The Rings of Power is one of the series that has generated the most curiosity since it appeared on our screens. Amazon has officially announced the renewal of its successful series for a third season, thus continuing its journey through the Third Age of Middle-earth. The series has managed to captivate audiences around the world since its debut, establishing itself as one of the cornerstones of the streaming platform and expanding J.R.R. Tolkien’s universe in an innovative way. A series to rule them all The revelation of the continuation of the series came in a […]
The Rings of Power is one of the series that has generated the most curiosity since it appeared on our screens. Amazon has officially announced the renewal of its successful series for a third season, thus continuing its journey through the Third Age of Middle-earth. The series has managed to captivate audiences worldwide since its debut, establishing itself as one of the cornerstones of the streaming platform and expanding J.R.R. Tolkien’s universe in an innovative way.
The revelation of the continuation of the series came at a timely moment, as interest in The Rings of Power has maintained a strong presence in fan conversations and has generated considerable critical debate. Amazon has highlighted that the creative team behind this project has an extraordinary vision, suggesting that the narrative will continue to explore deep and complex themes, distinctive features of Tolkien’s literary legacy.
With the third season underway, fans of the series can look forward to further development of the story arcs established in previous seasons. Expectations are high, especially after the mixed response received in the first season and the growing excitement generated by the second, which has promised greater depth in the plot and character development. Although specific details about the plot of the new season have not been revealed, rumors suggest that the events will be more directly connected to the story of the One Ring and its impact on Middle-earth.
With Amazon’s renewed commitment to The Rings of Power, viewers are eager to see how the adventures of this vast universe filled with magic, war, and heroism will unfold. The series not only represents a significant production effort but also a unique opportunity to pay tribute to one of the most beloved literary works in history.
The second season of The Rings of Power has experienced a significant 60% drop in viewing minutes compared to its inaugural season, according to Luminate’s annual streaming audience report. This notable decline has cast doubt on the ambitious expectations Amazon had for the series, which had already shown signs of disinterest during its first season, where only 37% of viewers completed all the episodes. The show’s poor performance has led to speculation about a possible reduction in development and production costs for the show, which already […]
The second season of The Rings of Power has experienced a significant 60% drop in viewing minutes compared to its inaugural season, according to Luminate’s annual streaming audience report. This notable decline has cast doubt on the ambitious expectations Amazon had for the series, which had already shown signs of disinterest during its first season, where only 37% of viewers completed all the episodes.
The low performance of the production has led to speculation about a possible reduction in the development and production costs of the show, which were already being discussed before the release of the second season. The company has not yet made an official announcement regarding the third season, although it has confirmed that it is in process, suggesting that there is still interest in moving forward with the project.
Amazon Prime fails to compete in the series market
Additionally, Nielsen’s data showed that The Rings of Power had completely disappeared from the top-10 most-watched series on the platform, adding to the growing concern about its future. In contrast, Fallout has established itself as the only Prime Video title on the popularity lists. In this situation, the question many are asking is whether the third season will maintain the same level of budget as the previous ones.
Fans of the franchise are eagerly awaiting news, as the upcoming release of new live-action movies could revitalize interest in The Rings of Power. The combination of these new releases with the series could be the key to regaining an audience that, so far, has shown significant disinterest. The coming months will be crucial in assessing the direction this ambitious series based on the universe of J.R.R. Tolkien will take.
If the theme of Ancient Rome doesn’t quite excite you, don’t despair: they’ve now announced a version set in Middle-earth, for some reason. Hey, nobody’s unhappy with some lembas.
You have probably wondered at some point what is the best board game for two people in history. Ideally, it should be accessible, fast, and fun, of course. The answer is ‘7 Wonders Duel’, an absolute masterpiece that you will play over and over again. But if the Ancient Rome theme doesn’t excite you, don’t worry: they have now announced a version set in Middle-earth, for some reason. Hey, no one can resist some lembas.
In this case, instead of two Roman civilizations facing each other over three different eras, this time we will follow, at least based on the box, a struggle between the forces of good and evil. In Spain it has been titled ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Duel for Middle-earth’ and the release date is not clear. In fact, we have only been able to see some of its components (coins, towers, soldiers, and shields), although it is assumed that it will introduce innovations beyond the theme.
