The Best MTG LOTR Tales Of Middle-Earth Cards

With the sheer amount of cards in every single set released for Magic The Gathering, it's no wonder that some cards are better than others. Not all cards are made equally, and some of them are absolutely invaluable in your deck. We're here to break down the very best cards in the Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth set in no particular order, so strap yourself in and get ready to see cards that you'll absolutely want in your deck.

Best Cards in Lord of the Rings Tales Of Middle-Earth Set

The One Ring

Was there really any doubt that The One Ring would be one of the best cards in a set revolving around The Lord of the Rings? It's literally the focal point of the entire franchise, and to make it anything less than incredible would do it an incredible disservice. 

Luckily, it's more than incredible, it's utterly amazing. It's an artifact that costs four total mana to activate and is completely indestructible once it hits the field. Once it fits the field, you gain protection from everything until your next turn, too, meaning it's a great blocking mechanism. You can also tap the card in order to place a burden counter on The One Ring, before drawing a card for each burden counter on the card. This can be extremely useful in deep draw decks and in decks where you really need certain combo pieces, even if the drawback causes you to lose life for each burden counter on The One Ring. 

Delighted Halfling

Delighted Halfling is a great card in a lot of different decks, but it mainly works in forest-themed decks. It's an extremely cheap card to summon, costing only one forest mana to get onto the field, and it can be great as a way to get resources onto the field.

There are two separate effects here, both of which require that you tap the card in order to use it. The first one just adds mana to your side of the field, but the second one adds any color mana to your side of the field that can only be used to cast a legendary spell, adding the boon that the spell can't be countered at all, which can be incredibly useful against higher level opponents. 

Orcish Bowmasters

Orcish Bowmasters sits in direct contrast to The One Ring and is specifically against any deck that wants to deep draw. It's a card with a two-mana summoning cost and also has flash so that you can use the effect during your opponent's turn.

The card allows you to deal damage to any target, and then amass Orcs 1 whenever your opponent draws a card other than during their draw phase and when it hits the field. This means that you can very easily break your opponent's board and increase yours by amassing as many Orcs as possible which can run over your opponent's cards. 

Gandalf The White

Gandalf The White is one of several different Gandalf cards that are available in Tales of Middle-Earth, but Gandalf the White is absolutely the best one. It costs five total mana to summon and has Flash so that you can cast it as if it were an instant. However, that's not all. The card also gives any other legendary and artifact spell flash, making you an unstoppable force once it hits the field.

If a legendary permanent or an artifact entering or leaving the battlefield causes an ability of a permanent to trigger, you also get to trigger that ability a second time, so you can double up on any benefits that you get from these cards, so it's an invaluable asset.

Mount Doom

Mount Doom is an incredibly strong card that is a legendary land with three separate effects. All three effects are also brilliant on their own and would make the card worth playing if just one of them was printed on a card, but all three combined make it utterly invaluable.

The first effect allows you to tap the land and pay one life to add any black or red mana to your side of the field which can then be used to cast other spells. The second effect allows you to pay three mana plus one black and one red, and tap the card to deal 1 damage to each opponent, which is great in Commander Format.

The final effect though is incredible. It costs five mana plus one black and one red and requires you to tap the card before sacrificing Mount Doom and a legendary artifact. This allows you to destroy the entire field of creatures except for up to two creatures of your choice, acting as a board wipe to make your final attacks easier to get through.

Witch-King Of Angmar

Witch-King of Angmar is one of several different Witch-King cards that come in the Tales of Middle-Earth and is probably the best of all of them. It works best in a deck that is playing the Ring though, and a deck that plays a lot of black mana. 

The card costs three mana and two black mana to summon and is a Legendary Creature- Wraith Noble with a few separate effects and the Flying condition (which means that it cannot be blocked unless by another creature with Flying or Reach). The card forces your opponent to sacrifice one of any cards that dealt combat damage to you this turn before the Ring tempts you (which can trigger several other effects). You can also discard a card in order to make the Witch-King of Angmar indestructible while tapping it. 

Frodo, Determined Hero

Frodo, Determined Hero is a Legendary Creature- Halfling Warrior that costs only two mana to summon and can quickly get extra power. It's got a pretty standard attack/defense value of 2/2, but the effect it has can boost them up really quickly.

You see, whenever Frodo, Determined Hero enters the battlefield OR attacks you can attach target Equipment that you control with a mana value of 2 or 3 to Frodo himself, which can give Frodo more abilities and more power. Frodo, Determined Hero also prevents any and all damage that would be dealt to Frodo as long as it's your turn, protecting him against various Instant effects.

The Balrog, Durin's Bane

The Balrog was powerful enough to take down Gandalf (well, sort of) in the Lord of the Rings, so it only makes sense that the card equivalent of this creature would be extremely powerful too. The Balrog, Durin's Bane costs five mana plus one black mana and one red mana in order to summon, so it works really well in a Sauron-themed deck. 

Once it hits the field, you get multiple great effects. You can cast it extremely cheaply using the first effect which reduces the cost by 1 for every permanent sacrifice this turn and has haste which means the card completely ignores summoning sickness. It can't be blocked by any creatures other than legendary creatures and when it dies you destroy any target artifact or creature of your choice. It also has a massive attack/defense value of 7/5, so you can run over almost anything.

Mirkwood Bats

Mirkwood Bats is a common creature card that doesn't really look like much at the outset but in the right deck can actually be a beast. It costs 3 mana plus one black mana to summon and has an attack/defense value of 2/3 along with the Flying condition. 

The effect it has though is great, especially in decks that create a lot of food or treasure tokens. You see, the ability causes each opponent to lose one life for every summoned or sacrificed token, which can quickly add up over time if you're using the right cards in a deck or have a token entirely centered around summoning food to your side of the field.

Flame Of Anor

The Flame of Anor is an instant that costs 1 mana plus one blue mana and one red mana to cast and is absolutely brilliant in a deck that revolves around Wizards such as Gandalf or Saruman. It allows you to choose an effect from the three separate effects that it is and activate it. 

Those three effects are as follows: You can either choose a player to draw two cards, destroy a target artifact, or deal five damage to any target creature. If you control a Wizard, though, you get to choose two of these effects which can really help you on turns where you would otherwise mildly struggle.