This is the last article and then we'll be done with Dominaria. Every single color so far has been packed with playable cards for Standard, let's see what else Dominaria has to offer. Real quick, my review process.

I will not be going over cards that I believe will not see play in Standard. For example, cards like Time of Ice and Gideon's Reproach will be omitted since they are just Limited cards and saying, "This is just a Limited card" repeatedly gets old rather fast. Don't worry though, I will be covering all the rare and mythic cards in the set. So, if you like a certain rare or mythic, it will be mentioned in the review.

Keep in mind I'm rating all these cards for Standard playability. I will mention Modern applications if I believe the card has some.

RATING -- Explanation -- Standard Examples

0 -- Will never see play in this format (0 ratings are not listed).

1 -- Unlikely to see play. (Dubious Challenge)

2 -- Could see fringe play, or occasional sideboard card. (Authority of the Consuls)

3 -- Commonly played, staple in a single deck, or frequent play in several decks. (Harnessed Lightning, Cast Down)

4 -- Format staples. Sees play in multiple decks, one of the best cards in the format. (Heart of Kiran, Abrade, Seal Away)

5 -- Format warping. If you're in these colors, you play that card. (The Scarab God, [card]Chandra, Torch of Defiance" href="/p/Magic+The+Gathering/Chandra, Torch of Defiance" href="/p/Magic+The+Gathering/[card]Chandra, Torch of Defiance">[card]Chandra, Torch of Defiance">Chandra, Torch of Defiance" href="/p/Magic+The+Gathering/[card]Chandra, Torch of Defiance">[card]Chandra, Torch of Defiance

Let's wrap it up!

	3 -- Worse Oath of Nissa but it's still a sort of Ponder effect in Green. This will still see play in Standard , except in dinosaur decks since they have Commune with Dinosaurs.
	2 -- An alternative to Naturalize for ramp decks in the Sideboard. Though the card does have a real drawback of being sorcery. Not being able to destroy God-Pharaoh's Gift at instant speed can really hurt.
	2 -- A worse Llanowar Elves but if you're playing cards with kicker, like Untamed Kavu, you'll want to consider her.
	2 -- Talk about grinding, Fungal Plots grinds like no other. It can create tokens as well as draw you cards and insures you can play those cards by gaining you life. A cool attrition card.
	2 -- If a mill strategy ever becomes a real thing, expect to see Gaea's Blessing in sideboards. It's also a decent card to have against The Scarab God and other graveyard-based decks, especially since it cantrips.
	2 -- A 5th Hour of Promise if you really want some lands. It's always overcosted Rampant Growth or Explosive Vegetation but it's versatile in that it can be either.
	2.5 -- I don't feel like this is very legendary compared to the rest, especially since it's just worse than Genesis Wave. I'm not going to lie, though; it's still going to be sweet to cast Kamahl's Druidic Vow and put three or more planeswalkers onto the battlefield.
	2 -- Decent against aggressive decks and an option for Mastermind's Acquisition. I still like Approach of the Second Sun more though as a wish target.
	4 -- Easily the best Green card from this set. Expect to see Llanowar Elves in competitive play for as long as it's in the format.
	2.5 -- Another mana elf, except this one is legendary and can potentially give you a ton of mana. Marwyn also turns on Kamahl's Druidic Vow as well as fueling it. Mono-Green vow anyone?
	2 -- A wonderful way to recover after a Fall of the Thran. That or you could just play both in the same deck, just saying!
	2 -- All the powerful removal spells exile in Standard. Vraska's Contempt, Cast Out, Settle the Wreckage, Hostage Taker, and Ixalan's Binding. I have a tough time believing this will see play over Carnage Tyrant.
	2 -- A worse Plummet, but seven damage is basically the same thing. Good option for Green sideboards.
	2.5 -- Another option for tokens. They have access to so many token generators!
	2.5 -- Turn all your tokens into mana producers to help cast Kamahl's Druidic Vow? Sounds great! Especially since afterward you can give all your creatures a mini Overrun.
	2 -- tokens is getting a lot of love from Dominaria. Spore Swarm isn't insane, but it's a solid card for that deck.
	2.5 -- This card is very good and a reason to go Mono-Green. It's literally a four turn clock alone when played on turn three. You can even play on turn two with Llanowar Elves. That's nasty!
	2.5 -- I like this in Hour of Promise decks, especially if you're running Mastermind's Acquisition. It's also a combo in ramp with Fall of the Thran.
	2.5 -- Another solid card for Mono-Green or Monsters. It's no Polukranos, World Eater but it's still good enough in those decks.
	2.5 -- I like this in a monsters deck. Great play on turn two and solid on turn five, especially when powered out by Llanowar Elves or Elfhame Druid.
	2 -- Yer too old, Verdant Force! Tendershoot Dryad is the way to go for Saprolings now. Get with the times Verdant Force.

