It’s the end of the week which means it’s the last in our look through all of the cards in Dominaria, Artifacts and lands. Before that however, there is one colourless card we’re going to take a look at.
Karn, Scion Of Urza
Karn is back! This big, friendly robot has now had three iterations over the years and this is his second as a planeswalker. You’d have to go all the way back to Scars Of Mirrodin, where he was a colourless seven mana super-bomb, to find him last and since then he’s become cheaper and slightly less game breaking. Karn costs four mana this time around but has remained colourless, meaning that most if not every deck ever has a reasonable shout at playing him. He’s also become a card advantage engine with his first ability being a mix of card draw and slow-draw. What I mean by this is you will always get a card, though it is at the determination of your opponent, out of the two that you reveal but the second isn’t discarded. Instead, Karn exiles the remaining card leading into his second ability allowing you to get an exiled card later on. The mix of his first two abilities can work quite nicely in the right deck: your opponent will always give you the worst option with the first ability but you can build up those exiled card and have a great selection in the late game. When Karn starts with five loyalty it would seem only fair that he doesn’t really have an ultimate. Instead, Karn has the potential to churn out Artifact creatures for minus two loyalty with there power and toughness being dictated by the amount of Artifacts you control. So not only do these Artifact creatures trigger Historic abilities but they make each other incrementally bigger. Mainly because he’s a four mana colourless planeswalker than can draw you cards I think it’s safe to say that Karn is a limited bomb and definitely one to watch for constructed. He will see play through multiple formats and will be a powerhouse in them all.
With the new unification of Artifacts, Legendaries and Sagas today’s look at all of the Artifacts from Dominaria comes with a certain air about them. All Artifacts now have additional value baked right in, especially in Dominaria limited, and it will definitely show in constructed.
With all this said let’s jump right in and see just how much value Artifacts as Historic cards could bring to the game of Magic.
Aesthir Glider
Some cards are good, some not so good. Aesthir Glider falls into the second category, but do remember even though this is a 3 mana 2/1 with evasion that cant block it can still trigger Historic abilities. You will play this in limited, even if there was something slightly better, mainly to get use out of your Historic matters cards and it’s not awful in those situations.
Amaranthine Wall
It’s a wall, it holds the ground incredibly well and could stick around indefinitely. At four mana I want to play this in a slower limited deck that has some removal or disruption for there flyers so Amaranthine Wall can do it’s thing and get in the way of ground guys.
Blackblade Reforged
This card has a little history that goes with it: the Blackblade was forged long ago by Dakkon, a blacksmith, for Geyadrone who promised Dakkon power in return for the blade. Geyadrone betrayed Dakkon stealing his soul but didn’t have Blackblade for long until Sol’Kanar the Swamp King got his hands on it. Dakkon was able to wrestle it back for Sol’Kanar and was then set upon by two elder dragons, Piru and Chromium Rhuell. Dakkon managed to stab Piru killing her and causing a huge explosion. Dihada, who had called the elder dragons to attack Dakkon was then able to absorb Piru’s soul which was her master plan. Some time passed and The Blackblade was found by a member of the Cabal minion Needle. The Cabal rewrote the blade’s history to have been forged by Belzenlok, the Cabal’s new leader. Enough lore though, Blackblade Reforged is incredibly powerful and always worth playing. Equipment in limited isn’t as bad as auras because you won’t get two for oned when the equipped creature dies. This bomb equipment comes down early so you don’t have to spend a lot of mana casting it in the late game, you may however have to spend a lot of mana to equip it in the late game. Blackblade Reforged comes with two equip costs, 7 to equip to a non-Legendary creature but only 3 for a Legendary creature. This is to further hammer home the big theme of Legendary creatures in Dominaria, if you have a Legendary creature you get the bonus of a reduced equip cost, if you don’t have a Legendary creature though that 7 mana is going to be daunting. I can confirm that 7 mana to equip is worth it though as the equipped creature gets +1/+1 for each land you control. Not non-basic land, not Legendary land, but all of your lands. If you can equip Blackblade Reforged on turn seven then theoretically whichever creature you equip it to will have +7/+7 and therefore is probably going to win in most combat situations. Blackblade Reforged is a limited all-star, the two mana equipment will win you a lot of games and at worst make life incredibly difficult for your opponent. I don’t think there is any constructed application for it but it could be a pleasant surprise to see it over the next couple of months wrecking shop.
