Magic: The Gathering turns 30 next year. A classic card game dominaria united, the first set of new story arcs. The game returns to its original setting, Dominaria, his one of the most famous planes in the history of Magic. There, a cast of familiar races and characters face an all-new attack from one of his greatest threats to the multiverse: the Phyrexians.
IGN reveals new cards for Dominaria United. This goes hand in hand with his 30-plus years of worldbuilding that makes Dominaria so special for his Magic fans. Introducing Sera Paragon:
Paragon for card design? You’ll know right away.
This card references major Dominaria history. “Serra is a powerful Planeswalker who came to Dominaria thousands of years before the events of the Dominaria Confederacy,” explains story game his designer Roy Graham. “At the time, planeswalker powers were nearly limitless, so she was able to create many angels (something akin to Serra Paragon!). A church was established in her honor and she came to be worshiped.
“Her angels still inhabit this plane connect her to new stories, and she is intrinsically connected to the Phyrexians. was invaded by the Phyrexians and eventually collapsed to prevent a complete Phyrexian takeover, so while Serra is now dead, there is clearly Phyrexian vengeance out there!”
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“The immediately obvious utility of Sera Paragon is what Ethan Fleischer, Senior Game Designer at Play & Design, said in response to my question about which decks and strategies Sera Paragon would be best suited for. : A land that sacrifices itself to find another land to put into play from your library. These fetch lands can easily go into your graveyard and ensure a steady flow of lands when Paragon comes into play. You can also cash them out quickly for a small life total increase!
“Other applications are decks containing creatures with powerful enters-the-battlefield effects. elite spellbinder: Being able to repeat these effects can be a headache for opponents who basically have to deal with them twice.
Finally, we find Serra Paragon to be fun with little artifacts that sacrifice themselves for some kind of effect. It would be great fun to double them while increasing lives!
Open Khan of Hoop Ass
We’ve already mentioned the rough writing of the Dominaria United story, but given how important it is, we also enlisted Ethan Fleischer and Roy Graham to help set the scene. “Dominaria is undergoing a plane-wide renewal. With the demon Belzenlok dispatched and the great plane crisis gone, the world’s inhabitants have a moment to catch their breath,” says Graham. “Of course, just in time for the Phyrexians to arrive.”
The Phyrexians will be central to the events that unfold. They “are artificial, biomechanical beings trying to overtake the multiverse one facet at a time,” Graham continues. “One of New Phyrexia’s chief praetors or leaders, he is Sheoldred, who is slowly spreading his influence across the plane of Dominaria…Sheoldred’s attack plans are devastating before she unleashes her full power. Lots of infiltration and subtlety involved: sleeper agents and betrayals across Dominaria United.
Great art, strong looking cards.
“Facing Sheoldred and her ever-growing Phyrexian army are familiar faces. Most notably Karn, a metal figure who has fought the Phyrexians many times over the years and across planes. A Planeswalker: Jodah, an immortal archmage from Dominaria’s past, joins Karn’s efforts to defeat the Phyrexians, along with the Planeswalkers Jaya and Teferi.”
These are big names in Magic players, and Wizards already hints at giving many players quite a twist. And of course, the story plays a big part in the game design as well. Some mechanics “represent what’s happening in the story right now,” says Fleischer. “The people of Dominaria must set aside their differences and unite in the face of a common enemy. There are two (or more!) kicker cards whose kicker cost is a different color than the card’s casting cost. ) nations joining forces, The Domain encourages all of Dominaria to unite and play in all five colors of the deck!
The power of multiple colors on the left, and the versatile kicker effect on the right.
“The new recruit mechanic also represents Dominaria’s creatures teaming up,” he continues. This allows players to build massive attackers while keeping other creatures relatively safe!”
Other mechanics tie into the plane’s rich lore and many milestones. “Legendary represents a character with roots in the past. Each booster pack contains one of his legendary creatures,” explains Fleischer. “Sagas tell stories of events from previous sets, especially stories that are likely to be relevant to future stories. We have a mechanism.”
The left side is a powerful enlistment effect, and the right side is a saga with a look ahead.
It’s clear how tight the integration of storytelling and gameplay will be in Dominaria United, and it speaks to how the team benefits from Magic’s nearly three decades of existence. I ask Ethan Fleischer how all that experience influenced how the team approached the set: “Dominaria is the setting for more than 25 of his Magic sets, A lot of it is from very early in the history of gaming,” he says. “Since then, our worldbuilding philosophy has evolved. Denied identity and established the identity of Dominaria. was Its history.
“Having its identity so firmly established has given Dominaria United the freedom to focus more on concepts that resonate more with what is happening in the current storyline. Fighting in the second Phyrexian invasion. Who’s the best fit for ? What are the mechanics that emphasize the formation of alliances and bring them back to the original Invasion set? How can we prepare our audiences for the best possible enjoyment of Magic’s story next year?”
It’s an early sign that this freedom is paying off, but we’ll know for sure when Dominaria United launches on MTGA on September 2nd and tabletop on September 9th.Revealed Cards – Go to Magic’s Dominaria United Homepage.
Cam Shea has been with IGN for a long time and plays more than he used to Breath of the Wild than any other game. I also love CCG and when I’m not playing games mixing record.
