$3 million ‘One Ring’ Magic the Gathering card found

A Magic The Gathering card worth millions of dollars has been found, creating a frenzy of offers from collectors and fans alike. 

It’s all part of the new Lord of the Rings collaboration, which saw collectors snap up thousands of packets of cards in hopes of pulling the 1 of 1 ‘One Ring’ card. 

It’s the rarest Magic the Gathering card ever created, now this small precious piece of cardboard is set to fetch a huge amount – that’s if it’s sold.

Offers from around the world have been put on the table, ranging from $100,000 all the way up to $3 million. 

The Lord of the Rings: Tales from Middle Earth set has only been out for a couple of weeks, with players and collectors rushing out to snap up Collector Boosters of the set, which contained the elusive card.

It’s one of the biggest tabletop crossovers in three decades, this latest venture further cementing Wizards of the Coast, the game’s makers, as a billion-dollar brand.

The One Ring may be found, but that’s not to talk down the rest of this incredible-looking Universes Beyond set.

9news.com.au caught up with Wizards of the Coast Director of Global Brand Strategy, Rebecca Shepard, to talk all about The Lord of the Rings: Tales from Middle Earth and what’s next for the brand.

“When we first started thinking about the kernel of the idea of what Universes Beyond has become, we listed IPs that we ourselves loved. We started with books, games, shows, movies, etc. that we were truly fans of and that inspired our own work,” Shepard said, telling 9news the team wanted to be sure that whatever they worked on was believed in.

“We wanted to ensure that whoever we worked with was an authentic partnership that we believed in, that mapped to our game and brand values,” she said.

“The Lord of the Rings is the most epic high-fantasy story so it felt only natural that working with the folks at Middle-earth Enterprises should be one of our first partnerships.”

There’s no hiding the fact partnerships as big as these bring in a whole new audience to the game, but also bring back earlier players who may have taken a break from playing and collecting.

“Another great opportunity is attracting the people in our current players’ lives who may not have jumped in previously but seeing characters and worlds like The Lord of the Rings entices them to want to play with Magic players in their homes, friend groups, communities, etcetera,” Shepard said.

“We see Universes Beyond as growing the gathering in a variety of ways.”

Senior Art Director at Wizards of the Coast, Ovidio Cartagena, says the Lord of the Rings cards aren’t based off the films and they were able to create their own vision on the Tolkien classic, all while staying true to the source material.

“Middle Earth Enterprises trusted us with the source material,” Cartagena told 9news.com.au.

“When we were beginning the process, before any illustration was made, we made a lot of concept art and put together a style guide with characters, environments, designs and landscapes for MEE to review,” he said.

“This approach allowed them to review our vision for the set before seeing final arts.”

There have been some huge crossovers in recent years, with video games Street Fighter and Fortnite getting their own limited sets, alongside TV shows like The Walking Dead. 

The next big Universes Beyond set is also mixing with a mega IP, with Wizards of the Coast partnering with Doctor Who.

“We had some very passionate Doctor Who fans working on these cards so every detail is beyond flavorful and handled with a ton of care,” Shepard said.

We haven’t seen what these cards will look like just yet, but there are 60 years of ideas to work with.

“We’re celebrating 60 years of Doctor Who so you will be able to find your favourite Doctor, Companion, or villain,” she said.

“When we partner with folks like the team at the BBC, our goal is to create amazing play experiences for our players and their fans.”

The Doctor Who Magic the Gathering set is expected to release later this year, on October 13.