An exclusive sneak peek at some of the wild new playable cards in The Lord of the Rings x Magic: The Gathering holiday updates, courtesy of Wizards of the Coast. You’ve never seen Magic cards like these!
Announced at MagicCon Vegas this weekend, the hugely successful MTGxLOTR is getting a new creative expansion including these new borderless poster art cards. These playable cards include all the necessary details, from the cost at the top right to the effect description hand written. These new cards will be available randomly in the new Holiday Collector Packs.
We got the opportunity to ask art directors from Magic: The Gathering, Sarah Wassell and MTG Hall of Famer Mike Turian, about these new wild designs.
What inspired this path of creativity in the cards?
Sarah Wassell – “The LOTR poster art style is specific to a style of band poster that emerged during the counter culture movement in the US in the 1960s (Seymour Chwast, Pushpin Studios, etc etc. There was a three book LOTR set published with amazing cover art by Barbara Remington that was a cult hit on US college campuses in the 1960s. This surge of interest fed directly into cultural moments with stadium rock bands referencing Tolkien in their lyrics in the 1970s. It’s incredible, the far-reaching effect of LOTR on fantasy and art and music, and we loved taking the space to honor one of the more surprising areas of Tolkien fandom through these “band posters.” And we love the chance to turn Magic cards with all their rule and mechanics into full poster art—it’s such a mind-bending way to approach a format that is so rigid that the elements can disappear through familiarity. “
These look unlike any other MTGxLOTR cards so far. Are they part of a broader artistic trends you are seeing come up?
Wassell – “Hopefully, the broad trend is that we continue to surprise and delight fans! Our goal for Magic art is to always work from a place of passion for the storytelling and characters and find new ways to visually express the lore of the set through connections to pop culture and all kinds of unexpected, nostalgic, or beloved ways of depicting the Magic sets we love so much.”
What has been the biggest surprise so far since initial release of LOTR?
Mike Turian – “The biggest surprise for me is just how the 1 of 1 Ring took on a life of its own. When we were making the card, that was always the vision behind doing a singular card to celebrate Magic and The Lord of the Rings coming together, we wanted to create something that would capture the imagination of fans and bring a piece of the novel to life. Still though, to see how it really did take off was something spectacular. And then, to actually have it pulled out of a pack, and ultimately end up in the hands of a superstar celebrity musician who loves playing Magic, I can’t imagine a better ending to that story!”
How do you find such creative artists?
Wassell – “We try to stay engaged in what is popular and exciting with fan art and pop art. We research art history and then approach our searches from current working artists who are inspired by exciting moments in art’s past. Mostly, we try to start from the source material of our internal world building team and game designers to amplify the exciting moments in a Magic set through the art that excites and inspires all of us in our day-to-day online and IRL journeys.”
Release Date
The new packs for The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Holiday Edition release November 3. Look for pre-orders through your favorite local game store.
Middle-earth returns to card decks worldwide with the new officially licensed The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth sets. Wizards of the Coast, owners of Magic: The Gathering, streamed a first look at many of the LOTR cards, mechanics, characters and artwork arriving in June.
It’s time to embark on a different sort of journey as Magic presents characters, locations, and epic moments from the epic fantasy novels of J.R.R. Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth™ is packed with exciting new cards and a few marquee keywords and mechanics to review. So, gather your Fellowship, pack your lembas, and let’s head out to learn more about the new set.
For old fans returning to Magic: The Gathering, many will appreciate this announcement – Wizards has licensed artwork from Ralph Bakshi’s Lord of the Rings, as “Secret Lair” variant cards!
Frodo himself, Elijah Wood, got a sneak peek at the cards!
Some of our favorite Tolkien fans – Don Marshall, Trisha Hershberger, and Nerd of the Rings!
Some of the cards have generated immense conversation on social media, which is a signing of increasing popularity. These LOTR decks are selling extremely well on pre-orders, and tons of fans can’t wait to get their hands on them. Wizards of the Coast provided this quote to Kotaku about the fresh artistic interpretations of Middle-earth:
Diversity:The Lord of the Rings is about the different peoples of Middle-earth coming together to fight Sauron, finding strength in their diversity. Fans of all backgrounds have been enjoying these stories, characters, and locations for decades, and we wanted this set to reflect on that broad inclusion. Originality: The goal of this set is to express the story and setting of The Lord of the Rings through Magic: The Gathering Countless prior efforts have painted vivid pictures of this world, but our goal is a modern take on the work of J.R.R. Tolkien, lovingly crafted for an ever-expanding fandom.
Get Aragorn with Anduril, and the rest of The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth card packs, everywhere June 23, 2023. Support local game shops and pre-order with them.
