Magic: The Gathering is returning to the land of Middle-earth in 2026, with a set based on The Hobbit, and it’s going to be able to accomplish something that wasn’t possible with the previous The Lord of the Rings crossover, owing to the difference in scale between both stories.
In 2023, Wizards of the Coast released The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth crossover set, which featured characters from across the trilogy. It was here that the infamous card based on The One Ring first appeared, as well as unleashing powerful Middle-earth heroes on the Commander scene, with the likes of the dark lord Sauron punishing those who opposed them.
The Hobbit Magic: The Gathering Set Tells The Full Story
There’s a notable difference in scope between The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, with the former being told across three massive tomes and the latter being a compact tome intended for kids. CBR recently had the chance to discuss the upcoming set based on The Hobbit with Magic: The Gathering Principal Designer Gavin Verhey, who outlined the challenges and benefits of tackling a smaller story in tabletop form.
“Yeah, the Hobbit was a really interesting one to work on, because we came out with Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth a few years ago, it was a huge hit, smash success, right?” Verhey said, “An absolute triumph in so many ways. We figured out pretty fast we wanted to go back and do the Hobbit. That made a lot of sense. But The Hobbit is a different story than Lord of the Rings, right? It’s got different characters, obviously, but also a bit of a different tone.There’s less material to draw from.”
“And so we really, really looked through all that material to try and bring the world to life in the best way we possibly could. And there’s a lot of… In Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, we had to do a lot of very careful picking and choosing as to what we could do, because there’s so much material to cover in those three books. With The Hobbit, we’re much more easily able to go in-depth on every individual thing. So if there’s a moment you love in The Hobbit, there’s a pretty good chance it’s on a card.”
The Hobbit Magic: The Gathering Set Contains The Best Of The Book
There are some obvious parts of The Lord of the Rings that would appear in a Magic: The Gathering set, such as the members of the Fellowship or the Ringwraiths, but it’s impossible to include everyone, especially considering just how dense the books are. One huge benefit of The Hobbit set is that it’s going to have pretty much everything, helped by the book consisting of several set pieces, like riddling with Gollum, the encounter with Smaug, and the Battle of Five Armies.
While The Lord of the Rings is a fantasy epic that inspired a whole genre, The Hobbit is loved on its own merits. While it might not have Ringwraiths or the Balrog, it’s still an incredible tale on its own, and one that can easily fill up an entire Magic: The Gathering set, without feeling like anything was lost.