We are in a moment of explosion of The Lord of the Rings games, so it was an ideal time to make a crossover with ‘7 Wonders’, which, in addition to ‘Duel’ (and its expansions), also recently experienced a rebirth with ‘7 Wonders Architects’, a simpler game for a new audience. Will it work now in the search for the One Ring? We will have to wait to know more, but for now it has become the big unexpected surprise of the year in games. Keep an eye out (from Sauron, of course).
The new Lord of the Rings game that puts us in the shoes of a hobbit will arrive by the end of this year, promising us a bucolic adventure.
The Lord of the Rings has had many video games over time. It is a popular franchise that has led to intense adventures, interesting strategy games, and even some MMOs and survival games. Anyone who is not familiar with the original work might think that The Lord of the Rings is a particularly violent or adventure-focused work. The reality is that it has a lot of traveling, taking care of one another, and the beauty of rural life. Something that is where the new Lord of the Rings game focuses on.
Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings game places us in Delagua, an idyllic village in The Shire where we will embody a hobbit who lives his days peacefully. The purpose of this cozy game is to celebrate the best Delagua Festival that The Shire has ever seen, all while we immerse ourselves in the peaceful life of the hobbits.
The game is being developed by Wētā Workshop, who have commented quite a few details about the game. Product director Kelly Tyson has emphasized that “Tales of the Shire brings a new and cozy dimension to the way fans can experience Middle-earth, with many uplifting mechanics focused on hobbits to win over those who are new to the genre”.
This means that if you are familiar with the so-called cozy games, or farm games, you will feel at home here. Settling in and decorating your own hobbit hole, fishing, cooking, collecting, and farming will be predominant mechanics in Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings game. Additionally, you will be able to share one of the seven hobbit meals with your neighbors and strengthen your relationships by helping them establish a farm, among other activities.
Although it does not have a release date yet, we do know that Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings game will arrive at the end of this year on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Nintendo Switch, and PC. That and we can’t wait to move into our own hole in the idyllic Delagua.
Although Gary Gygax, co-creator of D&D, has once said that he didn’t even like Tolkien work, the truth is that in its first edition it went from homage and inspiration bordering directly on plagiarism.
We can all differentiate between ‘Lord of the Rings’ and ‘Dungeons & Dragons‘ without much trouble. The first is an epic trilogy by JRR Tolkien and the other expands over decades of player-dependent imagination and lore. Beyond being both fantasy, they’re nothing alike, are they? Well. Certainly not what Tolkien’s heirs thought at the time… And rightly so.
Although Gary Gygax, co-creator of D&D, has once said that he did not even like Tolkien’s work, the truth is that in his first edition he went beyond homage and inspiration, bordering directly on plagiarism. In fact, in the first editions of the role-playing game, the race of the halflings was called, simply… Hobbit. Of course, the matter ended up being resolved in a lawsuit.
Trial in which, by the way, Tolkien’s heirs also asked not to use words such as “dragon”, “dwarf” or “elf” because they appear in ‘The Lord of the Rings‘. As we now know, words that already belonged to the language could be used freely, while others inherent to the writer’s work, such as “ent” (which in D&D was, without giving it half a twist, a living tree), had to be eliminated in successive editions. The enemy remains, only now it is called “treant”. Three more letters, zero judgments.
They are not the only characters viciously plagiarized by Gary Gygax. The Balors were called “Balrogs” in their initial notes, even though in this case they have wings as a way to differentiate themselves from the original, and a very powerful metal species is called “mithril” or, as it later became known to avoid direct plagiarism, “mithral”. Like the Ricky Rouse mouse, wow.
There is much more where historians have been scratching the socarrat of D&D only to discover that there is much they owe to Tolkien, from the idea of the “community of heroes” itself to very specific things like the mines where the dwarves dwell and which resemble (little) surprisingly to Moria. Come on, all that was missing in D&D was the presence of a unique “ring” to throw into the volcano of the “Vespino”. Thank goodness it has been normalized over time and we can roll 20-sided dice and enjoy the novels at the same time without having to choose. And now, duck, watch out for that balr… balor!
Magic: The Gathering has shown during Gen Con its future collaborations, with licenses such as Final Fantasy and Assassin’s Creed.
