Middle-earth Collectible Card Game

Middle-earth Collectible Card Game (MECCG) is an out-of-print collectible card game released by Iron Crown Enterprises in late 1995. It is the first CCG based on J.R.R. Tolkien's fictional universe of Middle-earth, with added content from ICE'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, and Angus McBride.

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 after a complicated set of events.

Later expansions have added the possibility to take the role of a Ringwraith of Sauron (MELE), a corrupted wizard playing by his own rules (MEWH), the malevolent Balrog (MEBA), or even Sauron himself. The game is somewhat distinguished from most other CCG's with the use of two six-sided dice 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: ''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'' and ''The Hobbit''. This license was later bought by Decipher, 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, Frodo and Aragorn. 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, their treasure and the northern regions.
** ''Dark Minions'' (MEDM) (1996): Adds many powerful hazard cards including more undead 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 and trolls. 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

See also

*'' The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game & Adventure Card Game'' ( LCG)

References

Bibliography

*
*

Further reading

*

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