The Details
Paper Magic Release Date: Friday May 15th, 2020
Magic: The Gathering Arena Release Date: April 16th, 2020
Available Paper Magic Products:
- Booster Box – a box of 36 15-card booster packs.
- Collector Booster – Contents: 6 foil commons/uncommons, 1 foil basic land, 1 Commander-focused card, 1 non-foil extended art rare/mythic rare, 1 foil rare/mythic rare, 2 non-foil showcase commons/uncommons, 1 non-foil showcase rare/mythic rare or borderless planeswalker, 1 non-foil alt-art Godzilla Series Monster card, 1 foil showcase or borderless planeswalker, 1 premium token.
- Theme Booster – These larger booster packs are full of cards all based on a single theme, like a color or color pair.
- Bundle – 10 15-card booster packs, 20 foil lands, 1 alternate art card
The Mechanics
Every expansion comes with interesting new mechanics. Some of them will be brand new, but Wizards always brings something back from the past. The mechanics from Ikoria are listed below.
Cycling

Cycling is a returning mechanic. The cycling mechanic allows players to pay a cost (often a mana cost) to allow them to discard the card with the cycling ability and draw another card.
Wizards uses this ability on cards to add additional flexibility. You have the option to pay the cycling cost and simply pitch the card for a replacement if the card isn’t useful. Some of the cards will even had additional effects tied to cycling the card.

Keyword Counters
Longtime MtG players will be very familiar with +1/+1 and loyalty counters. These appear in almost every set in one form or another. Ikoria introduces Keyword Counters. Certain cards and abilities will allow you to place counters that include abilities like Flying and Trample to creatures in play. This is interesting because, unlike enchantments are artifacts that grant these keyword abilities, the counters stay active until the creature dies.

Mutate
Mutate is an ability that has an alternate casting cost for a creature. When you use it you may choose to place it either ON or Under an existing creature. The result is a creature with the name, converted mana cost, power, and toughness of the creature on top, with the abilities of the creatures underneath it.
Companion

The companion mechanic is more about rewarding careful deck construction than anything else. These are creatures that begin play in exile as long as your deck was build under certain restraints. You can then play from from exile. This is an interesting and very powerful mechanic. I can’t wait to see if anything comes of it.
The “Biggest” Crossover in Magic: The Gathering History
Ikoria is a plane filled with colossal monsters so it only makes sense that Wizards would find a way to incorporate the most famous giant monster of them all: Godzilla.
There are alternate art cards for several cards in the set that feature Godzilla and other monsters in that universe. These are bound to be big ticket collector’s items so definitely handle them with care if you or your kids open one!
The Cinematic Trailer
What do you think? Sound off in the comments and let us know your thoughts!
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