Magic the Gathering: I Went to the Dominaria United Prerelease – Here’s The Big Takeaways
If you don’t want to get Compleated (or if you want to ensure you do), you’ll want these Dominaria United helpful tips.
This weekend, Dominaria prepared to face its greatest foe as the Phyrexians returned for the Dominaria United Prerelease. FLGSs across the country played host to thousands of mages eager to try out the host of new spells. I was lucky enough to hit up the event on Friday and Sunday, and I think I got a pretty good feel for the big hitters and overall themes that lead to success, at least as far as Draft and Sealed are concerned. So strap in, ignore that weird crawling feeling, and check out the three big tips I learned from diving into the new set.
Domain is King
When drafting, it’s always a good idea to shoot for at least two colors, maybe even three, to get access to the most value. Dominaria United cranks that straight up to 11, rewarding players for splashing in a fourth or even fifth color. Several cards in the set benefit from having multiple types of basic land, so you’ll want your deck packed with as many as you can muster to get the most out of them.
Thankfully, a host of dual tap lands give you access to every land type without compromising a lower color deck. I was able to go full Domain in my Abazan (GWB for the uninitiated) deck with no difficulty thanks to the new lands, and the value was apparent. Make sure you draft the duals if you get the chance, even if they include a color you don’t need.
Defilers are Deceptive
Another big mechanic I saw was the Phyrexian Defilers, one in every color. These beasties let you switch the colored mana in their matched color permanents to Phyrexian, letting you get out your biggest hitters without straining your mana as much. Even better, whenever you play a matched color permanent, you get a nasty effect, from card draw to Soldier tokens to a +1/+1 counter for all your creatures! Personally, I think the blue and green Defilers are the strongest of the batch, able to give you card or creature advantage respectively, but don’t count the others out. Phyrexian mana is a powerful mechanic that can surprise an unprepared opponent.
Karn is Better Than You Think
So, full disclosure, this will require a lot of luck, but it’s worth it. I was fortunate enough to snag the new Karn, Living Legacy planeswalker card, but a few of my opponents told me he was garbage. “His created artifacts only cast other artifacts,” they said. However, that isn’t true if you read his ability. It says the Powerstone can’t be used to cast a nonartifact spell BUT says nothing about using that mana to generate abilities.
Every Powerstone is fuel for Karn’s second ability, and even a single one makes his -1 a card draw. If you can snag Karn, you can surprise your opponent with more abilities than they’re ready for, and get ahead on cards before they realize what’s happening. Just beware; savvy players will do everything they can to delete him. But even then, that’s more damage not aimed at your face or your creatures.
