Magic: The Gathering's Dominaria United Set Stages Another Phyrexian Invasion

Magic: The Gathering's 30th-anniversary celebration begins with its next expansion set, Dominaria United, which returns to the game's original setting, the plane of Dominaria, to kick off a brand new story arc. Where the game's last return to Dominaria via the game's 25th-anniversary expansion Dominaria in 2018 was an homage to the earliest Magic: The Gathering sets, Dominaria United instead pays tribute to the Invasion block of sets that ran in 2000-2001. This is reflected in the set's story, which sees the Phyrexians -- the bio-mechanical beings that have long threatened Dominaria -- making another attempt at taking control of the plane, and in its gameplay, which includes some returning fan-favorite mechanics. 

Rather than taking Dominaria by pure force, the Phyrexians are trying a subtler approach this time around. Sheoldred, a Phyrexian praetor, has somehow corrupted some of Dominaria's citizens into Phyrexian sleeper agents. Karn, the golem Planeswalker, learns of this plot. He turns to the planeswalker Ajani Goldsmane, Jaya Ballard, and Teferi to mount a defense against the Phyrexians, but they are too late. During a summit, Sheoldred activates the sleepers, and this turn bloody. Ajani retreats and prepares to muster what forces he can for a last stand against the Phyrexians, but things get complicated when he receives a message telling him that there is a spy in his midst.

One of the major returning mechanics in the set is Kicker, a popular and versatile keyword. Dominaria United will especially focus on enemy-colored kickers, encouraging deckbuilding around those color pairings. Another returning is Domain, which checks for how many different basic land types the player has under their control. 

Sagas, originally introduced in the 2018 Dominaria set, have become a staple of Magic: The Gathering across sets and planes. Dominaria United gives Sagas a new twist with the "Read Ahead" mechanic, which allows players to bring the Enchantment into play with extra counters, skipping the earlier effects in favor of getting to the end quicker. Another brand new mechanic is Enlist, which allows players to tap non-attacking creatures to boost the power of an attacking creature during combat.

What may be most exciting to longtime players is the return of "pain lands," dual-colored lands that can produce colorless mana normally, or either of two different mana colors at the additional cost of 1 life to the player. Dominaria United includes reprints of Adarkar Wastes, Caves of Koilos, Karplusan Forest, Shivan Reef, Sulfurous Springs, and Yavimaya Coast, and Wizards of the Coast representatives were mum when asked if the remaining four pain lands would appear in upcoming sets.

Dominaria United will be accompanied by a new Jumpstart set, allowing for players to jump into play by combining two randomized theme decks into a single deck. Each 20-card Jumpstart booster will include a non-foil showcase basic land card sporting the "stained glass" showcase treatment. The stained glass showcase treatment previously appeared on planeswalker cards in the War of the Spark set, but here is applied to basic lands and Legendary Creatures in boosters. There are also borderless cards, including borderless Planeswalker cards, including a reprint of the powerful Liliana of the Veil, and the pain lands receive the same treatment.

There are also two Dominaria United Commander decks on the way. One uses the Planeswalker Dihada, Binder of Wills as its commander with a black-white-red color identity. The other features Jared Carthalion, the main character of the original Magic: The Gathering comic book series, as a planeswalker who has now mastered all five mana colors (the developers hinted that other characters from Magic's early days, including Greensleeves and Garth, will make appearances in the new set).

Dominaria United comes to Magic: The Gathering Arena on September 1st, bringing with it the usual new featured artwork, a new battlefield, and new players avatars for Braids and Jaya. Pre-releases begin on September 2nd, and the full set release happens in stores on September 9th.