Throughout yesterday’s reveal stream, one thing about Dominaria United was clear; it’s going to be legendary. Not only will Magic’s next premier set feature cards from Legends in Collector Boosters, but Wizards is also introducing brand new Legends Retold Box Toppers. As if that wasn’t enough, Dominaria United is also chock full of legendary creatures!
Legends Retold Box Toppers
As a celebration of Magic: the Gathering’s 30th anniversary, Dominaria United’s Legends Retold Box Toppers are bringing a bit of Magic’s history back into the 21st century. Found atop Set, Draft, and Collector Booster boxes, the Legends Retold Box Toppers are brand new creatures inspired by legendary creatures from the original Legends set.
According to WotC, there will be 19 Legendary Creatures and one Planeswalker available as Legends Retold Box Toppers. These legendary creatures will all be traditional foils when found as Box Toppers. Non-foil and foil-etched versions can also be found in Dominaria United Collector Boosters.
As WotC noted during the Livestream, while the Legends set was “amazing and groundbreaking for its time,” a handful of characters were incredibly underpowered. This has led to many of these would be iconic cards being lost to time. Dominaria United, however, is keen to rectify this injustice in the Legends Retold series.
For example, Jasmine Boreal from Legends is incredibly underpowered by today’s standards. As a 4/5 with no extra abilities for five mana, Jasmine Boreal is almost unplayable outside of a Legends draft. Thankfully for Jasmine stans around the world, in Dominaria United, she’s reborn as Jasmine Boreal of the Seven.
Playing off their prior lack of abilities, Jasmine Boreal of the Seven now helps you cast creatures without any abilities. Those ability-less creatures also won’t be able to be blocked by creatures with abilities. With these dubiously powerful abilities of her own, Jasmine Boreal of the Seven should be ideal for a janky Commander deck.
But Wait! There’s More!
Alongside the retold Jasmine Boreal, during the Livestreams, Wizards of the Coast debuted two more Box- Toppers. First up was Ramirez DePietro. As a 4/3 for six mana, Ramirez DePietro at least had First Strike. However, there wasn’t all too much else to be excited about. Thankfully, Magic’s “most flamboyant pirate” returns to Dominaria United as Ramirez DePietro, Pillager.
With the ability to generate treasure tokens upon coming into play, and exile cards from your opponent’s library, Ramirez DePietro, Pillager lives up to their name with plenty of pillaging. As the Commander of a Pirate tribal deck, they may leave something to be desired. However, they’re still a marked improvement over their original printing.
Alongside Ramirez DePietro, Pillager, WotC also showcased the Tor Wauki and their retelling of Tor Wauki the Younger. In its original printing, Tor Wauki actually wasn’t all too terrible. With the ability to deal two damage to an attacking or blocking creature, you could certainly get some use from this expensive legendary creature. However, the new Tor Wauki the Younger is incomparably better.
Their cost of 5 mana may make them prohibitively expensive outside of draft (if it’s even in one). However, their ability to add one damage to every non-combat spell is nevertheless potent. Alongside this, Tor Wauki the Younger deals two damage to an opponent whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell. These abilities alone already make Tor Wauki the Younger a force to be reckoned with. However, they also have Lifelink. This means you’ll gain life while casting spells since they’re doing the additional damage!
The rest of Dominaria United’s Legends Retold Box-Toppers will be revealed during the set’s spoiler season. According to Wizards, we should expect plenty “more deep ducts and throwbacks.” It’s important to note that the Legends Retold Box-Toppers will only be legal in Eternal formats.
But Wait! There’s Even More!
If 19 weird and wonderful Box Topper legendary creatures aren’t enough to get you excited, Dominaria United has even more up its sleeves. Following in the footsteps of Dominaria (2018), Dominaria United will also feature one legendary in every single pack. Most of these cards will likely be uncommon. However, there should be plenty for Commander players to enjoy. The density of legendary cards could also mean the return of legendary enchantments and Sagas.
As if that wasn’t enough, Dominaria United isn’t finished there! On top of all the legendary creatures you enjoy, there are also Commander decks. Admittedly, this is not uncommon for a Standard set. However, Dominaria United literally has a deck called “Legends’ Legacy.” That’s got to count for something… Right?
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