Collecting the MTG Lord of the Rings Scene Cards

Discover how you can make a scene with Lord of the Rings cards.

One of the highlights of of the Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth set is the impressive artistry that goes into the world of Lord of the Rings. You can see it in every game piece in the set, but the art design team took it a significant step further with the release of scene cards.

What are Scene Cards?

Scene arts are sets of borderless cards that are designed to be combined together into scenes of various sizes. When arranged just so, each individual scene card becomes part of a greater whole (thus, a scene) and they look absolutely stunning aligned together and put on display.

Interestingly, many of the scene cards also work wonderfully as pairs or triptych displays, giving you plenty of options for how you may want to display your LOTR fandom. Throughout this article I’ll be aligning the various scenes in triptych displays, or groups of three, wherever applicable.

A Gift from Mount Doom

Universes Beyond: The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth – Bundle

Universes Beyond: The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth

The first scene is the easiest one to actually get your hands on (until November,when Wizards will be releasing some special scene sets), and that’s the scene depicting the fateful destruction of The One Ring in Mount Doom.

Market Price: $45.27

This scene is available, in its entirety, in the Gift Bundle. With the value of The One Ring being what it is, this is also a purchase I can readily recommend even if you’re not in love with the scene itself.

Mount Doom Scene [Set of 4]

Universes Beyond: The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth

The Biggest Battle to Collect: Pelennor Fields

The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Borderless Scene Black Stitched Standard Gaming Playmat for Magic: The Gathering

Ultra Pro Playmats

From the easiest to collect to the hardest, we have Pelennor Fields. This beautifully wrought depiction of The Battle of Pelennor Fields demands that you collect a total of 18 cards, and some of the rares and mythics are pricey pickups if you don’t get lucky with your pulls.

Market Price: $47.68

Market Price: $11.74

Market Price: $10.65

Including some of the most sought-after cards in the set, like Orcish Bowmasters, collecting all of these could be a struggle worthy of the battle they’re named after. Even so, it includes a number of beautiful two or three-piece scenes that you can pull out of it. I’ve personally enjoyed having my Mirkwood Bats and Voracious Fell Beast hanging out on the board together regularly.

Battle of the Pelennor Fields Scene [Set of 18]

Universes Beyond: The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth

Isengard’s Doom

When it comes to my personal aesthetic, I love bold inks and bombastic-looking action, and the next scene leans very hard into exactly that. Featuring 9 cards, half as many as Pelennor, this finds the balance better for collectors just by the number. You can only find these in packs, so you’ll need to pick up singles or get lucky.

Market Price: $12.80

The destruction of Isengard is a powerful scene in the books (and the films for that matter), and depicting the righteous fury of the ents here is remarkable. I picked up Fanghorn, Tree Shepherd just because of how amazing he looks, and I make it a personal goal to try and assemble both Saruman of Many Colors and Storm of Saruman whenever possible.

Isengard Destroyed Scene [Set of 9]

Universes Beyond: The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth

A Prerelease for Your 111th Birthday

Universes Beyond: The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth – Prerelease Pack

Universes Beyond: The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth

The next set is Bilbo’s Birthday, and it’s a particularly neat one for anyone interested in collecting. Every individual piece of the set can be pulled from packs, but it isn’t the only option and is far from the one with the most “bling.” Each card in this scene is available as a prerelease promo as one of the randomized, foil-stamped cards you’ll find in a prerelease kit.

Market Price: $10.10

By and large, this scene is altogether inexpensive to complete. With the exception of Delighted Halfling, which is quickly making a name for itself across multiple formats, the rest of the scene is made up of cards that have little to no real demand. Which is great, because this is far too fun of a scene to be hard to collect.

Bilbo’s Birthday Party Scene [Set of 6]

Universes Beyond: The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth

The Scouring of the Shire

While I’m impressed with the majority of these scenes, unfortunately there had to be at least one whiff just by law of averages. The Scouring of the Shire is an interesting event that movie fans miss out on, but the choice of characters highlighted here and the spacing of the scene just don’t work for me.

More power to you if you do like these aggressive closeups, though it also feels just strange to see characters like Pippin going full aggro. Obviously they do at various points in the story, but it’s not how I like to imagine my cozy Hobbits. My aesthetic hangups aside, this is another altogether affordable scene to collect, with only Spiteful Banditry demanding anything.

