Wizards of the Coast’s Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Universes Beyond release is something the community hasn’t really seen before. Sure, we have the usual trimmings, like Collector Boosters, Commander product, and a draftable set, but there are a ton of little things that Wizards included, which has collecting this set both special and confusing.
One of these things that players haven’t really dealt with before are exclusive cards in Collector Booster Sample Packs. Obtained as a part of preconstructed Commander product, Collecter Booster Sample packs, in the past, have served as a way to give players a taste of the kind of cards you can expect to open in Collector Booster product. Commander players love shiny things, after all.
However, this time around, there are some exclusive cards that you can only get in these sample packs, and nowhere else. Considering there are only two cards in each of these packs (and only one that can be the super exclusive rare card), these are, understandably incredibly hard to find. Making things even more difficult is that some Collector Booster Sample Packs are arriving damaged.
After some time waiting, thanks to the efforts of many individuals in the MTG community, we finally have a list of which MTG Lord of the Rings Extended Art Foil cards you can only find in Collector Booster Sample packs!
Extended Foil Chaos
Interestingly enough, we’ve already talked about these exclusive cards in some detail. At the time, however, no one really knew which cards were exclusively available in Collector Booster Sample Packs. We only knew that some cards were exclusive thanks to an article from Wizards of the Coast.
One exception to this rule was the Extended Foil One Ring. Players figured out pretty quickly that Sample Packs were the only place to find them, and they started selling like hotcakes for $300 or more whenever they popped up on the market, at least initially.
Getting informed on what cards are exclusive will not only allow you to identify if you’ve happened to open a super expensive card out of your Commander decks, but will also allow you to identify why these cards are so expensive, if you’re trying to find a Full Art Shelob, Child of Ungoliant for your Spider typal Commander deck, for example.
To reiterate, you are not guaranteed to find one of these cards in any particular Commander product. The reason why these are so expensive, after all, is how slim of a chance players have of encountering them.
Origins of The List
“Thanks to the work of Nelson, the community manager for WoTC in the WPN group on Facebook, we now have a confirmed list of which LoTR extended art cards exist in Extended Art Foil and which only exist in Non-Foil.”
EnihcamAmgine
This Reddit post shares a list of Extended Art Foil cards that can and cannot be found in Lord of the Rings product. If you want to read more about the 19 cards that are missing from the Lord of the Rings set, we wrote more about it in another article. While Reddit posts can be somewhat dubious, one comment mentions that CardKingdom, one of the largest card shops in the US, has confirmed the authenticity of this list.
Further confirming the authenticity of these claims is Ben Bleiweiss, Star City Games’ General Manager of Sales. This is another one of the largest card shops in the US.
Bleiweiss goes a bit further, however. Bleiweiss is instead sharing a list of cards released in “the WPN retailer group” that outlines which Extended Foils are only available in Collector Booster Sample packs. These lists coincide with one-another, improving their authenticity. All that said, though, there is still a chance that this could be somewhat inaccurate. That would be rather surprising, however.
So, what cards can only be found in Collector Booster Sample packs? Do note that this list applies only to a card’s Extended Foil treatment, which is considered the rarest possible treatment of these cards that you can find (with the exception of the two-million dollar ring). Other treatments can be found in all the usual places, but these ones are a lot rarer than players expected.
The List Of Extended Art Foils Only Found in Sample Packs:
We’ve already mentioned The One Ring and Shelob, Child of Ungoliant. We also mentioned Andurin, Flame of the West, and Forge Anew as cards that were likely only to be found in Collector Booster Sample Packs. This has now been confirmed.
There are 14 additional cards whose Extended Art Foils can only be found in these Sample packs, for a total of 18 cards. Notably, we’ll be using some sales posts (cards that have sold), but mostly listed posts, to assess the prices of these cards, as the news of the exclusivity of these cards is very fresh, and it’s affecting prices fast. Here’s what to look for:
Arwen, Mortal Queen
Arwen, Immortal Queen can be incredibly annoying to deal with in Limited. Boasting Indestructible, this particular keyword is very difficult to get around. What Makes Arwen truly threatening is her second ability. For just one mana, Arwen can remove and Indestructible counter (which grants her Indestructible) in exchange for granting herself and another creature a +1/+1 counter and a Lifelink counter. The other Creature Arwen targets also temporarily gains Indestructible.
