As the Council of Elrond gathered, so did four beings gather around a table: each one a Commander with the will to wield a ring of power. And so, the Commander Party was formed.

Starting with The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth™, we are expanding Commander Party events to all WPN stores—for one day only from July 21 – 23, all WPN stores can host a Commander Party!

Commander Party events are a one-day only event where players come together to enjoy a casual game of Commander with their friends, augmented by a special set of rules that allows for some unique gameplay opportunities. For The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, Commander Party events are sure to excite seasoned players while delighting fans of The Lord of the Rings.

Today, we're breaking down everything you'll need to know to prepare for this event—from what materials are being sent to you to tips to make the experience especially memorable for your Commander community.

The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Commander Party Materials

Your Commander Party materials will be shipped with the rest of your promo kit, which will begin arriving June 9. For the event, all WPN stores will receive the following:

• Commander Party promos
• Commander Party Faction Cards
• Commander Party Play Aids
• 1 copy of Commander Party Instructions

The quantity your store receives of these materials will be based on your community size—keep an eye out for the promo email for exact quantities. WPN Premium stores will receive higher quantities of these materials and the WPN Premium promo cards will come as traditional foils. All other WPN stores will receive non-foil promos.

The physical Commander Party materials arriving in your promo kit will be printed in English. However, localized language versions of the materials will be available on our marketing materials page for you to print.

Each participant in your event receives one copy of the Commander Party promo—Lifecrafter’s Bestiary—so be sure to set your event capacity in EventLink to match the number of promos you'll receive. As you advertise the event to your community, be clear in sharing that the Commander Party participation promos are only available while supplies last.

With all your materials in-hand, you'll have around a month to prepare for your Commander Party, which you can schedule for any day from July 21 – 23.

How to Run a Commander Party

Commander Party events are designed to fully immerse your community in the story of the game they are playing—the instructions include multiple read-aloud portions to guide players from the start, while keeping the flavor high throughout the event.

At the start of your store's The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Commander Party, players will pick a Faction card, choosing to ally with one of four different races from the books: the Elves, the Hobbits, the Dwarves, or Gondor & Rohan. Each race has a special ability printed on their respective Faction card, so give players time to read the abilities before starting your event timer.

In addition to Faction cards, your event kit will contain Party Aids, instructional sheets meant to be placed at the center of each pod of four players. These cards describe a set of optional rules, where players choose to wield one of the Rings of Power for in-game advantages.

If a player chooses to wield the Elven Rings, they draw an additional card, whereas wielding the Dwarven Rings allows players to create a tapped Treasure token, and wielding the Rings of Men allows a player to create a 2/2 red Human Knight token. Of course, players may also choose to wield the One Ring, but at a greater cost.

Each category may only be used a limited number of times before that player becomes Tempted, causing them to incur an additional set of conditions that influence the game. All these details will be further explained on your Commander Party Instructions.

Your rules and materials will arrive well in advance of the event, so make sure to read them over; if you have time, run a play test with your employees to help make the experience completely seamless for your players.

Here are a few additional tips to run a smooth Commander Party:

• Place the Party Aids on your Commander Pod tables in advance.
• Have players choose Faction cards as they sit down with their pods.
• Set a timer for two hours and stop gameplay once the timer is complete. Warn your players 15 minutes before the end of the timer.

Additional Commander Party materials will be available on our marketing materials page closer to when your kits begin arriving—until then, spread the word in your community and Schedule your event in Wizards EventLink today!