Dominaria still has a lot too offer. Today is our look through all of the blue cards, well see some all stars, bombs and maybe a few limited only meh cards. Time to dive in.
Academy Drake
In almost any limited format you would happily pay three mana for a 2/2 flyer, the cards power level would be mediocre but serviceable. Academy Drake therefore is perfectly playable in Dominaria limited and comes with some extra oomph late on in the game when you’re flooded with mana. If you do find yourself with seven mana at your disposal you can always pay the Kicker on Academy Drake turning it into a 4/4 flyer instead, I said it gave you some extra oomph but I didn’t say it was any good. There are much better things to do with seven mana than cast a 4/4 flyer, yes it’s common and you will have the opportunity to have multiples but I just don’t think it’s worth it. Play it if you really need to but I’m sure there will be better things.
Academy Journeymage
A decent limited tempo creature, if not a tad overcosted, with a slight tribal influence. Academy Journeymage gives you a good temporary answer to an opposing creature during the late game but can come down a turn early thanks to another wizard, which won’t be few and far between on Dominaria I’d wager, and another body in combat to boot. Good in limited, nothing as far as constructed goes.
The Antiquities War
I love the flavour of these new Saga enchantments. For those of you that don’t know The Antiquities War it tells the story of two brothers, Mishra and Urza, both artificers that ended up going to war with each other other an ancient Thran Powerstone they had once found. The flavour is solidly represent by The Antiquities War with a steady artifact theme running through the card, along with giving you quite a bit of power: the first two counters give you card selection and the last makes all your artifacts decent sized threats. Four mana is little steep and you have to wait three turns for the whole pay off but the card advantage The Antiquities War gives you could go a long way, in the right deck the last effect could win you the game on the spot. This is definitely a constructed card rather than a limited one, unless I happened to come across a tonne of artifacts I couldn’t see me playing this.
Arcane Flight
This card is really good, Flying and +1/+1 for one mana is super efficient and will definitely see play throughout formats. I’m mainly thinking boggles in modern, just to add to the plethora of auras they already have access to.
Artificer’s Assistant
Forget about the effect for now, a one mana 1/1 flyer is always playable in limited, dump a load of auras or equipment on it and you have an early game threat. The beauty of Artificer’s Assistant’s effect is in the fact that artifacts are historic cards, given enough artifacts or even multiple Assistants and you could just start stacking your deck and digging through to find your bombs or answers thanks to the Scrying . I like Artificer’s Assistant a lot in limited and think that it could even see constructed play in a heavy Historic/artifact deck.
Befuddle
Cantripping combat tricks are all good and well, this one is even easy to cast thanks to its single blue mana. It would sit well in a tempo centric deck that is looking to get more value from its creatures in combat, purely a limited card though.
Blink Of An Eye
Now this is a cantrip I can see making it’s way into constructed. Temporary removal is just that, temporary, but utilised in the right way can give you the opening you need to strike a devastating blow or at the very least put your opponent off their stride. The best part about Blink Of An Eye I the optional Kicker, a two mana Boomerang is a great start and it’s easier to cast but adding in drawing a card for two mana the value goes way up. Brilliant in limited and definitely has potential in constructed.
Cloudreader Sphinx
Decent mid game creature, decent stats and evasion and it comes with a nice Scry 2 ability. Cloudreader Sphinx isn’t looking at any play outside of limited but in limited it will do nicely, holding the ground and air for a couple of turns at least.
Cold-Water Snapper
It’s a lot of mana but when you get to six being able to drop a 4/5 Hexproof could win you the game. They can’t answer Cold-Water Snapper with spot removal and that allows you to build up a lot of auras and equipment in order to make one big scary turtle.
Curator’s Ward
Auras sometimes feel like a trap, often in resulting in the old two for one. However, Curator’s Ward gets around that a little by giving the enchanted permanent Hexproof, it won’t stop a removal in response but it will put a stop to any after it’s resolved. The added bonus of two cards if it was put on a Historic card could put it on the playable side of things in limited, whack this on a Saga enchantment and in a few turns you’ve gotten full mileage out of the enchantment and gained card advantage. It won’t break into constructed costed at three mana but one in your limited deck is fine even just as protection for a creature.
Deep Freeze
This could be some of the best limited pseudo-removal you will get in blue: It doesn’t actually remove the creature but it does make it almost ineffective bar blocking. At three mana it’s useless outside of limited and even in limited you probably only want one or two to sit on the curve nicely and not get bogged down in your hand.
Diligent Excavator
This two mana 1/3 blocks well in the early game in limited and, thanks to the reduced size of decks, could start taking your opponent’s deck apart. In multiples this guy is insane, with all the legends in Dominaria it’s not going to go untriggered for long.
Divination
It’s back, three mana draw two is great In limited and has even seen constructed play. Don’t go overboard on it though as they can gum up your hand.