This particular Extended Art Foil, thanks to recent revelations, has steadily gone up in price, with TCGplayer’s most recent sale numbering $200!
Call of the Ring
Call of the Ring is already seeing some Modern play. This card performs incredibly in grindy games where it can draw multiple cards and Tempt the Ring multiple times. A two-mana Phyrexian Arena is already a powerful draw engine in terms of the Modern format, but having the additional bonus of building up Ring Tempts is incredible. This can turn any insignificant token into an evasive threat that loots and deals additional damage on impact.
You do need to mark a creature as your Ringbearer to draw additional cards, so if your opponent manages to keep your board clear, Call of the Ring may not be doing much. On the bright side, drawing a card for two life is completely optional, so if you’re running low on life, this card won’t kill you unless you let it.
Call of the Ring, in its Extended Art Foiling, is still going for a variety of prices. The highest of these is $150, but finding one for $20ish may be an incredibly good deal. That said, $90 is the cheapest this card is being listed for as of the writing of this article.
Display of Power
Display of Power is an odd card. An obvious sideboard option against Storm decks, Display of Power copies any number of instant and sorcery spells. These all have to be on the stack for Display of Power to work, which, while a potentially explosive option, limits where it can be usefully applied. It is, however, definitely an effect that some Commander decks want.
Before players knew of this card’s exclusivity, Display of Power was sold for relatively cheap. Now, however, the cheapest that this card is being listed for is $115.
Doors of Durin
Doors of Durin has been incredibly powerful in my exploration of Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Limited. Able to cheat out attacking creatures from the top of your library, Doors of Durin allows you to Scry 2 to find something massive to drop in on your opponent. In addition, if you control an Elf, your attacking creature will gain Hexproof until your next turn. If you control a Dwarf, it will gain Trample.
There is undeniably a home for this card in Commander. Five mana is a really cheap entry point for an ability like this. Since this card is an artifact, it can apply, basically, once each of your combats. The value this card provides can get extremely out of control.
Currently, listings for Extended Art Foil Doors of Durin are a little more forgiving, with $80 being the lower end of the range.
Read More: $1.00 Value Lord of the Rings Secret Lair Disheartens MTG Players
Horn of Gondor
I have a strong belief that this card should not have been printed in the main set. Horn of Gondor is an absolute travesty in Lord of the Rings Limited. If you allow it to activate once with a few Humans on board, it will quickly snowball out of control. Unless you have options like The Black Breath that exclusively counter this card, you will get run over fast.
This also means that Horn of Gondor is a fantastic tool for Humans decks in Commander. Outside of that, though, the Full Art Extended version of this card may not have a lot of interest. For that reason, the low end of listings for this card is currently $60.
Horn of the Mark
Unlike the Horn of Gondor, Horn of the Mark offers a more versatile ability that, while useful in a wider range of strategies, will not blow a game wide open like the previous horn does.
As long as you’re attacking with two creatures, the Horn of the Mark allows you to look at the top five cards of your library and find another one. This can be a steady stream of value in a creature-oriented EDH deck, especially alongside creatures that have Haste.
Horn of the Mark’s Extended Art Foil variant is currently listing for a similar price to the Horn of Gondor – about $60.
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King of the Oathbreakers
Never have I ever seen such a flavorful ability on a Spirit Typal Commander. In response to getting targeted with potential removal, King of the Oathbreakers allows Spirits, including itself, to Phase Out. When Spirits Phase back in, they bring a buddy along, which incentivizes you to target Spirits with stuff too!
How do you actually deal with Spirits when this card is on the board? Honestly, there are a lot of ways. Board wipes, combat tricks pumping up blockers, and targeting abilities are all things you can do to deal with a King of the Oathbreakers, hopefully, permanently.
