During the latest MTG Lord of the Rings livestream, fans got to see footage of the ultra-special, one of a kind, potentially priceless One Ring Sol Ring card. It was waved around by a gloved hand in the Magic: The Gathering LOTR First Look video on May 30.
But trading card game fans were quick to notice that this foil card appears to be suffering from the infamous ‘pringling’ problem that afflicts so many MTG foils. They were even quicker to poke fun on social media, joking that this curling proved the card was real, or that it would eventually come to be worn as a ring.
From what we can tell from the evidence available, there does seem to be a minute amount of curling on the card. It’s almost certainly reversible, but it’s still pretty amusing that Wizards of the Coast either missed this or wasn’t worried about it when putting out a marketing video to raise hype for its ultimate collectible.
The One Ring card is a unique card from MTG Lord of the Rings, and unusual, in that only one copy will ever be printed. It comes with a 001/001 stamp to mark its exclusivity, and features unique art, showing the ring in lava, with elvish inscription shining.
It’s not the only Rings of Power collectible – there’ll be 300 foil elves rings, 600 dwarves rings, and 900 human rings, as well as ten times this number of non foil versions – but it is by far the most valuable, and may well become one of the most expensive MTG cards of all time. So… it’s probably a card fans don’t want to see curling.
Curling or ‘pringling’, where an MTG card bulges out and forms a distinctive bend, is an age-old problem that’s particularly rampant in shiny foil versions of MTG cards. It’s caused by humidity, as moisture in the air causes the cardboard to expand, and a lack of moisture causes it to contract. The reason it afflicts foils much more than regular cards is that the front side of a foil card won’t change size with the back, making the card bend.
MTG Lord of the Rings is releasing June 23. It features every Middle Earther worth mentioning – from Gollum to Frodo to Bill the Pony – and some awesome multi-card collages that are good enough to frame. Check out our MTG release schedule guide to see how it fits into the year as a whole – or hit our full list of MTG Arena codes to scoop a stack of free cards for Magic’s digital version. Check our guide to the MTG Lord of the Rings release date.