Top 5 Best Green Cards

Llanowar Elves is one of the best if not the best card from Dominaria. Adventurous Impulse is another solid card that's versatile and Steel Leaf Champion is going to run people over. Green did not disappoint, up next, we have the multicolored cards.

	2.5 -- A prowess lord, this card is going to be very solid in a Wizard burn/tempo deck. Expect to see her alongside Soul-Scar Mage, Ghitu Lavarunner, and even Naru Meha, Master Wizard
	2 -- 5 mana for a 3/3 is not good enough. Getting completely out tempoed by a Lightning Strike or Abrade is not where you want to be.
	2 -- Aryel seems a little bit too slow for Standard, but History of Benalia is so good that I wouldn't be surprised for her to see a fringe appearance in a knight deck.
	2.5 -- Too many exile cards for Darigaaz to shine. Vraska's Contempt, Cast Out, Ixalan's Binding, and Settle the Wreckage. The Red decks don't need to exile it because they'll have you dead before you can play Darigaaz.
	2 -- This card is interesting. The haste ability to all other creatures is what I really like about Garna. However, if Samut, Voice of Dissent saw no play, I don't have any hope for Garna.
	3 -- Radha does not skip leg day, or any other day for that matter. Having a relevant creature type and ramping you up in a nontraditional way is awesome. I can see Radha in a Monster deck as just a solid beater that ramps you into something absurd the following turn. Maybe [card]Kamahl's Druidic Vow" href="/p/Magic+The+Gathering/Kamahl's Druidic Vow" href="/p/Magic+The+Gathering/[card]Kamahl's Druidic Vow">[card]Kamahl's Druidic Vow">Kamahl's Druidic Vow" href="/p/Magic+The+Gathering/[card]Kamahl's Druidic Vow">[card]Kamahl's Druidic Vow?
	2.5 -- Hallar has the relevant creature type elf here as well. You'll only need to kick one or two spells to really make it worthwhile. I could see them alongside [card]Untamed Kavu" href="/p/Magic+The+Gathering/Untamed Kavu" href="/p/Magic+The+Gathering/[card]Untamed Kavu">[card]Untamed Kavu">Untamed Kavu" href="/p/Magic+The+Gathering/[card]Untamed Kavu">[card]Untamed Kavu and Territorial Allosaurus in a shell.
	2 -- This is a card I know Commander players have been waiting for since we didn't have a legendary that interacted well with artifacts. As far as Standard goes, you'd need a ton of historic cards to make this card work, the best being Mox Amber. Maybe in a Metalwork Colossus deck alongside Karn, Scion of Urza but I doubt it will be tier one; and, if it is, I don't think you'll need Jhoira.
	2 -- SWEET! I really like five color decks, so naturally I like Jodah. The thing with a Fist of Suns on a creature is that this creature has 3 toughness. A 4/3 that only costs one more mana than Mantis Rider isn't the worst, so we could give that a slight pass if his ability let us put anything powerful into play. The truth is Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh isn't good enough on its own. A Jodah deck really wants something busted like Time Stretch, Emrakul, or even Ugin, the Spirit Dragon. Not having those big payoff spells makes him not worth the risk, especially when we have access to Thran Temporal Gateway.
	2 -- I personally love this card, but I also loved The Gitrog Monster. Creatures with powerful abilities that don't trigger when they enter the battlefield need to be extra powerful or resilient to death, like The Scarab God. Muldrotha is neither. I don't expect to see this card in any top-level play.
	2.5 -- This card is a splendid example of a card that does something okay when it enters the battlefield but has a lasting static ability that will warp the game. To really abuse Oath of Teferi you're going to want to be able to make use of the first ability. Hitting a Torrential Gearhulk, Noxious Gearhulk, Gonti, Lord of Luxury, or any other creature with a great enter the battlefield ability is a fantastic way to start. After that, you can just take over the game with your planeswalkers and using all the abilities. Ultimating Nissa, Vital Force the turn she comes into play sounds absurd. Esper or Bant planeswalkers is going to be real close to tier one. I hope it does make it.
