Hey all,

As Scars of Mirrodin starts to show up on the Standard tournament scene, players are dealing with the loss of a block of cards containing one of the most feared mechanics of recent times: cascade. Some people are happy that they'll never have to stare down a Bloodbraid Elf in the environment again.

Cascade is not the only mechanic rotating out when Scars comes in. Domain will trot away in the sunset under cascade's shadow as the Alara block leaves.

Why did domain never pick up as a popular mechanic during the Alara block?

**Disclaimer: I'm not talking about the Vivids/Reflecting Pool decks.  I'm talking about the actual domain keyword.


First off, what is domain?  Domain is a keyword which powers up spells based on the number of different basic land types a player controls.  As a player controls more lands, spells will domain will increase in power.  Some examples include more cards drawn and more damage dealt.

Keep in mind that this is not the first time the concept of wielding different land types.  During the Invasion block, the concept of domain exists minus the keyword.  Cards such as Tribal Flames and Collective Restraint are some of the powerful cards from the era.



Tribal Flames returned in the mass preview set of Time Spiral, hinting at the return of domain in the Alara block.


In addition to the power level of the domain cards in Invasion, there are plenty of support cards.  First and foremost, to achieve domain, the basic lands need to be searched out.  Land search cards such as Scouting Trek and Lay of the Land do just that.

Another help during the Invasion block is a card which has the potential to leave a player with a maximum of five lands.


While it'll leave the domain player with a minimum of five different lands available, it can put other players behind a major amount of lands.  When paired with Collective Restraint, Global Ruin will slow down an opposing army greatly.

Besides gaining power from having all the basic land types, running domain gives access to all the colors of mana, permitting the full spectrum of spells available to be cast.  A domain player can have the card draw of blue, discard of black, direct damage of red, and so on in the same deck.  There are even multicolored cards that encourage the use of domain.

With domain sounding such like a good deal, why was it not more popular in the Alara block?

First, domain players take a risk attempting to assemble all of the basic lands.  If domain cannot be achieved, then the deck becomes that much weaker.  Good land search cards minimize this risk, however, Alara provided none.  Rampant Growth is fine.  Armillary Sphere is not.  2 to play, 2 to search, AND you have to take up a land drop for the turn.

Standard with Alara did not get excellent land search until Cultivate aka Kodama's Reach came out.  Simply put, Cultivate is everything Armillary Sphere wants to be for domain.


There even is a horribly overcosted land search card called Exploding Borders.  It combines the domain burn power of Tribal Flames and the search of Rampant Growth.  The problem is that domain needs to be achieved as soon as possible so land search cards should be as efficient as possible.  Exploding Borders does land search and damage, but the multiple functions of the card cause its cost to be excessively high.

Besides the lack of land search, there were no cards with domain worth playing.  Consider the radical difference in power between the Invasion block and Alara block:

Invasion era

• Allied Strategies
• Planar Despair (this gets overshadowed by Damnation however)
• Evasive Action

Here are two cards I have an issue with from the Alara block.

First, Child of Alara.  For 5 mana, you get a 6/6 creature with trample.  The main problem is that it's going be a vanilla trample creature until it hits the graveyard.  While its effect will clear the board, you're better off using a cheaper and less color intensive version of board clearing such as Day of Judgment.

Normally, cards with the same cost as Conflux should win you the game at that point. However, Conflux is an expensive tutor, fetching out five cards that could win you the game but must be cast next turn.  I think it would work at two less colorless mana for a new cost of 1URWGB.

In short, domain just did not have the power to compete with the speed of the set.

How would I go about fixing domain?


Simple answer -- make the cards not suck.

Invasion block has the ideal example cards for domain.  So I would recommend reprinting some of those.

The key to a good domain card is to offer an undercosted effect for the given mana cost.  I consider the requirement of achieving domain to be a cost in itself.  Also, having an effect difficult to duplicate with non-domain cards would at least encourage the curious players to try out domain.

I would also include some form of five color, mana producing artifact.  Mana Cylix is not the answer.



Besides those ideas, I have some plans for cards that utilize domain.  Right now I'm planning on adding a new section to the site since I've started participating in card creation contests.  I'm not too much of an artist, so I can only guarantee the card and abilities.

I'll give a headsup when I have it setup.

Till next time,
@shadowsketched