How Does "The Ring Tempts You" Work in Magic: The Gathering?

The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle Earth introduced all kinds of LOTR-themed mechanics into Magic: The Gathering. One of them, “The Ring tempts you,” grants an emblem called The Ring (unrelated to the card, “The One Ring”). But even seasoned MTG players end up scratching their head when it comes to The Ring’s temptations. That’s why we’re here to explain how the mechanic works, how you level up The Ring, and how to sort out the odd rule interactions that might have you confused.

“The Ring Tempts You” in MTG: Explained

“The Ring tempts you” is a mechanic in Magic: The Gathering that grants an emblem—“The Ring.” Each time a player is tempted, The Ring levels up and grants a new ability. The Ring’s level cannot change, but the effects are only applied if you have an active ring-bearer in play.^{[1]
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Section 1 of 7:

What is “The Ring tempts you?”

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The Ring is an emblem that a player gets after being “tempted.” “The Ring” refers to an emblem that comes into play after a player resolves any card that says “The Ring tempts you.” The Ring has four abilities. The first time you are tempted, you get the emblem and the first ability. Each additional time you are “tempted,” you progress on to the next ability.^{[2]
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- The Ring’s temptations are meant to mimic the effect of the one ring from the world of Lord of the Rings.
- The Ring card has two sides. On one side there are the four abilities that are “tempted” into play. On the other side, you can find rule text and reminders.
- Emblems cannot be interacted with. There are no cards that target, remove, or change emblems.
- Cards that contain “The Ring tempts you” have not proven to be constructed playable. They do pop up in limited and EDH, though.

Section 2 of 7:

What are the rules for “The Ring tempts you” and how does it work?

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You play a card that says “The Ring tempts you” and it resolves. There are a few dozen cards in Magic: The Gathering that contain the text “The Ring tempts you.” If you play any of those cards and the card resolves, you get The Ring emblem.^{[4]
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- If the card tempting you is countered or fails to resolve, then The Ring does not enter the battlefield and nothing happens.
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You get “The Ring” emblem and the first ability occurs. If you have a physical emblem, put it on the battlefield wherever you’d like. If you don’t have an actual emblem, pull up The Ring on your phone to have quick access to the rules text.
- The Ring’s first ability: “Your Ring-bearer is legendary and can't be blocked by creatures with greater power.”^{[5]
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  - How does this work? You choose any creature you control. That creature is now your “Ring-bearer.” They can only be blocked by creatures with a lower power. So, if your ring bearer is a 3/3, they can only be blocked by 2/X, 1/X, or 0/X creatures. This remains true for the rest of the game until you choose a new ring-bearer or the creature is killed.^{[6]
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Each time “The Ring tempts you” you move down the ability list. Play continues as normal. The next time you play and resolve any card that says “The Ring tempts you,” you add the next ability listed on “The Ring” to play. These abilities continue to remain true. Just as an overview, if you were to resolve three cards that “tempt” you, your ring-bearer has the first three abilities of The Ring.^{[7]
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- The Ring’s second ability: “Whenever your Ring-bearer attacks, draw a card, then discard a card.”^{[8]
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  - How does this work? Remember when you designated a ring-bearer? In addition to not being blockable by creatures with a higher power, now they loot when they attack, too!
- The Ring’s third ability: “Whenever your Ring-bearer becomes blocked by a creature, that creature's controller sacrifices it at end of combat.”^{[9]
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  - How does this work? Even if your 3/3 ring-bearer is blocked by, say, a 2/4, that 2/4 will be sacrificed at the end of combat (even though they weren’t dealt lethal combat damage).
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Once the fourth temptation occurs you have all four “Ring” abilities. After resolving a fourth “The Ring tempts you” ability, you now have all of the four abilities listed on The Ring. If you are “tempted” again, nothing happens.^{[10]
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- The Ring’s fourth ability: “Whenever your ring-bearer deals combat damage to a player, each opponent loses 3 life.”^{[11]
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  - How does this work? If the ring-bearer isn’t blocked by anything and they deal combat damage to a player, all of your opponents are drained for 3 life. As a note, this means that all three of your opponents lose life in EDH.^{[12]
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Section 3 of 7:

Can you be tempted without any creatures on board?

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You do not need to have a creature in play to be tempted by The Ring. When you’re tempted, you put the emblem in play and the first ability occurs. Since you don’t have any creatures in play to be the ring-bearer, you don’t get to choose anything.^{[13]
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Section 4 of 7:

What if I’m already tempted and play my first creature?

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The creature does not become the ring-bearer. So, say you’ve been tempted once. The Ring is on its “Your Ring-bearer is legendary and can't be blocked by creatures with greater power” mode. You do not have a creature on board, then you play one. It resolves. What happens? Nothing. The Ring is still on its first ability and the creature is not the ring-bearer.^{[14]
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- However, that creature would get all Ring abilities if it’s in play and you’re tempted by the Ring again. So, if you resolve another card that says “The Ring tempts you,” you would now choose a ring-bearer and it would gain both of the first two Ring abilities.

Section 5 of 7:

What happens if I’m tempted multiple times before playing a creature?

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All of the Ring abilities trigger, they just don’t impact anything. If you are tempted three times before a creature is on board, The Ring is on its third ability (“Whenever your Ring-bearer becomes blocked by a creature, that creature's controller sacrifices it at end of combat”). It just won’t impact anything until you have a creature on board and you’re tempted again.^{[15]
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- If you do have a creature on board and you’re tempted again, that creature will get all four of The Ring’s abilities.

Section 6 of 7:

What happens if the ring-bearer is destroyed?

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You don’t get to pick a new ring-bearer, but keep The Ring’s setting. If you’re on step three of The Ring and your ring-bearer is destroyed or killed in combat, The Ring is still on step three. You do not get to choose a new ring-bearer until you are tempted by the ring again (and there’s a creature in play to choose).^{[16]
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- If the ring-bearer is blinked, temporarily exiled, or killed and reanimated, it loses its status as ring-bearer.

Section 7 of 7:

What happens if you’re tempted by the Ring after maxing it out?

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You do not start over but you can choose a new ring-bearer. Once you’re on the fourth level of The Ring, that’s it. You can’t start over, gain new levels, or change which setting you’re on. However, you do get to choose a new ring-bearer when you’re tempted, so if you want to change who the ring-bearer is you can.^{[17]
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- You can only ever have one ring-bearer at a time. You can change who the ring-bearer is, but you can’t have two of them.

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Just FYI, “The Ring tempts you” has absolutely nothing to do with The One Ring. This can be a little confusing—especially since The One Ring is probably one of the most dominant constructed cards of all time, but the two have nothing to do with one another.^{[18]
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It can be extremely easy to forget what part of The Ring you’re on. As an emblem designation, there are no tokens to track, though. So, use pebbles or pieces of paper to remind yourself who the ring-bearer is and where you’re at on The Ring.

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It helps to remember that you are the one being tempted, not the creature that becomes the ring-bearer.

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- If you’re thinking it’s a little weird that The One Ring, the card meant to represent the legendary ring from Lord of the Rings, doesn’t actually trigger the ability meant to represent the power of the ring, you aren’t the first.

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