I started playing Magic: The Gathering (MTG) about 17 years ago. Although I had watched the movie adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien’s stories, I did not read The Hobbit until about eight months ago. After finally reading it, I began noticing how many parts of Tolkien’s world felt familiar to me as a longtime Magic: The Gathering player. This made me think about how Tolkien helped shape modern fantasy and how that influence can still be seen in the MTG TCG today.
For people who don’t know either story, The Hobbit is about Bilbo Baggins, a fantasy creature called a hobbit: a small, generally peaceful folk. The Grey wizard Gandalf sends him on a grand journey with a group of dwarves. The goal of the journey is to take back the Lonely Mountain and the treasures stolen by the dragon Smaug. Bilbo reluctantly joins them as their “burglar”, even though he is scared of the danger and has no experience in being an adventurer.
Magic: The Gathering, often shortened to Magic or MTG, is a trading card game in which players use decks filled with creatures, spells, magical objects, and lands. Its stories take place across many different worlds. Tolkien’s influence on MTG is not a matter of directly copying Middle-earth. Instead, it appears through fantasy ideas that Tolkien helped make familiar. Richard Garfield, the creator of MTG, drew from many games, stories, and fantasy traditions rather than simply rebuilding Tolkien’s world. Tolkien had already changed the way many people imagined fantasy. His stories helped popularize detailed fictional worlds containing elves, dwarves, dragons, magical objects, dark rulers, dangerous journeys, and ordinary people who become unlikely heroes. Games such as Dungeons & Dragons also used many of these recognizable elements, and MTG developed within the same larger fantasy culture. Tolkien’s influence is therefore mostly indirect. MTG does not reproduce Middle-earth, but it uses ideas that became well known because of Tolkien’s work.
One thing that closely resembles Tolkien is how elves are presented in MTG. In Tolkien’s stories, elves are usually graceful, have ancient wisdom, and are highly skilled in many crafts. They are often associated with nature, music, archery and history. In The Hobbit, Bilbo and the dwarves eventually meet elves in Riverdale and then in Mirkwood, which establishes the image of the elves as long-lived beings connected to nature. MTG uses many of the same ideas. Its elves are commonly associated with forests, ancient traditions, archery, and natural magic. This connection also appears in the game’s rules. MTG has five colours, and green is strongly connected to nature, growth, animals, and the land. Because of this, elves are frequently shown on green cards. However, MTG’s elves are not direct copies of Tolkien’s. Since the game contains many different worlds, each can present elves differently. On the plane of Lorwyn, for example, some elves have animal-like features such as horns and hooves. They still use bows and remain connected to nature, but their appearance and culture are different. MTG takes a recognizable idea and changes it into something belonging to its own universe.
Another similarity involves villains. Smaug, Sauron, and MTG's Nicol Bolas are dangerous not only because they are physically powerful, but also because they know how to manipulate others. Smaug is the dragon who took the Lonely Mountain and its treasure from the dwarves. He is enormous and deadly, but he is also intelligent, proud, and skilled at using words. When Bilbo enters the mountain, he cannot defeat Smaug through strength. Instead, they have a careful conversation. Smaug tries to make Bilbo suspicious of the dwarves by suggesting that their greed may prevent them from giving Bilbo his promised share. He tries to weaken the group by creating doubt. The main enemy in the Lord of the Rings, Sauron, wants to rule over Middle-earth and will use manipulation, fear, evil armies and the Rings of Power.
Nicol Bolas plays a similar role in MTG. He is an ancient dragon and one of the most powerful villains in the story of MTG. Although both he and Sauron can defeat enemies directly, both prefer long-term plans, deception, bargaining, and turn people against each other. One example is his involvement with Liliana Vess, a necromancer who made contracts with demons in exchange for youth and power. Bolas helped arrange those contracts and later used them to control her. Smaug, Sauron, and Nicol Bolas are different characters, but all three understand that fear, greed, pride, and mistrust can be used as weapons.
Bilbo is not a warrior, especially in the beginning of The Hobbit; he is small, inexperienced and mainly interested in the comfort of home. Many characters underestimate him, but over time he shows that he is brave and holds his own. He eventually becomes one of the most important members of the group of dwarves. Bilbo was able to survive because he showed loyalty, courage, quick thinking, and adaptability. He used riddles when dealing with Gollum and carefully controlled information when he was talking to Smaug. During the conversation, he uses the dragon’s pride against him, and the dragon shows off, which allows Bilbo to find the weak area in Smaug's armour. Bilbo was not able to overpower the dragon, but the information he gathered becomes important later for Smaug's defeat.
MTG often includes heroes who succeed in similar ways. Jace Beleren, for example, is a mage who relies on intelligence, planning, illusions, and mind magic. He is not usually the strongest physical fighter, but he can change events by understanding his enemies and developing strategies. Like Bilbo, Jace shows that a hero does not need great physical strength to matter. The difference between Jace and Bilbo compared to the villains is how intelligence is used. Sauron and Nicol Bolas manipulate in order to gain control, while Jace and Bilbo use cleverness to survive and to protect their companions.
Even though Tolkien did not directly create the world of Magic: The Gathering, his influence can still be felt throughout the world. He helped build the foundation for the ideas that later became common in fantasy, which include elves being closely connected to nature, powerful dark villains, journeys and underestimated characters whose intelligence outweighs power. Magic does take some creative liberties to better fit the worlds they create, such as some elves having horns and hooves, or villains and heroes being able to travel to different worlds. Where-as tropes like using mind over brute strength remain recognizable across the properties. Magic: The Gathering is not a copy of Tolkien's Middle-earth, but the traditions and archetypes that Tolkien created still inspire creators like Wizards of the Coast to this day.
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