Dominaria United | |||||
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Set Information | |||||
Set symbol | |||||
Symbol description | The Coalition symbol overlapping a Benalish shield | ||||
Design |
Ethan Fleischer (lead) Zac Elsik Bryan Hawley Ari Nieh James Rose Mark Rosewater Annie Sardelis Cameron Williams | ||||
Development |
Ian Duke (co-lead) Erik Lauer (co-lead) Mark Gottlieb Glenn Jones Reggie Valk Andrew Brown Ben Lundquist Michael Hinderaker | ||||
Art direction |
Zack Stella (Lead) Tom Jenkot and Sarah Wassell (Booster Fun) | ||||
Release date | September 9, 2022 | ||||
Plane | Dominaria | ||||
Themes and mechanics | Legendary creatures, Legendary matters, Multicolor, throwbacks, Stun counters, Powerstones, Poison | ||||
Keywords/ability words | Domain, Kicker, Read ahead, Enlist | ||||
Set size | 281 + 153 | ||||
Expansion code | DMU[1] | ||||
Development codename | Judo[2] | ||||
March of the Machine Standard | |||||
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Magic: The Gathering Chronology | |||||
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Dominaria United is the ninety-third Magic expansion. It was released on September 9, 2022, and kicked off the 30th-anniversary celebration of the game.[3][4][5][6][7]
Set details[ | ]
“ | Back With a Vengeance | ” |
Public domain name registries connected to this name were filed by a subsidiary registrar in January 2021.[8] A further registration with the gg domain was filed by Wizards of the Coast itself in May 2021.[9]
Dominaria United contains 281 cards (101 commons, 80 uncommons, 60 rares, 20 mythic rares, 20 basic lands), and includes randomly inserted premium versions of all cards. Set, Draft and Collector Boosters contain a legendary card in each booster, showing off a cast of beloved legends and characters that longtime fans will recognize. There are more than 40 legendary creatures across the set. The regular cards include 5 full-art "stained-glass" basic lands by Magali Villeneuve (#277-281).[10] The other cycles of basics depict automaton relics of the Brothers' War, Phyrexian ruins, and legendary artifacts respectively.[11]
Alternate card frames have a different card number than the original version. The Standard legal Jumpstart rares are #282-286, "Stained Glass" Legends are #287-327, and "textured foil" Legends are #328-368. Phyrexian cards are #369-371, borderless planeswalkers are numbered #372-376, while the borderless pain lands are #377-382. Extended artwork cards are numbered #383-427. The Buy-a-Box card is #428 and the Bundle promo is #429. The dark frame treatment cards from the Universal promo pack are numbered #430-434. The "Concept Praetor" art of Sheoldred, released with Phyrexia: All Will Be One, is #435.[12]
Dominaria United pays homage to the Invasion block in a similar way that the 2018 Dominaria set paid homage to Alpha and other early Magic editions.[13][14]
Storyline[ | ]
We return once again to Dominaria, meeting some familiar heroes and villains.[15] The story begins following Karn as he looks back on Dominaria's past to prepare for its future. The enemy is already on Dominaria, and it's only a matter of time before conflict breaks out. This kicks off the epic Phyrexian story arc spanning four sets where the fate of Dominaria — and the Multiverse — is set to unravel.[5]
The cards that represent the Story Spotlights in Dominaria United are:
Magic Story[ | ]
Marketing[ | ]
Dominaria United is sold in regular 16-card Draft Boosters (one card being a marketing card), Collector Boosters, Set Boosters, the Dominaria United Bundle, and two Commander decks.[16] The Draft Boosters feature artwork depicting Karn. The Set Boosters feature art depicting Ajani Goldmane, and the Collector Boosters feature artwork depicting Braids. In Dominaria United, every single Set, Draft, and Collector Booster comes with a guaranteed legendary creature.[16]
With the release of Dominaria United, 75 cards were rotated into The List, many of which were thematically or mechanically linked to the set. The List-cards can be found in the Set Boosters.
Jumpstart[ | ]
With this set, Wizards introduces set-related Jumpstart Boosters, replacing the Theme Boosters.[5] Jumpstart packs for Dominaria United feature cards from the set, including a rare or mythic rare, two foil basic lands, and a mechanically unique rare designed for the Jumpstart pack. There are 10 different themes.[17]
Box Toppers[ | ]
Dominaria United features a series of 20 box topper promos, referred to as "Legends Retold". These are 20 beefed up versions of legendary creatures from Legends.[6][16][18]
Lost Legends[ | ]
In selected collector boosters, an original card from Legends, found in an old warehouse, was included.[19][16][18] These "Lost Legends" appear in 3% of boosters, and not every card from Legends was included. Some cards were missing because of the well-known Legends collation problems, some because Wizards of the Coast doesn't want to be associated with a certain artist anymore, and some because the depictions or flavor texts are nowadays considered to be culturally offensive. Because original cards are used, their distribution doesn't violate the Reserved List.
