It is almost time to welcome a new Magic The Gathering set Universes Beyond set. Marvel Super Heroes’ run as the latest set is quickly coming to an end. Previews for The Hobbit are now fully done and pre-release is just around the corner. As I normally do, my first scan through the new cards is for new Clerics (and unlike the last few times before the set is out!). Sadly, nary a one appear in the set.

Middle-earth isn’t exactly overflowing with priests in the traditional fantasy sense, so I understand why Wizards of the Coast avoided filling the set with generic Clerics. Tolkien’s world has always been different from most fantasy settings. Magic’s cleric type usually represents organized religion, healing orders, or divine servants. There simply are not any characters that fit that definition in The Hobbit. That does not mean that is not disappointing at least from a deck building perspective.

It does feel that the opportunity to have one or two clerics in the set was there. So, in the absence of reviewing new Clerics, let’s imagine what one or two might have looked like.

First, up, could Gandalf himself have fit the bill? Before the flaming begins, hear me out. There is no question that he is a wizard (and a pretty good one at that!). But does he not fit the role of someone guiding others, protecting the innocent, confronting supernatural evil, and serving a higher purpose? Doesn’t that sound like the actions of a cleric? Could WOTC have made him a Wizard Cleric?

Okay, it is a stretch but perhaps one worth a discussion or two. Maybe a stronger argument can be made for Elrond as a cleric. One of his defining characteristics is his mastery of healing after all. Magic often assigns the Cleric type to characters whose greatest strength is wisdom, protection, or spiritual guidance rather than combat ability. Elrond certainly fights when necessary but he also acts as a healer, counselor and lore master through Tolkien’s stories. Let’s not forget also that Elrond never pursued power for himself. He remains steadfastly opposed to Sauron and any other evil. That sounds like a higher calling, another characteristic that defines many clerics in the world of Magic The Gathering.

Looking a bit more broadly, in The Hobbit, Rivendell is portrayed as a place of refuge where wounds – physical and emotional – can be mended. Case in point, Bilbo and the Company recover there after escaping the trolls and before crossing the Misty Mountains. As its steward, Elrond certainly takes on another characteristic of a cleric.

Still not sold? Fair enough. Maybe one of the elves living at Rivendell could have been a cleric. Would a Rivendell attendant with the subtypes Elf Cleric or Noble Cleric really have stretched the Middle-earth lore too far?

In the end, I suspect that Wizards deliberately chose not to include clerics to stay faithful to Tolkien’s source material rather than forcing existing Magic conventions onto it. Even so, I can’t help but think that a couple of thoughtfully chosen Clerics wouldn’t have diluted the setting. They would instead have highlighted the quieter, protective, and healing figures that make Middle-earth unique.

And more importantly, I would now have a couple more clerics to consider for my B01 Standard Orzhov Clerics Deck. Let’s hope that in the absence of clerics, I find other valuable cards to add to the deck to improve it. More on that later!