King of the Oathbreakers, in its Extended Art Foil version, is currently listing for $75 or more, but it appears that sites are still adjusting to the newfound exclusivity of this card.
Lotho, Corrupt Shirriff
This is the only card I would consider buying in on regarding these potentially inflated Extended Art Foil prices. Lotho, Corrupt Shirriff has been doing some heavy lifting in the Commander scene, and understandably so. Thanks to the presence of Ledger Shredder, we already knew that cards that rely on players casting a second spell are very powerful since they will trigger a lot. We also learned from Smothering Tithe that a card that can create multiple Treasure tokens is also very powerful. Lotho does both of these things.
As a result, I would not be surprised if this card saw a price hike in the coming days, regardless of variant. For now, however, Lotho’s very rare Extended Art Foil version has been listed on TCGplayer for $85 at the lowest.
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Mithril Coat
Mithril Coat is an interesting trick for any Commander deck to pick up, well, the vast majority of Commander decks that run a Creature as their Commander. Since your Commander needs to be Legendary, Mithril Coat can Flash in for three mana and make your Commander Indestructible. The Coat itself is also Indestructible, causing the protective layer just as difficult to remove as the thing it’s protecting.
Since Mithril Coat is colorless, this card could be a reasonable inclusion in a vast number of Commander decks. With that in mind, the low-end of the Extended Art Foil cards for this are currently being listed for around $70.
Palantir of Orthanc
The Palantir of Orthanc is another colorless artifact that can find a home in several EDH strategies. This provides a fun minigame that threatens to provide a lot of value unless your chosen opponent wants to gamble on taking a bunch of damage off of milled cards. The longer this card sticks around, the more dangerous it becomes to deny you your card draw. You always get to Scry 2 before this goes off, making sure that if your opponent allows you to draw a card, it will be pretty powerful. If they choose to let you mill, and the milled cards have a high mana value, they will take big damage.
Anyone who manages to open an Extended Art Foil version of these cards may be in for a serious payday. Currently, the cheapest listed copy of this card is a staggering $220! That said, before players knew about this newfound Sample Pack exclusivity, these cards were selling for $25, so there’s still some room for these cards to find their price points.
Read More: These 19 Premium MTG Lord of the Rings Cards Do Not Exist!
Phial of Galadriel
The Phial of Galadriel marks a new era for what mana rocks that cost three to cast should be capable of. This card not only taps for one mana of any color but if you’re Hellbent, the Phial allows any of your draws to draw an additional card! As long as you can empty your hand repetitively, this could be a massive source of card draw in your Commander deck. We like this card so much that we wrote about it!
Since this card has useful applications in a wide variety of different EDH strategies, the Phial of Galadriel, in its Extended Art Foil version, has its cheapest listing for about $110.
In an effort to conserve room, we have simply listed the other cards that were not covered in previous articles below with the lowest current listing price on TCGplayer:
Radagast the Brown ($61 Current Lowest Listing Price)
Rangers of Ithilian (24$???)
A note on this one: this is an incredibly low price if the card is indeed only available in Collector Booster Sample packs. This may suggest that the Rangers of Ithilian may be more widely available than expected. This is also true for Sauron’s Ransom at the moment. Take these two particular inclusions with a note of caution. Chances are, however, that this list is correct.
Sauron’s Ransom ($24 again)
Full List Recap
In summary, between this article and the one last week addressing the appearance of Collector Booster Sample Pack exclusive Extended Art Foil cards, this is the list of cards that are only available in Sample Packs:
- Andúril, Flame of the West
- Arwen, Mortal Queen
- Call of the Ring
- Display of Power
- Doors of Durin
- Forge Anew
- Horn of Gondor
- Horn of the Mark
- King of the Oathbreakers
- Lotho, Corrupt Shirriff
- Mithril Coat
- Palantír of Orthanc
- Phial of Galadriel
- Radagast the Brown
- Rangers of Ithilien
- Sauron’s Ransom
- Shelob, Child of Ungoliant
- The One Ring
Unfortunately, this also means that some Extended Art Foil cards are not available at all. If you want to read more about those, you can do so here.
