Five Rare Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth cards not found in Draft and Set booster packs will be included in Jumpstart, a booster pack variant designed for new and casual players who don’t like to build a deck.
Limited players who want quick and simple games can find them through the Jumpstart Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth (LTR) packs. All the cards are Modern-legal, meaning they can be played in Eternal and Modern formats outside of Limited.
Found within each Jumpstart LTR booster pack is a Rare card that isn’t found in Draft and Set booster packs. These unique Rares support the main theme of the Jumpstart boosters. Players may also find Extended art versions of Jumpstart-only Rares in collector packs.
What are the five unique Jumpstart Lord of the Rings Rare cards?
There are five main themes, one for each MTG color, and a sub-theme for each main. The Rare is the same for the main and sub-themed Jumpstart Lord of the Rings booster packs. Players should expect the Rare cards within a Jumpstart set to have a slightly higher casting cost than a majority of the Rares in the main LTR set.
Saradoc, Master of Buckland
Saradoc is Merry’s father in the Lord of the Rings books and was included in the MTG set as a Rare Legendary creature in the color White that synergizes with Hobbits.
- Casting cost: 3W
- Type: Legendary Creature—Halfling Citizen
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 2/4
- Ability: Whenever Saradoc, Master of Buckland or another non-token creature with power two or less enters the battlefield under your control, create a 1/1 White halfling creature token.
- Ability: Tap two other untapped halflings you control: Sardoc gets +2/+0 and gains Lifelink until the end of turn.
Elvish Mariner
Supporting an elf theme in Blue is Elvish Mariner. The Rare elf pilot provides an advantage through Scry while also having the ability to tap down opponents’ creatures.
- Casting cost: 2U
- Type: Creature—Elf Pilot
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 3/2
- Ability: Whenever Elvish Mariner attacks, Scry one
- Ability: Whenever you Scry, tap up to “X” target nonland permanents, where “X” is the number of cards looked at while Scrying this way.
Ringwraiths
Representing the Black Riders from the Lord of the Rings lore are the Ringwraiths. The Wraith knight can remove creatures with three or less toughness while also pinging an opponent for three life points as well. Ringwraiths also synergize with The Ring Tempts You mechanic from the LTR set.
- Casting cost: 4BB
- Type: Creature—Wraith Knight
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 5/5
- Ability: When Ringwraiths enters the battlefield, target creature gets -3/-3 until the end of turn. If that creature is Legendary, its controller losses three life.
- Ability: When the Ring tempts you, return Ringwraiths from your graveyard to your hand.
Assault on Osgiliath
Showcasing the returning MTG mechanic Amass, Assault on Osgiliath fuels a lethal dose of damage to opponents. The Sorcery Rare LTR card is a solid finisher within the Limited format, giving all goblins and orcs on the battlefield Double Strike.
- Casting cost: XRRR
- Type: Sorcery
- Rarity: Rare
- Ability: Amass Orcs “X”, then goblins and orcs you control gain Double Strike and Haste until the end of the turn.
Elanor Gardner
Elanor Gardner is the child of Samwise and Rosie. The legendary halfling supports Food token synergy while ramping each time a Food token is sacrificed.
- Casting cost: 3G
- Type: Legendary Creature—Halfling Scout
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 2/4
- ETB Ability: When Elanor Gardner enters the battlefield, create a Food token
- Ability: At the beginning of your end step, if you sacrificed a Food token this turn, you may search your library for a basic land card, put that card onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle.
Related: All MTG commanders of Lord of the Rings Commander decks