Over the weekend, Gen Con took place in Indianapolis, considered one of the largest tabletop gaming conventions in the US and, by extension, the world. It’s the venue where major industry innovations are showcased, important awards are presented, and surprising announcements are made. It’s also where significant games make their debut. That’s why Wizards of the Coast always reserves a space to unveil their upcoming offerings for the next year during Gen Con.
In fact, Wizards of the Coast had much more to reveal than just what’s coming for Magic: The Gathering in 2024. By showcasing sets all the way up to 2025, they’ve provided us with far more information than they typically do. However, let’s focus on what has caught the most attention with this development: their collaborations with other licenses.
Jurassic Park
In November, “The Lost Caves of Ixalan” will be released, a collection where we’ll delve into the interior of a hollow world inhabited by a lost civilization, as well as numerous dinosaurs. It’s no wonder they’ve decided to use the Jurassic Park license to add an extra layer of excitement to the mix. These cards will be specially created for the occasion and will appear in both collector and regular booster packs. Moreover, there will be two special Secret Lair drops dedicated to Jurassic Park on a date yet to be determined.
The Lord of the Rings: Tales from Middle-earth, Holiday Edition
The Lord of the Rings will make a return once again in November, this time with new cards featuring fresh mechanics, new scenes, and new treatments. While we don’t know much yet, we do know that one of the scene boxes — which include cards that form a complete illustration when placed together — will be “The Might of Galadriel.” Additionally, one of the new card treatments will adopt a concert poster style, breaking away from the more classic forms of the collection’s initial release.
Fallout
With a release date set for March 2024, one of the most post-apocalyptic collaborations in the history of Magic: The Gathering is on the horizon. The legendary video game franchise, Fallout, is making its way into the realm of Magic with four Commander decks, each representing a faction from the game. This follows a similar approach to what was done with the Warhammer 40K Commander decks. Designed to be played against each other in a multiplayer format, these decks are intended to attract a new audience to Magic through a tangential license that might pique their interest in the product, even if they weren’t sure how to get into it.
Asssassin’s Creed
Arguably, the most surprising collaboration comes with the renowned Ubisoft franchise. Set to release in July 2024, Assassin’s Creed marks the latest known collaboration for the game in the coming year. It’s also the most distinctive one. It will be the first collection presented in what they’ve termed “Beyond Boosters”: booster packs with fewer cards than usual, containing both original cards and reprints of old cards, all legal in the Modern format. This set is designed to offer a journey through the game’s universe, providing a way to experience the world of Assassin’s Creed without creating an entire collection around it.
Final Fantasy
The big one, the collection we were already aware of, is slated for 2025. Similar to “The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth” in its format, meaning we can expect a comprehensive collection with integration into Magic: The Gathering Arena, this set will encompass all the games in the franchise, from the first one to the most recent, Final Fantasy XVI as of the time of writing. This collaboration is poised to rival the popularity of “The Lord of the Rings,” which is already the second best-selling collection in the history of the game.
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The One Ring of Magic has finally found an owner willing to pay several million for it, and he is a famous singer we all know.
If there’s one big news in the world of Magic: The Gathering this year, it’s about The One Ring. Even reaching beyond the Magic player community, the existence of a card of which only one copy exists in the world, representing The One Ring from The Lord of the Rings, caused a sensation worldwide. A store in Valencia even offered two million euros (and a paella) for it, capturing attention everywhere. And for good reason. But it seemed like the story had come to an end when someone found it and was going to put it up for auction. However, today we’ve discovered that the card already has an owner. And it’s someone very famous.
The One Ring serialized 001/001 from The Lord of the Rings: Tales from Middle-earth has changed hands and its new owner is probably the world’s richest Magic player: Post Malone.
Posting a video on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, and Tik Tok, Brook Trafton, the person who originally opened The One and Only Ring, poses with the famous singer, hugging him, with a monetary exchange that has likely changed his life life forever. One more than enough reason to get excited.
This is my dream come true, meeting @PostMalone and him buying the One Ring card from me is literally a moment straight out of a fairytale. @PostMalone@wizards_magic you’ve changed my life. Things like this don’t happen to people like me. Forever grateful ? ✨ #mtg#oneringpic.twitter.com/VMBlDA1HdD
The exact sale price of the card still remains a mystery today. Speculations suggest that it has been sold for an amount exceeding two million dollars, which sounds reasonable considering that Post Malone himself paid 800,000 dollars for a signed version of Black Lotus by the artist Chris Rush. However, there is no official confirmation of the actual amount he paid for this card. The only thing that is clear is that it was certainly not a small sum, and whatever the amount was, both Trafton and Malone have achieved exactly what they desired from this transaction.
