Quarantine has had an impact on my social events this year. The biggest was the cancellation of Emerald City Comic-Con. I say canceled even though it was postponed. However, I don’t think I will be able to go in August, therefore, to me it’s been canceled. Another smaller event that’s been postponed is the Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths pre-release which was supposed to happen this month. Instead of playing in the pre-release, I wanted to preview the latest set because there’s a lot to say.

One of the main reasons I play Magic is for the story. Each set has a story with the characters on the cards being a main focus to the set. In this set, it features mythical creatures such as dinosaur cats, Godzilla and nightmare squirrels. The story is told through various “field notes” written by the characters. All of these notes can be found through the MtG website Additionally, Magic has been releasing books coordinating with the launch of the set. The latest book titled Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths – Sundered Bond has been released on Amazon. Although, I read a review down below warning of animal cruelty, so I will be passing on this book myself.

Now let’s move on to the cards! When I look at new cards for a set, I browse based on color. I typically play black/green when I make a deck. Besides the color, I look at the artwork and what each card does. This card below is an example of one of the dinosaur cats in the set. In this set, there’s an ability called Mutate. This card can be combined with a human, so imagine a human riding this cat. Their abilities are combined including power and toughness. I don’t typically play with white, but I like that this card has a cheap cost with one red and one white mana.

Another mechanic with this set is companion. Companion sets rules on what kind of cards can exist in your deck. With our menacing dinosaur hippo, you can only have cards with a casting cost of three or more. Whenever a creature enters the battlefield, you may draw cards for each other card you control. Card draw in Magic is important. I have had it before where I was about to lose a game, and then I drew the card that saved me and I ended up winning. Any card that allows you to draw cards is necessary.

Here is the Nightmare Squirrel I mentioned before. This squirrel looks evil. If I had this in my deck, I would probably give him a flying counter because I would want to launch my flying squirrel at my opponent.

This post has already gotten way too long. All the cards can be found by this link from the MtG website. I already messaged my local game store to see if they’re doing pre-orders for this new set. If I have to play with friends through Zoom, so be it. If you do play Magic, I highly recommend pre-ordering from your local game store. This quarantine is hurting local businesses and I know I want my local businesses to re-open after this quarantine has been lifted. Let me know in the comments what cards you’re looking forward to playing with Ikoria.