The Scouring of the Shire Scene [Set of 4]

Universes Beyond: The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth

You Cannot Pass On This Scene

The Bridge of Khazad-Dum is one of, if not the most iconic sequence in The Lord of the Rings. Even if it’s consistently misquoted as “You Shall Not Pass” instead of You Cannot Pass! (thanks films!), Gandalf facing down the Balrog to let The Fellowship escape is action-packed, beautiful, and exceptionally memorable.

The scene card set that forms The Bridge of Khazad-Dum is similarly remarkable, and is another set that will not break the bank to collect. Boromir, Warden of the Tower or Sting are likely to remain the most valuable of the cards in this set, and even that is absolutely nothing compared to The One Ring or Orcish Bowmasters.

Bridge of Khazad-dum Scene [Set of 6]

Universes Beyond: The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth

Sail Into the West

The final scene from the initial LOTR release is another beautiful moment— when Frodo and some of the last remaining elves make their departure into the west. It is a melancholic moment that is still marked by a feeling of momentous love.

Market Price: $11.47

While all of the scenes are worth collecting, this one feels like the one most worth putting on display. Its vibrant color palette and the emotions on display make it feel most like a more classical work of art, something that even non-fans can appreciate. This is the last of the initial releases of scene cards, but the holiday release has some new, impressive scenes to consider.

Departure to the Grey Havens Scene [Set of 6]

Universes Beyond: The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth

Gandalf Saves the Soldiers of Pelennor

The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Scene Box – Gandalf in the Pelennor Fields

Universes Beyond: The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth

The first scene from the holiday release is Gandalf riding out to battle the Fell Beasts in Pelennor Fields. Him rushing in to drive back the Nazgul is an iconic moment, giving humanity a reprieve from their terrible effect on the battlefield.

This set of scene cards are closer to the LOTR bundle at the top of the article- you’re guaranteed to get all the scene pieces. These are clearly aimed at Commander players, and every card in this set (including Gandalf himself) are genuinely awesome. The prices for the individual pieces have been hiked up a bit at time of writing, so I strongly recommend acquiring the scene box if you like the cards or the art— all the better if you love both!

Galadriel’s Display of Power

The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Scene Box – The Might of Galadriel

Universes Beyond: The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth

In the films and books alike Galadriel doesn’t get to actively display much of the power that she is heavily implied to possess (or else that which her Ring of Power possesses). Here, we get to see what a fully empowered Galadriel might have looked like, and it is a wondrously beautiful display.

Market Price: $16.94

As with the Gandalf scene above, the Galadriel scene is inspiring visually and powerful mechanically. Full stop, I believe that Galadriel, Light of Valinor is one of the best, if not outright the best, creature-based goodstuff commander in her colors. That alone is more than good enough, but Galadriel’s Dismissal and several other cards in this bundle have a solid shot at becoming staples.

Aragorn Defends Helm’s Deep

The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Scene Box – Aragorn at Helm’s Deep

Universes Beyond: The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth

Helm’s Deep didn’t get as many depictions in the main LOTR set as I would have liked, given how much I enjoy the battle in the books and films alike. This display scene fixes that problem, giving us the opportunity to show another iconic, characterful moment during one of the most hype conflicts in the series.

Market Price: $8.54

Market Price: $20.97

Aragorn, Hornburg Hero is another potential pick for powerful new commanders, giving you another option for +1/+1 counters in the best color combination for them. Anduril and Legolas’s Quick Reflexes can both also put in work, and I’m excited to crash in for some wild damage with Isengard Unleashed. Again, the power of these cards should drive you even if the art somehow does not.

The Witch-King Rides to War

The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Scene Box – Flight of the Witch-King

Universes Beyond: The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth

I love a good villain and Sauron’s lieutenant, The Witch-King, is one of my favorites in all of literature. This scene does him justice, showing him rising up from his fortress to lead the armies of evil alongside his fellow Nazgul. A terrible thing to behold, and the art here puts that power on full display.

Once more speaking of power, this set might also get my vote for the best cards overall. Witch-King, Sky-Scourge is an interesting, undying form of card advantage on his own, but the real highlight is a cascading, one-sided wrath in Call Forth the Tempest, a new storm card, and Fell Beast of Mordor serving as a finisher that you may be surprised by.

Still, you don’t have to pick just one of these new scene bundles (as much as I might most thoroughly recommend The Witch-King, quickly followed by Galadriel)— you can grab the whole bundle instead and add some fantastical art to your home and powerful cards to your collection.