Dominaria Remastered Set Review

2023 marks 30 years of Magic: The Gathering, and to celebrate Wizards of the Coast has given us not one, not two, but three return trips to the game’s native home of Dominaria. While Dominaria United visited the present-day world as it faced off against the Phyrexians, and The Brothers’ War looked deep into its history for an answer, the third Dominaria treat is something different entirely.

Dominaria Remastered is a reprint set bringing together cards from almost every set ever based on Dominaria. With powerful cards, gorgeous art treatments, and a healthy dollop of nostalgia, there’s enough here for anyone – newcomer or veteran, to sink their teeth into.

Dominaria Remastered isn’t a Standard-legal set, meaning the cards you find inside it can only be played in formats they were already legal in (like Commander, Modern, Vintage, Legacy, or Pioneer). That allows for a huge amount of value to be reprinted though, as if a set was primarily focused on Dominaria, it’s fair game. From Alpha to 2018’s Dominaria, Coldsnap to Time Spiral, some of the game’s most-loved sets are featured here, giving us a look at how Dominaria has developed over the years.

The cards are fantastic, with numerous staples like Counterspell, Force Of Will, Sylvan Library, Mystic Remora, and even the four tutors (Vampiric, Mystical, Enlightened, and Worldly Tutor) all up for grabs. For Commander players, there’s a huge number of legendary creatures to build around, too, like Tatyova, Benthic Druid; Yawgmoth, Thrna Physician; Zur the Enchanter, Kamahl, Fist Of Krosa; and even Chainer, Dementia Master for all those Nightmare-lovers.

This isn’t just for constructed players, though, as Dominaria Remastered is a completely draftable set with enough strategies to return to again and again. Things like blue/white’s blink decks, white/red’s focus on Aura enchantments, and the ever-popular blue/red storm all get tons of support, making each time you play limited with your group a chance to try out something new.

It wouldn’t be a Magic: The Gathering set without special art treatments, and Dominaria Remastered is going all-out with two of them. The first is the most recent return of one of the game’s most popular styles, with every single pack having a retro-framed border reprint and a retro land. We last saw this in The Brothers’ War’s Commander decks where it was massively popular, but this time we get plenty of big-name cards like Duress, Fact or Fiction, and, of course, all five Basic Lands in a gloriously 1993 style. Some of them even see older art return, such as Counterspell’s classic Mark Poole illustration making a comeback.

The second art treatment is reserved for the most iconic cards in Dominaria Remastered, and sees them reimagined with borderless full-art. Not only do these look incredible, their entire style is meant to explore more of what was going on in the original art. For example, Chainer’s Edict shows more of the battle between Chainer and an Aven, whereas Dark Depths’ haunting art by Rob Alexander gives us a terrifying and thalassophobic look at Marit Lage, hiding at the bottom of the ocean.

Perhaps the most exciting alt-art on offer in Dominaria Remastered are from those four tutor spells. These are ridiculously powerful spells on their own, but now they’ve come back with full-frame art by none other than Richard Kane Ferguson, one of the game’s most-beloved artists. If you’re looking to bling out your favourite Commander deck, there’s a lot worse you can do than these!

As Dominaria Remastered isn’t a primary premiere set, it isn’t getting the same products as you’d expect from something like the upcoming Phyrexia: All Will Be One. With so many alt-art goodies in Draft packs, there’s no need for Set boosters! This means the only ways you can buy Dominaria Remastered is through Draft boosters, Collector’s boosters, and booster boxes for both.

Interestingly, this is the rare example of set where you can get every art treatment in every type of booster pack. There’s nothing exclusively available in a Collector booster, however you’re guaranteed to get both retro-framed and borderless cards in them, and often more of them than in a Draft pack. If you’re really wanting those shiny, fancy cards for your favourite deck, a Collector booster will definitely be the way to go.

Dominaria Remastered launches on January 13. Preorder your booster packs and singles through Magic Madhouse today, and be ready to revisit Magic’s most iconic setting!