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Tom Bombadil, Imrahil or the first of the ent to charge against Isengard are among the characters who are not in the movies and with a letter in The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth.
Adaptations of literary works to other media are always accompanied by a mixture of excitement and tension. Excitement to see the characters coming to life, taking shape in a way we could never have imagined, with the story unfolding before our eyes in a different way than we had experienced it before. Tension, too, because it implies facing the unknown of whether they will know how to adapt it, whether they will understand what makes it special, whether it will really be a good adaptation or, as so many times before, it will be an absolute disaster.
The Lord of the Rings was not spared from this mixture of illusion and tension. Fortunately, the adaptation was fantastic. Peter Jackson and his team knew how to not only adapt the books, but also adapt them to contemporary sensibilities, making them more accessible, vibrant and current. Almost as if they were a work of the present, not the past.
Its only problem is that, being a movie and having a limited space, many mythical and beloved characters could not make their way into it. Something that has not happened in another adaptation as meritorious as the movies, such as The Lord of the Rings: Tales from Middle-earth. That is why today we are going to review all the cards that represent characters that appear in the books and do not appear in the movies and how they are represented on the cards, seeking to characterize them through the game mechanics themselves. Because Peter Jackson did an amazing job, but so has Wizards of the Coast.
Tom Bombadil
One of the great missing from Peter Jackson’s adaptation of The Lord of the Rings was Tom Bombadil; someone so powerful that, during the Council of Elrond, the Fellowship of the Ring considered giving him the One Ring for safekeeping, as not even Sauron would have dared to enter his domain. To his misfortune, Tom Bombadil was more interested in naps, smoking, eating, drinking, and being with his wife, Goldberry, and that made it a logical cut in the movies. Even if it is an excellent card for Commander players.
Having the five colors of the game in his cost, his abilities are related to the Sagas: cards that represent ancient stories and events that happened in the past. The more sagas there are on the battlefield the more powerful Tom Bombadil is, thus demonstrating his power. He is old, wise and always has knowledge to fall back on. Something that in terms of how to build the deck makes it very easy how to build a Tom Bombadil deck. Sagas of all sorts of colors, creatures and enchantments to ensure we have all five colors, and good old Tom Bombadil will show us why even Sauron himself feared him.
Gold Berry
Known as the Daughter of the River, named more than once as the most beautiful woman in Middle-earth, Goldberry is the wife and companion of Tom Bombadil, and lives with him in his shelter in the Old Forest. Although it is true that her role in the book is more anecdotal, acting as support for her husband, that does not detract from the fact that she is a character that many fans of the franchise are fond of, and have a lot of respect for all the power that she has always been understood to possess.
In playable terms, this is shown by her nymph abilities. With minimal cost, she is able to move counters of any type between other permanents and Goldberry and from Goldberry to other permanents. If left unanswered and we have other cards that create synergies with Goldberry, being able to straighten it after turning it, it can become an infinite value machine very much to be reckoned with. One that does nothing on its own? Perhaps not. But as in the novels, even if Goldberry is not by herself the most powerful person in Middle-earth, without her support it is inconceivable that the Company of the Ring would have even made it to the Council.
Beregond was the first captain of the White Company of Gondor, the guard of Faramir, brother of Boromir. Ignored in the films, Beregond was the one who accompanied Pippin when he arrived at Minas Tirith, and also the one who confronted the city’s Guards during the chapter of Denethor’s Pyre. He was also the one who marched alongside Aragorn in the battle of the Black Gate, which means that although it is understandable his lack of importance in the movies, the reality is that he is a capital character for the story: he was always there, acting as a leader and protector for his troops.
In fact, that’s its function as a card. Beregon of the Guard is a 3/3 for four mana, which isn’t too impressive, but when it enters the battlefield it gives +1/+1 and vigilance to all your creatures. Why? Because it inspires them. It gives them strength. When Beregond arrives, everyone knows that they are facing a reliable leader with whom nothing bad can happen. If they lead them, they will succeed. That’s why, every time a Human-type creature enters the battlefield, the same thing happens again. It grants +1/+1 and vigilance to all your creatures. Because reinforcements, when you are leading the Beregond army, you know they make you unstoppable.
