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Welcome to the Multiverse!
Magic: the Gathering is a Trading Card Game, the first of its kind, developed by Richard Garfield and his playtesters for the gaming company Wizards of the Coast in 1993. The game quickly became a hit, and it is currently bigger than it has ever been. You and your opponents play the role of dueling planeswalkers, wizards able to travel between dimensions known as planes to gather unique magic. Using customized decks made up of your spells, the creatures you can summon, your mana bonds with lands, and even other planeswalkers you can call in to help out, you try to defeat your foes.
For Magic's 25th Anniversary, we return to the world that started it all, Dominaria! Richard Garfield has returned as part of the design team, too! This set is history themed, showcasing major events in the world's past and its many modern legends. In the story, the now buff Jace attempts to meet up with the rest of the Gatewatch on Dominaria, but first they'll have to team up with planeswalkers of old to take down the resurgent Cabal.
Note that the majority of discussion happens on Discord now, but we'll be available for any questions here.
Now... wait, the prerelease date is April 21? This seems early for card reveals.
... Oh, there was a leak. This time, it was Wizards' own fault, accidentally publishing the release notes early. They decided to go with it and release some articles for the set this week. They initially announced plans for Monday and Tuesday, but changed them, and we don't know what they'll do from there.
As such, about 2/3 of the set is out there, albeit without pictures. You can see card mockups here.
Anyway, Dominaria brings about some major changes to how cards are formatted. Let's take this guy as an example.
- First of all, note that there's a line separating the rules text and flavor text.
- Secondly, they have switched from using "he or she" and "his or her" to "they" and "their", which has caused some dumb people to throw fits, as you'd expect.
- Cards no longer spell out that mana goes to the mana pool. Llanowar Elves' ability now simply reads, "Add G."
- Legendary cards other than planeswalkers now have design flourishes in the title bar.
- And the big functional change for last. Planeswalker damage redirection is no longer a thing! This rule said that if you dealt noncombat damage to a player, you could redirect it to a planeswalker they controlled. Instead, over 700 cards have gotten errata to spell out when they can deal damage to planeswalkers. Cards like Lightning Bolt used to read, "Lightning Bolt deals 3 damage to target creature or player," but now read, "Lightning Bolt deals 3 damage to any target." Confusingly, they have printed some new cards in this set that deal damage to target creature or player, and they actually do just deal damage to creatures and players. Here's the full list of how cards have been changed.
- Abilities that read "target creature or player" have been changed to "any target."
- Abilities that read "target player" have been changed to "target player or planeswalker." However, if the amount of damage is calculated by using information about that player or objects they control, the ability remains unchanged and can now damage only the player.
- Abilities that read "target opponent" have been changed to "target opponent or planeswalker" with the same exception listed above. These spells and abilities can target a planeswalker you control.
- Abilities that deal damage but don't call for a target haven't received errata, with one exception (Vial Smasher the Fierce).
Official guide to starting Magic
To see what a game is like, check out Geek and Sundry's Spellslinger series (now discontinued), where Day[9] battled various geek celebrities, often losing, using simple and easy to follow decks.
Though it's now discontinued in light of the upcoming Magic Arena, Magic Duels is still available to download for a single player Magic experience, and it can help a lot for figuring out the rules.
For the physical card game, there are many ways to get on board. If you go to a local game store (LGS), the owner will give you a simple Welcome Deck for free, after demonstrating how to play the game. Planeswalker Decks are pre-constructed decks with four brand new cards, including unique planeswalker cards, and two additional booster packs, going for an MSRP of $14.99. While not particularly strong, they will allow you to actually play casual games. If you want to build your own deck, a Deckbuilder's Toolkit will give you a decent starting collection of cards for an MSRP of $19.99, including 125 semi-random cards, basic lands, four booster packs, and perhaps most importantly, a good box for your cards. When they are released in April, Challenger Decks will allow you to compete in Standard tournaments for an MSRP of $29.99, and the total card values (before release) are far beyond that.
Game stores will hold Magic Open House events specifically meant for new players, with people there to give you Welcome Decks and play teaching games. Experienced players are also encouraged to participate and help beginners, and everyone will get a promotional card for attending.