	2.5 -- I don't think we have any other card that can be as busted as Primevals' Glorious Rebirth. You can literally put into play three different planeswalkers, The Scarab God, and Gonti. Whatever, it's going to be awesome! The hard part is going to be building around this card. It's a brewer's paradise, and I aim to find the right balance. Another way you can use this card is to just play a singleton in your planeswalker deck so, late in the game, you can just bring them all back. Make sure to pair it with a God like Kefnet the Mindful or The Scarab God. Gonti, Lord of Luxury also works nicely.
	2.5 -- Raff is no Vendilion Clique, but being able to hold up countermagic and when your opponent doesn't do anything, flash in Raff is something to think about. His static ability isn't that great, so you're really going to have to find ways to abuse it. Something like Restoration Angel had better stats, was easier to cast, and had a better ability. On top of all that, Restoration Angel wasn't legendary, so you could have multiples out at the same time. After all is said and done, he does have a relevant creature type and does turn on Wizard's Retort and Wizard's Lightning.
	2.5 -- Rona is part of many infinite loops in Standard. So many in fact, it reminds me of Reveillark combo back in the day. Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle, Rona, Disciple of Gix and Gate to the Afterlife allow you to loop Walking Ballistas for 0 to loot your deck and gain life. You can also loop with Scrap Trawler and Yahenni, Undying Partisan with a Walking Ballista in the graveyard or your hand. Infinite mana requires Teshar, Rona, and Mox Amber on the battlefield. Another Rona and a Mox Amber in the graveyard and a Walking Ballista or another Mox Amber in hand. This will allow you to generate infinite mana. The best way to abuse these combos is to not be all in on them. Instead try to make a good deck that accidentally stumbles into the combo mid to late game.
	3 -- Shanna is the cheapest legendary creature in Dominaria and one that has pseudo Hexproof. She's great at turning on Mox Amber and solid in a Tokens shell. I expect Shanna to see Standard play just for those two reasons alone. She's basically a Voice of Resurgence token with protection
	2.5 -- Too bad Slimefoot doesn't work with any kind of token, just Saprolings. Tendershoot Dryad is fragile and already good enough on his own, you won't need Slimefoot there. Slimefoot doesn't even protect against board wipes that well since your opponent will gain the life back with Fumigate and Settle the Wreckage exiles. Though if we get a Saproling deck, I wouldn't be surprised to see Slimefoot somewhere in the 75.
	2.5 -- I love Tatyova. Finally, a Simic legend that doesn't want you to interact with creatures. 3 toughness is such a downer though! Your 5-drop dying to Abrade and Lightning Strike is not good. Is that enough to stop me from playing Tatyova into Hour of Promise? Probably not. We're just going to find a deck where she fits alongside Ramunap Excavator and some of the Memorial and Desert lands for max value!
	3.5 -- Wizards did it! This is the best Planeswalker for control. He does everything a control wants to do. What's crazy is that his net cost is only 3 mana. For a three-mana planeswalker, Teferi is insane! He conveniently lets you hold up Seal Away on turn five. If you're playing Bant, you can hold up Haze of Pollen to protect him and the rest of your planeswalkers. Untapping with Teferi doesn't only mean you get to draw cards, but you also get to reduce the cost of cards since you'll be able to untap lands at the end of your turn. We all know how strong free spells are or just reducing the cost of your spells. Teferi is going to be great!
	2 -- Tiana just costs too much, even with powerful auras like the Cartouches. She doesn't hold a light to the 5-drops of Standard like Glorybringer, The Scarab God, or even Lyra Dawnbringer.