Homarid Explorer
Milling strategies have come and gone in the past, they’ve not always been the most effective way to win a game but every now and again you can get your opponent by taking their deck apart. This four mana 3/3 gives you good stats for limited while also taking a tenth of either yours or your opponent’s deck, hitting your opponent could result in either making their mana more awkward or even hitting a bomb of theirs. If you can use Homarid Explorer in conjunction with any graveyard interactions in your own deck then it can act as fuel to reanimate a creature. Homarid Explorer fits nicely into limited thanks to its ease of casting and relatively powerful enter the battlefield effect, unless there is a proper mainstream milling strategy though it won’t find its way into constructed.
In Bolas’s Clutches
I don’t like this at all, Confiscate was the same cost and had a much wider scope. In Bolas’s Clutches is fine but in limited you’re probably going to be forced to use it on some menial late game creature that has started to gain a bit too much momentum. Making that permanent legendary while also having a legendary enchantment on it then means that you could control two of either of those permanents at one time, where double Confiscate was perfectly viable. It’s good in limited but I think In Bolas’s Clutches could end up messing you around in more of a constructed sense if you choose to run multiples.
Karn’s Temporal Sundering
It may seem obvious but I think it’s important to say that extra turn effects are incredibly powerful. From the originator two mana Time Walk through many variants: some coming in artifact form like Time Vault, having drawbacks like missing your untap step or losing the game, or even conditional costing like miracle-ing Temporal Mastery, extra turn effects have come and gone and often find an effective home. Karn’s Temporal Sundering is aggressively costed for this effect - six mana roughly being the fair cost for an extra turn - and it also comes with a free Boomerang attached. I think this could find a home in standard, maybe in a ramp deck that can power it out earlier than normal with some board presence to increase its effectiveness but, as I said earlier, these effects can come with a conditional cost. Karn’s Temporal Sundering is a legendary sorcery which means you can’t play it without first controlling a legendary creature or planeswalker, most of the time this will be fine if you’ve built your deck to utilise a legendary sorcery as you could in constructed but not so much in a limited sense where your card pool is less varied. All in all, Karn’s Temporal Sundering has a lot of potential, the mix of an extra turn as well as dealing with your opponent’s best permanent or even getting extra mileage out of one of your own could turn out to be quite potent.
Merfolk Trickster
Merfolk Trickster could turn out to be a nifty little Grizzly Bear. Sure, you have to be dedicated to blue if you want to drop it in the early game but for a lowly two mana this Trickster could be a real bullet throughout the game with relative ease. Merfolk Trickster gives you some options in some different areas: it can make combat slightly more awkward first off by restricting your opponent’s attackers but also as a way to circumvent any activated abilities those creatures may have. I really like this guy in limited more as a flash blocker and tempo creature, a way to just force through damage while giving you some board presence. Merfolk Trickster probably won’t break into constructed though it does play well with the tribal theme Ixalan has to offer, this could be part of the instant speed utility creature package the Merfolk deck needs to become more mainstream.
The Mirari Conjecture
Recurring spells is always a powerful avenue to go down with cards: if it’s too easy the card is busted and will probably soon be banned, too hard and it remains a pipe dream for the Johnny’s out there. For five mana The Mirari Conjecture gives you an instant, honestly that could be good enough but with another counter you can also return a sorcery and at this point the Saga enchantment has pretty much paid for itself. The last counter on The Mirari Conjecture gives all your spells Twincast and if you can get to this point the potential is endless, imagine this in a blue red tempo deck Twincasting draw spells, bounce spells and burn spells. Even if you don’t win the turn The Mirari Conjecture gains its third counter the advantage you can is immense, unfortunately that won’t happen until turn seven with no mana ramp and that could be the drop off point for this Saga enchantment. I’d like to try and abuse The Mirari Conjecture by bouncing it after the second counter or even with the third counter sacrifice trigger on the stack, it would take a lot of time and mana but it could be a lot of fun. You could viably run this in your limited deck by five mana is a lot for what would be essentially drawing a card, you’d have to ensure you could survive a turn or two which I don’t think would be easy in a very aggressive format.
Naban, Dean Of Iteration
More tribal related creatures and just when I thought we’d gotten away from all of that. Wizards are going to be well represented in Dominaria which means Naban holds a lot of potential playability and maybe not just in a limited sense, as fragile as this two mana wizard may be being able to trigger something like your Champion Of Wits twice and absolutely tearing through your deck gives you such an advantage. In limited the wizards will come and go fairly frequently by my estimation so picking up Naban could serve you well for a tempo oriented deck, getting every little bit out of all of your wizards.
Naru Meha, Master Wizard
My initial thoughts when I saw Naru Meha were in a control sense almost working as an extra counterspell in a counter war. Thinking further into it though and it turns out that this four mana flash 3/3 has some other applications, removal for example. Put a Fatal Push on the stack and use Naru Meha to copy it for a nice two for one, kind of. Your left with a 3/3 body while a chunk of your opponent’s board presence is gone, or maybe doubling a burn spell pointed at your opponent for a decent sized life swing. I like the options that Naru Meha gives you across formats with its enter the battlefield ability and we haven’t even mentioned it’s “lord” effect. As I said with Naban, wizards are going to be all over the place in Dominaria so having a lord to pump them all is going to give you a great board advantage in limited and it’s at instant speed. Love Naru Meha in limited but it could be a bit overcosted for an underwhelming effect in comparison to other cards of the same cost in constructed.