Bloodtallow Candle
I love this card. It’s cheap, it’s removal and best of all it’s whenever you want it. If you have a slower limited deck you can drop Bloodtallow Candle on turn one and just let it sit there until you have the six mana to use it, sure it’s public information so your opponent can try and play around it but they can’t do that for long. In multiples the diminishing returns is a little brutal, so I would only go with one or two in limited mainly using them to trigger any Historic abilities I may have picked up.
Damping Sphere
Who likes playing Storm in modern? Well it sucks to be you because Damping Sphere absolutely ruins the Storm plan. It’s not that a good Storm player won’t be able to get rid of Damping Sphere but it makes everything so much harder for them. Other than that Damping Sphere has almost no application in standard or limited, unless you really need to trigger Historic abilities.
Forebear’s Blade
Another limited equipment all-star. Forebear’s Blade enhances the equipped creatures combat ability and if that creature would die, and you have another creature lying around, you don’t have to pay the equip cost again. Forebear’s Blade will take over a game in limited provided you can keep churning out creature to hold it, the fact that it gives you a good attacker with Vigilance allowing it to also block is very powerful and the Trample can help force some damage through.
Gilded Lotus
If you look at a card like Gilded Lotus and can’t see just how powerful it is then you need to re-evaluate the way you think of Cards. Five mana is a fair amount to pay but Gilded Lotus gives you three mana back straight away, plus it fixes your mana by giving you the choice of colour each time you use it. Gilded Lotus is a brilliant ramp spell that will easily put you in a very advantageous position in limited and I’m sure it will break into constructed due to the sheer power it offers.
Guardian Of Koilos
Guardian Of Koilos not only triggers Historic matters abilities but let’s you return a Historic permanent to get even more mileage out of Historic triggers. Beyond that, Guardian Of Koilos is a decent five mana 4/4, you’re not going to be unhappy about playing it but it may feel a bit underwhelming at times. A good use of Guardian Of Koilos is returning a Saga on the second lore counter and essentially restarting it. If your opponent couldn’t deal with the Saga the first time around then they definitely wont be able to with even more chapter triggers happening.
Helm Of The Host
Kaboom! That’s the sounds of an absolutely ridiculous limited bomb hitting the table and ruining your opponent’s day. Helm Of The Host is nuts: it’s colourless, relatively cheap and provides you with extra creatures that don’t go away at the end of the turn. It also doesn’t dissuade you from putting it in a Legendary creature you may control as it doesn’t make Legendary copies of that creature. Given enough time whichever creature you put Helm Of The Host on will overwhelm your opponent and easily take you to victory.
Howling Golem
I don’t like this guy in limited, I don’t like giving my opponent any value whatsoever especially coming from my creatures. Howling Golem is a solid creature for three mana, it could attack or block fairly well but every time it does you have to deal with your opponent getting an extra card for their troubles. Sure, you get a card but unless your card is able to undo all of the value your opponent has gotten it’s not worth it.
Icy Manipulator
I love this card. Icy Manipulator has been with us since the start in Alpha and keeps coming back to grace us with its tempo restricting fun. In limited Icy can be a bit of a beating especially if you can limit your opponent to very few threats, keep them to one creature and this four mana Artifact will have no trouble dealing with it. It even works for lands and other Artifacts, in fact some of the best matches I’ve had contain the Icy vs Icy situation where one player can almost dictate what their opponent’s Icy Manipulator is going to target. It’s a limited all-star but unfortunately won’t see constructed play as it’s a just costly, maybe if the format slowed way down but that’s only a dream.
