Diving Into Dominaria!

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Newsletter
Thursday, April 19th

It's showtime!

For weeks, we've been eagerly anticipating the Dominaria Prerelease. WotC has teased us with amazing cards like Karn, Scion of Urza, Demonlord Belzenlok, and Lyra Dawnbringer. They've debuted new mechanics like Sagas, Historic, and Legendary Sorceries. And they've given us amazing build-around cards like Multani, Yavimaya's Avatar, Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle, and Squee, the Immortal. Finally, our wait is over!

You think you're the only one who's pumped for Magic's newest set? Two-time Player of the Year, Owen Turtenwald, has been playing Magic for decades and he still can't wait to get his hands on Teferi, Hero of Dominaria. SCG Tour superstar, Emma Handy, has got her eyes on updates to Mono-Red Aggro and explains why Goblin Chainwhirler might be the best card in Dominaria. As for Pro Tour Amonkhet champion, Gerry Thompson? Let's just say he's gonna be spending a lot of time with Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle.

The best part of Magic? When a new set comes out. And Dominaria might just be the best one of all time. Have fun cracking packs this weekend my friends!

— Cedric Phillips, Content Coordinator

April 28-29
Team Constructed

May 5-6
Team Constructed

May 19-30
Modern

The True Hero
By Owen Turtenwald

Teammate Paul Rietzl famously said, "I take Garruk because it's on the pack!" He was trying to convey that because the game designers advertised the strength of the card on the front of the booster packaging, they have inside information that it's very good. It's a funny story because he was dead wrong; Garruk was extra medium in that format and Triplicate Spirits was better than all but 10 or 20 cards in the set.

Did I tell this story to mock Paul? A little, yeah. But the point is: as a competitive tournament player, remind yourself to boil the cards down to stats and nothing else, even ignoring rarity. Just because the lore says it's going to be good doesn't mean it's any good. But how does Teferi, Hero of Dominaria stack up? Is he good because he's the hero of Dominaria or despite it?

Teferi looks great to me. I wouldn't go so far as to say busted, but it's on the stronger side and there's no question in my mind about that. The first thing that caught my attention was the fact that if your opponent only has one creature on the battlefield, you can cast it and force them to untap facing a planeswalker on an empty battlefield. This has been one of the most common play patterns in Standard for as long as planeswalkers have existed and all the planeswalkers I can think of that do this have been widely adopted as solid options in Standard.

Compensating For New Technology
By Emma Handy  

Of these three, the biggest one to focus on is Goblin Chainwhirler. Goblin Chainwhirler is the easiest card to slide into Mono-Red Aggro, as it doesn't warp the deck we're building from.

The Flame of Keld can be incredibly powerful, but with the top-end that today's red decks sport, the list would need some retooling to support the Saga. Memorial to War entering the battlefield tapped almost instantly disqualifies it from making the list, and having a six-mana effect that isn't proactive stapled to the card isn't much of an upside.

In the interest of full disclosure: I'm under the impression that Goblin Chainwhirler will be the most impactful card from Dominaria at #SCGATL. The only other card that's even in the same discussion is Karn, Scion of Urza, and he's likely going to need some time to find the right home.

Goblin Chainwhirler has everything Mono-Red Aggro wants. It provides a little bit of damage up front, has a reasonable body relative to its size, rumbles in combat, and makes it more difficult for the opponent to block.

You know what some of the most miserable cards for red decks are? X/1s and things that produce them.

Three Underrated Dominaria Cards
By Gerry Thompson  

Maybe Renegade Rallier will finally find a place in Standard? Renegade Map and Unbridled Growth were always the revolt enablers, but there wasn't much to do with them. Enabling a Renegade Rallier / Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle engine means they are worth it now. They also give you a minor card drawing engine with Restoration Specialist.

Walking Ballista might not be enough of a top end, but you have Fairgrounds Warden to interact and a bunch of different engines to keep playing the game. This should be able to compete with current Standard decks.

Teshar is potentially incredible. There are so many ways to abuse it that I could build 20 different shells. Oketra's Monument; Oviya Pashiri, Sage Lifecrafter; Benalish Marshal, Song of Freyalise, Weatherlight, and Oketra the True are all probably cards I should be building with. There are also ways to build the deck that don't involve strictly green and white mana.

Teshar is going to keep me busy for a while.