Prince Imrahil
The uncle of Boromir and Faramir also makes an appearance in Tales of Middle-earth. During the War of the Ring, Imrahil accompanied Gandalf out of Minas Tirith to rescue Faramir on his suicidal crusade from Osgiliath, and also took part in the defense of the city against the Nazgul. He survived all this and, in fact, it was he who brought Eowyn to the Houses of Healing after the battle of the Pelennor Fields. Something that translates in a very peculiar way within the game.
Prince Imrahil the Fair is an azorius creature, white and blue in color, that every time you draw your second card each turn, creates a white 1/1 Human Soldier creature token. It is he who at all times believes that Aragorn is the true rightful heir to the kingdom of men and puts his armies at his disposal. That is why he seeks to create as much advantage as possible. Drawing more cards, to have more strategic options, and thus have more soldiers, thanks to his passive ability. A demonstration of Prince Imrahil’s dedication to his king.
Among the most peculiar creatures created in The Lord of the Rings are the Ent, sentient trees that are just another race like humans, elves, or dwarves. Among these, Ramaviva, affectionately known by fans of Tolkien’s universe as the fastest Ent, was one of the youngest Ent among those who participated in the House of Ents, the meeting in which they decided to put an end to Saruman’s nefarious influence over their lands. In fact, it was Ramaviva who was the first to attack Isengard and who took charge of Merry and Pippin during the conflict, both of whom were unharmed thanks to him.
When it comes to translating this in terms of gameplay, Wizards of the Coast wanted to bring these two facets together. To show that he is an Ent that cares about others, but at the same time, that he has an impulsive and brutal side. That’s why every time he enters the battlefield, or when another Arboreal-People does, up to two target creatures get +2/+2 and gain the ability to run over until the end of the turn. Something that makes it a protector, in its own way, but above all a real bulldozer capable of finishing many games if there are other sides on the field to help it pass over the enemy troops.
Erkenbrand
If there is one character that even many fans of the Lord of the Rings books would not know who he is, it is Erkenbrand. Lord of the West Folk in Rohan during the War of the Ring, he was in charge of defending the West Folk from the Orc invasion until Gandalf’s arrival, then joining him in the battle of Helm’s Deep. Although he does not appear in the movies and in fact, all his actions are transferred to Éomer, he is a very important character in the books, as he was the one who restrained Saruman, preventing Rohan from falling.
In Magic: The Gathering’s Tales of Middle-earth collection, he stars as a red monkey creature that every time he or another Human enters the battlefield, he makes all your creatures get +1/+0 until the end of the turn. This is explained by the fact that he spent a very long time defending himself against Saruman’s orcs, but also because it took him three days to march with Gandalf to Helm’s Deep. Not on a whim, but because they spent three days searching for every last person in Folde West who could still wield a weapon to fight in the bloodiest battle so far of The War of the Ring; a battle in which they were victorious, thanks to Gandalf’s power, but also to Erkenbrand’s steely leadership.
The Lord of the Rings: Tales from Middle-earth, the new Magic: The Gathering set, is out, and these are its best cards.
Wizards of the Coast officially launched its new Magic: The Gathering collection, The Lord of the Rings: Tales from Middle-earth, on June 23rd. By closely following J. R. R. Tolkien’s texts, reinterpreting them in certain points -especially in terms of aesthetics-, they have created a collection that, in terms of respect for the original work, is absolutely exceptional. A collection of cards that will fascinate all fans of J. R. R. R. Tolkien. Even if getting all nine versions of the Nâzgul is not going to be easy.
Now, that doesn’t take away from the fact that this is a Magic: The Gathering set. And although the discourse of a certain part of the players is that the set does not have especially powerful cards, in reality The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth has much more than what the eye can see at first glance. That is why we have decided to highlight those cards with more potential to become key pieces of competitive decks in the formats where this set is legal. That is, in Modern, Legacy, Vintage, Commander and Pauper. Although not all of them are here, they are all here, or at least we hope so: this is our particular choice of what we consider to be the best cards of the collection. A collection that, besides being beautiful and nostalgic, has some cards that can strongly shake the meta of the game.