Jhoira’s Familiar
Karn, Scion Of Urza
Karn is back! This big, friendly robot has now had three iterations over the years and this is his second as a planeswalker. You’d have to go all the way back to Scars Of Mirrodin, where he was a colourless seven mana super-bomb, to find him last and since then he’s become cheaper and slightly less game breaking. Karn costs four mana this time around but has remained colourless, meaning that most if not every deck ever has a reasonable shout at playing him. He’s also become a card advantage engine with his first ability being a mix of card draw and slow-draw. What I mean by this is you will always get a card, though it is at the determination of your opponent, out of the two that you reveal but the second isn’t discarded. Instead, Karn exiles the remaining card leading into his second ability allowing you to get an exiled card later on. The mix of his first two abilities can work quite nicely in the right deck: your opponent will always give you the worst option with the first ability but you can build up those exiled card and have a great selection in the late game. When Karn starts with five loyalty it would seem only fair that he doesn’t really have an ultimate. Instead, Karn has the potential to churn out Artifact creatures for minus two loyalty with there power and toughness being dictated by the amount of Artifacts you control. So not only do these Artifact creatures trigger Historic abilities but they make each other incrementally bigger. Mainly because he’s a four mana colourless planeswalker than can draw you cards I think it’s safe to say that Karn is a limited bomb and definitely one to watch for constructed. He will see play through multiple formats and will be a powerhouse in them all.
With the new unification of Artifacts, Legendaries and Sagas today’s look at all of the Artifacts from Dominaria comes with a certain air about them. All Artifacts now have additional value baked right in, especially in Dominaria limited, and it will definitely show in constructed.
With all this said let’s jump right in and see just how much value Artifacts as Historic cards could bring to the game of Magic.
Aesthir Glider
Some cards are good, some not so good. Aesthir Glider falls into the second category, but do remember even though this is a 3 mana 2/1 with evasion that cant block it can still trigger Historic abilities. You will play this in limited, even if there was something slightly better, mainly to get use out of your Historic matters cards and it’s not awful in those situations.
Amaranthine Wall
It’s a wall, it holds the ground incredibly well and could stick around indefinitely. At four mana I want to play this in a slower limited deck that has some removal or disruption for there flyers so Amaranthine Wall can do it’s thing and get in the way of ground guys.
Blackblade Reforged
This card has a little history that goes with it: the Blackblade was forged long ago by Dakkon, a blacksmith, for Geyadrone who promised Dakkon power in return for the blade. Geyadrone betrayed Dakkon stealing his soul but didn’t have Blackblade for long until Sol’Kanar the Swamp King got his hands on it. Dakkon was able to wrestle it back for Sol’Kanar and was then set upon by two elder dragons, Piru and Chromium Rhuell. Dakkon managed to stab Piru killing her and causing a huge explosion. Dihada, who had called the elder dragons to attack Dakkon was then able to absorb Piru’s soul which was her master plan. Some time passed and The Blackblade was found by a member of the Cabal minion Needle. The Cabal rewrote the blade’s history to have been forged by Belzenlok, the Cabal’s new leader. Enough lore though, Blackblade Reforged is incredibly powerful and always worth playing. Equipment in limited isn’t as bad as auras because you won’t get two for oned when the equipped creature dies. This bomb equipment comes down early so you don’t have to spend a lot of mana casting it in the late game, you may however have to spend a lot of mana to equip it in the late game. Blackblade Reforged comes with two equip costs, 7 to equip to a non-Legendary creature but only 3 for a Legendary creature. This is to further hammer home the big theme of Legendary creatures in Dominaria, if you have a Legendary creature you get the bonus of a reduced equip cost, if you don’t have a Legendary creature though that 7 mana is going to be daunting. I can confirm that 7 mana to equip is worth it though as the equipped creature gets +1/+1 for each land you control. Not non-basic land, not Legendary land, but all of your lands. If you can equip Blackblade Reforged on turn seven then theoretically whichever creature you equip it to will have +7/+7 and therefore is probably going to win in most combat situations. Blackblade Reforged is a limited all-star, the two mana equipment will win you a lot of games and at worst make life incredibly difficult for your opponent. I don’t think there is any constructed application for it but it could be a pleasant surprise to see it over the next couple of months wrecking shop.
Bloodtallow Candle
I love this card. It’s cheap, it’s removal and best of all it’s whenever you want it. If you have a slower limited deck you can drop Bloodtallow Candle on turn one and just let it sit there until you have the six mana to use it, sure it’s public information so your opponent can try and play around it but they can’t do that for long. In multiples the diminishing returns is a little brutal, so I would only go with one or two in limited mainly using them to trigger any Historic abilities I may have picked up.
Damping Sphere
Who likes playing Storm in modern? Well it sucks to be you because Damping Sphere absolutely ruins the Storm plan. It’s not that a good Storm player won’t be able to get rid of Damping Sphere but it makes everything so much harder for them. Other than that Damping Sphere has almost no application in standard or limited, unless you really need to trigger Historic abilities.