Events[ | ]
- Prerelease: September 2–8, 2022
- Including Jumpstart prerelease: players receive two Jumpstart packs to open, shuffle together, and play.
- Launch party: September 9-11, 2022
- Friday Night Magic: September 9–November 4, 2022
- Commander Nights: September 12–November 10
- Game Day: September 17–25, 2022
- WPN Premium-Exclusive Commander Party: September 30–October 2, 2022
- Store Championship: October 15–23, 2022
Promos[ | ]
- Prerelease: a stamped card that can be any rare or mythic rare of Dominaria United.
- Other events: cards from the Dominaria United universal promo pack.
- The seasonal dark-frame promos are: Resolute Reinforcements, Micromancer, Cut Down, Lightning Strike and Nishoba Brawler
- Buy-a-Box: alternate art Llanowar Loamspeaker.
- At select retailers in Japan only, there are five Buy-A-Box promos available with alternate art by Japanese artists: Serra Angel, Lord of Atlantis, Sengir Vampire, Shivan Dragon and Llanowar Elves. There are three versions of each (normal, foil, and retro frame).[20][21]
- Bundle: foil Herd Migration
- Game Day: full alternate art Touch the Spirit Realm (participation), Workshop Warchief (Top 8) and Shivan Devastator (winner).[6]
- Store Championship promos: full-art Spell Pierce (participation), Gilded Goose (Top 8), textless Omnath, Locus of Creation (winner)[6]
- 30th Anniversary promos: Serra Angel, Ball Lightning and German Fyndhorn Elves
- Commander Party: Phyrexian language Dismember[22]
Tokens and markers[ | ]
Dominaria United has 26 tokens and emblems. Due to the inclusion of Box-Toppers and other cards corresponding to the Dominaria United Commander expansion, there are tokens with their Dominaria United Commander expansion symbol and code: [23]
- () 4/4 Angel with flying and vigilance, for Historian's Boon and Jenson Carthalion, Druid Exile.
- () 1/1 Bird with flying, for Aether Channeler, Love Song of Night and Day and Wingmantle Chaplain.
- () 2/2 Knight with protection from red, for Rasputin, the Oneiromancer.
- () 1/1 Soldier for Argivian Cavalier, Baird, Argivian Recruiter, Captain's Call, Defiler of Faith, Historian's Boon, Keldon Strike Team, King Darien XLVIII, Protect the Negotiators, Phyrexian Warhorse, Queen Allenal of Ruadach, Resolute Reinforcements, Scout the Wilderness, Torsten, Founder of Benalia, and Tura Kennerüd, Skyknight.
- () 1/1 Merfolk for Emperor Mihail II.
- () 1/1 Bird with flying and "This creature can't block.", for The Raven Man.
- () 1/1 Insect with flying, for Xira, the Golden Sting.
- () 2/2 Phyrexian for The Phasing of Zhalfir.
- () 2/2 Zombie for Tobias, Doomed Conqueror.
- () 2/1 Elemental with trample and haste for Lagomos, Hand of Hatred.
- () 4/4 Dragon with flying, for The Elder Dragon War and Rith, Liberated Primeval, and Rohgahh, Kher Keep Overlord.
- () 1/1 Goblin for Rasputin, the Oneiromancer, Rulik Mons, Warren Chief and Squee, Dubious Monarch.
- () Kobolds of Kher Keep, a 0/1 Kobold for Rohgahh, Kher Keep Overlord and Rosnakht, Heir of Rohgahh.
- () 1/1 Monk with prowess, for Jaya, Fiery Negotiator.
- () 3/3 Badger creature for Greensleeves, Maro-Sorcerer.
- () 3/3 Beast for Herd Migration.
- () 2/2 Cat Warrior with forestwalk, for Jedit Ojanen, Mercenary.
- () 1/1 Saproling for Nemata, Primeval Warden and The Weatherseed Treaty
- () 4/4 Wurm creature for Baru, Wurmspeaker.
- () 1/1 Sand Warrior for Hazezon, Shaper of Sand.
- () Stangg Twin, a 3/4 legendary Human Warrior for Stangg, Echo Warrior.
