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Here's an opinion that will likely get me hexed: in terms of pure, personal choice, I actually favor The Hobbit over The Lord of the Rings (books, of course). Don't get me wrong, I adore them both (as I think my time here at Popverse has proven, no?), but there's something about that first adventure of loveable Bilbo Baggins that just makes me happier. So imagine my surprise and delight today when I found out that the Magic: The Gathering x Lord of the Rings collab (already a beacon of high art in my opinion) was continuing its relationship...

...into Bilbo's own journey. Yes, Shirefolk, Magic: the Gathering has announced a sequel to their Lord of the Rings Universe beyond set, which is ironically LOTR's prequel, The Hobbit.

The news comes out of MagicCon Atlanta 2025, then pretty much immediately afterward from a social media post on MTG's official accounts. There's next-to-no info about what characters/events/magics we'll find in The Hobbit MTG set in that post (save for the release date, which we'll get to later), so I did some digging and found the official Hobbit x MTG website.

(OK, it wasn't that much digging.)

"Join Bilbo’s adventure of a lifetime," reads the site, "with Dwarves to befriend, Trolls to trick, Elves to outwit, and songs to sing. There's gold or dragon’s fire at the end, so enjoy the journey!"

As if I wasn't already sold on this, I'm a huge fan of how the site seems to indicate Elves will show up in this set. People only familiar with the LOTR movies might not know that, in The Hobbit, the Elves were at one time in direct opposition to Bilbo and his Dwarfish buddies, and taht's to say nothing of how they come out in The Silmarillion (though I highly doubt there will be a 'Kinslaying' card in the bunch).

The Hobbit x Magic: The Gathering set comes to a Hobbit hole near you (or a game shop, basically the same thing) August of 2026.

Whether you are a Commander player, a regular at your local game shop's FNM event, or simply love collecting Magic: The Gathering cards, you've landed in the right place. From Universes Beyond to the furthest reaches of the Magic Multiverse, we've got you covered here at Popverse. 

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