Forebear’s Blade
Another limited equipment all-star. Forebear’s Blade enhances the equipped creatures combat ability and if that creature would die, and you have another creature lying around, you don’t have to pay the equip cost again. Forebear’s Blade will take over a game in limited provided you can keep churning out creature to hold it, the fact that it gives you a good attacker with Vigilance allowing it to also block is very powerful and the Trample can help force some damage through.
Gilded Lotus
If you look at a card like Gilded Lotus and can’t see just how powerful it is then you need to re-evaluate the way you think of Cards. Five mana is a fair amount to pay but Gilded Lotus gives you three mana back straight away, plus it fixes your mana by giving you the choice of colour each time you use it. Gilded Lotus is a brilliant ramp spell that will easily put you in a very advantageous position in limited and I’m sure it will break into constructed due to the sheer power it offers.
Guardian Of Koilos
Guardian Of Koilos not only triggers Historic matters abilities but let’s you return a Historic permanent to get even more mileage out of Historic triggers. Beyond that, Guardian Of Koilos is a decent five mana 4/4, you’re not going to be unhappy about playing it but it may feel a bit underwhelming at times. A good use of Guardian Of Koilos is returning a Saga on the second lore counter and essentially restarting it. If your opponent couldn’t deal with the Saga the first time around then they definitely wont be able to with even more chapter triggers happening.
Helm Of The Host
Kaboom! That’s the sounds of an absolutely ridiculous limited bomb hitting the table and ruining your opponent’s day. Helm Of The Host is nuts: it’s colourless, relatively cheap and provides you with extra creatures that don’t go away at the end of the turn. It also doesn’t dissuade you from putting it in a Legendary creature you may control as it doesn’t make Legendary copies of that creature. Given enough time whichever creature you put Helm Of The Host on will overwhelm your opponent and easily take you to victory.
Howling Golem
I don’t like this guy in limited, I don’t like giving my opponent any value whatsoever especially coming from my creatures. Howling Golem is a solid creature for three mana, it could attack or block fairly well but every time it does you have to deal with your opponent getting an extra card for their troubles. Sure, you get a card but unless your card is able to undo all of the value your opponent has gotten it’s not worth it.
Icy Manipulator
I love this card. Icy Manipulator has been with us since the start in Alpha and keeps coming back to grace us with its tempo restricting fun. In limited Icy can be a bit of a beating especially if you can limit your opponent to very few threats, keep them to one creature and this four mana Artifact will have no trouble dealing with it. It even works for lands and other Artifacts, in fact some of the best matches I’ve had contain the Icy vs Icy situation where one player can almost dictate what their opponent’s Icy Manipulator is going to target. It’s a limited all-star but unfortunately won’t see constructed play as it’s a just costly, maybe if the format slowed way down but that’s only a dream.
Jhoira’s Familiar
I love the art of this card. I don’t know what it is about a goggle-eyed metallic bird but this filigree laced familiar is super cute. A four mana 2/2 flyer isn’t the best of creatures but in limited it’s about on par. The main attribute about Jhoira’s Familiar, apart from being a Historic spell, is that it makes other Historic spells cheaper. Jhoira’s Familiar doesn’t really have any diminishing returns either as the first makes the second cheaper and then two together make Sagas, Legendaries and other Artifacts cheap to the point of maybe even being relatively free. I like Jhoira’s Familiar in limited but depending on how many four drops I had would dictate how many I played. As a creature Jhoira’s Familiar isn’t going to do much in combat but works really well as a utility creature where the evasion may come in handy every now and again.
Jousting Lance
Great equipment for limited. Jousting Lance is cheap and effective, giving the equipped creature an advantage in combat with First Strike. Play one in limited if you open one but probably no more than that.
Juggernaut
It’s the Juggernaut... you can finish that one off yourselves. It’s a powerful, effective but above all colourless creature that is very powerful in limited, you want to run Juggernaut in a more aggressive deck though to get maximum use out of it.
