Magic: The Gathering is returning to Middle-earth with a new Universes Beyond crossover set based on The Hobbit, following the runaway success of its 2023 Lord of the Rings set. IGN has an exclusive first look at three uncommon cards from the set, giving an early sense of its mechanics and themes ahead of release.

The three revealed cards are Nasty Little Rabbit, a green creature rewarding big-power creatures; Fearsome Goblin Pair, tied to the set's red-black goblin and "amass" theme; and Thror's Map, a legendary artifact that fetches a basic land and offers a repeatable card-draw "looting" effect, which the writer suggests could see some Commander play. The set launches on MTG Arena and MTGO on 11 August, with prerelease events at local stores from 7 August and a full paper release on 14 August. It follows other recent Wizards of the Coast crossovers such as Marvel, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Avatar: The Last Airbender, with a Star Trek set also due later this year; the earlier Lord of the Rings set had faced controversy over alleged plagiarism in a reprinted card design.