Though the first Lord of the Rings: Adventures in MIddle-Earth MTG set has only just made it to store shelves, the second set has been announced – and we’ve barely had a chance to explore, let alone even leave, The Shire!
Of course, if there’s one thing Wizards of the Coast are known for with Magic: The Gathering, it’s their fairly relentless release schedule – so it shouldn’t come as a surprise to see another Lord of the Rings set announced so soon after the first one.
Especially as there’s been an incredible buzz around the MTG/Tolkien crossover – and it’s no doubt going to bring in legions of Lord of the Rings fans who’ll be eager to explore even more of the rich lore of Middle-Earth through Magic: The Gathering’s addictive gameplay.
So, with the second set of Lord of the Rings MTG cards announced, what products are going to be made available when they release on the 3rd of November 2023?
Let’s find out, as we check out the Lord of the Rings MTG Holiday Releases!
1. Lord Of The Rings: Tales Of Middle-Earth Jumpstart Vol. 2 Booster Packs
If you’re new to MTG – and, let’s face it, Lord of the Rings has brought in many new players to the game – welcome; you’re about to discover the best way of getting into the game.
Also, I must say that I truly do envy you – because you’ve got so much joy and fun ahead of you, as you discover the magic (pun fully intended) of MTG!
As long as you know the basics of the game – if you don’t, you can always bring yourself up to speed somewhat by checking out our how to play Magic: The Gathering article – there’s few ways to get going faster than by grabbing a pair of Jumpstart Booster packs.
That’s right: Jumpstart Booster Packs are designed to be opened and used to build a deck using the contents of two packs; you can get going immediately after opening them and shuffling them together!
For more on this and other types of boosters, you can check out our Magic: The Gathering Booster Pack types article.
So what can you expect from the Lord of the Rings Jumpstart Vol. 2 boosters?
Well, in a Booster Box you’ll get 18 Jumpstart Booster packs. Which is probably overkill unless you and 8 friends are keen to get into MTG at exactly the same time, so of course you can opt to buy Jumpstart packs individually.
Inside each booster is 20 cards, with each pack based around one of five random themes in this second volume – including all of the Land cards you’ll need to keep your deck flowing through your MTG game.
You’ll get two Rare cards per pack and two special, foil Land cards too.
If you’re feeling particularly adventurous, you can use one LOTR Jumpstart pack and a Jumpstart pack from any other MTG set to create your deck!
What you won’t find in a Jumpstart pack are any of the serialised, limited edition Ring cards – and we’ll talk a bit more about those in the next section.
2. Lord of the Rings: Tales Of Middle-Earth Special Edition Collector Boosters
It’s important to note straight out of the gate that you won’t have a chance of finding any of the serialised, limited edition Ring cards – including the Elven, Dwarven and Human Rings of Power or the 1 of 1 One Ring card.
These will still only be available in the Main Set, not Special Edition, Collector Boosters.
There is a chance to find these cards in non-limited edition variants, however – and they’re functionally identical to the more sought after, though extremely rare, versions.
So what can you find in a Special Edition Collector Booster?
Collector Booster packs are filled with cards in special treatments at various rarity levels – and inside each Special Edition Collector Booster are 15 cards, comprised of 5 Rare (or higher, such as Mythic Rare) cards, 5 Uncommon, 4 Common cards and 1 Land card.
Perhaps most interestingly for long term fans and collectors, these Special Edition boosters will contain cards with an entirely new type of foil treatment – and each booster will have between 5 and 6 cards of this type.
Each pack has special alt-art and alt-frame cards – this will include exclusive Borderless card art that won’t be available in any other type of LOTR booster pack.
If you’re feeling particularly rich in Dwarven gold, you can opt for a Collector Booster Box – here’s what’s inside the LOTR MTG Collectors Box.
Wizards of the Coast is currently keeping tight-lipped on the cards that’ll form the second LOTR set – so while we do know what types and treatments of cards will be included, we don’t yet know anything about the cards and their abilities.
3. Lord Of The Rings: Tales Of Middle-Earth Scene Box
As Scene Cards themselves were introduced in the LOTR MTG set, this is a unique and new type of product release for Magic: The Gathering.
The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth Scene Box is likely a product that’s geared more towards Tolkien fans and collectors in general than serious, competitive MTG players.
That’s because each Scene Box contains 6 borderless, foil treated art cards to create the scene depicted on the cover of the box; these are all functional MTG cards to be used in-game too.
Cleverly, the same cards are also included in the box without any in-game text at all.
This means that you’ll have a set of MTG cards that can be used to create the scene itself and be playable, along with another set of cards that can be used to simply make the scene as a piece of art in its own right – with none of that pesky text getting in the way.
There’s even an easel included, which is used to display these text-free cards!
So what else do you get in a LOTR Scene Box?
Along with the aforementioned 6 Traditional Foil Borderless Scene Cards, 6 Art Cards and display easel, you’ll also get 3 Set Booster packs.
These are standard Set Boosters; each contains 12 cards from The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth set, including 1–4 cards of rarity Rare or higher.
There are four Scene Boxes to collect – so if you pick up each one, you’ll be able to display four gorgeous pieces of LOTR MTG art on their very own easels!
While you won’t have a chance of finding the serialised, limited edition Rings in any of the Lord of the Rings MTG Holiday Release products, I’m sure you’ll agree that there’s plenty of reasons to check out the new cards.
The Jumpstart booster packs are perfect for new or returning players, the Collector Boosters are a great investment for long term, serious collectors of MTG and the Scene Boxes are ideal for LOTR aficionados and MTG fans of Tolkien alike.