Mishra’s Self-Replicator
Looking at Mishra’s Self-Replicator you could be forgiven for thinking that this five mana 2/2 is a bad card. However, the truth is Mishra’s Self-Replicator is a powerhouse bomb rare in limited. Historic cards shouldn’t be hard to come by so if you manage to pull a Mishra’s Self-Replicator you may find yourself overwhelming your opponent with 2/2’s. Just to make sure everyone understands, every Mishra’s Self-Replicator you control will trigger whenever you cast a Historic card. Because of this just by casting two Historic spells you could end up with up to four Mishra’s Self-Replicators. All-star in limited, too expensive for constructed.
Mox Amber
Don’t be fooled by the name. Just because this card has the word “Mox” on it it by no means puts it in the same power level of the original five. They were busted and obviously can never be printed again for fear of warping a format along with essentially just printing money. Now on to the actual card. Sure, it’s free to cast, of course it would be it’s a Mox. It adds mana as a Mox should as well but the restraints are a little annoying: Back in Scars Of Mirrodin, there was a card called Mox Opal. Mox Opal’s drawback was that you had to enable Metalcraft (controlling three artifacts) for it to do anything, and achieving Metalcraft wasn’t that hard. Controlling a Legendary creature or planeswalker could be a tad more difficult as they are usually big targets for your opponent. The three artifacts you controlled for Metalcraft could be innocuous or useless whereas Legendary creatures and planeswalkers aren’t. My point is, I don’t feel that you will be able to enable Mox Amber consistently enough to justify playing. Even if you do enable it there is always a chance that your opponent could destroy the Legendary creature or planeswalker, shutting the zero mana artifact down. Maybe it will find it’s home, who knows, but honestly I can’t really find the enthusiasm for this card.
Navigator’s Compass
Brilliant card. Navigator’s Compass is a cheap way to trigger any Historic abilities, life gain and mana fixing all in one go. If you want to run three or even four colours in limited, make sure you have a Navigator’s Compass or two because it will make things go so much smoother, and the life gain could be the deciding factor in the grindier games.
Pardic Wanderer
Big dude with Trample, that was easy. You’ll play one Pardic Wanderer at the top end of your curve if you have nothing more exciting, it’s serviceable and triggers Historic abilities.
Powerstone Shard
Ramp is good in limited, especially when it can be played in any deck. The neat thing about Powerstone Shard is the increase of mana production with more Powerstone Shards. The point is to play them in multiples and go big or at least utilise the boost in mana, though I don’t know if I would go above two or three because then there’s the issue of replacing more effective cards with mana ramp.
Shield Of The Realm
Along side the theme of Historic matters there is also a theme of equipment matters. That would be the only reason I would play Shield Of The Realm as I’m not a fan of being particularly defensive, and that’s all this two mana equipment is. It does trigger Historic abilities but I would be hoping I had at least one other artifact to play instead.
Short Sword
This is a very straight forward card: A one mana equipment with an equip cost of one that gives the creature +1/+1. Short Sword also triggers Historic matters abilities which is a nice topper to this limited gem.
Skittering Surveyor
A cheap, early game creature that helps fix your mana. Skittering Surveyor won’t do much else than that and chump block but smoothing out your mana can be essential in limited.
Sorcerer’s Wand
I really like this one and I think it has potential to be a real all-star in limited. The ability to ping a player or planeswalker for one damage gives you a nice additional little avenue of attack. Equip this to a creature and ping your opponent at the end of their turn, the damage quickly adds up. It gets better though, with such a strong wizards theme in Dominaria you can get even more out of Sorcerer’s Wand. That one damage at the end of your opponent’s turns into a Shock, if you can protect the wizard equipped with Sorcerer’s Wand it can easily take the game. It plays better in a limited deck with a heavy wizard theme leaning it more towards draft than sealed, though it can still be effective on non wizards.
Sparring Construct
A cheap creature that any deck can play and it leaves behind a permanent effect for another one of your creatures. It’s good in limited.
Thran Temporal Gateway
Who likes free spells? Everyone should right? Thran Temporal Gateway is great example of the new design space that Wotc have opened up for themselves with Historic. Thran Temporal Gateway would’ve been considered too narrow if it only allowed you to put Legendaries OR Artifacts OR Sagas into play. So the unification of the three means that a card like Thran Temporal Gateway can see print and it doesn’t feel underwhelming. I love this card in limited, instant speed Historic cards provides you with one hell of an advantage: imagine an end of the turn planeswalker for just four mana, that’s insane right? Or a Darigaaz Reincarnated, wow that would be busted. Thran Temporal Gateway is a powerhouse in limited with enough Historic cards and I would like to see how it plays in constructed. A four mana artifact that has no immediate impact on the game isn’t the most enticing but the power it can offer is hard to pass up. I am definitely up for trying this one out.