The big thing to look forward to, however, is the Prerelease event held for every set. You play in the Sealed format, where every player is given a box with six booster packs and a random additional rare card. From this pool of cards, all of which you keep, each player builds a deck of 40 cards and participates in a Swiss-system tournament. This is a fun and casual event, where everyone is still trying to figure out the set, so don't worry about messing up. In addition to normal duels, there are also Two-Headed Giant events, where you pair up with another player and face off against another team.
Magic Open House events will be on April 14-15, 2018. Prerelease events will be held on April 21-22, 2018. Call your local game store a few days ahead of time to register for the Prerelease, or they might just run out of room. Find local game stores here.
Number of Cards: 269
Magic Open House: April 14-15, 2018
Prerelease Weekend: April 21-22, 2018
Release Date: April 27, 2018
Card image gallery
Mechanics
Dominaria has a legendary spell and history theme.
This set is legend... (wait for it)
Legendary Sorcery
There are tons of legendary creatures and every booster pack is guaranteed to have at least one. But there are also legendary noncreature permanents, and as a new addition, legendary sorceries. These spells can only be cast if you control a legendary creature or planeswalker--the idea is that they're the ones casting it. Each of these spells reflects a significant moment in Dominaria's history.
Nicol Bolas'
Historic
Saga enchantments tell a story over time, such as the events of the Ice Age. When they enter the battlefield and at the start of your first main phase, you put a lore counter on it, and the chapter ability tied to that number of counters happens. At the end, you sacrifice the enchantment. Historic refers to any Saga, legendary, or artifact card. Artifacts because it's right in the name. Various cards care about historic cards.
And here's the kicker
Kicker returns, appropriate for a set celebrating history. This is by far one of the most versatile mechanics in Magic: if a card has a kicker cost, you can pay that as an additional cost when casting it to get another effect.
SCHEDULE
Premier events schedule
Challenger Decks
Release Date: April 6, 2018
Duel Decks: Elves vs. Inventors
Release Date: April 6, 2018
Dominaria
Magic Open House: April 14-15, 2018
Prerelease Weekend: April 21-22, 2018
Release Date: April 27, 2018
Draft Weekend: April 28-29, 2018
Magic League Begins: April 30, 2018
Standard Showdown Begins: May 6, 2018
Store Championship: June 30 - July 1, 2018
Magic Online Launch: April 23, 2018
On Sale in Magic Online: April 27, 2018
Commander Anthology Volume II
Release Date: June 8, 2018
Battlebond
Start of reveals: May 21, 2018
Preview events: June 1-3, 2018
Release Date: June 8, 2018
Signature Spellbook: Jace
Release Date: June 15, 2018
Global Series Jiang Yanggu & Mu Yanling
Release Date: June 22, 2018
Core Set 2019
Start of reveals: June 18, 2018
Magic Open House: June 30–July 1, 2018
Prerelease Weekend: July 7-8, 2018
Draft Weekend: July 14-15, 2018
Store Championship: September 15-16, 2018
Magic Online Launch: July 16, 2018
On Sale in Magic Online: July 20, 2018
HIGHLIGHTS
Previous thread
Week of March 10, 2018 - Tree of Redemption was last minute replacement; no slivers in Dominaria; planeswalker redirection rule change in Dominaria; major Dominaria leak; leak acknowledged and previews adjusted; Homarid Explorer
Week of March 12, 2018 - Phyrexian Scriptures; card reveals moved to later; Phyrexian Scriptures full art; Heroes of Dominaria board game and miniatures; GAMA Magic panel; Magic Arena argument; Alpha Investments opens nearly identical Masters 25 boxes; Arena - NDA drop date, Amonkhet block update; Play Design - Designing Masters 25; Blogatog - diversity complaining; Grand Prix Phoenix