UPDATE:
Staffer Demosthenes here with a quick update on behalf of Justin.
First, there will be a expansion featuring cards based on Hildebrandt Tolkien artwork in November. Second, the Bakshi Secret Lair will only be available from The Wizards of the Coast website — so if you want it go looking there!
Finally, Amazon also has a number of special booster packs for pre-order. The big Booster Box is currently unavailable, but you can still pre-order small packs (of 15 cards) at the time of writing. Hopefully I got that all correct! Oh, and there’s a lot of discussion of the new MTG LOTR cards happening on our Discord so feel free to drop by and join in at discord.gg/TheOneRing.
We got to ask Wizards of the Coast artist and art director Ovidio Cartagena about the new officially licensed The Lord of the Rings expansion cards for Magic: The Gathering.
Was there any particular aspect, creature, or perhaps landmark of Middle-earth that you haven’t seen from other artists, and have always wanted to bring to life through your own art? The Scouring of the Shire and the Battle of Bywater were very interesting to me. The whole plot involving Old Toby, and the discovery of trade between Saruman and the Shire, always caught my attention.
Naturally, the destruction of something so warm and innocent like the Shire appears to be, and the corruption of many hobbits, is something that I wanted to show in detail in Magic’s adaptation of the books.
Has Tolkien’s own artistic style been an influence for you in your work? Oh yes. We looked at Tolkien’s artwork during the development of The Lord of the Rings. I was very lucky to work with artists who were also influenced by these works. Tolkien’s work is incredibly clear and has a definitive shape language that is unmissable: you’ll know whose hand made it if you look at the work.
What other Tolkien artists inspire you? The Hildebrandts were very influential for me growing up. Their talent seemed endless, and I was a big fan of their work on the LoTR calendar and the Marvel Masterpieces cards from the ’90s. It’s incredible that I get to say that I’ve worked in a set that also features the art of the Hildebrandts. I remember making illustrations for a Lord of the Rings calendar of my own, back when I was 18, a college art project, so it’s fair to say that LoTR and many of the Tolkien artists were a pretty big influence to what I do.
How much freedom were you all given to work on these characters? We had a fair amount of freedom at the beginning. Interestingly, we didn’t have limitations placed before working on concept art. We had a lot of freedom to develop characters, environments, motifs and so on. At the end of the concept art process, we put together a guide that would help artists illustrate our vision for The Lord of the Rings, and Middle-earth Enterprises reviewed the guide and gave us their feedback. I was very nervous at first, but their reaction was positive and that began a great creative partnership between us. Most of the art you see in cards was based on that guide.
What was the process for the artist to submit work, to get to work on these cards? Artists were selected on their capacity to deliver on one or all of the four parameters I set for the set’s visual direction: Epic (scale and scope), Legendary (attention to lore), Storytelling (attention to characters and their relationships), Pastoral (what our heroes are fighting to protect). Ekaterina Burmak, Magali Villeneuve, Tyler Jacobson, Jesper Ejsing, and many other greats lent their enormous talents and unique styles to create Magic: The Gathering’s Lord of the Rings.
What pressures are there to depict Bilbo in a world where two actors defined the character so thoroughly? Bilbo is a very interesting character. And eccentric, too! I remember reading the Council of Elrond, and Bilbo initially volunteers to take the ring to Mount Doom… this is a true adventurer (who also happens to be attached to “his” ring) even after all these years. The design for the character was done in a card illustration by Anna Pavleeva, and we tried to put in his years of lived experiences, a bit of mischief and, of course, the confidence of a daring adventurer who wouldn’t shy away from an epic quest at 111!
How exciting is it to be in this new phase of Middle-earth adaptations? How do you consider your work alongside spheres of TV and new films? It is hard for me to speak of a “revival” of The Lord of the Rings, because it seems like something that has had relevance for most of my life. But it is fair to say we’re seeing an increased focus on LoTR in the mainstream. I am, however, very excited about seeing different takes in media for The Lord of the Rings. There are so many things to explore in Middle-earth! The work we did for the Magic: The Gathering set was an epic endeavor in itself, and I’m very proud of how it holds up to the literature and the adaptations done in other media. I got to live in the time and place of the War of the Ring for a while as I directed the set, and the project gave me a chance to keep coming back to the books I love so much.
We paid attention to a lot of details and there are more than a few easter eggs to consider! The whole team pitched in with lore knowledge, and the passion we poured into the project will definitely show in the card set!