Opt
Opt is the new draw spell, it will see print in pretty much every other set and will always be playable in both limited and constructed. For one mana you get nice instant speed card selection, it helps smooth out your draws by finding you land and in the late game can dig you closer to any bombs or removal spells you may need at the time. There’s not much more to say about Opt, it’s good in a control and tempo deck and the only downside could be having a lot of multiples.
Precognition Field
I like cards that manipulate your library: Oracle Of Mul Daya, Future Sight, Lantern Of Insight, all very powerful cards that all give you that little bit of extra information from the top of your library. Precognition Field goes one better than those cards by only allowing you to look at the top card of your library without playing revealed so your opponent doesn’t have that information as well, giving you a slight edge. It doesn’t stop there though, Precognition Field doesn’t just allow you to look at the top of your library but if it’s an instant or sorcery it allows you to cast it as well. This essentially acts as an extra card in your hand whenever it’s an instant or sorcery on top, it also means that if your opponent would ever get information on the cards in your hand then Precognition Field gives you the chance to keep a card back from them. The last part of Precognition Field is probably the best part in my opinion, card selection. For just three mana you can pick whether you want to keep it ditch the card on top of your library and there’s no restriction, so at the end of your opponent’s turn given enough mana you can tear through your deck to find an answer. I really like Precognition Field in limited thanks to its card advantageous nature letting you get every little bit out of your deck. Not so much in constructed though, I think it’s a little overcosted though to be fair all of these abilities at three mana would be insane.
Relic Runner
This guy is going to win you a lot of limited games even just with its base 2 power. Being unblockable is a great ability and one that’s hard to deal with, add some auras into the mix and Relic Rubber can get out of hand. Without many Historic cards Relic Runner is still a decent creature but is fragile, probably biting the bullet early in a trade.
Rescue
It’s an Unsummon for just your creatures, decent limited combat trick for when things have gotten hairy or if you want to abuse an enter the battlefield ability. Rescue could see some fringe play in constructed, maybe as a one or two of in the sideboard, but ultimately it’s not going to impact metagames much.
Sage Of Lat-Nam
This is a limited creature all the way, you can tell by the awkward ability and low power/toughness to mana cost. In the right deck Sage Of Lat-Nam could do some work for you by digging through your library but that’s only if you’ve filled it with artifacts. If you really need a two drop in limited then Sage is fine but in reality I don’t think you’ll be getting much mileage out of it, the odd one or two cards but it also depends on what artifacts you have access to and how important they are to the current situation.
Sentinel Of The Pearl Trident
The Historic mechanic is a new, shiny play toy in Dominaria so the design space is obviously going to be used to the fullest. Sentinel keeps things pretty simple and lets you blink a Historic permanent, first thoughts go to the new Saga enchantments as a way to reset them and get some extra mileage. Other than blinking the new enchantments Sentinel Of The Pearl Trident could also act as a way to give an artifact or legendary creature pseudo-Vigilance, dropping it post combat and blinking on of your attackers. At five mana Sentinel sits in limited and nowhere else, the 3/3 body isn’t nothing either and does give you a decent sized creature in combat but ultimately the effect and cost restrict it to the sealed and draft decks.
Slinn Voda, The Rising Deep
Slinn Voda has the typical leviathan clause if bouncing everything that isn’t on the guest list at the oceanic ho-down, though this time around the cost is astronomical. Ten mana for an 8/8 without any evasion is a lot to drop in one go even if you can bounce all opposing creatures, one well time removal spell and you’re back to square one and ten mana down. Another thing to note, more so in constructed is the sudden influx of Merfolk from Ixalan which makes Slinn Voda practically unplayable - outside of the ten mana that is - so in conclusion unless you really need another creature and I mean REALLY need one or you can ramp up to ten mana in limited efficiently and quickly, don’t bother.
Syncopate
It’s always nice to have an X mana counterspell in standard, it gives the control decks a greater sense of sturdiness. Something that’s noteworthy about Syncopate is that it exiles the countered spell rather than just put it in the graveyard. This means that The Scarab God and God-Pharoah's Gift decks will have less options if you Syncopate one of your opponent's creatures, and its always nice to make their The Scarab God slightly less efficient. Ultimately, Syncopate is a nice counterspell to have from the second turn onwards, it forces you opponent to leave X open therefore never tapping out for a spell less they give you a really efficient counterspell. Control decks will love this in constructed as a one or two-of. As for limited, counterspells don't tend to be the bests spells in limited because they are either really narrow or horrible to have when you don't need them. Syncopate should be fine as a one-of in limited just to give you a contingency plan against your opponents top end or bombs.
Tempest Djinn
This guy is pretty straight forward: an aggressive three mana 0/4 with evasion. One drawback, if you will, would be it’s commitment to blue mana which could provide you with an issue in limited if you plan to play multiple colours, which most of the time you will be. If you do manage to cast Tempest Djinn though you will be in control of a very powerful creature, getting bigger and bigger as you play the game and making combat a nightmare for your opponent by taking chunks out of their life total turn after turn. I wouldn’t advise playing more than one in limited and more than zero in constructed.