Week of March 19, 2018 - Battlebond info; Signature Spellbook: Jace full reveal; Arena - Amonkhet patch details and starting decklists; How Famous Cards Were Made
Wednesday, March 21, 2018 - Promo cards; Mothership articles and Duel Decks: Elves vs. Inventors full reveal; Buy a Box promo exclusive card; Brawl format; Dominaria world map; Magic Story - Return to Dominaria part 1; Dominaria trailer
Thursday, March 22, 2018 - Magic Story comic; Magic Story - Return to Dominaria part 2; Brawl rules; Arena - no mythic wildcards from vault; Arena - Closed Beta streams and feedback; promo cards
Friday, March 23, 2018 - Merfolk Trickster; Arena - Jon Finkel hot take; new green planeswalker art; Arena - Single match hand selection
Weekend of March 24, 2018 - Arena - Krip's impressions
Monday, March 26, 2018 - Triumph of Gerrard; Wizard's Lightning; Wizard's Retort; Danitha Capeshen, Paragon; Planeswalker Deck cards; History of Benalia; Access Magic Dominaria: Sagas
Tuesday, March 27, 2018 - The First Eruption; Arena - Economy update; card sleeves with new logo
Wednesday, March 28, 2018 - Magic Story - Return to Dominaria part 3; Time of Ice; the art of The First Eruption; Arena - RNGEternal deep dive into Arena economics; Magic Story comic
Thursday, March 29, 2018 - The Mirari Conjecture; Powerstone Shard; Access Magic Dominaria: The World
Friday, March 30, 2018 - Karn's Temporal Sundering
Weekend of March 31, 2018 - April Fools - Colossal Dreadmaw; April Fools - Signature Spellbook: Blood Moon; Cabal Evangel; Cabal Paladin; Caligo Skin-Witch
Monday, April 2, 2018 - Teferi, Hero of Dominaria; Mox Amber art; Board the Weatherlight; Jaya Ballard; Weatherlight; Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain; Raff Capashen, Ship's Mage; Tiana, Ship's Caretaker; Arvad the Cursed; Slimefoot, the Stowaway; Knight of Malice; Demonlord Belzenlok; Icy Manipulator; Squee, the Immortal; Chainer's Torment; Dominaria Teferi trailer; Access Magic Dominaria: The Story; Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle; Territorial Allosaurus
Tuesday, April 3, 2018 - Tatyova, Benthic Druid; Rona, Disciple of Gix; Valduk, Keeper of the Flame; Naban, Dean of Iteration; Serra Angel; Shalai, Voice of Plenty; Yawgmoth's Vile Offering; Song of Freyalise; Kamahl's Druidic Vow; Lyra Dawnbringer; Seal Away; Dauntless Bodyguard; Siege-Gang Commander; Goblin Warchief; Muldrotha, the Gravetide; Darigaaz Reincarnated; Karn, Scion of Urza; red blue wizard legend
Wednesday, April 4, 2018 - Karn's construct token; Divest; Sage of Lat-Nam; Ghitu Chronicler: Memorial land cycle; Slinn Voda, the Rising Deep; Tolarian Scholar; Magic Story - Return to Dominaria part 4; Grunn, the Lonely King; why bad cards exist; Two-Headed Giant; Magic Story comic; Baird, Steward of Argive; Oath of Teferi; Helm of the Host; Gilded Lotus
Thursday, April 5, 2018 - Llanowar Envoy; Bold Archeologist; Urgoros, the Empty One; Verix Bladewing and Karox Bladewing token; Jodah, Archmage Eternal; Precognition Field; Goblin Chainwhirler; Adventurous Impulse; Damping Sphere; The Eldest Reborn; Unwind; Drudge Sentinel; Fire Elemental; Syncopate; Thorn Elemental; Mesa Unicorn; Juggernaut; Naru Meha, Master Wizard; Lotus Guardian in background of Gilded Lotus; Primeval's Glorious Rebirth
Friday, April 6, 2018 - Rite of Belzenlok; Challenger Deck release; dual lands; Marwyn, the Nurturer; Blessed Light; Cabal Stronghold; Josu Vess, Lich Knight; Academy Journeymage; Benalish Honor Guard; The Antiquities War; Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive
Weekend of April 7, 2018 - Grand Prix Seattle; Arcane Flight; Dread Shade; prowess as an evergreen mechanic; Evra, Halcyon Witness;
Monday, April 9, 2018 - Gaea's Blessing; Final Parting; Multani, Yavimaya's Avatar; Magic Magic - A Historic Story; Skirk Prospector; Hallar, the Firefletcher; Elfhame Druid; Baloth Gorger; Llanowar Scout; Torgaar, Famine Incarnate; Benalish Marshall