Traxos, Scourge Of Kroog
Traxos could turn out to be one of the more powerful artifacts in Dominaria. The stats are hard to argue with, as a four mana 7/7 Trampler, and his “drawback” of not untapping until you cast a Historic spell isn’t going to be that much of a drawback in my eyes. Maybe more so in limited, where you’re artifacts or legendaries are a little more few and far between, but in constructed where you can tailor your deck to meet these requirements having a massive creature coming down on turn four could just win you the game then and there. Like I said, Traxos does need a little of the “build around me” school of deck-building to be applied but I think it will be worth it, keep in mind though that his ability does specific cast not just come into play, so using something like Thran Temporal Gateway to put a Historic permanent into play won’t untap Traxos.
Urza’s Tome
Every set needs a looting ability. Being able to draw and then discard a card is deceptively powerful as card selection always is. Urza’s Tome mixes things up a bit by being three mana to draw a card and if you have a Historic card in your graveyard you can exile it instead of discarding a card from your hand. This will be invaluable in limited to dig through your deck to find any answers you may need, it’s a little too slow for constructed though.
Voltaic Servant
This 2 mana 1/3 blocks well in the early game, so it could help buy you time to get to the late game to start casting bigger threats. The neat thing about Voltaic Servant isn’t being good at blocking its the pseudo-Vigilance it has built right in. Attacking with a 1/3 isn’t the fastest of clocks but when you can attack and block with the same creature it not die, that’s pretty sweet. Voltaic Servant doesn’t have to untap itself though and can provide you with extra value from your Thran Temporal Gateway, Urza’s Tome or Traxos at the end of each of your turns. I like one Voltaic Servant in limited just for curve purposes and if I have any other interactions with artifacts it makes it all the sweeter.
Weatherlight
If I was going to pick a card from Dominaria that stood out without being a key character it would be the Weatherlight. The Skyship has been a part of Magic’s history for a long time and bringing it back in Dominaria was a no brainier, especially now the Crew mechanic is a thing. As a vehicle the Weatherlight is a decent four mana 4/5 with a card advantageous effect, if you can hit with the Weatherlight your chances of finding a Historic card feel high in constructed where you will have almost built your deck around this effect. Imagine Weatherlight in Mardu Vehicles, every time it deals damage to your opponent you’re more than likely going to find another vehicle, pushing you further and further into the lead. In limited, it’s not as good but still a four mana 4/5, with Crew 3 remember, is still a powerhouse and can take over a game.
Teferi’s Sentinel
A five mana 2/6, works brilliantly as a blocker in the planeswalker deck and when you find your Teferi planeswalker suddenly your best blocker turns into your best attacker as a 6/6. Teferi’s Sentinel won’t see limited or constructed play because of its planeswalker status and high mana cost, in the planeswalker deck however it’s a nice straight forward top end creature.
That brings us to the end of our look at all the artifacts from Dominaria but we still aren’t done. It’s time for all of the lands...
Cabal Stronghold
Cabal Stronghold is not as good a Cabal Coffers, simple as that. Stronghold adds mana separately from its ability which Coffers didn’t but Coffers was a mana less to use. The main difference however comes in the wording. Cabal Coffers adds black mana equal to the amount of Swamps you control where Cabal Stronghold adds black mana equal to the amount of basic Swamps you control. Sounds very similar but is a big difference. Dual lands wouldn’t count towards the black mana produced by Cabal Stronghold, neither would the cycle of Cycling lands from Amonkhet. To get the best use out of Cabal Stronghold you want to be playing a Mono Black deck that mainly runs Swamps, this could be enough but personally I wouldn’t want to restrict my colour and card choices unless black happened to be incredibly powerful and I don’t think it is right now.
Check lands
There are five “check” lands in Dominaria that are reprints from Innistrad and they are also the lands completing the Cycle reprinted in Ixalan. These lands aren’t anything special but will be heavily played in standard constructed, they are a great way of fixing mana and in most cases act as straight up dual lands provided you have the right basic land type in play already.
