| August is upon us, and that means it’s time for a new Magic: the Gathering set! Grab 14 of the closest people you just met and prepare to steal some loot from a dragon with The Hobbit. The time has come to reclaim the Lonely Mountain of Erebor from the formidable dragon Smaug.
Along the way there will be spiders and goblins and elves and werebears and songs and probably treasure. Also, a weird little guy in a cave who likes riddles and is dangerously attached to his jewelry. Come for the views, stay for the Battle of Five Armies.
This is a hobbit-sized set, and only has around 198 cards. There are no commander decks for this set. There’s a cycle of plains lands that feature Bag End in every season that is exclusive to the bundles and prerelease sets, and the surge foil variants of those cards are only available in the gift bundle. The other land cards feature scenes from the book, including the dwarves being rescued from the spiders of Mirkwood in a forest card, and the company escaping from their barrels in a swamp card. The collector boosters have some exclusive things as well, including reprints of LOTR cards and exclusive frames and surge foiling of the regular cards in the set. And then there’s Smaug, the Magnificent. There’s a gleaming golden variant with art by legendary Tolkien artist Ted Nasmith that looks good enough to be added to any dragon’s hoard.
Come on down to the Lair, and join Thorin’s company. The road goes ever on and on, but you’ll be there and back again before your unscrupulous relatives can steal your silverware. See you then, precious. |