Temporal Machinations
This is a typical bounce spell. Temporal Machinations works as temporary removal and a decent tempo spell, especially if you can get the card draw out of it. I don’t understand why this isn’t an instant though: it’s three mana, only hits creatures and has a conditional effect. Because of the sorcery speed Temporal Machinations will only be seeing limited play but even there it’s fine and could even put you in a nice spot to take a game or two.
Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive
Other than being the owner of arguably one of the best swords ever printed in Magic - Umezawa’s Jitte - it also turns out that Tetsuko Umezawa is quite a sneaky little rogue. A two mana 1/3 may not seem like much but being unblockable can be quite awkward for your opponent to deal with. Unfortunately, you can’t load Tetsuko up with a bunch of auras and equipment and still bypass blockers like so many others in the past but Umezawa does aide more of a go wide strategy: a lot of 1 power/ toughness creatures along with this two mana legend and, without your opponent holding a whole load of removal, you can start getting steady damage through every turn. I would like to explore the potential of Tetsuko Umezawa in a weenie deck with lots of combat tricks for all of my unblockable creatures. As far as limited goes, you’re going to be seeing a lot of lower powered creatures so Umezawa will give you some board advantage there but at worst it’s a decent blocker.
Time Of Ice
Another great flavour card here, it works as a great tempo or control card and given a few turns you could use it to really damage your opponent’s board. Four mana to tap a creature isn’t the best but in a pinch it will do, like with most of the Saga’s though as soon as it gets its second counter it’s pretty much paid for itself. Time Of Ice looks great in limited but because of the steep-ish mana cost, average effect and sorcery speed it won’t make it into constructed.
Tolarian Scholar
Tolarian Scholar a good on curve vanilla creature for limited, you may think that there isn’t much to it but you’d be wrong. The fact that it says wizard in the creature type box is huge especially when there are so many triggers as a result of you casting wizards. Having the three four of Tolarian Scholar Into Academy Journeymage gives you quite a nice tempo advantage with five power over two creatures which isn’t awful, it’s not the biggest thing to do but I’m sure there will be many more ways to abuse the wizard label on Tolarian Scholar showing up in limited.
Unwind
I love this card, it takes me back to Urza block with cards like Palinchron but it’s probably closest in relation to Rewind, in both name and effect. Rewind saw some constructed play back in the day so I’m sure Unwind will as well, sure only being able to untap three lands as opposed to four is a little less efficient but it still acts the same - if it resolves, it’s free. The main downside to Unwind is that it can’t hit creature spells, essentially turning it into an overcosted Negate, but the untapping lands could be enough for Unwind to peak playability over Negate. It ultimately comes down cost vs effect, play Negate if you want to play low on mana or play Unwind when you want to bluff two spells in one turn and have the resources to do it. In a limited capacity, Unwind may be a good shout for a tempo deck but traditionally counterspells don’t tend to see limited play as you could be doing something much better with your mana. With the noncreature clause and the fact that it costs three mana I don’t think Unwind is different to any counterspells that have come before, it’s probably a waste of a spot to play it in limited.
Vodalian Arcanist
In limited Vodalian Arcanist is going to be great for more reactive spells as it blocks well in the early game and provides mana for combat tricks. Other than a deck that has lots of Instant and Sorceries I probably wouldn’t look at running Vodalian Arcanist, maybe as a 23rd card if I had to.
Weight Of Memory
I love this as a one-of in limited, it’s card advantage and disadvantage rolled into one. Five mana for three cards is fair as a Sorcery or an Instant so when it comes with an additional milling effect you’re just gaining value. Weight Of Memory has potential to see constructed play but again only as a one-of, you’re putting a lot of time and mana into casting it. Even as a one-of it would be a very late game spell in order to get around it being countered and essentially Time Walking yourself. Lastly on Weight Of Memory is the art and story connection, combining three important characters throughout Magic’s history to fill out the flavour of the card.
Wizard’s Retort
This one is straight forward: it’s just as good as Cancel until you control a wizard, and in Dominaria that won’t be hard, at which point it turns into Counterspell. If it wasn’t for Disallow already being in constructed you would play this in a heartbeat, because of that it’s restricted to limited or, at a push, a wizard tribal deck.
Zahid, Djinn Of The Lamp
I like a Djinn but I feel that there has been a bit of flavour loss with this guy: no “wish” ability or anything of the sort. Still, a six mana 5/6 flyer is nothing to turn your nose up at and what ability it does come with could give you a powerhouse in limited. Being able to drop Zahid on turn four with an artifact will be very hard to deal while putting a four turn clock on your opponent. Thanks to its alternative mana cost there could be a shout for Zahid in constructed, the deck would have to be fairly dedicated to artifacts to get the most use out of the Djinn otherwise its just a decent flyer.
