With Ikoria’s spoilers underway, we thought it would be a good idea to put all of the information we have up and put it in one easily accessible place. So without further ado, let’s talk about this monster of a set.

The Prerelease that Wasn’t

Okay, so for those of you who were planning on prereleasing with us, I have bad news – due to the delay in the release of the set, and the general speed at which we expect to roll back out our events schedule (more on that in a separate article), there’s no prerelease for Ikoria. Instead, we’re going to be offering two different ways to get your hands on those prerelease packs.

Option 1 – The Prerelease at Home: If you choose to preorder a prerelease kit this way, you’re saying you want to participate in a prerelease event at home in some fashion. This means we’ll give you your prerelease kit PLUS the two prize boosters that we would have gotten otherwise. We’ll also give you the option to take home 10 of each basic land if you need it at no additional cost (please only choose this option if you need the basics). 

Option 2 – Just the pack: If you just want the prerelease kit, that’s 100% okay! We’re going to put our extra prerelease kits (the ones that would have been available on release day) up online, and you can purchase those by themselves.

Booster Box Bonuses! 

If you’re interested in buying a box from us for release day, we have you covered. We’ve put up all of our preorder box allocations up online (they should be up and online as this article comes out). In addition to the buy-a-box promo (see below), each preordered box will come with a box topper card featuring one of Godzilla’s classic foes! We’ll also email you a code with some extra arena swag as a thank-you for supporting a friendly local game store (while supplies last on these).

In the mood for something different?  Bundles, Theme Boosters, Collector booster boxes and Japanese boosters (and even Japanese collector boosters) are making a reappearance. Because of the relatively small number of Japanese boosters we’re receiving, we’re only offering them as individual packs at this time.

Oh yeah, and Commander! 

You thought I’d forgotten this one hadn’t you!  Yup, Commander 2020 will be out the same weekend as Ikoria. Each deck is going up online, as are sets. Choose from 5 different options! 

Ready to preorder?  Head on over to our web store and help support your FLGS!

Mechanics of Ikoria 

Magic’s giant monster set introduces two brand new mechanics, a twist to some evergreen mechanics, and brings back an older mechanic to help us take our kaiju game to the next level. Without further ado, let’s go over them, shall we?

Mutate

For those of you who played around with Unstable and Unsanctioned, mutate may feel familiar. Mutate is an alternative casting cost for creatures that let you take an existing creature and make it bigger, or give it new abilities! When you cast a card for its mutate cost, you have the option to place it on top or underneath an existing creature. If you place it on top, the older creature mutates into the newer creature, keeping all of its old abilities, counters, enchantments, etc., but getting the new creature’s power and toughness (along with any abilities the new creature has). If you put it underneath, you keep the same power and toughness and exiting abilities, but gains new abilities!

Companion

Sometimes you just need a little help! The new keyword, companion, offers that help before the game even begins! Each companion includes a deck building rule that you must follow in order to make it your chosen companion. Companions start the game in your sideboard, but revealed to all players, and you can cast them from your sideboard! Once they’re out of the sideboard, they’re just like any other creature. But sometimes, it’s just nice to know you’ve got one particular friend out there. Like a giant dinosaur hippo, or a playful elemental otter.

Keyword Tokens

Various cards in Ikoria will create token versions of common keyword abilities such as deathtouch, lifelink, flying, first strike, trample, menace, vigilance, and reach. Keyword tokens provide those abilities, but are otherwise the same as a +1/+1 token (except that adding more of the same keyword token doesn’t stack the effect).

Cycling

Cycling is an activated ability on cards in your hand that lets you discard the card and draw a replacement card. In addition, certain cards in Ikoria will have a bonus effect when cycled. Like this whirlwind of critter(s) for example: