Dominaria was Magic: The Gathering’s first setting and remained central to its early story — a metal called the Phyrexians, who came together as a coalition of the various peoples of Dominaria and were repulsed when they defeated Yawgmoth. The god who became the one responsible for creating the Phyrexians, as in the epic tales dealing with the Hateful Invasion of and Flesh Mutants.
from now on dominaria united (opens in new tab) Set returns to the plane and finds himself in need of a hero again. The Phyrexians are back and their sleeper his agents are already hidden among the Dominarian factions. This is the start of a storyline that will follow several upcoming sets, including Brothers War in November, and his Phyrexia: All Will Be One and March of the Machine next year.
We’ve seen Dominaria United mechanics before. kicker (this allows you to use more mana to power up spells) and domain (This modifies effects based on the number of different basic land types you control, ensuring multicolor decks pay off).New mechanics include Look aheadfor skipping chapters of multi-stage saga cards, and Enlistmentyou can increase the power of one creature by tapping another creature that is not attacking (and not suffering from summoning sickness).
Enlist is basically an updated and simplified version of banding, is an old keyword that has not been used for years. Including his 1994 card in the Collector’s Booster Pack, it’s fitting that Dominaria United is all about bringing back old Magic. Banding was interesting, but unnecessarily complicated (I remember being puzzled by how it worked in the video game Shandalar).
Enlistment is shown on the Dominaria United card, Coalition Skyknight, provided by Wizards of the Coast. His 2/2 white creature with flight, whose artwork depicts a spear-wielding human riding on the back of a giant falcon-like bird called an escille. The 1995 expansion Ice His Age is reminiscent of Kjeldoran’s Sky Knight and Kjeldoran’s Sky Captain.
Another card with enlistment seen from the new Benalish Guardians, Dominarian Combine, also references the old cards with banding, Benalish Heroes and Benalish Footmen. Other throwbacks to the set include Territorial Maro, a variation of the nature spirit Maro that first appeared in his Mirage expansion in 1996, and icons such as Liliana of the Necromancer’s Veil and Ajani Goldmane, the brawny Lionman’s girlfriend. The classic Planeswalker is back. However, not all of them remain the same. Liliana is a reprint that brings her back to Standard, teaser video (opens in new tab).
Dominaria United hits Magic: The Gathering Arena on September 1st, physical cards will be available on September 9th, and the Prerelease event will begin on September 2nd. For more information, Dominaria United webpage (opens in new tab)A Lord of the Rings crossover scheduled for 2023 will appear in Magic Arena and its paper incarnation.
