Magic: The Gathering (known to most as just "Magic" or "MTG") is a collectable card game from Wizards of the Coast that can be played physically as a tabletop game, or digitally online.
From time to time, Wizards of the Coast reach into other franchises, a series known as "Universes Beyond". Their latest venture is set in the hugely popular world of Middle-Earth, and will release on June 23rd 2023.
We've now managed to get our first look at some of the cards, including The One Ring, Frodo, Samwise, and Gandalf.
The One Ring
To add to the hype, Wizards have announced that they will be printing one special edition of "The One Ring", and including it one single Collector Booster at random.
It will be one of a one of a kind, "traditional foil card printed in the Black Speech of Sauron using Tengwar letterforms".
The Rings of Power aren't forgotten either - the Elven, Dwarven, and Human Sol Rings will have a limited print too, each in the language of the High Elves, Quenya, in Tengwar letterforms. The numbers being printed are as follows:
- 300 double rainbow foil Sol Ring (Elven)
- 700 double rainbow foil Sol Ring (Dwarven)
- 900 double rainbow foil Sol Ring (Human)
- 3,000 Non-foil Sol Ring (Elven)
- 7,000 Non-foil Sol Ring (Dwarven)
- 9,000 Non-foil Sol Ring (Human)
The One Ring and the double rainbow foil Sol Rings will be serialised, and will be available in random Collector Boosters.
These differ from the normal Draft & Set Boosters, which will also be available, as well as the Bundle and Gift Bundles, which will also include a Bundle Alt-Art promo version of The One Ring in each box.
What cards have been announced so far?
Aside from The One Ring, a Legendary Artifact card, we've also caught sight of Frodo, Samwise, Tom Bombadil, Gollum, Gandalf the Grey, Sauron, and even a called titled "Aragorn and Arwen, wed".
On top of these popular characters, Wizards have unveiled cards named "You Cannot Pass!", "Reprieve", and also "Mount Doom".
These cards come with awesome artworks to begin with, but some of them are also getting special treatment, including Borderless Scene cards and Ring Treatment cards.
To add to this, the basic lands are all from the map of Middle Earth, with there being two prints for each basic land.
In addition to the other special card treatments, you'll also find Borderless Scene Cards, which go together to form fantastic scenes.
Starter Kit, Bundle, and Commander Decks
As well as Boosters, the set will be releasing in a few ways.
Firstly, there's the Starter Kit - two 60-card decks with a traditional foil mythic rare card for each deck. These decks are Modern legal, and are a great way for people new to the game to get introduced to the mechanics.
Next, there's a Bundle - this includes 8 boosters, 20 foil lands, 20 non foil lands, and a life counter. The Bundle will also include an exclusive set of variants for Frodo, Sam, Gollum, and The One Ring.
Finally, there's the Commander Decks - Wizards are releasing four of these, which include 20 new-to-magic cards, as well as a Collector Booster Sample Pack.
There will also be a Gift Edition of the Bundle, which is similar to the regular Bundle but with a variant life counter, a full Collector Booster, and a themed storage box.
There's a lot to unpack in this announcement, and the full blog post from Wizards can be found here.
In the meantime, you can preorder anything mentioned here and more, ready for release on June 23rd 2023.