- () Ornithopter, a 0/2 Thopter artifact creature with flying, for Yotia Declares War.
- () Powerstone artifact, for Karn, Living Legacy and The Mana Rig.
- () Treasure artifact, for Ramirez DePietro, Pillager, and The Reaver Cleaver.
- () Emblem for Ajani, Sleeper Agent
- () Emblem for Jaya, Fiery Negotiator
Themes and mechanics[ | ]
Legendary creatures, Legendary matters, Multicolor, and throwbacks are revisited themes from Dominaria. Historic was also planned to return but it was removed in Set Design.[24]
Kicker is a returning mechanic originally featured in the Invasion block, and was also seen in Dominaria.[25] Its is a keyword ability that allows the player to pay an extra cost for a bonus effect.
Domain is another returning mechanic, an ability word that modifies an effect depending on the number of different basic lands you control.
Enlist is a new mechanic introduced here, a keyword ability that allows one to tap another creature to add its power to the attacking creature.
Read ahead is a new keyword ability on Sagas that allows the player to skip chapters to get to the effects they want.
Evergreen stun counters, that keep permanents out of the action for an extended period, are also introduced in this set. One card, Ajani, Sleeper Agent distributes Poison counters.
Card types[ | ]
The set introduces the Powerstone artifact type. Powerstone appears on predefined tokens with the ability “: Add . This mana can't be spent to cast a nonartifact spell.” Only seen on one card (and on one Commander card), this is a "throw-forward" to The Brothers' War.[14]
Counter types[ | ]
The set introduces Ingenuity counters and Phyresis counters.
Limited archetypes[ | ]
With a heavy Multicolored theme inspired by Invasion block's design and supported by exclusively off-color Kicker costs and Domain, Dominaria United supports a large variety of multicolored decks in Limited - ranging from two colors to five colors - with the default being two colors with a splash.[14] This obligated strong monocolored themes as a base to facilitate the diverse combinatorics of the colors and their respective strategies, which are as follows,
- : Go wide and Tokens
- : Spells (Instants and sorceries) matter
- : Creature removal, sacrifice, and graveyard interactions
- : Aggression and Direct damage Spells
- : Ramp and Domain
In combination, they form Dominaria United's fundamental limited archetypes in each color pair, which can be expanded upon with more colors and splashes:[14]
- : Flying Tempo
- : Control
- : Reckless Aggro
- : Domain Stompy
- : Domain Tokens
- : Aristocrats
- : Spells Aggro
- : Domain midrange
- : Token aggro
- : Kicker
Cycles[ | ]
Dominaria United has fourteen cycles.
Double cycles[ | ]
Pairs[ | ]
Dominaria United has two mirrored pairs.
Mirrored Pairs | Description | |
---|---|---|
Blight Pile () | Coral Colony () | Two uncommon creatures with defender and an activated ability related to the number of creatures with defender. |
Knight of Dawn’s Light () | Knight of Dusk’s Shadow () | Two uncommon Human Knights with an evergreen keyword, an ability that impacts life gain and an activated pump ability for 1M. |
Reprinted cards[ | ]
- Bone Splinters — first printed in Shards of Alara, last seen in Jumpstart.
- Broken Wings — first printed in Zendikar Rising, last seen in Streets of New Capenna.
- Captain's Call — first printed in Magic 2013, last seen in Commander Legends.
- Dragon Whelp — first printed in Alpha, last seen in Mystery Booster.
- Essence Scatter — first printed in Magic 2010, last seen in Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths.
- Gaea's Might — first printed in Planeshift.
- Griffin Protector — first printed in Magic 2013, last seen in Mystery Booster.
- Hammerhand — first printed in Magic 2015, last seen in Mystery Booster.
- Impulse — first printed in Visions, last seen in Mystery Booster.
- Lightning Strike — first printed in Theros, last seen in Core Set 2019.
- Liliana of the Veil — first printed in Innistrad, last seen in Ultimate Masters.
- Meteorite — first printed in Magic 2015, last seen in Core Set 2021.
- Negate — first printed in Morningtide, last seen in Strixhaven: School of Mages/Mystical Archive.
- Phyrexian Rager — first printed in Apocalypse, last seen in Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate.
- Snarespinner — first printed in War of the Spark, last seen in Core Set 2021.
- Thrill of Possibility — first printed in Throne of Eldraine, last seen in Strixhaven: School of Mages/Mystical Archive.