In almost any limited format you would happily pay three mana for a 2/2 flyer, the cards power level would be mediocre but serviceable. Academy Drake therefore is perfectly playable in Dominaria limited and comes with some extra oomph late on in the game when you’re flooded with mana. If you do find yourself with seven mana at your disposal you can always pay the Kicker on Academy Drake turning it into a 4/4 flyer instead, I said it gave you some extra oomph but I didn’t say it was any good. There are much better things to do with seven mana than cast a 4/4 flyer, yes it’s common and you will have the opportunity to have multiples but I just don’t think it’s worth it. Play it if you really need to but I’m sure there will be better things.
Academy Journeymage
A decent limited tempo creature, if not a tad overcosted, with a slight tribal influence. Academy Journeymage gives you a good temporary answer to an opposing creature during the late game but can come down a turn early thanks to another wizard, which won’t be few and far between on Dominaria I’d wager, and another body in combat to boot. Good in limited, nothing as far as constructed goes.
The Antiquities War
I love the flavour of these new Saga enchantments. For those of you that don’t know The Antiquities War it tells the story of two brothers, Mishra and Urza, both artificers that ended up going to war with each other other an ancient Thran Powerstone they had once found. The flavour is solidly represent by The Antiquities War with a steady artifact theme running through the card, along with giving you quite a bit of power: the first two counters give you card selection and the last makes all your artifacts decent sized threats. Four mana is little steep and you have to wait three turns for the whole pay off but the card advantage The Antiquities War gives you could go a long way, in the right deck the last effect could win you the game on the spot. This is definitely a constructed card rather than a limited one, unless I happened to come across a tonne of artifacts I couldn’t see me playing this.
Arcane Flight
This card is really good, Flying and +1/+1 for one mana is super efficient and will definitely see play throughout formats. I’m mainly thinking boggles in modern, just to add to the plethora of auras they already have access to.
Artificer’s Assistant
Forget about the effect for now, a one mana 1/1 flyer is always playable in limited, dump a load of auras or equipment on it and you have an early game threat. The beauty of Artificer’s Assistant’s effect is in the fact that artifacts are historic cards, given enough artifacts or even multiple Assistants and you could just start stacking your deck and digging through to find your bombs or answers thanks to the Scrying . I like Artificer’s Assistant a lot in limited and think that it could even see constructed play in a heavy Historic/artifact deck.
Befuddle
Cantripping combat tricks are all good and well, this one is even easy to cast thanks to its single blue mana. It would sit well in a tempo centric deck that is looking to get more value from its creatures in combat, purely a limited card though.
Blink Of An Eye
Now this is a cantrip I can see making it’s way into constructed. Temporary removal is just that, temporary, but utilised in the right way can give you the opening you need to strike a devastating blow or at the very least put your opponent off their stride. The best part about Blink Of An Eye I the optional Kicker, a two mana Boomerang is a great start and it’s easier to cast but adding in drawing a card for two mana the value goes way up. Brilliant in limited and definitely has potential in constructed.
Cloudreader Sphinx
Decent mid game creature, decent stats and evasion and it comes with a nice Scry 2 ability. Cloudreader Sphinx isn’t looking at any play outside of limited but in limited it will do nicely, holding the ground and air for a couple of turns at least.
Cold-Water Snapper
It’s a lot of mana but when you get to six being able to drop a 4/5 Hexproof could win you the game. They can’t answer Cold-Water Snapper with spot removal and that allows you to build up a lot of auras and equipment in order to make one big scary turtle.
Curator’s Ward
Auras sometimes feel like a trap, often in resulting in the old two for one. However, Curator’s Ward gets around that a little by giving the enchanted permanent Hexproof, it won’t stop a removal in response but it will put a stop to any after it’s resolved. The added bonus of two cards if it was put on a Historic card could put it on the playable side of things in limited, whack this on a Saga enchantment and in a few turns you’ve gotten full mileage out of the enchantment and gained card advantage. It won’t break into constructed costed at three mana but one in your limited deck is fine even just as protection for a creature.
Deep Freeze
This could be some of the best limited pseudo-removal you will get in blue: It doesn’t actually remove the creature but it does make it almost ineffective bar blocking. At three mana it’s useless outside of limited and even in limited you probably only want one or two to sit on the curve nicely and not get bogged down in your hand.
Diligent Excavator
This two mana 1/3 blocks well in the early game in limited and, thanks to the reduced size of decks, could start taking your opponent’s deck apart. In multiples this guy is insane, with all the legends in Dominaria it’s not going to go untriggered for long.
Divination
It’s back, three mana draw two is great In limited and has even seen constructed play. Don’t go overboard on it though as they can gum up your hand.
Homarid Explorer
Milling strategies have come and gone in the past, they’ve not always been the most effective way to win a game but every now and again you can get your opponent by taking their deck apart. This four mana 3/3 gives you good stats for limited while also taking a tenth of either yours or your opponent’s deck, hitting your opponent could result in either making their mana more awkward or even hitting a bomb of theirs. If you can use Homarid Explorer in conjunction with any graveyard interactions in your own deck then it can act as fuel to reanimate a creature. Homarid Explorer fits nicely into limited thanks to its ease of casting and relatively powerful enter the battlefield effect, unless there is a proper mainstream milling strategy though it won’t find its way into constructed.
