Magic: The Gathering - United Dominaria, the return of a great classic

Magic

After unveiling Wizards of the Coast's plans for late 2022 and early 2023, we told you how a very important event for Magic The Gathering is coming. The return to Dominaria, in fact, brings the narrative back to more epic tones, as the events that will arrive will shake the foundations of the Magic Universe.

Taking the opportunity of the release of Dominaria Unita, and of the return of the series in such an important plan for the history of Magic, we want to stop to highlight some numerical milestones achieved over the years by Wizards of the Coast.

A life made of cards

Magic: The Gathering: some cards of Dominaria Unita During an excursion, in 1991, Richard Garfield had the idea of ​​resuming the basics of a game that he had in mind for a long time, but that for one reason or another he had never developed. . The game was called: Five Magics and was based on five types of elemental magic from different geographical areas of a single universe. Garfield, decided to apply the basic idea to a deck of collectible cards, so that each player could compose his deck freely.

Refined the idea, he met Peter Adkison, Executive Director of Wizards of the Coast in Seattle. Adkison immediately understood the potential of a game that could be expanded virtually endlessly with new cards. Since that time, more than 24,000 papers have been published in 150 countries. 140.5 million players have tried Garfield's idea at least once, which since 1993 (the year of the release of the first Magic set) has kept all his fans glued to the game.

Over the course of these 30 years, in Magic: The Gathering we have visited more than 80 floors of his multiverse. Yet, after so many years, the first floor visited still retains its special charm that made this latest expansion a highly anticipated expansion.

Dominaria, in fact, is the central plane of the Magic multiverse. Its name means "Song of Dominia", due to its powerful influence on all other planes. Dominia, on the other hand, is an almost infinite number of different universes, each of which is independent and can be very different from the others. These worlds are called dimensional planes, or planes of existence, and are separated from each other by a space called Blind Eternity.

Normally the dimensional planes are not in communication with each other in a natural way, however through artificial portals it is possible to reach a different floor from your own. The exception to this rule is Planeswalkers - beings with great magical powers who are able to hold out for a short period of time in the Blind Eternities and move from one dimension to another. They are able to do this thanks to a gift called "spark", which they have had since birth and without which they would not be able to "walk" from one plane to another.

And right after the War of the Spark, Karn's actions will kick-start the storyline linked to United Dominaria. Speaking of Karn, the latter, Ajani and Jaya peep into this new expansion on a narrative level.

United Dominaria

Magic: The Gathering: Black Lotus This new expansion, is the 28th linked to the Dominaria plan. In addition to the setting, however, some mechanics such as Domination and Augment will also make their return to the game. The first is a word for a revived ability, which improves for as many basic land types there are among the lands you control (for example, it establishes the strength of a card based on the number of Lands its owner controls). . The second mechanic, on the other hand, is an optional additional cost you can pay as you cast a spell. If you pay the kicker cost along with the spell's other costs, the spell is stronger and will trigger extra effects. For example, paying a card's kicker cost could inflict more damage on the opponent once that card is played.

Finally, a curiosity for lovers of collecting: the famous Black Lotus was born on Dominaria as a relic within the narrative of the aforementioned plane, to end up as a rare relic of Magic fans also in the "plane "real.

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Magic’s Jalen Suggs relieved knee injury wasn’t more severe

Second-year guard Jalen Suggs has gone through a wave of emotions since injuring his left knee during the Orlando Magic’s Friday preseason win over the Dallas Mavericks.

At first, there was fear and frustration.

Fear because he didn’t know what the injury was. Frustration with being injured again after injuries limited him to 48 games as a rookie.

But once he found out his injury was a left knee capsule sprain and bone bruise in the knee, there was a relief the injury wasn’t more severe.

“Those things really can either go one of two ways — they can be the worst or be things that are really manageable,” Suggs said after Sunday’s practice. “Thankfully, it was one of those really manageable things.”

Suggs was helped off the floor and taken to the locker room with the injury in the first quarter after Mavericks guard Spencer Dinwiddie pushed him from behind while attempting to set a pick for Paolo Banchero.

Suggs hyperextended his leg trying to regain his balance and avoid colliding with Mavericks forward Dorian Finney-Smith. The Magic ruled out Suggs shortly after the third quarter started, saying he’d undergo further testing that revealed the capsule sprain and bone bruise on Saturday.

“It’s scary, frustrating,” Suggs said. “I’ve dealt with enough of these. I feel like I’ve spent too much time in rehab — more than I’ve needed to. It’s part of life. We’ll take it one day at a time. I’m not worried about it.

“One good thing is that after going through it enough last year, I’m not getting down on it. I know what I need to do to get back, heal and get ready to go. I’m in a good spot right now.”

Suggs acknowledged he was initially frustrated with how the injury happened.

“But as you kind of sit on it, it’s part of the game,” Suggs said. “Those things happen. You’re taught to re-route the screen so it’s not something I’m bitter off of, it’s not something I hate Spence now, it’s straight. It’s part of the basketball game. Physicality is a way I like to play basketball and it just happened in this case it didn’t go to my favor.”

The Magic, who don’t publicly disclose return-to-play timelines after injuries, said Suggs’ return will depend on how he responds to treatment.

Suggs said the team told him “we’ll take it day by day”.

Tony Wanich, MD, an orthopedic surgeon at the HSS Sports Medicine Institute in New York, told the Orlando Sentinel Suggs it typically takes “somewhere between 4-6 weeks” for a player to return from the injury Suggs has.

“We’ll see in a couple of days, reassess how we’re feeling and go from there,” Suggs said. “That’s all I’ve heard. Just trying to stay in a good mind space, which I’m at right now.”

Roster changes

The Magic signed free agent guards Alex Morales and Jay Scrubb.

The terms of their deals weren’t disclosed, but both signed Exhibit 10 contracts.

To make room for Morales and Scrubb and stay at the 20-player offseason roster limit, Orlando waived Aleem Ford and Zavier Simpson, who were signed to Exhibit 10 deals.

Exhibit 10 deals are 1-year, minimum salary contracts that allow a player to be a part of training camp and are often non-guaranteed — allowing teams to waive the player without taking a cap hit.

Exhibit 10 contracts include bonuses ranging from $5,000-$50,000. Players receive the bonus if they sign with the organization’s G League affiliate after being waived by the NBA team, depending on how much time they spend on the G League roster.

This article first appeared on OrlandoSentinel.com. Email Khobi Price at khprice@orlandosentinel.com or follow him on Twitter at @khobi_price.

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