How do you apply more modernized styles of art/composition to illustrate the works of a writer like Tolkien, who dealt mainly with antiquities? I think Tolkien’s work will endure a lot of cultural changes, way beyond our lifetimes. There have been modern crane shots and dutch angles in the interest of dramatizing the events in the War of the Ring. We’ve used the skills and tricks of illustration to bring ourselves inside Tolkien’s rich world, as if we had been there. One of my conceits at the beginning of this massive project was that every illustration was a frame or painting commissioned right after the War, to document the events therein. Since culture hasn’t stopped, and techniques have evolved along with widespread visual language resources, our approach is to let the worldbuilding draw the viewer in.
Who is your favorite Middle-earth character, and why? It is between Boromir and Denethor. It is easy to dislike these characters, but it is often missed that these were strong and great men with a great deal of knowledge. They’d been fighting and witnessing the rise of Sauron’s power, and were desperate to regain the greatness that Númenor once had. Denethor gave almost the air of a wizard due to his sharp intelligence, and wore chain mail under his elegant robe which meant he knew the importance of strength. It is interesting to speculate what Boromir would have achieved in better times – but he did not choose to be born at the edge of a Great War.
What’s your favorite piece for this new collection? It is very difficult for me to pick a favorite piece because every artist gave us great work. I’ll just give a couple of shoutouts to folks who added personal greats to their portfolios:
Gray Highsmith, who was one of the concept artists – they helped design the costuming and motifs of hobbits.
Tyler Jacobson, whose epic ambition and incredible abilities gave the world a Battle of the Pelennor Fields painting worthy of a castle wall. He was also the designer of our Sauron, a truly unique take!
Magali Villeneuve, whose massive talent embodied the soul of The Lord of the Rings, and her vision brought these awesome characters to life.
Alexander Mokhov, who really came into his own as a Magic illustrator with his work in this set.
About the new The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth™ arriving June 23, 2023
The Lord of the Rings has come to Magic: The Gathering, and it’s time to take familiar favorites on a whole new journey there and back again. In the upcoming set The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth™, players have the chance to join the Fellowship in adventures filled with valor, courage, and second breakfast. Play your favorite moments of the third age or turn Middle-earth on its head and surrender to the temptation of the Precious. Either way; Middle-earth is in your hands.
The set has two primary launch windows—June 2023 and a holiday launch in November 2023—and is the first full set release as part of Universes Beyond, bringing the iconic world of J.R.R. Tolkien to life within the Magic frame. The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth is modern legal and comprised of Draft, Set, Collector, and Jumpstart Boosters, four Commander decks, a Starter Kit, a Bundle and Gift Bundle, Scene Boxes, and Secret Lair drops. For more information on which specific products are coming in June 2023, check out this article on DailyMTG.
The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth will also come to Magic: The Gathering Arena with all of the same cards as the tabletop release. The set will be legal in Alchemy and Historic formats and receive the same support as a full release, including a preorder, Mastery Pass, and cosmetics.
Just unveiled at MagicCon Minneapolis is the new multi-card panorama artwork of Bilbo’s birthday party for The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, a new card game from the makers of Magic: The Gathering.
Created by artist Livia Prima, the series of 6 randomly-packed cards can be collected to reveal a whole party diorama. Details of the character cards include in-game stats and play actions.
Above: Birthday party cards available in random pack card sets.
The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth™ Arrives June 23, 2023
The Lord of the Rings has come to Magic: The Gathering, and it’s time to take familiar favorites on a whole new journey there and back again. In the upcoming set The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth™, players have the chance to join the Fellowship in adventures filled with valor, courage, and second breakfast. Play your favorite moments of the third age or turn Middle-earth on its head and surrender to the temptation of the Precious. Either way; Middle-earth is in your hands.
The set has two primary launch windows—June 2023 and a holiday launch in November 2023—and is the first full set release as part of Universes Beyond, bringing the iconic world of J.R.R. Tolkien to life within the Magic frame. The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth is modern legal and comprised of Draft, Set, Collector, and Jumpstart Boosters, four Commander decks, a Starter Kit, a Bundle and Gift Bundle, Scene Boxes, and Secret Lair drops. For more information on which specific products are coming in June 2023, check out this article on DailyMTG.
The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth will also come to Magic: The Gathering Arena with all of the same cards as the tabletop release. The set will be legal in Alchemy and Historic formats and receive the same support as a full release, including a preorder, Mastery Pass, and cosmetics.
The exclusive The Lord of The Rings™ Roleplaying game live event for Extra Life, a charity uniting thousands of gamers around the world in support of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals — Only at LA Comic Con
For every Middle-earth fan attending L.A. Comic Con, this Roleplaying live event is the perfect way to end your Saturday evening. There will be an All-Star group of gamers and actors playing the game, all for charity, and you can be there to watch it live.
