Ring Bearer Mechanics Explained

In the Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Magic: The Gathering (MTG) set, The Ring Tempts You is a keyword action and the main mechanic. When a card says The Ring Tempts You, players gain an emblem called The Ring if they don't already have one. The emblem has four abilities that are unlocked in a specific order, and the player chooses a creature they control to be their Ring-bearer. The Ring-bearer is not a creature type or an ability but a new designation that remains until the creature leaves the battlefield or another player gains control of it. Players can only have one Ring-bearer at a time, and the Ring-bearer gains bonuses from the abilities on the emblem.

The Ring Tempts You: Players get an emblem and choose a Ring-Bearer

The Ring Tempts You is a keyword action and mechanic in the Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth set. When a card says "The Ring tempts you", the player gains an emblem named "The Ring" if they don't already have one. The emblem has four abilities that are unlocked in a specific order, from top to bottom. The first ability is unlocked the first time the player is tempted by the Ring, the second ability the second time, and so on.

Each time the Ring tempts the player, they must choose a creature they control to become their Ring-bearer. If the player already has a Ring-bearer, they can choose for that creature to remain their Ring-bearer or choose a different creature. The chosen creature remains the Ring-bearer until it leaves the battlefield, another player gains control of it, or the player chooses a different creature when next tempted by the Ring.

The Ring-bearer is a designation, not a creature type or ability. Each player can only have one Ring-bearer at a time. The Ring-bearer gains bonuses from the abilities of The Ring emblem. These abilities are:

• Your Ring-bearer is legendary and can't be blocked by creatures with greater power.
• Whenever your Ring-bearer attacks, draw a card, then discard a card.
• Whenever your Ring-bearer becomes blocked by a creature, that creature's controller sacrifices it at the end of combat.
• Whenever your Ring-bearer deals combat damage to a player, each opponent loses 3 life.

The Ring can continue to tempt the player even if they don't control any creatures. In this case, the player won't be able to choose a Ring-bearer, but the emblem will still gain its next ability. Once the Ring has all four abilities, it has reached its full power and won't gain any additional abilities from future temptations.

Ring-Bearer Status: It remains until another creature becomes the Ring-Bearer

The Ring-Bearer status is a designation that a permanent can have. It is not a copiable value. The creature you choose remains your Ring-Bearer until you choose another one, it leaves the battlefield, or another player gains control of it.

Each player has their own Ring-Bearer and their own Ring. You can never have more than one Ring-Bearer at a time. If you have no other creatures when the Ring tempts you, you will no longer have a Ring-Bearer.

The Ring-Bearer status remains until another creature becomes the Ring-Bearer. This can happen in several ways. Firstly, the player can choose another creature to become the Ring-Bearer. Secondly, the current Ring-Bearer can leave the battlefield. Finally, another player can gain control of the current Ring-Bearer.

Choosing a Ring-Bearer: Players must choose a creature they control

It is important to note that only one creature can be designated as the Ring-Bearer at a time, and this designation is not a continuous effect. If a player does not control any creatures when they are tempted by the Ring, they will still gain the next ability on the emblem, but they will not be able to choose a Ring-Bearer.

Additionally, if a player's Ring-Bearer phases out, it will lose its Ring-Bearer status. When it phases back in, it will remain the Ring-Bearer unless the player was tempted by the Ring while it was phased out, in which case they would have been required to choose a new Ring-Bearer.

Multiple Ring-Bearers: Only one Ring-Bearer per player at a time

In the Magic: The Gathering card game, the mechanic "The Ring Tempts You" is based on The One Ring from *Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth*. When a card uses the phrase "the Ring Tempts you," the player receives an emblem called "The Ring" if they don't already have one. The emblem has four abilities that are unlocked progressively, starting from the top and working down. Each time the player is tempted by the Ring, they must choose a creature they control to be their Ring-bearer, or decide to keep the current creature as their Ring-bearer. Importantly, each player can only have one Ring-bearer at a time.

The Ring-bearer remains as such until it leaves the battlefield, another player gains control of it, or the player chooses a different creature when tempted by the Ring again. The Ring-bearer status is not a continuous effect but a designation, and it can be retained even if the creature phases out. However, if the Ring tempts the player again while their Ring-bearer is phased out, they must choose a new Ring-bearer, and the previous one loses its status.

The Ring's Abilities: Four abilities are unlocked in a specific order

The Ring emblem has four distinct abilities that are unlocked in a specific order. The first time a player is tempted, they get an emblem in their Command Zone, which is named The Ring. This emblem has four abilities printed on it, which are unlocked cumulatively from the top to the bottom of the card. The abilities are:

• Your Ring-bearer is legendary and can't be blocked by creatures with greater power.
• Whenever your Ring-bearer attacks, draw a card, then discard a card.
• Whenever your Ring-bearer becomes blocked by a creature, that creature's controller sacrifices it at the end of combat.
• Whenever your Ring-bearer deals combat damage to a player, each opponent loses 3 life.

Each time a player is tempted by the Ring, they gain access to the next ability in the sequence. The abilities are cumulative, meaning that all unlocked abilities are active simultaneously. Once the Ring has all four abilities, it has reached its full power and will not gain any additional abilities.

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