One Ring to Rule Them All
– LOTR: TALES OF MIDDLE-EARTH
Date Reviewed: July 14, 2023
Ratings:
Constructed: 3.13
Casual: 4.00
Limited: 4.13
Multiplayer: 3.75
Commander [EDH]: 3.75
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
I have a Harper Collins edition of the three Lord of the Rings books from the 1990s, in which each volume has the poem that gave this card its name printed in the front materials, just after the title page and publication information. I remember it blew my mind, because it immediately hit me with the fact that this was a novel with a fully-realized world behind it. Almost thirty years later, I’m still learning new things about the legendarium, which blows my mind for a slightly different, related reason.
As a Magic card, One Ring to Rule Them All is ostensibly part of the set’s black “Ring tempts you” support, although I suspect that some decks will end up playing it as much – or exclusively – for the second chapter. Any kind of sweeper effect is strong in draft and casual play, especially when it can be one-sided (not terribly hard in Tales of Middle-earth draft). I also like how the first ability can still feed the third even if the second one somehow destroyed zero creatures; that feels suitably subtle and devious for a Sauron-related spell.
Constructed: 3
Casual: 4
Limited: 4
Multiplayer: 3.5
Commander [EDH]: 3.5
One Ring to Rule Them All is a reference to the text graven on The One Ring, a reference to the dominion offered to Sauron over the bearers of the other nineteen rings of power. In practice, this saga reminds me a lot of The Phyrexian Scriptures from Dominaria, a delayed board wipe that you can prepare for and plan around. The temptation of the ring allows you to protect a creature for the incoming board wipe, and they’ll suffer the repercussions later. I think the main value of this saga is that it’s a four-mana board wipe with upside; the other effects are hardly pointless, but that’s the main value of it. That said, I do think the other abilities can provide a lot of pop, like a big spurt of milling to set up your graveyard or set up for the last verse. I’m not sure if this is good enough for Modern, but I could see it having a bit of utility.
Constructed: 3.25
Casual: 4
Limited: 4.25
Multiplayer: 4
Commander [EDH]: 4
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