Season 18, Episode 16: Set Review (Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth)

Morde and Manacymbal join forces to analyze the best Modern cards from Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth. Very few of these cards seem flashy enough for 2023 Modern, but heed Tolkien’s advice: all that is gold does not glitter. A brave little hobbit, such as Rosie Cotton of South Lane, might have the right stats to enable a new infinite combo, and the interactive value provided by Orcish Bowmasters gets more powerful in older formats. A legendary land cycle has generous activated abilities, and Equipment decks get a new toy in Forge Anew. Will any of these cards break in to the brutally powerful Modern meta? Let’s find out!

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Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com

Timestamps

[2:47] Housekeeping

[4:02] Middle-Earth: First impressions

[10:37] Barad-dur

[11:51] Minas Tirith

[13:02] Mines of Moria

[13:55] Many Partings

[15:31] Delighted Halfling

[17:50] Oliphaunt + Generous Ent

[19:20] Long List of the Ents

[22:50] Shelob’s Ambush

[25:44] Orcish Bowmasters

[28:44] Westfold Rider

[30:13] Council’s Deliberation

[32:39] Nasty End

[33:17] Boromir, Warden of the Tower

[34:56] Rosie Cotton of South Lane

[38:46] Forge Anew

[42:17] Grishnakh, Brash Instigator

[44:18] Swarming of Moria

[45:13] Fires of Mount Doom

[47:38] Nazgul

[53:59] Bill the Pony

[56:19] Hew the Entwood

[58:16] Tom Bombadil

[59:07] Gandalf the White

[1:06:30] Aragorn, the Uniter

[1:07:50] Sauron, the Dark Lord

[1:09:38] March from the Black Gate

[1:15:24] Closing thoughts: the future of mini-sets