LIVE EVENT DETAILS: How: Redeem your free ticket at the Legion M booth (booth 1015) starting at 11 am PST on Sat, December 3rd, 2022 When: Saturday, December 3rd, 2022 Where: Only at Los Angeles Comic Con in room 301AB Time: Doors open 6 pm | Show starts 7 pm PT Donate to Extra Life at: https://www.extra-life.org/participant/lostodyssey
The full press release is below:
LOS ANGELES, Ca., Nov. 29 — One charity campaign to unite fans of fantasy and gaming alike. ‘From the mind of Kate Welch’, Lost Odyssey: The Red Scribe will see a fellowship of heroes come together in the World Premiere of the brand new The Lord of the Rings™ Roleplaying Game, in a spectacular, never-before-heard tale from Middle Earth. The game will kick off a first-of-its-kind digital marketplace, hosted by eBay, where both fans and companies can buy and sell products to benefit Extra Life, a program that’s raised over $100 million to fund critical life-saving treatments and healthcare services, along with innovative research, vital pediatric medical equipment, and child life services across the nation.
Join game master Kate Welch (Acquisitions Incorporated), alongside an all-star cast of players including Deborah Ann Woll (True Blood, Daredevil), Reggie Watts (The Late Late Show with James Corden), TJ Storm (Godzilla, Deadpool), Luke Gygax (GaryCon, GaxxWorx), and The Dark Lord Sauron himself, Sala Baker (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy), for a tabletop roleplaying experience like no other. Free to attend for any LACC Saturday badge holder, the star-studded celebrity gaming series Lost Odyssey returns to a physical table after two years of webcam games for an incredible cause. People coming together and telling stories to help one another—gathering around the proverbial campfire, and telling a story as one. Be the first to get your free ticket at the Legion M booth starting at 11 am PST on December 3rd – A limited number of tickets are available! Attendees will receive exclusive Comic-Con giveaways like minis, dice, and more… they may even have a role to play in the onstage story itself!
Lost Odyssey: The Red Scribe is presented by The Lord of the Rings™: Rise to War (an officially licensed mobile strategy game based on the iconic trilogy of books by J.R.R. Tolkien, developed by NetEase Games), and brought to you from sponsors including Free League Publishing (Creators of hit TTRPGs like ALIEN The Roleplaying Game, Blade Runner The Roleplaying Game, The One Ring™, and of course the new The Lord of the Rings™ Roleplaying Game), Legion M (the world’s first fan-owned entertainment company), Magpie Games (Avatar: Legends, Root The Roleplaying Game, and Urban Shadows), Spidermind Games (creator of the new technologically advanced, Dragon Eye Dice), Miniature Market (the online gaming superstore), DUST (a diverse platform for visionaries across the sci-fi community), GaxxWorx (veteran-owned company focused on creating well-designed and fun games and gaming accessories for everyone), and Syrinscape (the app that brings immersive sound effects and music to your tabletop roleplaying games, offering unique soundscapes that will elevate your game at home the same way you’ll see at-play in Lost Odyssey: The Red Scribe).
Stay tuned for more game details at: lostodysseyevents.com
Follow along on Twitter/Facebook/Instagram/TikTok: @LostOdysseyLive
About LOST ODYSSEY EVENTS: From the production company INSIGNIS PICTURES, LOST ODYSSEY EVENTS is a TTRPG event series created by Douglisio DiMuccio and Rob D. Miller, a narrative multiverse bringing together the organizations and personalities of the TTRPG community behind common causes. Story saves.
About EXTRA LIFE: Extra Life is a charity uniting thousands of gamers around the world to play games in support of their local Children’s Miracle Network Hospital. Since its inception in 2008, Extra Life has raised over $100 million to fund critical life-saving treatments and healthcare services, along with innovative research, vital pediatric medical equipment, and child life services across the nation. For Lost Odyssey Events: inquiries@insignispictures.com
The awesome folks at Ravensburger Puzzles wanted us to let you know that right now, fans can snag two awesome puzzles, representing the first two films in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. These beautiful, 2000-piece puzzles are great pieces of art representing each film; The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers are available now at a variety of retailers.
The Return of the King puzzle is coming in 2023, so you won’t have long to wait to get that one as well. These puzzles would make great gifts for the Ringer in your life! We will also be giving you all a look at these puzzles in the future when we put together ours – so be on the lookout for that review.
Meanwhile, you can enter for a chance to win! One lucky winner, chosen at random, will receive both of these first two puzzles in the trilogy. Simply complete this form to be in with a chance to win. The giveaway runs until 11.59pm PT on Wednesday 7th December, and winner will be contacted after that. Sorry, only open to fans in the United States.
