The new MTG × Lord of the Rings card set has arrived for Magic: The Gathering Arena, and table top. Players all over the world are hunting for the One Ring. While the hunt continues, you might be looking to build out your next MTG deck. There are several pre-built decks that you can get your hands on that give you a great start. There’s the Commander Decks, Starter Kit, Bundle, and PreRelease packs.
What cards should you be looking out for in these kits? If you’re building your own deck, what are some of the top cards you should look at? Here are my picks for the top five cards from this set.
Gandalf the White
Let’s face it, no one would have gotten far in Lord of the Rings without Gandalf. It’s only fitting then that he’s one of the strongest cards. By playing Gandalf the White, you can cast any legendary spell or artifact on your opponents’ turn. You can also active some effects more than one!
Plus he has some decent attack and defense to boot. If you’re not a White deck person, then you can also use Gandalf, Friend of the Shire (Blue), or Gandalf the Grey (Blue/Red) which have similar abilities around spell casting.
Andúril, Flame of the West
I love this card for its versatility. It’s an artifact card that can be used in any color deck with any mana. Playing the card allows you to power up a creature, create tokens, and have potentially have those tokens immediately attack. The card only costs three mana making it ideal for mid to late game play once you’ve summoned creatures.
Éomer, Marshal of Rohan
This red card is the perfect card to use later in the game. Whilst it only costs four mana, having more legendary creatures on the field makes this card even more powerful. With Éomer on the field, wherever a legendary creature dies after attacking, you can untap all other creatures you control. Next Éomer gives you another combat phase, meaning all the untapped creatures can now attack again.
You can almost take out your opponent in one shift move. Furthermore, this card also has Haste, meaning Éomer can attack as soon as he enters the battlefield.
Arwen, Mortal Queen
This is a perfect card for any Green/White deck as it can help you in a pinch. Arwen is indestructible on the battlefield, until she passes her indestructibility onto another creatures. When she does, she’ll be bound by their fate. Both the target creature and Arwen will have lifelink as well as +1/+1 counters.
This is a great move to make if you’re in a pinch, and should be relatively easy to cast due to its lower mana cost.
The Ring
This technically isn’t a card on its own. It’s a card that explains the mechanic of “The Ring Tempts You”. You need to active these affects using another card. “Tempts You” is a key mechanic to this set. Many cards, both creatures and spells, will have the ability to “Tempt You.” By choosing a Ring Bearer and moving through the story on the card, you can quickly defeat your opponent.
For example, the first step makes your Ring-bearer legendary and can’t be blocked except by creatures with a higher attack. As you become tempted once again, the story of The Ring progresses. If you get to the final stage, whenever your Ring Bearer attacks, your opponents lose three life points. Pairing the abilities of The Ring with other cards is useful and important.
This card on its own is completely useless! You’ll need to be tempted to draw out its power.
An honorable mention: Second Breakfast
Okay this card isn’t exactly “powerful” but it’s one of the most iconic cards in the game. It’s a fun take on Pippin’s desire for “Second Breakfast,” something seen in both the books and movies. Second Breakfast is a White card that allows you to power up two creatures until the end of the turn, and create “Food” tokens. These are unique tokens that can be sacrificed to gain 3 life.
Venture into Middle Earth
Hopefully these cards can help you on your way to crafting your perfect Middle Earth deck. Check out all the cards from the MTG × Lord of the Rings set on the MTG website.
