It's interesting that #Modern seems to be the single-biggest driver of the MTG secondary market. Changes in meta and legality in Legacy/Standard almost never have any effect on card prices, but changes in Modern are very often met with HUGE swings.
It's making more sense why LOTR was direct-to-Modern, and also why it will likely become the best-selling set ever (usurping Modern Horizons II; a fact which caught me completely off-guard).
My favorite scene in The Lord of the Rings was when the 2-4 bands of travelers who were each carrying copies of The One Ring met on a battlefield and started summoning orcs and horrors to fight beside them to try and kill the other group(s). Then, when all but one group was destroyed, everything blinked out of existence until 2-4 new bands of travelers suddenly appeared out of the ether and began engaging in the same behavior.
I think one of the best ways that the Magic: The Gathering Lord of the Rings set is paying homage to to the original stories is that by the time I get halfway through reading most of the cards, I've lost interest and moved on to something else.