MTG – Is Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle Earth worth it

Wondering if the Lord of the Rings MTG deck is worth it? Magic: The Gathering’s Universes Beyond has crossed over with many different series such as Warhammer 40K and Doctor Who.

The first Universes Beyond product that was a fully-fledged set was Lord Of The Rings: Tales Of Middle-earth. The set was created with Modern in mind, legal in the format as well as Vintage, Legacy, Commander, and Pauper. Read up on the latest MTG Arena codes before considering a new deck.

The set was a big success, but is Magic’s Lord Of The Rings set worth it now? Are the cards inside the set good? Is there good monetary value? Those questions will be answered here.

How strong are the cards in Lord of the Rings MTG

There are many stand-out cards from Lord Of The Rings: Tales Of Middle-earth. Many see play across multiple formats, and none have seen more success as Orcish Bowmasers. The card sees use in Vintage, Magic’s highest power format. Orcish Bowmasters punishes any deck that is drawing a ton of cards, so in formats where Brainstorm (a card that draws three cards) is legal, Orcish Bowmasters is the ultimate punishment for using it. Since Orcish Bowmasters has flash, you can cast it in response to any draw spell or ability while your opponent isn’t expecting it. This ensures Orcish Bowmasters’ effect is used to its maximum potential. 

Orcish Bowmasters isn’t the only card that is seeing widespread play. The namesake artifact The One Ring is seeing just as much. It gives you a turn where you don’t have to worry about taking damage. You gain protection from anything when you successfully cast it. Afterward, you have constant draw power over the rest of the game. While you do take damage for each counter you get on it, you can simply remove them all by playing another copy of The One Ring. Since The One Ring is a legendary artifact, you can only control one copy of it at a time. The counters on one don’t transfer to the new copy. 

There is no shortage of powerful Commander cards in the set as well. Gandalf The White is a big boost to any decks running legendary or artifact spells. It does this by having their enter or leave the battlefield effects trigger twice. Aragorn, The Uniter, is one of the few four-color commanders that rewards you for playing spells of a specific color. This card grants a specific effect when you do so. When you pair this with multi-colored cards, multiple effects trigger at once to let Aragorn generate a ton of value.

How cycling raises the value of Lord of the Rings MTG

Although the effects on the cards themselves aren’t that amazing, the cycle of land cyclers is among the strongest cards in the set. The cycle comes in all colors, having you pay one generic mana to cycle that card to search for a specific land type. Landcycling notably searches for a land type, not a basic land of that type. That means both dual lands and triomes can be searched out with these cards. 

The landcyclers are so strong because they let you play with a smaller land count. You can count them as one of your lands. And you can trade them in for a land at any time. This is so strong because you are also running a smaller deck, since by landcycling these cards away you are getting rid of a potential dead card later. 

The most used out of this cycle is Lórien Revealed, the main reason being that it’s the only one that is not on a creature. Many decks care about non-creature spells being in the graveyard, and Lórien Revealed gets you one there by simply using an effect you would want to be using anyway. It’s especially good in Pauper in decks built around Tolarian Terror that is discounted for every instant and sorcery in your graveyard. 

How valuable are the MTG cards in Lord of the Rings

Lord Of The Rings: Tales Of Middle-earth has many cards that hold a lot of value. There are special showcase arts available in the Lord Of The Rings Special Edition Collector Boosters. These appear like a scroll and come in foil and nonfoil. The ones with this treatment that are worth the most are The One Ring, Orchish Bowmasters, Palantír of Orthanc, and all the art variants of Nazgûl (which have nine different arts). Foil versions of some of these scroll showcases go for over €100. 

Outside of the special scroll treatments, the strongest cards in the set are almost the most valuable. The One Ring goes for around €50 for the most basic printing, even more if you’re lucky enough to open a foil The One Ring or one of its alternate treatments. 

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Look beyond borders

The most valuable printings in Lord Of The Rings; Tales Of Middle-earth are the cards with borderless treatments. These printings are worth a pretty penny, and in the cases of those attached to popular Lord Of The Rings characters that also happen to be strong cards on their own, the value is even greater.

Is Lord of the Rings MTG worth it

Lord Of The Rings: Tales Of Middle-earth is worth picking up for both fans of Magic: The Gathering and Lord of the Rings itself. The set features a ton of characters from the novels, along with powerful cards to make everyone happy. 

There is a lot of value in all of the Lord of the Rings releases as well for collectors. The product releases include pre-constructed Commander decks, Jumpstart packs, special addition boosters with unique art, scene boxes depicting an art piece through multiple cards, and much more. With this particular set, there is a little something for everyone. 

The cards inside Lord Of The Rings: Tales Of Middle-earth are played across all formats. They are even available in full on Magic: Arena for digital players. It is a set that marked the start of Universes Beyond products having full set releases as opposed to only small releases. That’s something that will continue into the future with Final Fantasy being the next series to have the same treatment. Our best MTG Commander Decks will give you a headstart if you’re considering the Commander game mode. And if you’re new to it, here’s how to play Commander in MTG.

Lord of the Rings MTG FAQs

Are the Lord of the Rings Magic cards good?

Yes, they pair well with other Magic: The Gathering cards.

How rare is The One Ring MTG?

Players only have a 0.00003% chance of getting this card in a booster pack.