Here’s some good news for any crossover fans of both Magic: The Gathering and The Lord of the Rings. A new LotR-themed MTG card set is up for preorder. It's called The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, and you can preorder the cards in a number of configurations, including Commander decks, set boosters, jumpstart boosters, collector boosters, and more (see on Amazon). They’re all set to release June 23. You can also check out our exclusive MTG: LotR card reveal article. There’s a lot to cover, so let’s take a look at what’s available.
Starter Kit
I suspect this Lord of the Rings-themed Magic set will bring in lots of new (and long-lapsed) players. If that’s you, this is the bundle to pick up. It comes with two ready-to-play decks of 60 cards each (including 1 foil Mythic Rare card and 4 Rare cards), a How-to-Play guide, two boxes for deck storage, and codes to unlock both decks to play online in MTG Arena.
Bundles
These bundles offer an assortment of items from the Lord of the Rings MTG set. You get 8 Set Booster packs, 4 Traditional Foil alternate-art cards, 40 Land cards (including 20 foils), plus a “spindown” life counter, a card storage box, and two reference cards.
The gift edition of the bundle includes the same as the standard one, plus one Collector Booster. The price difference is less than a Collector Booster pack, so you might as well pick up the gift edition if you’re going for a bundle.
Commander Decks
Four new Commander decks are also available to preorder. These are meant to be played in multiplayer free-for-all Commander matches. You can buy them individually or in a 4-pack that gives you all of them at once. Also as usual with MTG preorders, the Commander deck box art is not yet available, so you’ll have to use your imagination.
Each Commander Deck comes with a 2-card Collector Booster Sample pack containing 2 special treatment cards from the main LotR set, including 1 Rare or Mythic Rare, plus 1 Traditional Foil.
Collector Booster Packs
Collector Booster packs are pricy, but they come with the best cards of any packs. Each Collector Booster pack includes 15 cards, with 5-7 Rare or higher rarity cards, plus 8-10 Foils.
Set Booster Packs
Set Booster packs are meant to be fun to open, with a wider variety of cards on offer. Each Set Booster pack comes with 12 cards, including 1 Foil and 1 Art card. These packs also include between 1 and 4 cards of Rare or higher rarity.
Draft Booster Packs
Draft Booster packs are designed for people who want to play a match with new cards quickly. The idea is that everyone opens 3 packs and passes them around to draft cards for a deck. Then you add some Land cards and play. Each Draft Booster pack comes with at least 1 Rare or Mythic Rare card. You also have a one-in-three chance of getting a Traditional Foil card in a pack.
Jumpstart Booster Packs
Jumpstart Booster packs are particularly cool for people who just want to hop into a game without any fuss. To do so, just open two Jumpstart packs, shuffle them together, and you have an instant randomized deck you can play with. This includes the proper mix of spells, creatures, and lands for a well balanced deck. Each pack contains one thematic Rare card exclusive to these Jumpstart packs, one Rare or Mythic Rare from the main LotR set, and two shiny foil Land cards.
If that's not enough for you, check out the new Magic: The Gathering Commander Master series, which is also available to preorder on Amazon.
Chris Reed is a deals expert and commerce editor for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @_chrislreed or on Mastodon @chrislreed.