Middle-earth Collectible Card Game (MECCG) is an out-of-print

collectible card game A collectible card game (CCG), also called a trading card game (TCG) among other names, is a type of card game that mixes strategy game, strategic deck building elements with features of trading cards, introduced with ''Magic: The Gathering'' in ...

released by

Iron Crown Enterprises Iron Crown Enterprises (ICE) is a publishing company that has produced role playing, board, miniature, and collectible card games since 1980. Many of ICE's better-known products were related to J. R. R. Tolkien's world of Middle-earth, but the ''Ro ...

in late 1995. It is the first CCG based on

J.R.R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlins ...

's fictional universe of

Middle-earth Middle-earth is the fictional setting of much of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy. The term is equivalent to the ''Miðgarðr'' of Norse mythology and ''Middangeard'' in Old English works, including ''Beowulf''. Middle-earth is t ...

, with added content from

ICE Ice is water frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaq ...

's Middle-earth Role Playing Game. The cards used in the game feature original artwork by a multitude of artists, many of them longtime Tolkien illustrators such as John Howe,

Ted Nasmith Ted Nasmith (born 1956) is a Canadians, Canadian artist, illustrator and architectural rendering, architectural renderer. He is best known as an illustrator of J. R. R. Tolkien's works ''The Hobbit'', ''The Lord of the Rings'' and ''The Silmaril ...

, and

Angus McBride Angus McBride (11 May 1931 – 15 May 2007) was an English historical and fantasy illustrator. Early life Born in London to Highland Scots parents, Angus McBride was orphaned as a child, his mother dying when he was five years old, and his f ...

Overview

In its basic form, it is a game for one to five players, each choosing one of the five wizards to represent themselves. A ''turn'' in the game consists of one player's wandering around Middle-earth with the help of famous characters of Middle-earth, trying to gather influence and power to aid in the battle against The Dark Lord, while another player tries to harass, and ultimately kill his ''characters'' with specific ''hazard'' cards. Then, for each player's turn, the roles change clockwise around the table (the player who was moving his characters then throws hazards at the player to his or her right). Any player may also win by acquiring and destroying the

One Ring The One Ring, also called the Ruling Ring and Isildur's Bane, is a central plot element in J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'' (1954–55). It first appeared in the earlier story ''The Hobbit'' (1937) as a magic ring that grants the w ...

after a complicated set of events. Later expansions have added the possibility to take the role of a Ringwraith of

Sauron Sauron (pronounced ) is the title character and the primary antagonist, through the forging of the One Ring, of J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'', where he rules the land of Mordor and has the ambition of ruling the whole of Middl ...

(MELE), a corrupted wizard playing by his own rules (MEWH), the malevolent

Balrog A Balrog () is a powerful demonic monster in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. One first appeared in print in his high-fantasy novel ''The Lord of the Rings'', where the Fellowship of the Ring (characters), Fellowship of the Ring encounter a Bal ...

(MEBA), or even Sauron himself. The game is somewhat distinguished from most other CCG's with the use of two six-sided

dice Dice (singular die or dice) are small, throwable objects with marked sides that can rest in multiple positions. They are used for generating random values, commonly as part of tabletop games, including dice games, board games, role-playing g ...

for a random factor and also by the actual map of Middle-earth, including ''regions'' your companies travel through, and ''site cards'' they visit. MECCG won two

Origins Awards The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry. They are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for the previous year, so (for example) the 1979 a ...

: ''Best Card Game of 1995'' for ''MECCG: The Wizards'' and ''Best Graphic Presentation of a Card Game or Expansion of 1996'' for ''MECCG: The Dragons''. The game's production ended in 1999, when ICE lost the license that allowed them to use the content of Tolkien's ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's boo ...

'' and ''

The Hobbit ''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the '' ...

''. This license was later bought by

Decipher DECIPHER is a web-based resource and database of genomic variation data from analysis of patient DNA. It documents submicroscopic chromosome abnormalities ( microdeletions and duplications) and pathogenic sequence variants (single nucleotide ...

, who used it to bring out another CCG. MECCG still has a relatively loyal and active fanbase of players.

Online activity

The game can be played online through the use of the ''Generic Collectible Card Game'' ( GCCG), allowing normal or sealed games. MECCG online events are organized several times a year and every player is free to participate in them. A web-based game variant is active at https://cardnum.net/

Card sets

* ''The Wizards'' (METW) (1995): The first basic set, dealing with the ''good'' side, including most main characters from the books, like

Gandalf Gandalf is a protagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's novels ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. He is a Wizards (Middle-earth), wizard, one of the ''Istari'' order, and the leader of the Fellowship of the Ring (characters), Fellowship of t ...

