I like the point about Towers feeling properly like a new block-even for those cultures we’d already had, Decipher did strong work on changing their core strategies to match the next part of the story.
Sets 5 and 6 definitely lose marks for the AIs instead of random rares in starter decks, but set 5 introducing Smeagol/Gollum definitely needs several points for how excellent that rendition was. Splitting the character into two cards worked so well and is both a thematic and mechanical win. The fact that it sold out and needed reprinting surely means that it needs bumped up too lol.
Mount Doom deserves what you gave it, if for no other reason than because they completely failed to include a Mount Doom site 9 in a set named after the damn thing. Such a blunder (plus the power creep) definitely earns it a low score.
I rank Shadows higher but that's because I love all the changes. I think your hits against MD are fair, but I'd keep it at C. Imo you have RotEL too high, and definitely Ents of Fangorn. EoF is such a boring set, and that's coming from someone that is a huge Ents fan. Ents were so much cooler in Hunters.
Overall I'd do: S - Fotr. A - TT, RotK, SoG, Shadows, Hunters, Rise of Saruman. B - MoM, Helms Deep, Mount Doom, Bloodlines. C - RoTEL, Black Rider T&D. D - Ents. Not including the smaller sets.
I agree with these rankings. However, I would have put Battle of Helms Deep as an A. It excelled at what it did and resulted in super fun and iconic cards. Gollum, Knights, Uruks, and Wargs are all great themes of the set.
So the big Stand alone sets at the start of each block are best and the sets designed to expand them don’t hold up as well considered on their own. Who could have seen that coming?
I only have delved through sets 1-6 so far in my re-exploration of the game, but I like Mines of Moria (as my least favorite of Fellowship block) more than you guys (I'd argue B tier). So many iconic moments from Fellowship arrive in MoM that were considered spoiler-y by New Line and couldn't be released in the base set (like Balrog, Watcher in the Water). Lots of good support cards, and my favorite versions of Frodo and Gandalf from that block. Sure it isn't as sexy and was overprinted so not coveted by collectors, but it's got some great stuff in there!
I like the point about Towers feeling properly like a new block-even for those cultures we’d already had, Decipher did strong work on changing their core strategies to match the next part of the story.
Sets 5 and 6 definitely lose marks for the AIs instead of random rares in starter decks, but set 5 introducing Smeagol/Gollum definitely needs several points for how excellent that rendition was. Splitting the character into two cards worked so well and is both a thematic and mechanical win.
The fact that it sold out and needed reprinting surely means that it needs bumped up too lol.
Mount Doom deserves what you gave it, if for no other reason than because they completely failed to include a Mount Doom site 9 in a set named after the damn thing. Such a blunder (plus the power creep) definitely earns it a low score.
I love the pack wrapper for ROTEL! looks so nice
💯
I rank Shadows higher but that's because I love all the changes. I think your hits against MD are fair, but I'd keep it at C. Imo you have RotEL too high, and definitely Ents of Fangorn. EoF is such a boring set, and that's coming from someone that is a huge Ents fan. Ents were so much cooler in Hunters.
Overall I'd do: S - Fotr. A - TT, RotK, SoG, Shadows, Hunters, Rise of Saruman. B - MoM, Helms Deep, Mount Doom, Bloodlines. C - RoTEL, Black Rider T&D. D - Ents. Not including the smaller sets.
I agree with these rankings. However, I would have put Battle of Helms Deep as an A. It excelled at what it did and resulted in super fun and iconic cards. Gollum, Knights, Uruks, and Wargs are all great themes of the set.
So the big Stand alone sets at the start of each block are best and the sets designed to expand them don’t hold up as well considered on their own. Who could have seen that coming?
😂 fair assessment. There’s something to be said about the base sets being 365 cards vs 122 and having way more options for cards as well
I only have delved through sets 1-6 so far in my re-exploration of the game, but I like Mines of Moria (as my least favorite of Fellowship block) more than you guys (I'd argue B tier). So many iconic moments from Fellowship arrive in MoM that were considered spoiler-y by New Line and couldn't be released in the base set (like Balrog, Watcher in the Water). Lots of good support cards, and my favorite versions of Frodo and Gandalf from that block. Sure it isn't as sexy and was overprinted so not coveted by collectors, but it's got some great stuff in there!
MOM did a phenomenal job fixing the shortcomings of fotr set imo
Realms of the Elf Lords - A tier
☕
Magic The Gathering Tales From Middle-Earth was AMAZING
Agree! I’ve been slowly building a cube for it for months… work in progress!