The Lord of The Rings Trading Card Game - Shadows and Beyond

Shadows and Beyond

In November 2004 the new base set, Shadows, marked an overhaul to the game. All sets would contain sixty rare, uncommon and common cards each. Instead of foiling every card, each expansion would only have eighteen pre-selected rare foil cards that would be randomly inserted now into one in every seven booster packs. Shadows also had four, rather than two, different starter decks. The material used for the cards would also now cover the entire trilogy instead of being tied to the films' releases.

Additionally, a system of rotation was announced to be introduced to the game. Starting in March 2005 the entire Fellowship block ceased to be legal for use in the Standard tournament format. Then, each November the oldest block remaining will also be "rotated out". Decipher claimed this helped keep the card pool down to a manageable size and would keep established players buying new cards. Detractors claimed it was a money grab and didn't like being forced to purchase what they felt were inferior cards.

The seven month delay of The Hunters expansion release (from November 2005 to June 2006) made the game suffer a significant drop in popularity amongst its players as well as eventually force Decipher Inc. to remove the expansions The Great Eye and Shelob's Lair from its intended expansion since Decipher's license for Lord of the Rings related material was scheduled to expire on June 30, 2007. Following the release of the final expansion Age's End in June 2007 the game was discontinued and Decipher was forced to stop all production, distribution, and advertising.