- Six Pain lands, first printed in Ice Age and Apocalypse, last seen in Tenth Edition. The other four were printed in The Brothers' War.[26]
Functional reprints[ | ]
- Bite Down is a functional reprint of Master's Rebuke from Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty.
- Elfhame Wurm is a functional reprint of Tajuru Pathwarden from Oath of the Gatewatch, save for creature types.
- Soaring Drake is a functional reprint of Oko's Accomplices from Throne of Eldraine, save for creature type.
Misprints[ | ]
- For Heroic Charge, the artist credit is incorrectly listed as Paul Scott Canavan. The correct artist credit is Zoltan Boros.[27]
- Yotia Declares War was mistakenly printed with the word "artifact" omitted from its final chapter ability.[28]
- The extended art variant of Llanowar Greenwidow says tapped twice in a row on its domain ability.
Preconstructed decks[ | ]
Dominaria United features two Commander decks that are released as a regular part of a set's product line.
Theme deck name |
Color Identity | Commander | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Painbow | W | U | B | R | G | Jared Carthalion |
Legends' Legacy | W | B | R | Dihada, Binder of Wills |
References[ | ]
- ↑ Information below the text box
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast (April 19, 2021). "Strixhaven Vision Design Handoff Document, Part 1". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (August 27, 2021). "We just shifted one earlier. Standard didn’t go up in premier sets.". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Adam Styborski (August 24, 2021). "What Happened In Magic Showcase 2021?". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ a b c Wizards of the Coast (May 12, 2022). "Your Sneak Peek at Double Masters 2022, Dominaria United, and Beyond". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ a b c d Adam Styborski (July 21, 2022). "Legends Return: The First Dominaria United Previews Are Here". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Jess Dunks (August 26, 2022). "Dominaria United Release Notes". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Paynswalker (January 19, 2021). "Domain registrations for a return to ...". Reddit.
- ↑ Paynswalker (May 5, 2021). "The Hot New Trend in MTG Domains (and a minor confirmation)". Reddit.
- ↑ Magali Villeneuve (July 22, 2022). "For the first time in my MTG journey, I got a full set of Basic Lands!". Twitter.
- ↑ Building Worlds – Dominaria United (Video). Magic: The Gathering. YouTube (August 16, 2022).
- ↑ Clayton Kroh and Adam Styborski (December 13, 2022). "A First Look at Phyrexia: All Will Be One". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (July 19, 2022). "Im so hyped for dominaria united can you say...". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ a b c d Mark Rosewater (August 22, 2022). "Dominaria United We Stand, Part 2". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Magic Showcase 2021 (live) (Video). Magic: The Gathering. YouTube (August 24, 2021).
- ↑ a b c d Tim Brown (August 18, 2022). "Dominaria United Product Overview". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ June 30, 2022 Announcement Day (Video). Weekly MTG. YouTube (June 30, 2022).
- ↑ a b Mike Turian (August 18, 2022). "Collecting Dominaria United". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Blake Rasmussen (July 21, 2022). "Lost Legends". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Japanese Dominaria United promo campaign. Reddit (August 19, 2022).
- ↑ Magic 30 Promos - Serra Angel, Lord of Atlantis, Sengir Vampire, Shivan Dragon, Llanowar Elves. Reddit (August 19, 2022).
- ↑ Adam Styborski (August 18, 2022). "The Next Year of Magic From Wizards Presents". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Clayton Kroh (August 26, 2022). "The Tokens of Dominaria United". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (August 18, 2022). "Dominaria United We Stand, Part 1". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Matt Tabak (August 18, 2022). "Dominaria United Mechanics". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (August 18, 2022). "Why choosing to use 6 lands instead of a cycle of 5?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast (August 26, 2022). "Statement on Dominaria United Artwork for Heroic Charge". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Jess Dunks (September 2, 2022). "Dominaria United Oracle Changes". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
External links[ | ]
- Uncovering Lost Legends (Video). Magic: The Gathering. YouTube (July 21, 2022).
- Building Worlds - Dominaria United (Video). Magic: The Gathering. YouTube (August 16, 2022).
- Mark Rosewater (August 29, 2022). "Dominaria United States of Design, Part 1". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- Mark Rosewater (September 5, 2022). "Dominaria United States of Design, Part 2". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- Mark Rosewater (September 9, 2022). "Dominaria United States of Design, Part 3". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- Roy Graham, Ethan Fleischer, Jenna Helland, Gerritt Turner (August 31, 2022). "Planeswalker's Guide to Dominaria". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- Mark Rosewater (July 31, 2023). "State of Design 2023". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.