In Bolas’s Clutches
I don’t like this at all, Confiscate was the same cost and had a much wider scope. In Bolas’s Clutches is fine but in limited you’re probably going to be forced to use it on some menial late game creature that has started to gain a bit too much momentum. Making that permanent legendary while also having a legendary enchantment on it then means that you could control two of either of those permanents at one time, where double Confiscate was perfectly viable. It’s good in limited but I think In Bolas’s Clutches could end up messing you around in more of a constructed sense if you choose to run multiples.
Karn’s Temporal Sundering
It may seem obvious but I think it’s important to say that extra turn effects are incredibly powerful. From the originator two mana Time Walk through many variants: some coming in artifact form like Time Vault, having drawbacks like missing your untap step or losing the game, or even conditional costing like miracle-ing Temporal Mastery, extra turn effects have come and gone and often find an effective home. Karn’s Temporal Sundering is aggressively costed for this effect - six mana roughly being the fair cost for an extra turn - and it also comes with a free Boomerang attached. I think this could find a home in standard, maybe in a ramp deck that can power it out earlier than normal with some board presence to increase its effectiveness but, as I said earlier, these effects can come with a conditional cost. Karn’s Temporal Sundering is a legendary sorcery which means you can’t play it without first controlling a legendary creature or planeswalker, most of the time this will be fine if you’ve built your deck to utilise a legendary sorcery as you could in constructed but not so much in a limited sense where your card pool is less varied. All in all, Karn’s Temporal Sundering has a lot of potential, the mix of an extra turn as well as dealing with your opponent’s best permanent or even getting extra mileage out of one of your own could turn out to be quite potent.
Merfolk Trickster
Merfolk Trickster could turn out to be a nifty little Grizzly Bear. Sure, you have to be dedicated to blue if you want to drop it in the early game but for a lowly two mana this Trickster could be a real bullet throughout the game with relative ease. Merfolk Trickster gives you some options in some different areas: it can make combat slightly more awkward first off by restricting your opponent’s attackers but also as a way to circumvent any activated abilities those creatures may have. I really like this guy in limited more as a flash blocker and tempo creature, a way to just force through damage while giving you some board presence. Merfolk Trickster probably won’t break into constructed though it does play well with the tribal theme Ixalan has to offer, this could be part of the instant speed utility creature package the Merfolk deck needs to become more mainstream.
The Mirari Conjecture
Recurring spells is always a powerful avenue to go down with cards: if it’s too easy the card is busted and will probably soon be banned, too hard and it remains a pipe dream for the Johnny’s out there. For five mana The Mirari Conjecture gives you an instant, honestly that could be good enough but with another counter you can also return a sorcery and at this point the Saga enchantment has pretty much paid for itself. The last counter on The Mirari Conjecture gives all your spells Twincast and if you can get to this point the potential is endless, imagine this in a blue red tempo deck Twincasting draw spells, bounce spells and burn spells. Even if you don’t win the turn The Mirari Conjecture gains its third counter the advantage you can is immense, unfortunately that won’t happen until turn seven with no mana ramp and that could be the drop off point for this Saga enchantment. I’d like to try and abuse The Mirari Conjecture by bouncing it after the second counter or even with the third counter sacrifice trigger on the stack, it would take a lot of time and mana but it could be a lot of fun. You could viably run this in your limited deck by five mana is a lot for what would be essentially drawing a card, you’d have to ensure you could survive a turn or two which I don’t think would be easy in a very aggressive format.
Naban, Dean Of Iteration
More tribal related creatures and just when I thought we’d gotten away from all of that. Wizards are going to be well represented in Dominaria which means Naban holds a lot of potential playability and maybe not just in a limited sense, as fragile as this two mana wizard may be being able to trigger something like your Champion Of Wits twice and absolutely tearing through your deck gives you such an advantage. In limited the wizards will come and go fairly frequently by my estimation so picking up Naban could serve you well for a tempo oriented deck, getting every little bit out of all of your wizards.
Naru Meha, Master Wizard
My initial thoughts when I saw Naru Meha were in a control sense almost working as an extra counterspell in a counter war. Thinking further into it though and it turns out that this four mana flash 3/3 has some other applications, removal for example. Put a Fatal Push on the stack and use Naru Meha to copy it for a nice two for one, kind of. Your left with a 3/3 body while a chunk of your opponent’s board presence is gone, or maybe doubling a burn spell pointed at your opponent for a decent sized life swing. I like the options that Naru Meha gives you across formats with its enter the battlefield ability and we haven’t even mentioned it’s “lord” effect. As I said with Naban, wizards are going to be all over the place in Dominaria so having a lord to pump them all is going to give you a great board advantage in limited and it’s at instant speed. Love Naru Meha in limited but it could be a bit overcosted for an underwhelming effect in comparison to other cards of the same cost in constructed.
