Dominaria United is not just a return to one ofMagic: The Gathering’s most iconic Planes in hopes of tapping into the rich vein of nostalgia that runs through it; it’s also a chance for the game’s writers and designers to flesh it out, adding new perspectives on the Plane ahead of the major conflict to come.
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These new perspectives manifest largely in the art for the set, where new characters and new horizons meet, depicted using the range of interesting art styles we’ve come to expect in a post-Booster Fun world. We’ve United the best pieces in the set for you to peruse like the pages of an ancient Dominarian tome.
10Guardian Of New Benalia, By Ernanda Souza
Combat, and the glory found therein, is a common theme across many Magic cards, but few convey the idea as well as Guardian Of New Benalia. Ernanda Souza creates an atmosphere of hope here, flooding the frame with color and light, the shine coming off the Guardian’s stained glass armor leaving miniature rainbows in the air.
Crucially, rather than just showing characters fighting, this piece also shows what they’re fighting for. The child, safe behind the Guardian’s shield, represents the idea of a just conflict, while also elegantly standing in as a symbol of hopefor Dominaria’s future. It’s a piece that conveys complex ideas in a simple, almost primal way.
9Braids’s Frightful Return, By Dominik Mayer
Sagas consistently feature some of the most interesting artwork in Magic, and Braids’s Frightful Return is no exception. Taking the form of what appears to be a child’s drawing of the horrifying ritual that brought Braids back to life, the piece comes with a layer of dark implications thicker than its childish brush strokes.
The literal fountain of blood in the background, flanked by the figurative fountains of blood created by the ritual sacrifices surrounding it, along with the twisted grin of Braids herself, combine to create art that gets more unsettling the longer you look at it. The final twist of the knife is the child’s handprints at the bottom of the piece, some of which, shockingly, are blood-red.
8Haunting Figment, By Chris Cold
Haunting Figment is an illusion, a creature of nightmares, and the art depicting it conveys this beautifully by presenting a creature that we, as viewers, can’t fully understand. Is that a hand or a writhing plume of smoke? Why is there a fiery ring coming from its face, and why does it taper off into small balls of flame? What are the circular gaps in the cloudscape behind the Figment?
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It’s a piece that leaves you with more questions than answers, perfectly suiting the creature’s type, evasive triggered ability, and title. Few creatures in Magic genuinely live up to the prefix ‘Haunting,’ but this Figment is one that does so with dreadful aplomb.
7Timeless Lotus, By Lindsey Look
Lotus cards in Magic have a lengthy and esteemed history, generally blending powerful mana acceleration effects with beautiful artwork. Timeless Lotus carries on this tradition, presenting a new, story-aligned take on the iconic flower.
Blooming from a pool of rainwater formed in the bowl-like claw of a rusting war machine, the Timeless Lotus stands out from its dour surroundings by virtue of its shimmering, polychromatic petals. Reflected in the pool, the flower stands proudly as a reminder that life and nature will always outlast the wars of men; an idea that’s reinforced by the grass and leaves overgrowing the rest of the machine in the background.
6King Darien XLVIII, By Jody Clark
One of Dominaria United’s stained glass Showcase cards, King Darien XLVIII deserves this treatment more than most. He’s depicted as a solemn character, Theoden-like in his contemplation of what it means to rule, and this version of his artwork conveys that idea beautifully.
Shown holding, rather than wearing, his crown, he is above a series of green hills, representing the lands of New Argive which he is sworn to protect. He’s engaged in a moment of somber reflection, a series of gears above and around his head, perhaps representing the workings of his mind or the machinations of thecoming Phyrexian threat. It all looks fantastic in the stained glass style, the colors and symmetry lending a regal majesty alongside the tone of introspection.
5Gibbering Barricade, By Drew Tucker
This creature’s type is ‘Nightmare Wall,’ and, going by the artwork, the first half couldn’t be more accurate. Using an unconventional approach, Drew Tucker shows us a distorted, grassy landscape, the skyline mostly obscured by the titular Barricade.
The subtlety Tucker uses here is the main strength of the piece: the Barricade has no solid edges or discernible characteristics for the viewer to hone in on, but is rather a vague mesh of shadows that could be faces, could be claws, and could be something even more horrifying. There’s a hint of a figure in the center that could be Braids from the flavor text, but the viewer is left wondering, trying to unpick the logic of a nightmare in the cold light of day.
4Squee, Dubious Monarch, By Zoltan Boros
Squee is a long-running character in the ongoing narrative of Dominaria. An immortal Goblin who served as part of the Weatherlight crew for a while, he went on to live through the Brothers’ War and all the events on Dominaria since, establishing himself as aking among Goblins.
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This piece showcases Squee in his regal form, astride a pile of skeletons and weapons that could have belonged to either allies or foes. He wears a mocking grin on his face, but the rest of the piece casts his immortality in a more melancholy light, showing him alive and alone in a world where all those around him have died, for better or worse.
3Anointed Peacekeeper, By Tia Masic
The consummate image of a holy warrior, Tia Masic’s Anointed Peacekeeper stands tall and firm against the tides of evil poised to wash over Dominaria. The character himself looks powerful, but it’s the clever parallels that Masic draws between him and the church behind that really cement this piece as a classic.
The symmetry of the church and the Peacekeeper, and the way they’re aligned, demand a comparison, effectively ascribing the same stony resilience to both articles. This idea is reinforced by the angel statues on either side, wielding halberds that look awfully similar to the Peacekeeper’s, as if he’s carrying on their work on Dominaria. It’s a piece that’s thick with religious symbolism, perfect for a white Cleric card.
2Jaya’s Firenado, By Jeremy Wilson
A stellar showcase of the mantra ‘less is more,’ Jaya’s Firenado uses a very limited color palette to convey the destructive, transformative nature of red’s most powerful fire spells. The Firenado itself stands out in bright red, along with the fire on the surrounding grass, but the rest of the scene is cast in blocks of orange and white, with no discernible background detail.
This is a bold choice for a Magic piece, eschewing complexity in favor of a blunt-force statement: that fire, particularly fire wielded by a powerful planeswalker, consumes all in its path. The central character, who could either be Jaya herself or an unfortunate victim, is nothing but a white outline, providing a nice island of contrast in the sea of flame.
1Braids, Arisen Nightmare, By Dibujante Nocturno
An interesting choice for the stained glass Showcase treatment, given her decidedly unholy character traits, Braids’ asymmetry almost seems to mock the traditions of the stained glass format, stretching out her tentacles at random in an act of heathen subversion.
The dark color palette and skulls reinforce this idea further, as does the veritable arsenal of arms that seem to surround her. Perhaps it represents her reach and influence, or perhaps a literal manifestation of her nightmarish abilities. Either way, it’s a gloriously macabre take on a classic character and a stellar piece of Magic art.
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