Here’s a look at the (Sol) Rings of Power in MTG’s Tales of Middle-earth
Four rings for commanders in their “totally power level 7” pods
Magic: The Gathering has continuously reported the amount of effort its design and art teams invested in Tales of Middle-earth, hoping to create a set that does The Lord of the Rings justice. One of the many thrusts towards that goal involved four different variations on a single card - Sol Ring.
Anyone who plays Commander will be familiar with this handy artefact, as it’s a staple in nearly every deck for the popular kitchen table format. It just so happens to be the same type of jewellery as The One Ring and all of the Rings of Power Sauron created and disseminated amongst the peoples of Middle-earth.
So, publisher Wizards of the Coast created four variant art treatments for Tales of Middle-earth’s Sol Ring, which will appear in the four preconstructed Commander decks adjoining the set but can also appear in different booster packs.
There might not be 20 total versions to match the Ring Verse - “Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky, Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone, Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die, etc.” - but each will have serialised speical treatments similar to the one-of-a-kind The One Ring printed in Elven script. The Elven Ring will have 3,000 nonfoil and 300 foil cards in circulation, while Dwarves and humans will have 7,000/700 and 9,000/900 nonfoil and foil cards, respectively.
The Elven Sol Ring art was created by Randy Gallegos and depicts the Tree of Valinor in a blinding white light. The Dwarven Sol Ring, which shows a bearded noble reaching for a ring with a sharp, angular socket, was illustrated by Erikas Perl. The human Sol Ring was created by Anastasia Balakchina and shows smoke and a withering light in the hands of a king - foreshadowing their fate as a Ringwraith.
One more version, a basic Sol Ring, shows Sauron smiling down at their outstretched hand, The One Ring floating above their palm. Drawn by L J Koh, this version will not be serialised or appear in the special Elven script.
Dicebreaker has plenty of coverage for Tales of Middle-earth, including a look at the nine variant arts for the nine Nazgûl cards included in the set. There’s also write-ups about Tom Bombadil theories answered by new cards and a celebration of Bill the Pony as a Commander.