Stir Up Trouble

Stir Up Trouble is a common sorcery card from the 2023 Magic: The Gathering set titled The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth. The set was designed to integrate J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendarium into the game’s mechanics, focusing on iconic events and characters throughout the narrative. As a common card, it was produced to fill out the drafting environment of the set, providing players with functional utility and thematic flavor while reinforcing the set's focus on the diverse inhabitants of Middle-earth.

The card’s artwork was illustrated by Andreia Ugrai, who utilized a distinct, evocative style to capture the mischief and clandestine movements inherent to the Hobbit characters. The design process for this set involved extensive collaboration between Wizards of the Coast and Middle-earth Enterprises to ensure that the visual representation of characters and actions remained consistent with the source material while fitting the established artistic tone of the Magic: The Gathering universe. Upon release, the set was widely received by both long-time players and fans of the franchise as a comprehensive expansion that successfully translated the epic scope of Tolkien’s world into a playable card game format.