Wizards of the Coast announces a variety of new and returning cards Magic the Gathering In its upcoming set release, Dominaria Unitedon Thursday, Six of these cards are returning “Pain Lands”, a nickname they have acquired for doing damage to their controller anytime they are tapped for mana color.
Three of these six are entering the land Magic‘s The Pioneer format, for the first time, marks a new level of balance at the power level of the three popular color combinations that have had to manage with resource disparity since the format’s inception in 2019.
pain land exists Magic since 1995, when five of them were introduced in ice age group. Five more were printed in the 2001s Apocalypse Set, complete the land circle for all 10 color pairs, Over the years, these lands have been reprinted from time to time in various sets, sometimes all at once, other times in small groups, but for fans of two- or more-colored decks to smooth out the colour. Have often been useful if not dear resources. Requirements at a relatively modest cost of one life per color of mana.
Although these lands have been around long enough that all 10 are legal to play in Magic‘s The larger formats, such as Modern and Commander, are not the case for all competitive players. Especially those playing pioneer or explorer.
To fully understand the disparity in Pioneer’s available lands, it helps to understand a concept in the game called Color Pie, a design philosophy that determines what each of the game’s mana colors are on different cards. are able to. Five colors make up 10 pairs, and these 10 pairs are often divided into two groups – enemy pairs and allied pairs. For example, the associated pairs sit next to each other on the pie: white/blue, blue/black, black/red, red/green, and green/white. The remaining combinations, the enemy pairs, sit facing each other on the pie.
The last time the land of pain was printed a Magic The standard set was in the 2015 set magic original, In which only the above enemy pairs were included. The remaining affiliated pairs have not seen any standard reprints since 2007. tenth edition — Full five years ahead of Pioneer’s available cardpool, which begins 2012 Back to Ravnika. In fact, it gives Pioneer decks built around five enemy pairs that built in advantage over associated color decks, as enemy pairs have more lands to choose from when looking for mana sources.
To make matters more difficult, even setting aside the lands of pain, enemy color pairs have more lands to choose from due to other disparities between the non-basic lands available in Pioneer. Although Wizards has done a good job of representing all 10 color pairs in recent years, some of the sets released before Pioneer even existed contribute to this resource imbalance.
To make matters more difficult, enemy color pairs have more land to choose from.
Another major example of this issue is seen in 2016. Kaladesh, which featured a circle of five enemy dual lands known as “sharp lands”, which earned their nickname because they do not enter the battlefield if there are less than three others already under the player’s control. are land. Five affiliated Fast Lands exist, and were introduced in 2010. Mirodin’s Marks, But they have not since been reprinted in a standard set, making them ineligible for pioneer play. As a result, while the other popular dual land cycles that see Pioneer play are available in every color pair, it is the absence of these 10 associated dual lands that give enemy colors an inherent advantage and may affect the competitive viability of nascent strategies. Huh. There is no access to these vital resources.
he is there Dominaria United comes in. Three of the five missing Pain lands are finally entering the format, offering red/black, blue/white, and red/green color pairs a new level of flexibility that could potentially introduce new decks to that format. Can maintain an existing deck that was previously struggling, or reinforce ones that had to do with incomplete mana.
One way to predict the effects of these three new lands is by comparing their color pairs against specific deck styles that are not currently present in the format. For example, Pioneer has never had a consistent red/green ramp deck, sometimes referred to as a red/green monster. This type of deck is traditionally defined by cheap green “ramp” spells, which include 1-mana green creatures, which generate additional mana at the start of the game which can then cast larger and more expensive red creatures. Accelerates the deck’s ability to perform tricks that outperform an opponent’s strategy.
Since Pioneer is so limited in red/green dual land that it can tap for colors both early and late in the game, a traditional monster ramp deck in these colors does not exist in the format. But apart from Karpulsan One Dominaria United That may eventually change, providing a new home for a classic like Llanovar Elves to coexist with the new dominaria Cards such as Squi, Dubious Monarch or Shivan’s Devastator in an offensive deck.
In addition to the land, it has another iconic reprint Dominaria United It’s likely to make a big splash on Pioneer—and to a lesser extent, every format where it’s playable—on Liliana of Veil. Over the years, this 3-mana planeswalker has been a major presence and staple in various formats, but is no longer available to Pioneer players.
Historically, Liliana fits into gimmicky and disruptive strategies known as midrange decks that prolong the game with a steady stream of removal spells, hand disruptions, cheap creatures, and sticky aircraft carriers. When she appears in Modern Midrange decks, she acts as the glue that provides the deck with a little extra support for the highest angle of attack to handle the game. Her +1 loyalty ability keeps cards out of opponents’ hands, her -2 helps keep the board clear, and if she sticks around long enough, her last-6 ability essentially resets the game. , making it impossible to ever recover it.
Midrange players will be especially thrilled by his reprint because Pioneer already has a powerful red/black midrange strategy, which most players agree is one of the top decks of the format. Liliana, along with the new red/black pain land, are easy additions to the red/black midrange deck that currently dominates Pioneer and Explorer play. Of course these situations always raise the classic question, “What do you do to make room for Liliana?” But there is little room for doubt that he is in the deck and will be a new powerhouse in the format.
Dominaria United goes live Magic: The Gathering Arena And Magic: The Gathering Online September 1, followed by its paper release September 9.