Opt
Opt is the new draw spell, it will see print in pretty much every other set and will always be playable in both limited and constructed. For one mana you get nice instant speed card selection, it helps smooth out your draws by finding you land and in the late game can dig you closer to any bombs or removal spells you may need at the time. There’s not much more to say about Opt, it’s good in a control and tempo deck and the only downside could be having a lot of multiples.
Precognition Field
I like cards that manipulate your library: Oracle Of Mul Daya, Future Sight, Lantern Of Insight, all very powerful cards that all give you that little bit of extra information from the top of your library. Precognition Field goes one better than those cards by only allowing you to look at the top card of your library without playing revealed so your opponent doesn’t have that information as well, giving you a slight edge. It doesn’t stop there though, Precognition Field doesn’t just allow you to look at the top of your library but if it’s an instant or sorcery it allows you to cast it as well. This essentially acts as an extra card in your hand whenever it’s an instant or sorcery on top, it also means that if your opponent would ever get information on the cards in your hand then Precognition Field gives you the chance to keep a card back from them. The last part of Precognition Field is probably the best part in my opinion, card selection. For just three mana you can pick whether you want to keep it ditch the card on top of your library and there’s no restriction, so at the end of your opponent’s turn given enough mana you can tear through your deck to find an answer. I really like Precognition Field in limited thanks to its card advantageous nature letting you get every little bit out of your deck. Not so much in constructed though, I think it’s a little overcosted though to be fair all of these abilities at three mana would be insane.
Relic Runner
This guy is going to win you a lot of limited games even just with its base 2 power. Being unblockable is a great ability and one that’s hard to deal with, add some auras into the mix and Relic Rubber can get out of hand. Without many Historic cards Relic Runner is still a decent creature but is fragile, probably biting the bullet early in a trade.
Rescue
It’s an Unsummon for just your creatures, decent limited combat trick for when things have gotten hairy or if you want to abuse an enter the battlefield ability. Rescue could see some fringe play in constructed, maybe as a one or two of in the sideboard, but ultimately it’s not going to impact metagames much.
Sage Of Lat-Nam
This is a limited creature all the way, you can tell by the awkward ability and low power/toughness to mana cost. In the right deck Sage Of Lat-Nam could do some work for you by digging through your library but that’s only if you’ve filled it with artifacts. If you really need a two drop in limited then Sage is fine but in reality I don’t think you’ll be getting much mileage out of it, the odd one or two cards but it also depends on what artifacts you have access to and how important they are to the current situation.
Sentinel Of The Pearl Trident
The Historic mechanic is a new, shiny play toy in Dominaria so the design space is obviously going to be used to the fullest. Sentinel keeps things pretty simple and lets you blink a Historic permanent, first thoughts go to the new Saga enchantments as a way to reset them and get some extra mileage. Other than blinking the new enchantments Sentinel Of The Pearl Trident could also act as a way to give an artifact or legendary creature pseudo-Vigilance, dropping it post combat and blinking on of your attackers. At five mana Sentinel sits in limited and nowhere else, the 3/3 body isn’t nothing either and does give you a decent sized creature in combat but ultimately the effect and cost restrict it to the sealed and draft decks.
Slinn Voda, The Rising Deep
Slinn Voda has the typical leviathan clause if bouncing everything that isn’t on the guest list at the oceanic ho-down, though this time around the cost is astronomical. Ten mana for an 8/8 without any evasion is a lot to drop in one go even if you can bounce all opposing creatures, one well time removal spell and you’re back to square one and ten mana down. Another thing to note, more so in constructed is the sudden influx of Merfolk from Ixalan which makes Slinn Voda practically unplayable - outside of the ten mana that is - so in conclusion unless you really need another creature and I mean REALLY need one or you can ramp up to ten mana in limited efficiently and quickly, don’t bother.
Syncopate
It’s always nice to have an X mana counterspell in standard, it gives the control decks a greater sense of sturdiness. Something that’s noteworthy about Syncopate is that it exiles the countered spell rather than just put it in the graveyard. This means that The Scarab God and God-Pharoah's Gift decks will have less options if you Syncopate one of your opponent's creatures, and its always nice to make their The Scarab God slightly less efficient. Ultimately, Syncopate is a nice counterspell to have from the second turn onwards, it forces you opponent to leave X open therefore never tapping out for a spell less they give you a really efficient counterspell. Control decks will love this in constructed as a one or two-of. As for limited, counterspells don't tend to be the bests spells in limited because they are either really narrow or horrible to have when you don't need them. Syncopate should be fine as a one-of in limited just to give you a contingency plan against your opponents top end or bombs.
Tempest Djinn
This guy is pretty straight forward: an aggressive three mana 0/4 with evasion. One drawback, if you will, would be it’s commitment to blue mana which could provide you with an issue in limited if you plan to play multiple colours, which most of the time you will be. If you do manage to cast Tempest Djinn though you will be in control of a very powerful creature, getting bigger and bigger as you play the game and making combat a nightmare for your opponent by taking chunks out of their life total turn after turn. I wouldn’t advise playing more than one in limited and more than zero in constructed.