Frodo Frodo Baggins is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's writings, and one of the protagonists in ''The Lord of the Rings''. Frodo is a hobbit of the Shire who inherits the One Ring from his cousin Bilbo Baggins, described familiarly a ...

and

Aragorn Aragorn is a fictional character and a protagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings''. Aragorn was a Ranger of the North, first introduced with the name Strider and later revealed to be the heir of Isildur, an ancient King of Arno ...

. Pretty straightforward gameplay with relatively simple ''marshalling point'' cards and ''hazard creatures''. ** ''The Dragons'' (METD) (1996): The first expansion set for METW. As the name implies, deals mostly with

dragons A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

, their treasure and the northern regions. ** ''Dark Minions'' (MEDM) (1996): Adds many powerful hazard cards including more

undead The undead are beings in mythology, legend, or fiction that are deceased but behave as if alive. Most commonly the term refers to corporeal forms of formerly-alive humans, such as mummies, vampires, and zombies, who have been reanimated by super ...

and introduces the ''agents'' - a subtle group of Sauron's servants, concentrating on intrigue and influence. Also adds an underground network of site cards, ''The Under-Deeps'', which later becomes The Balrog's realm. * ''The Lidless Eye'' (MELE) (1997): The second basic set. Adds the possibility to play as a Ringwraith of Sauron. ** ''Against the Shadow'' (MEAS) (1997): The only expansion to MELE, although it also contains hero cards. Mostly balances the game by adding resources for and hazards against the ''minion'' player as well as some support resources for the hero. Notable are the hazard creature versions of the five wizards. * ''The White Hand'' (MEWH) (1997): Introduces a third faction, the corrupted ''Fallen-Wizard'', whose player can use both hero and minion resources and characters, although with restrictions. * ''Middle Earth Challenge Decks'' (MECD) (1998): 10 pairs of decks for tournament play. Cards are re-prints from earlier sets. * ''The Balrog'' (MEBA) (1998): Adds a new sub-faction to the minions, Balrog, who mainly depends on the brute strength of his

orcs An Orc (or Ork) is a fictional humanoid monster like a goblin. Orcs were brought into modern usage by the fantasy writings of J. R. R. Tolkien, especially ''The Lord of the Rings''. In Tolkien's works, Orcs are a brutish, aggressive, ugly, ...

and

trolls A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human bei ...

. It is argued by the player base that since the production of MECCG ended after MEBA, the set remains a bit overpowered because it didn't get a "balancing set" published afterwards.

Books

ICE Publications: *'' Middle-earth: The Wizards Companion'' (#3333): *''Middle-earth: The Wizards Player Guide'' (#3334): *''Middle-earth: The Dragons Player Guide'' (#3337): *''Middle-earth CCG Maps'' (#3338): *''Middle-earth: Dark Minions Player Guide'' (#3339): *''The Lidless Eye Companion'' (#3341): *''The Lidless Eye Player Guide'' (#3342): *''A Long Expected Party: Meccg Sites & Scenarios'' (#3343): *''Middle-earth: The Wizards Casual Companion'' (#3340): Independent Publications: *''Mastering Middle-Earth: Strategies for Middle-Earth : The Wizards''

Reception

Andy Butcher reviewed ''Middle Earth: The Wizards'' for ''Arcane'' magazine, rating it a 7 out of 10 overall. Butcher comments that "If you're willing to put in the effort (and buy quite a lot of cards), there's plenty here to make it all worthwhile. At the end of the day, though, I for one can't help wishing that one person got to play Gandalf while the other took on the role of Sauron, leading to a far more direct and involving conflict." Andy Butcher reviewed ''Middle Earth: The Dragons'' for ''Arcane'' magazine, rating it an 8 out of 10 overall. Butcher comments that " Impressively, ''Middle-earth: The Dragons'' manages to emphasise the positive aspects of the game, without adding greatly to the already weighty rules."

Reviews

*''Backstab'' #1

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* https://meccg.es/ - The Council of Rivendell, MeCCG Spanish Community * http://www.meccg.net/ * http://www.councilofelrond.org/ - World governing body * http://meccg.tolkien.com.pl/forum/ - Polish MECCG forum * http://gccg.sourceforge.net/ - GCCG Official page {{LOTR Card games introduced in 1995 Collectible card games Games based on Middle-earth Origins Award winners Iron Crown Enterprises games Fantasy games