MTG Arena Release Notes – The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth™
A long-expected party is about to happen, as The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth™ arrives on MTG Arena! We'll be bringing you the full The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth experience, including Set Mastery, Limited events, precious Golden Packs, and more!
Keep reading to learn more on how you can join the Fellowship on MTG Arena!
Mechanics
For more information, refer to The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Mechanics article.
The Ring
The Ring is a heavy burden, but we won't be sending you off alone!
If you find yourself tempted to wield the great and terrible power granted by the Ring, you'll only need to look to the battlefield to remind yourself of its power. When you designate a Ring-bearer, it will gain a special Ring-bearer badge and the card's rules text will automatically update with the abilities gained from the Ring.
Additionally, you'll be able to refer to the emblem on the left side of the battlefield to track your progress and as a helpful reminder of all the power the Ring commands.
Amass
Do you wish to see the greatness of our army?
Amass is a returning mechanic, though in this tale, you will be mustering an Orc Army. As noted in the main mechanics article, older cards will receive an update to now say "amass Zombies N," and if the Army creature you put +1/+1 counters on isn't already a Zombie, it becomes a Zombie in addition to its other types.
This also means you can use older amass cards with ones from this set! Orc Zombie Army? Orc Zombie Army.
Additional Card Information
In addition to new or updated mechanics, there are a few noteworthy card interactions we wish to call out when playing on MTG Arena:
- Isildur's Fateful Strike – You hear a voice, remote but clear, crying, "A player can't cast a legendary instant or sorcery spell unless that player controls a legendary creature or a legendary planeswalker."
- Nimble Hobbit – If you have Food but instead want to pay mana, decline sacrificing a Food.
- The Balrog, Durin's Bane – If you are planning to sacrifice Treasure tokens, do it before you start casting this.
- Delighted Halfling – Auto-tap doesn't know when you need your spell to not be countered. Manually tap this ahead of time if you want to use it.
Jump Into Middle-earth
Whether you're new to Magic or celebrating eleventy-one years (give or take) of adventuring, Jump Into Middle-earth is a great way to experience the card set there and back again. We're updating our Jump In! event to feature packets themed entirely around The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, allowing you to quickly experience a variety of gameplay.
Will you lead Sauron's Horde from the Black Gates or stand alongside a Stalwart Shire? The choice is yours, including
For more information about our Limited Jump Into Middle-earth event, check out the dedicated article!
Collecting The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth on MTG Arena
As noted above, with The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, we're bringing you the full experience of a Magic card set. You'll be able to purchase packs in the store, participate in Draft and Sealed events, build Constructed decks for Historic and Alchemy play, and earn rewards as you seek to gain Set Mastery over the Ring.
Purchasing The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth store packs will also contribute to your Golden Pack tracker, and The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth cards will be added to Golden Packs.
- Due to the special nature of this Universes Beyond set, packs will only be available for purchase in the store through 2025. Fear not! If you want to add cards to your collection after this date, you will still be able to craft them using wildcards.
Your Journey Begins
The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth will be arriving Tuesday, June 20, 2023 on MTG Arena! Be sure to stay tuned to our status page for more information on upcoming maintenance times!