Memorials
The Memorial Cycle of lands are all lands that come into play tapped, add a single coloured mana and all have an alternative sacrifice effect. They also depict iconic characters and heroes from Dominaria's past. Let’s take a look at all five individually...
Memorial To Folly
This one is pretty straight forward to start with. For three mana, and sacrificing itself you can get back a creature card from your graveyard. Like all of the Memorials you can activate Memorial To Folly at the end of your opponent’s turn to get maximum value out of it. Memorial To Folly shows of two derelict and broken statues of Urza and Gerrard (arguably two of the most integral people in saving Dominaria). These statues were built at the highest point of the Martyr's Tomb and the condition of the statues implies that the Cabal don't have any interest in looking after any remnants of the past.
Memorial To Genius
Five mana to draw two cards isn’t the most efficient thing in the world but in the late game it could really pay off. Netting those two cards at the end of your opponent’s turn either to dig a little deeper or just to find some spells can be good value and at worst Memorial To Genius is a card draw spell built into a land. If you cant make it out, the figure emerging from the rock formation in the background is Urza. His titanic being seems to also be looming over what looks like the Tolarian Academy, or at least another branch of the academy, always watching and protecting even in death.
Memorial To Glory
This is a great land for the more go wide limited deck or one that needs to hold off ground creatures for a while. Four mana for two power spread over two creatures isn’t the best but in a pinch it will do, especially when you need some quick blockers. The white Memorial shows of a statue erected in Gerrard Capashen's honour and, if you look closely, he seems to be standing outside a church in his native Benalia.
Memorial To Unity
This one works really well in a creature heavy deck, three mana to find a creature at instant speed isn’t a bad ability to have access too. It means that again you can activate Memorial To Unity at the end of your opponent’s turn and find a threat to cast on your next turn. Obviously, it does rely a bit on how many creatures you’re playing so in limited it may miss every now and again, in constructed though you can build the deck towards abusing this effect more and probably have Memorial To Unity hit a creature pretty much every time. Memorial To Unity shows of what looks like a homegrown statute of Eladamri. Though he wasn't native to Dominaria he was integral to Dominaria by being the first to warn people of the oncoming Phyrexian invasion.
Lastly, Memorial To War
This is my least favourite Memorial as it doesn’t really do anything in a pro-active sense. Sure, destroying a land can be effective but that’s usually only the case about fifty percent of the time. Keep in mind you are also sacrificing a land to destroy an opposing land which probably won’t put you ahead on mana just keeping on par. This also costs five mana which is the same amount as Memorial To Genius but the power level is severely lacking in comparison. This flame licked part of Dominaria depicts the false god Karona in all her blasphemous glory. Karona was the embodiment of the mana flowing through Dominaria, humans couldn't help but worship her even though she had no aligned divinity. Now she stands among the flames, lava and broken rocks.
Zhalfirin Void
This is the land I’m most excited about going forward in constructed. Free card selection is very powerful so putting it on a land is the most efficient it could be, especially when that land doesn’t come into play tapped. For a three or four colour deck Zhalfirin Void probably isn’t the best land because you will want to try and maximise you colours for casting your awkwardly costed spells, in a two colour control deck however this could be the perfect land. It keeps you in a state of security by either letting you know the next card will be useful or at least getting rid of a dud card. Get ready to see a lot of this colourless land in standard, and maybe across other formats, for the months to come.
Meandering River and Timber Gorge
The last on the lands list are two that appear in the planeswalker decks. Both Meandering River and Timber Gorge both come into play tapped and add one of two colours of mana to your mana pool. These lands aren’t going to see constructed play because there are better variants from Amonkhet that also have Cycling which ups the potential value. They will play really well in the planeswalker decks and give newer players a good insight into the usefulness of a dual land.
So that brings us to the end of our look through all of the cards in Dominaria. I hope you’ve enjoyed the journey and maybe even gotten a few ideas for decks in the near future. As always Game Changers will be doing our regular Myth-Direction where we take a look at all of the Mythic Rares in Dominaria so stay tuned for that. Until then though, keep checking back to Game Changers for more gaming news, updates and set reviews and if you are looking to pick up any Magic singles be sure to check out Arcane Cards at Arcanecardshop.co.uk.
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