Welcome all to the Daily Dose of Dominaria, where I’m starting off the week by talking about, what else? Legendary creatures!
Last week I went through each colour and highlighted some of their new Legendary creatures from Dominaria. Even after all of those, there are still some powerful and amazing multicolour creatures to talk about.
I’ve always been a big fan of multicolour cards, as their power level often pushes the envelope when compared to monocoloured cards. Today I’m going to talk about four new legendary creatures that are sure to make an impact thanks to their power level. Dominaria promised to deliver some Legendary goodness, and it hasn’t disappointed so far. Let’s investigate what these new creatures are bringing to the table.
One of the themes that we have seen so far in Dominaria is an increasing focus on artifacts, particularly Equipment. Now there is a new creature that will make sure each Aura and Equipment you have will be able to be used repeatedly. Here is Tiana, Ship’s Caretaker:
As we saw last week with Valduk, Keeper of the Flame, there is a small Equipment and Auras mater theme in red and white with Dominaria. Tiana, Ship’s Caretaker takes this to the next level by making all your Equipment and Auras have a Rancor like ability. They will not go to the graveyard and you will be able to cast them again on your following turn. And even without its powerful ability, at as cost of five mana, Tiana, Ship’s Caretaker still provides a solid 3/3 flying, first strike creature.
Tiana's main value is that ability where Auras nd Equipment, unless specifically targeted, won’t go to your graveyard even if the creature they're attached to dies. There currently aren’t a ton of powerful Auras and Equipment in the format, but this could change with Dominaria. Plus, cards like Tiana, Ship’s Caretaker and Valduk, Keeper of the Flame will make any existing Aura like Cartouche of Solidarity or Cartouche of Zeal more playable.
Green and white have always been known for having cards that provide value when you have multiple creatures on the battlefield. Huatli, Radiant Champion and Voice of Resurgence, for example. Dominaria continues this trend with Shanna, Sisay’s Legacy:
Shanna's abilities look quite strong, but looks can be deceiving. All I want is for this creature’s ability to say, “hexproof” instead of, “can’t be the target of abilities your opponent controls”. There aren’t a lot of abilities that I’m too worried about. I would have been much happier with the “target of spells” side of hexproof. There will be opportunities where this will come into play, however. Think of it as a bonus ability thrown on to the creature after the fact.
The main value of Shanna, Sisay’s Legacy comes when you have a ton of creatures on your side of the battlefield. When you first cast Shanna, Sisay’s Legacy it will usually be a 1/1 creature, or sometimes a 2/2. When you first attack with it, you can make it a 3/3 for a reasonable attack. You can also help it grow throughout the game by playing more creatures. Plus, being a Legendary creature will help in decks where you have spells where historic cards matter. But if you don’t have a creature heavy deck, I would stay away from playing this card.
Next up is another Wizard from Dominaria. One that allows you to cast any spell in your deck for only five mana, with a little catch. Let's look at Jodah, Archmage Eternal:
This is an odd Jeskai card in that you need to be playing a five-coloured deck to make it worth playing.
Currently, this is the only five-colour Commander that you can use for the new upcoming Brawl format just announced last week. To have this card be useful, you want to start thinking of cards with very high mana costs (seven or more) that would gain value if you only had to pay five-mana to cast them. Some of the possible candidates would be Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh, Gishath, Sun’s Avatar, and Zacama, Primal Calamity. If you have the right mana base, casting any spell in your deck for five-mana fits nicely into the mana curve for the following turn. However, examples like this will be limited and won’t occur often.
With no other abilities other than changing the mana cost of spells in your hand, I doubt that Jodah, Archmage Eternal will see play in many decks.
Lastly, I want to talk about a powerful Dragon. One that, like Tiana, Ship’s Caretaker, helps something come back repeatedly to haunt your opponent. Let's take a look at Darigaaz Reincarnated:
Now talk about a creature that can finish off your opponent! With flying, trample, and haste, this will make sure that your opponent will be caught off guard and not have the necessary blockers to defend themselves.
Having a god-like ability, comparable to The Scarab God but on a delay, means that even if your opponent can kill it, they will have to finish you off quickly before Darigaaz Reincarnated returns. I love that it has haste. That way it can immediately attack for seven damage on the turn it does return. A mana cost of seven will be a deterrent for most players, but if you can find a way to build a deck that can play this card, it will be hard to get rid of.
And there you have it folks, some powerful multicolour Legendary creatures that are sure to make an impact. Some will have an impact in Limited, and some in Standard, but they will all be cards players want to open and add to their collection.
Thanks again for reading the Daily Dose of Dominaria. I don’t know about you, but I’m getting more and more excited about this new set and can’t wait to see what else it has to offer. Join me again tomorrow as I analyze four more multicolour Legendary creatures from Dominaria.