The One Ring
As a matter of lore, it was logical that the single ring would be a powerful card. In fact, you don’t need to think much about it to see why it is so. Just with Indestructible and giving us protection against everything until our next turn for 4 mana, it would already be a piece to consider, but being able to turn it, add a counter on it and draw as many cards as counters in exchange for suffering as much damage as counters at the beginning of our turn, it is a bargain. Why? Because in two turns, for three life, we can draw six cards. If we draw a second One Ring, as it is a legendary artifact, we can sacrifice the original one and keep the new one, without counters and without losing lives. What does that mean? That with three The One Ring in the deck, one on the bench and a Karn, the great creator; or with four in the deck and an Emry, stalker of the lake, we have a combo that makes the One Ring the best card in the collection.
Orcish Bowmasters
But is The One Ring the best card in the set? Actually that position is hotly contested by the most unexpected card of them all: two Orcish Bowmasters. Orcish Bowmasters can enter the battlefield any time you could cast an instant and does 1 damage to any target. No conditions attached. In addition, every time an opponent draws a card after the first one each turn, it does 1 damage to any target and amasses an orc; that is, it creates a 0/0 Orc counter with a +1/+1 counter, or gives a +1/+1 counter to a 0/0 Orc counter. How much is drawn in Commander, Legacy, Vintage and Modern, the formats where this collection is legal? Even without unique rings, a lot. And that makes Orcish Bowmasters one of the most powerful cards in the set.
Sometimes a card just needs to do something that its color can’t normally do. That’s what Reprieve does. Our opponent is going to cast a spell and for two mana, one of them white, we return that card to his hand and draw a card. Are we just buying time? Indeed. do we sometimes just need that, especially when white specializes in very aggressive tribal strategies and value-based control strategies, where it’s all about buying time? Also.
Flame of Anor
Modal spells, which allow us to choose between several options, are always interesting. If they are instantaneous, they always find some place. Flame of Anor requires a blue and red mana plus a colorless, but it has three very good modes separately, and lets us choose a second one if we control a Mage. Does this card have a place? If there’s room in Modern and Legacy to put Snapcaster Mage back into Izzet decks, those that have blue and red mana available, then rest assured that Flame of Anor is a card you’re going to see a lot of.
Stern Scolding
An uncommon counter for a mana counter is always interesting. If it is able to kill any creature with life 2 or less, it has a good chance of becoming a spell to be reckoned with. It kills the bulk of small and medium creatures in the format, particularly Modern’s most insidious creature, Ragavan, Skilled Rustler, but in return, it’s completely useless against any deck that plays no creatures or only plays big creatures. But that doesn’t mean that Stern Scolding doesn’t have potential in formats where, behind the bench, it can make us beat more selfish decks for value.
Nobody likes a creature that gives mana. While it is true that Delighted Halfling only gives colorless mana unconditionally, it is also true that it gives colored mana to cast legendary spells and makes them impossible to counter. This makes Delighted Halfling an absolutely insane card. Where classic cards like Llanowar Elves are better in terms of being more reliable for single-color decks, Delighted Halfling works better at giving a reliable source of mana that also confers protection against any kind of opponent’s attempt to disrupt our plans, provided we play a decent amount of legendary creatures; something likely in any three or four-color deck.
Forge Anew
If there is one card that is secretly broken, in the sense that it will win a lot of surprise games in a way that no one expected, it is Forge Anew. Reading over it, it doesn’t seem to do anything particularly spectacular. It’s true, for starters, that it does a lot of things for a ridiculous cost. It returns a piece of equipment from the graveyard, allows us to activate equipment abilities at any time, and also allows us to equip for 0 the first time we activate an ability each turn. Hammer Time loves this because, wow, it’s based on doing exactly that, but Forge Anew does some very sinister things with it. Change who’s carrying Colossuss Hammer or Shadowspear once you’ve chosen blockers? Attack with Kaldra and, once you’ve resolved the first attack, equip it to another creature? It is also possible. That’s why it’s hard to imagine a world where Forge Anew doesn’t find a place at least in Modern.