Tuesday, April 10, 2018 - Pegasus Courser; On Serra's Wings; Divination; Aven Sentry; Cloudreader Sphinx; Warcry Phoenix; Orcish Vandal; Navigator's Compass; Bloodtallow Candle; Skittering Surveyor; Untamed Kavu; Jhoira's Familiar; Mishra's Self-Replicator; Urza's Tome; Kwende, Pride of Femeref; Settle the Score; Garna, the Bloodflame; Whipser, Blood Liturgist; fighting game skin color argument; Lich's Mastery
Wednesday, April 11, 2018 - Sylvan Awakening; In Bolas's Clutches; Gaea's Protector; Aryel, Knight of Windgrace; Fungal Plots; Spore Swarm; The Mending of Dominaria; Thran Temporal Gateway; Magic Story - Return to Dominaria part 5; Weight of Memory; Yargle, Glutton of Urborg; Kazarov, Sengir Pureblood; Traxos, Scourge of Kroog; Verdant Force
Thursday, April 12, 2018 - Full reveal; name of every Dominaria set hidden in cards; set symbol is stained glass
Friday, April 13, 2018 and weekend - Update bulletin; Pre-Prerelease; history of Dominaria through cards
Week of April 16, 2018 -No banned & restricted changes; Making Magic - Stories from Dominaria part 1; Dominaria survey; Limited Set Review: White; Tim O'Hara new head of operations, card printing change with Dominaria; Completely & Unquestionably Accurate History: Dominaria - Chapter 1: Urza; legendary character descriptions, including nonbinary Hallar; Magic Story - Return to Dominaria part 6; Arena - Dominaria, New Zealand pack codes, paid purchases; Story comic; Limited Set Review: Blue; MTGO legendary frames; Arena - Draft; Ashodin will be streaming Magic Arena's updates early; Limited Set Review: Black; First Look: Dominaria Future Future League; Limited Set Review: Red; Limited Set Review: Green; Dominaria prerelease
Week of April 23, 2018 - Hasbro Q1 financial report; Making Magic - Stories from Dominaria part 2; tournament rules update; Magic Story - Return to Dominaria part 7; Arena - Dominaria, draft, and pack purchases added; card coatings change; Completely & Unquestionably Accurate History: Dominaria - Chapter 2: Weatherlight Saga
Week of April 30, 2018 - news about core set planeswalker decks and Battlebond; Making Magic - Stories from Dominaria part 3; Arena - Developer AMA; 25th Anniversary art book Concepts & Legends; survey about eSports; Arena - first flash event; Magic Story - Return to Dominaria part 8; Story comic; A New Era - changes to how they're releasing products, explanation of theme booster packs; rules change coming to prevent you from casting Squee from Ixalan's Binding; Battlebond - dual lands and draft explanation; The M-Files: Dominaria - White, Blue, Black; Core Set 2019 cards in Dominaria boxes; Teferi land untapping problems
Week of May 7, 2018 - Making Magic - The Saga of Sagas; interview with Jenn Ravenna; shipping stories; Commander Anthology II deck lists; old story Loran's Smile about Feldon; Magic Story - Return to Dominaria part 9; new shipping story; MTG Futures; Brawl rules updates; more Core Set 2019 cards; Arena - State of the Beta and Kaladesh; Great Designer Search 3 proper starting next week; M-Files Dominaria - Red, Green, Gold, and Artifacts; Constructed Set Review - Gold, Artifacts, and Lands; Drive to Work - Lessons Learned: Amonkhet; green land based card drawing; red Wheel of Fortune effects
Week of May 14, 2018 - Announcement Day coming Friday; GDS3 discussion resumes in its thread; Magic Story - Return to Dominaria part 10; Story comic; article about card cardboard; Magic Story podcast - Otaria and the Cabal; Announcement Day - three Ravnica sets; Buy a Box promos continue; Battlebond - Pir, Imaginative Rascal; Toothy, Imaginary Friend; Mu Yanling and Jiang Yanggu
Battlebond
Monday, May 21, 2018 - Doubling Season; Rowan and Will Kenrith; articles; Pir's Whim; Soulblade Corrupter; Souldblade Renewer; bunch of cards
