Magic: The Gathering scored a major flavor win with its newest Universes Beyond product, The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth. This incredible set is based on author J.R.R. Tolkien's original The Lord of the Rings fantasy novel trilogy, meaning practically every card represents a particular magical item, character, monster, or location.
This makes for a highly flavorful set where every card and every illustration means something, though some cards in Tales of Middle-earth captured the story more clearly and concisely than others. Some cards are LotR mainly through their flavor text and illustrations, but other Tales of Middle-earth cards went all-out to bring Tolkien's saga to life in any game of MTG.
10 Nazgûl
The nine Nazgûl are Sauron's most elite Ring-hunters, black-robed figures on wicked-looking horses who stalk Middle-earth to find the One Ring no matter what. In gameplay terms, the uncommon Nazgûl creature is only mediocre, but it has a unique mechanic that has only been seen on a small handful of other cards; a deck can have up to nine copies of Nazgûl. This is a perfect match for the nine ring-wraiths who were once the nine human kings gifted Rings of Power by Sauron.
Best of all, the Nazgûl card has not one, but nine unique illustrations, one for each of these Ring-hunters. That makes each copy of the Nazgûl card more accurate to Tolkien's lore, and also makes these cards highly collectible for interested players who enjoy collecting such things.
9 The One Ring
Plenty of powerful magical artifacts are represented in Tales of Middle-earth, such as Gandalf's sword Glamdring and even Mithril armor, but the strongest and most flavorful is The One Ring. This legendary artifact starts by giving the caster protection from everything for one turn, representing them turning invisible after putting the Ring on.
After that, this indestructible artifact lets the player add burden counters to draw cards, at the cost of losing more and more life on their upkeep. This evil artifact is powerful and highly coveted, but Sauron's dark magic comes at a price that not just any player is brave enough to pay.
8 Frodo, Sauron's Bane
Frodo is the famous hobbit hero from The Lord of the Rings, an unassuming and humble Shire native who volunteered to carry the One Ring to Mordor to destroy it. All this is neatly captured on Frodo, Sauron's Bane, which improves itself from a mere Citizen to a proper Scout, ready for adventures.
After Frodo becomes a Scout, the player can pay black mana to turn Frodo into a Rogue who can hear the Ring's temptation many times. If the Ring tempts the player enough times, Frodo can defeat a player by dealing combat damage to them. This represents the story ending by Frodo finally casting the One Ring into Mount Doom's lava.
7 There And Back Again
There and Back Again is one of several Saga enchantments in Tales of Middle-earth. It's not the strongest or most impactful Saga, but it definitely has the most flavor, and clever players can find fun ways to get more value out of this mediocre card.
There and Back Again represents Bilbo Baggins' trip to Lonely Mountain in The Hobbit, where he met the treasure-hoarding dragon Smaug. Each chapter on this Saga represents Bilbo's trip there, such as a creature being unable to attack or block since it's on a trip. Then, the player gets a Mountain, and finally, Smaug himself shows up as a creature token that makes treasures when it dies.
6 Mines Of Moria
Mines of Moria is a legendary land in Tales of Middle-earth that isn't especially powerful, but it is still worth running in many red decks, and the flavor is outstanding. This legendary land features a stunning illustration and a short quote from Glóin, Gimli's father and one of the members of Thorin's party in The Hobbit.
Mines of Moria can tap for red mana, since it's based on the earth, but it also makes treasure tokens. The player can exile three cards from their graveyard and pay mana to make two treasures, representing dwarves mining the ground to get valuable gold.
5 Sméagol, Helpful Guide
Sméagol, Helpful Guide is a cool legendary creature card that represents Gollum's more helpful side while leading Frodo and Sam to Mordor. This creature also shows its dark side, with the Ring tempting the player every time one of their creatures dies.
Every time the Ring tempts the player, Sméagol will mill an opponent until they reveal a land card, and Sméagol's player will put it onto the battlefield tapped under their control. That represents Gollum helping Frodo and Sam explore exotic new lands far from the familiar confines of their faraway Shire home while ultimately helping pursue his own goals.
4 Gimli, Counter Of Kills
Gimli the dwarf is known for his friendly competition with Legolas, with both of them one-upping each other as they count the enemies they kill in battle. Aside from "that still only counts as one!" memes, Gimli's competitive nature makes for great MTG cards too, like Gimli, Counter of Kills.
Gimli is a tough red creature as a Dwarf Warrior, and every time an opponent's creature dies, Gimli will deal 1 damage to that creature's controller. That lets Gimli count his kills with the opponent's life total, and the card has a cool quote from Gimli himself to round things out.
3 Sauron, The Dark Lord
The supervillain Sauron himself actually appears on four different creature cards, including one from the Commander pre-con decks, though some Sauron creatures are stronger and more flavorful than others. All things considered, Sauron, the Dark Lord is the best and most flavorful of those four.
Sauron, the Dark Lord is a fearsome 7/6 slowly that surely builds up an Orc Army card as the game progresses, and wicked magic protects Sauron from most hostile spells and effects. Fittingly, Sauron, the Dark Lord also has potent effects related to the Ring's temptation. Sauron's most flavorful ability lets the player discard their hand and draw four new cards, mimicking Sauron's losing a finger to Isildur and being left with only four.
2 Slip On The Ring
Slip on the Ring is a simple but highly flavorful card from Tales of Middle-earth, reminding fans that this set doesn't need game-smashing legendary creatures to bring the story to life. The little moments count too, such as when Bilbo Baggins put on the Ring one last time in the Shire.
Slip on the Ring is a cheap white instant that exiles and returns a creature, representing it turning invisible for a brief time while wearing the One Ring. Then, the Ring tempts the player for added value, proving that even briefly wearing this dark Ring lets anyone hear the call of evil.
1 Mount Doom
Mount Doom is the most powerful and flavorful land card in Tales of Middle-earth. This legendary land taps for black and red mana, fitting Sauron's own colors, and its second ability can ping the opponents with little balls of fire to speed up the game a bit.
Mount Doom's third ability is the real flavor win of this card. After paying a hefty mana cost and sacrificing itself and a legendary artifact, Mount Doom will explosively erupt and wipe all but two creatures. This clearly represents Frodo and Sam in Mount Doom, throwing the Ring into the fire while the erupting Mount Doom incinerates everyone else.