Welcome all to the Daily Dose of Dominaria, where everything is coming up Legendary!
So far this week, we have seen Baneslayer Angel version 2.0 in the form of Lyra Dawnbringer and a Legendary creature that could draw you 20 cards and make you lose 20 life with Demonlord Belzenlok. Today I'm changing my focus to the new red Legendary creatures from Dominaria.
When I think of red cards, I think of aggressive decks that can finish off your opponent quickly. Standard currently has some Legendary creatures that help you with that like Kari Zev, Skyship Raider and Pia Nalaar. However, Dominaria’s red Legendary creatures want you to play a more controlling long game, and you know what? That’s okay!
First off, I want to talk about a character that we have seen before on a Magic card. Here is Squee, the Immortal.
We've seen a creature that you could cast from your graveyard before in the form of Gravecrawler. We have also seen a creature you could cast from exile with Misthollow Griffin. Combine those abilities and there isn’t anything currently in Magic that can get rid of the pesky Squee, the Immortal. This means you can have a blocking creature every turn, if you have the three mana to spend on it.
Another good thing about Squee, the Immortal is that it’s a Goblin. This works well with the reprinted Siege-Gang Commander, allowing you to have a Goblin to sacrifice every turn for damage. Squee, the Immortal also works well with some of the black Legendary creatures that want you to sacrifice your own creatures like Whisper, Blood Liturgist and Torgaar, Famine Incarnate. Its one major drawback is that weak 2/1 body on a three-mana creature.
We're seeing a lot more Equipment cards in Dominaria, so it only makes sense to have a Legendary creature that takes advantage of that. Here is Valduk, Keeper of the Flame.
To start off you get a 3/2 body for a three-mana creature, which isn’t too bad. Often you don’t want to stack all your Auras and Equipment onto one creature, but Valduk lets you do that and still have a wide threat of creatures during your attack. Currently there isn’t any powerful Equipment in Standard, with none of the current Equipment seeing play in any Standard decks. This will change in Dominaria, with a slew of new Equipment being added to the mix. This should make Valduk a more viable threat.
There are currently a few red Auras in Standard that could also work well with Valduk, Keeper of the Flame. Cartouche of Zeal will not only prevent Valduk, Keeper of the Flame from being blocked, but it will have the same effect on your 3/1 elemental creatures. Consuming Fervor will make Valduk, Keeper of the Flame harder to kill when it attacks, so you can get more attacks in with it. Other Auras like See Red, Giant Spectacle, and Swashbuckling will all make Valduk, Keeper of the Flame harder to kill when it attacks.
Bladewings have made an appearance in previous sets with cards like Rorix Bladewing and Tarox Bladewing. The Bladewings return in Dominaria with Verix, Bladewing.
My wife doesn’t really play Magic at all, but when I’m working on these articles and reviewing the new cards she always wants to know if there is a new Dragon in the set.
Dominaria didn’t disappoint with Verix, Bladewing. With Glorybringer in the five-mana slot, it’s nice that this card fits just under it in the mana curve. If you happen to draw this card later in the game, you will be able to get two Dragons for the price of one and ¾. I will not mind spending seven mana on two 4/4 flying creatures. Just be aware that the token it produces when kicked is Legendary, so if you play multiple Verix, Bladewing and still have your legendary Karox Bladewing token on the battlefield, you won’t get a second one. I do believe that most players will play one to two of these in their deck to get some help with scoring those last points of damage.
Now that we’ve seen what Dominaria has in store for red Legendary creatures, let me have a look at what Standard currently has for them.
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Captain Lannery Storm
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Etali, Primal Storm
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Hazoret the Fervent
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Kari Zev, Skyship Raider
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Neheb, the Eternal
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Pia Nalaar
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As you can see, red Legendary creatures in Standard are currently some of the most currently played. Each of the new red Legendary creatures from Dominaria have some new and interesting abilities that could impact the format.
Thanks again for reading the Daily Dose of Dominaria as I continue analyzing legendary creatures this week. Join me again tomorrow as I finish off legendary creature week by talking about some awesome new green legendary creatures from Dominaria.