Tuesday, May 22, 2018 - True-Name Nemesis; Sower of Temptation; Vigor; Generous Patron; Veteran Explorer; Swords to Plowshares; Land Tax; Tidespout Tyrant; Diabolic Intent; Game Plan; Stolen Strategy; Boldwyr Intimidator; Arena Rector; Chain Lightning; Impulse; Regna's Sanction; Saltwater Stalwart; Sickle Dancer; Thrasher Brute; Virtus's Virtue; The Crowd Goes Wild; Jungle Wayfinder; Greater Good
Wednesday, May 23, 2018 - Krav, the Unredeemed; Regna, the Redeemer; Kor Spiritdancer; Nirkana Revenant; Seedborn Muse; Kraken Hatchling; Last One Standing; Bramble Sovereign; Out of Bounds; Spellseeker; Magic Story - Return to Dominaria part 11; Chakram Slinger; Chakram Retriever; Lava-Field Overlord; Together Forever; Khorvath Brightflame; Sylvia Brightspear; Stadium Vendors; Gang Up; Cheering Fanatic; Magus of the Candelabra; Skyshroud Claim; Skystreamer; Ley Weaver; Lore Weaver; Jubilant Mascot; Inner Demon; Fumble
Thursday, May 24, 2018 - Spell Snare; Beast Within; Blaring Captain; Blaring Recruiter; Grothama, All-Devouring; Sentinel Tower; Archon of Valor's Reach; Najeela, the Blade-Blossom; Arcane Artisan; Zndrsplt's Judgement; Bonus Round; Mystic Confluence; Brightling; Victory Chimes; Mind's Eye; Thrilling Encore; Azra Oddsmaker; Mangara of Corondor; Saddleback Lagac
Friday, May 25, 2018 and weekend - Mycosynth Lattice; full reveal
Week of May 28, 2018 - Interview with Nic Kelman; return of Spellslingers; Magic Story - Return to Dominaria part 12 - Finale; M19 cards from Spellslingers introduction; Arena - Kaladesh update coming with several free cards; Pro Tour Dominaria; Battlebond preview event
Week of June 4, 2018 - If Goblin Chainwhirler should be banned; Core Set 2019 thread titles; Global Series: Jiang Yanggu & Mu Yanling card reveals; first Weekly MTG stream, with M19 story information and Standard Showdown basic lands; Rhystic Studies - Legends Need Not Apply
Week of June 11, 2018 - M19 - Promos, Welcome and Planeswalker Deck cards; M19 - Vivien Reid; M19 - Vivien's Invocation; Storm Scale: Mirrodin and Scars of Mirrodin blocks; M19 - Infernal Judgment; M19 - Tezzeret, Cruel Machinist; M19 - Liliana, the Necromancer; Blogatog - prowess not doing well as evergreen, changing the power/toughness switching rules; Magic Story - Chronicles of Bolas: The Twins; M19 - Death Baron; M19 - Sarkhan, Dragonsoul; M19 - Sarkhan's Whelp; M19 - Ajani, Wise Counselor; M19 - Court Cleric; M19 - Tezzeret's Strider; M19 - Vivien of the Arkbow; M19 - Vivien's Jaguar; M19 - Planeswalker Deck cards; M19 - Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants; M19 - Nicol Bolas, the Ravager // Nicol Bolas, the Arisen; Spellslingers - vs. Clare Grant; M19 - Vaevictus Asmadi, the Dire; M19 - Lathliss, Dragon Queen; Magic Story ending official Spanish translations; Grand Prix Las Vegas Beta draft
RESOURCES
Official articles - Nicknamed the Mothership, these articles are the primary source of news. Recommended columns are Making Magic, written by the head designer, Mark Rosewater (aka MaRo); Magic Story, which tells the story, written by various authors; and Play Design, written by various Magic developers. The other articles generally discuss deck building.
Card image gallery - Best way to see all of the spoiled cards together, but only updates once a day.
Blogatog - Tumblr ran by Mark Rosewater where he answers questions, updates very frequently.
Drive to Work - Mark Rosewater's weekly podcast about Magic that he literally records as he drives to work. Two episodes are released every Friday.
MTG Reddit - The best place to get new card information. The community sucks, though.
Mythic Spoiler - A good way to see what cards have been spoiled, updates throughout the day.
Gatherer - The official method of searching through released cards. Has autocomplete.
Scryfall - The better search method, with bigger cards, but it doesn't have autocomplete.
Game store locator
OTHER THREADS
Arena Closed Beta on Gaming side
Rivals of Ixalan
Great Designer Search 3
Hangouts OT
Last GAF thread - Ixalan
ary
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