It's a busy time for planeswalkers everywhere, as Wizards is unveiling more plans about what is coming this year to Magic: The Gathering - assuming the Phyrexians don't destroy it all first. For a bit though, it's time to get away from the Phyrexian threat and go to the Universes Beyond, and see the newly announced Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth release date.
The Lord of the Rings Magic release date is June 23rd, but with Magic these days, that's only the beginning of the schedule, far from the whole thing that we can find out for this direct to modern set. The scrying bowl will show us our first look at Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth on March 14th. This is likely when we'll see the first Magic: The Gathering Lord of the Rings cards, much like the recent showing of March of the Machines cards this past weekend. As for full previews, we can expect that to debut on May 30th, a few weeks after March of the Machines Aftermath has been released. As for when you'll first be able to buy Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth, that will be at the pre-release on June 16th, while it will be available digitally on June 20th.
We also have a bit more information about the product catalog for Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth. Beyond the main set, there will be four commander decks available to buy. Most of the product catalog is as you expect - there's your normal draft/set/collector and jumpstart boosters, along with Starter Kits, and your normal pairing of bundles. That's not to say there are no mysteries here - there is talk of a Scene Box, a product I haven't heard of before, and there'll be Secret Lair releases as well.
The biggest mystery, however, is the mention of a second, holiday release with more information to come in the future. This second release will be on November 3rd, and so it appears that we'll be getting a second breakfast of Lord of the Rings Magic cards this year. As for what it will contain, we'll just have to wait and see.