The ultimate convergence of fantasy mediums has been recently announced and EVERY SINGLE gamer/fantasy geek will be chomping at the bit to get their hands on it.
As you may, or may not, have guessed from the cover photo of this article, Wizards of the Coast will be releasing a cross universe expansion (yes, I said EXPANSION) devoted to Lord of the Rings. This AMAZING and most welcome news was first revealed in an article by The Wall Street Journal and later confirmed by ComicBook.com.
There is no expansion size or release date as of yet but I am sure this will be something that MOST of us will be keeping a close eye on.
Let’s get to the FUN part of learning about the release of an EPIC expansion such as this, dreaming of the possibilities! I have been playing CCG/TCG games for more than 25 years now. I have seen several LotR based games come and go, never gaining the traction they should have had given this world is the progenitor of today’s modern fantasy. The problem has always been their over-complexity. Merging with the simplicity of Magic’s gameplay is the perfect solution
What parts of lore will they be pulling from? With such an EXPANSIVE trove of literary cannon to draw from will they limit the scope of this set to just the Lord of the Rings books or will they also incorporate elements from the Hobbit and even the Silmarillion?
My mind is already reeling and spinning trying to size up what the cards will look like and what abilities they will possess. Will they have planeswalkers in this set? Who will they be? Gandalf? Galadriel? Morgoth? What colors will the various heroes and villans belong to? Legolas (G or G/W)? Gimli (R)? Sauron (B)? Will the various locations (Rivendell, Rohan, Mordor, Moria, Isengard, ect…) be represented in land form? Will there be vehicles (such as the dwarven war chariot from the hobbit movies or the anti-arrow dwarven ballista – remove reach perhaps)? Equipment… you simply CANNOT have this set without the rings of power, the ONE ring, Sting, Orcrist, Glamdring, Morgul Blades or any of the other ICONIC weapons that help to enrich this world. What support cast will exist? Smaug, Gollum, Beorn? Goblins, Orcs, Uruk Hai, Ent’s (Treefolk).
I could list questions from now until the expansions reveal and release. Suffice to say that this will be a VERY popular release just for the content alone. EVERYONE is going to want to collect the Fellowship of the Ring, or the Original Dwarf group from the Hobbit. I can even imagine Commander decks dedicated to LotR pitting the armies of Mordor against the alliances of Dwarves, Elves and Men. This will be a BRILLIANT and wonderful boost to the world of Magic: the Gathering and the gaming community.
As soon as we have more information (spoilers, release date, preordering) we will be sharing that with you.
Stay Safe out there. As always keep brewing and theory crafting.
