copies of the standard card across a range of products.
However, Magic is also introducing a limited number of the other rings. The Rings of Power, which are all just Sol Rings with different art and the Elvish version of the One Ring poem, will be represented by a limited number of serialized cards found in collector booster packs. The Elves will get 300 foil serialized cards and 3,000 non-serialized cards, the dwarves 700 foil serialized and 7,000 non-serialized cards, and the humans 900 foil serialized and 9,000 non-serialized cards.
But what about the One Ring? While there will be a significant number of the non-serialized versions of the four-mana artifact in standard, borderless, promotional art backing, there’s also going to be a single serialized foil version that will be found in a single collector’s booster pack. Only one of these cards will ever be printed, making it the rarest Magic card ever made.
Magic's Lord of the Rings crossover begins pre-release events June 16 and celebrates its tabletop release on June 23. Expect the full range of products, including draft, collector, and Jumpstart boosters, as well as Commander Decks and gift bundles.