Temporal Machinations
This is a typical bounce spell. Temporal Machinations works as temporary removal and a decent tempo spell, especially if you can get the card draw out of it. I don’t understand why this isn’t an instant though: it’s three mana, only hits creatures and has a conditional effect. Because of the sorcery speed Temporal Machinations will only be seeing limited play but even there it’s fine and could even put you in a nice spot to take a game or two.
Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive
Other than being the owner of arguably one of the best swords ever printed in Magic - Umezawa’s Jitte - it also turns out that Tetsuko Umezawa is quite a sneaky little rogue. A two mana 1/3 may not seem like much but being unblockable can be quite awkward for your opponent to deal with. Unfortunately, you can’t load Tetsuko up with a bunch of auras and equipment and still bypass blockers like so many others in the past but Umezawa does aide more of a go wide strategy: a lot of 1 power/ toughness creatures along with this two mana legend and, without your opponent holding a whole load of removal, you can start getting steady damage through every turn. I would like to explore the potential of Tetsuko Umezawa in a weenie deck with lots of combat tricks for all of my unblockable creatures. As far as limited goes, you’re going to be seeing a lot of lower powered creatures so Umezawa will give you some board advantage there but at worst it’s a decent blocker.
Time Of Ice
Another great flavour card here, it works as a great tempo or control card and given a few turns you could use it to really damage your opponent’s board. Four mana to tap a creature isn’t the best but in a pinch it will do, like with most of the Saga’s though as soon as it gets its second counter it’s pretty much paid for itself. Time Of Ice looks great in limited but because of the steep-ish mana cost, average effect and sorcery speed it won’t make it into constructed.
Tolarian Scholar
Tolarian Scholar a good on curve vanilla creature for limited, you may think that there isn’t much to it but you’d be wrong. The fact that it says wizard in the creature type box is huge especially when there are so many triggers as a result of you casting wizards. Having the three four of Tolarian Scholar Into Academy Journeymage gives you quite a nice tempo advantage with five power over two creatures which isn’t awful, it’s not the biggest thing to do but I’m sure there will be many more ways to abuse the wizard label on Tolarian Scholar showing up in limited.
Unwind
I love this card, it takes me back to Urza block with cards like Palinchron but it’s probably closest in relation to Rewind, in both name and effect. Rewind saw some constructed play back in the day so I’m sure Unwind will as well, sure only being able to untap three lands as opposed to four is a little less efficient but it still acts the same - if it resolves, it’s free. The main downside to Unwind is that it can’t hit creature spells, essentially turning it into an overcosted Negate, but the untapping lands could be enough for Unwind to peak playability over Negate. It ultimately comes down cost vs effect, play Negate if you want to play low on mana or play Unwind when you want to bluff two spells in one turn and have the resources to do it. In a limited capacity, Unwind may be a good shout for a tempo deck but traditionally counterspells don’t tend to see limited play as you could be doing something much better with your mana. With the noncreature clause and the fact that it costs three mana I don’t think Unwind is different to any counterspells that have come before, it’s probably a waste of a spot to play it in limited.
Vodalian Arcanist
In limited Vodalian Arcanist is going to be great for more reactive spells as it blocks well in the early game and provides mana for combat tricks. Other than a deck that has lots of Instant and Sorceries I probably wouldn’t look at running Vodalian Arcanist, maybe as a 23rd card if I had to.
Weight Of Memory
I love this as a one-of in limited, it’s card advantage and disadvantage rolled into one. Five mana for three cards is fair as a Sorcery or an Instant so when it comes with an additional milling effect you’re just gaining value. Weight Of Memory has potential to see constructed play but again only as a one-of, you’re putting a lot of time and mana into casting it. Even as a one-of it would be a very late game spell in order to get around it being countered and essentially Time Walking yourself. Lastly on Weight Of Memory is the art and story connection, combining three important characters throughout Magic’s history to fill out the flavour of the card.
Wizard’s Retort
This one is straight forward: it’s just as good as Cancel until you control a wizard, and in Dominaria that won’t be hard, at which point it turns into Counterspell. If it wasn’t for Disallow already being in constructed you would play this in a heartbeat, because of that it’s restricted to limited or, at a push, a wizard tribal deck.
Zahid, Djinn Of The Lamp
I like a Djinn but I feel that there has been a bit of flavour loss with this guy: no “wish” ability or anything of the sort. Still, a six mana 5/6 flyer is nothing to turn your nose up at and what ability it does come with could give you a powerhouse in limited. Being able to drop Zahid on turn four with an artifact will be very hard to deal while putting a four turn clock on your opponent. Thanks to its alternative mana cost there could be a shout for Zahid in constructed, the deck would have to be fairly dedicated to artifacts to get the most use out of the Djinn otherwise its just a decent flyer.
That brings us to the end of our look at all the blue cards in Dominaria. Lots of wizards, Legends and flavour brimming cards but it doesn't stop there, come back tomorrow for a look through all of the black cards. Make sure to check back to Game Changers for more gaming news, updates and set reviews.
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