Wizards Releases First Official Dominaria Preview Card Image

Following on the heels of last week's accidental release notes leak, Magic: The Gathering parent company Wizards of the Coast today offered their first official glimpse at Dominaria. It's a card called Phyrexian Scriptures, and it looks like this:

Phyrexian Scriptures is a Saga, which is perhaps the most exciting new mechanic from Dominaria. Similar to planeswalkers, they provide long-term and repetitive advantage after an initial upfront mana investment. Since Sagas are a subtype of enchantments, they're more difficult to interact with than planeswalkers. Sagas are always sacrificed after their third ability resolves.

Though Thursday's leak offered us a glimpse at over a hundred cards from the new set, none included artwork, rarity, or card borders. Therefore, Phyrexian Scriptures gives us our first look at the new template for Sagas. The vertical orientation and bisected artwork are certainly unusual, and the use of a Phyrexian watermark serves up interesting options for future implementation.

For Standard players, Phyrexian Scriptures presents a somewhat novel effect. It's a four-mana nearly-unconditional board wipe, which some might consider an upgrade over previous options such as Bontu's Last Reckoning or Yahenni's Expertise. For Modern players, this could be a viable budget alternative to Damnation (depending on its future value). And for Commander players, Scriptures presents a versatile cross-section of two desirable effects: mass removal and graveyard hate.

For more, make sure to visit Daily MTG on Wednesday, March 21, when Dominaria spoiler season officially begins.

Kyle Massa is a writer and avid Magic player living in upstate New York with his fiancée and their two cats. When he's not writing, you'll find him down at the East Greenbush Flipside store jamming booster drafts. For more of Kyle's work, visit www.kyleamassa.com or follow him on Twitter @mindofkyleam.