Monsters are nothing new in Magic: The Gathering. However, that’s not what’s coming in its latest Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths set. The set is already available for digital play in Magic: The Gathering Arena with physical play sets to be released on May 15. As the title implies, the new set brings players to a new plane that has a lot of giant beasts.
Now when we talk about giant monsters, there’s always one that comes to mind. It’s none other than The King of Monsters itself, Godzilla. That’s right, Godzilla is officially making its debut in the game. The King is not coming alone though, as the other monsters in the Godzilla franchise are also arriving to wreak havoc.
Game Mechanics
Arriving with the behemoths are different mechanics that change how the game is played. The first is Cycling, a long-time fan favorite. This is a mechanic that allows players to trade a card they have in hand with a new one. There are also cards that give bonuses when players decide to go for cycling.
Mutate is a new mechanic that’s both fun and needs some strategy. There are going to be cards that can mutate and have a corresponding cost. What happens is when players decide to go for mutate and the spell resolves, it doesn’t enter the battlefield. Instead, it merges with a target to turn into one creature.
Take for instance the Cloudpiercer card below:
Suppose you mutate it and combine it with the card below:
This gives you two options. When you put Cloudpiercer over the Mosscoat Goriak card, you get a 5/4 red Dinosaur with Reach and Vigilance. If you decide to put it under instead, you get a 2/4 green Beast with the same abilities. Choosing which one to go for will depend on what the current situation is.
Another new mechanic is Companion. The new set has ten companions, with each one being a legendary creature. However, these creatures have an ability that affects a player’s deck. Check out this example below:
Magic: The Gathering is a collectible card game that first released in 1993. The game has players battle using spells, artifacts, and even summing creatures. A digital adaptation was released with Magic: The Gathering Arena. MTG Arena was released for the PC in 2019 with a Mac version scheduled in mid 2020 and a version for mobile devices in late 2020.