Cast into the Fire
In a world where the single ring exists, there has to be a response to match. Under normal circumstances. Cast into the Fire would be a bad Erosionar. What happens is that The One Ring is indestructible and while Erosionar doesn’t affect it, Cast into the Fire exiles and by extension, can kill the One Ring. If we also add that it is legal in formats where an Emry, Lake Stalker and Hammer Time roam freely, then there is no doubt: Cast into the Fire is a card that every good player needs in his collection.
There are cards that are easy to despise a priori. Spiteful Banditry is one of those cards. At first, it seems clunky, slow, not too useful. It is a card that does not really fit in aggro and when red wants to go midrange or control, it depends on the other colors. But don’t be fooled: Spiteful Banditry is too similar to Ganchocarne Massacre, a card that had to be banned in Standard, to not take it into account. If we also add that it stays on the battlefield and generates a treasure for each enemy killed, giving us tremendous value for each new copy we cast, Spiteful Banditry has potential if you find a deck that wants to clear tables and generate value systematically.
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The Nazgûl card from the new Magic: The Gathering Lord of the Rings set increases its price by 1,000% in 24 hours.
Magic: The Gathering is launching its collection dedicated to The Lord of the Rings this Friday, and things are starting to heat up. While this collection may not have a significant impact on the competitive scene, it certainly excels in flavor, capturing the essence of J.R.R. Tolkien’s work. The artwork is breathtaking, and with the original texts accompanying the cards, this collection boasts some of the best descriptive texts in the game’s history. However, despite the limited number of cards that meet the competitive standards, the unique nature of the collection is causing the prices of some typically inexpensive cards to skyrocket.
First and foremost, it’s important to understand that Magic: The Gathering operates on a scarcity-based economy. A certain number of cards are printed, and once they are sold out, unless they are reprinted in a future collection, no more are available. This means that the more a card is played or in demand due to its artwork or exclusivity, the higher its price will climb. This is precisely the case with the Nâzgul cards.
Initially, the Nâzgul card itself is nothing special. Being a 1/2 creature with deathtouch for a cost of 3, it doesn’t stand out as particularly playable. So where does its value lie? It’s in the last line of text and what they’ve done with the card. The final line reads, “Each deck may contain up to nine cards named Nâzgul.” This is an anomaly because, unless specified otherwise, each deck can only have up to four copies of any given card, which doesn’t apply to the Nâzgul. Now, as we mentioned, it’s not a playable card, so it doesn’t matter whether you can have four or nine copies if it’s not going to see play. But that’s where the trick lies. In The Lord of the Rings, there are nine Nâzgul, just as there are nine human kings corrupted by the rings of power given to men. And in this Magic: The Gathering collection, there are nine versions of the Nâzgul card, each representing one of the nine different riders.
That’s what has made it scarce. Despite being an uncommon card, being the second rarest type of card —in terms of rarity, from most common to least common to find in packs, there are: commons, uncommons, rares, and mythic rares—, having nine versions of the same card makes it harder to find all the versions than simply finding nine copies of the same one. If we also consider that they seem to appear less frequently than usual for uncommon cards, we have a case on our hands of a card that is poised to explode in price on the secondary market.
As the first packs of the collection have been opened, the price of the Nâzgul card has skyrocketed. Going from around one to two euros to approximately ten euros in the European market, and reaching nearly twenty dollars in the American market, its value has exponentially increased in less than twenty-four hours as people realized that acquiring a collection of all nine Nâzgul could be much more difficult than initially thought.
On the other hand, there’s a small catch to consider. So far, only a very limited number of packs from The Lord of the Rings collection have been opened. The collection doesn’t officially release until Friday, June 23rd, and while stores open boxes early to sell cards that can be used in tournaments as soon as they become legal, one week before their release, it means there’s a relatively small amount of material circulating. This suggests that it’s expected for Nâzgul’s price to decrease over time if the collection is widely opened, which is likely given that it’s The Lord of the Rings, and if many cards are sold, although that is more questionable given the set’s focus on collectors.
At the end of the day, Magic: The Gathering is a game that treats its cards as luxury products. In recent times, they have tried to alleviate this by introducing special treatments for cards, increasing reprints and their frequency, but they don’t always achieve their goal. In any case, this will only affect collectors and not the competitive game, and as we know, this is how it works: if you want something, you have to pay for it. And no one ever said that collecting something is cheap.