Top 5 Mulitcolored Cards

A commander player's dream, all the multicolored legends and they all ask you to build around them. These cards are also excellent for Standard. So not only was ever single color so far great for Standard but the multicolored cards were too. Let's start wrapping up with artifacts.

	2 -- That's one way to pump your legendary creatures. Just play Mono-Blue with Tempest Djinn and equip this sword onto your Kefnet. I bet you Kefnet could have taken on The Scorpion God if he had the Blackbalde, just sayin'. Blackblade is narrow and you'll need to be like a three-color legendary deck to try and abuse it. The payoff is not good enough, especially with Abrade running around.
	2 -- Insane in older formats but the only thing this could see play against is Aetherflux Reservoir / Sram, Senior Edificer deck if it somehow takes off. Otherwise, leave this card for the older formats.
	2 -- This equipment is much more reasonable than Blackblade Reforged. Even still I don't have hope for it. It's worse than all the Swords in the Sword of Fire and Ice cycle and it costs more to equip. What it does isn't powerful enough.
	2.5 -- Woot! Gilded Lotus! This card is a powerful one but with Abrade running amuck I don't know how reliable it actually is. It does take you from 5 mana all the way to 9 mana the following turn, so you'll want to look at cards that cost eight-9 mana to fully abuse it. I just want to play a deck with both Gilded Lotus and Hour of Promise. What on earth could we be ramping into? Zacama, Nicol Bolas, or Approach of the Second Sun most likely.
	2 -- Let chaos and combos ensue in Commander but as far as Standard goes? Way too much mana and . . .  Abrade.
	2 -- 5-drop that dies to Moment of Craving and everything else? No, thanks. Even if you do manage to replicate this creature, something as simple as Golden Demise can clean it all up.
	3 -- All moxes are underrated when they are first revealed. The same is true for Mox Amber. Mox Amber is strong enough to find a home in a Tier one deck Standard, just give it a little bit of time.
	2.5 -- Powerstone can be tutored up by Trophy Mage and Whir of Invention. Having one alone is weak, but once you get two going you'll be able to cast some big spells. I envision Metalwork Colossus or a Green [card]Kamahl's Druidic Vow" href="/p/Magic+The+Gathering/Kamahl's Druidic Vow" href="/p/Magic+The+Gathering/[card]Kamahl's Druidic Vow">[card]Kamahl's Druidic Vow">Kamahl's Druidic Vow" href="/p/Magic+The+Gathering/[card]Kamahl's Druidic Vow">[card]Kamahl's Druidic Vow playing this card. Maybe even Mono-Black to power out Torment of Hailfire or Josu Vess, Lich Knight.
	2.5 -- Pilgrim's Eye saw play. So will this. A great way to find some Swamps while chump blocking a creature in your Cabal Stronghold deck.
	3 -- Not as powerful as Aetherworks Marvel but still very scary. Nicol Bolas on turn four or five is obviously good, but so is instant speed Noxious Gearhulk or Fall of the Thran. It also gets around countermagic if you're able to get one on the battlefield.
	2 -- Metalwork Colossus?! It's easy to untap when half your deck is artifacts, but that's the only place this construct could see play.
	2 -- This is one of the cheapest tomes every printed. Early on it can loot, while mid game it can be a source of card advantage. This is a card I'm looking at along with Perpetual Timepiece for Primevals' Glorious Rebirth. It's also an okay sideboard option in a grindy matchup if you have enough Historic cards to fuel it.
	2 -- I think this is just a worse Fleetwheel Cruiser / Skysovereign, Consul Flagship. Honestly, Kaladesh vehicles were pushed a bit too much. Looks like the Weatherlight had to pay for it!
	3 -- While not technically in artifact, we are putting Karn here. I do like Karn but I think he is overhyped for Standard. Of course, he'll say play because he's a four-mana colorless planeswalker, but to really abuse Karn you are going to want to be running artifacts in your deck, otherwise, he's a colorless Jace Beleren. That's not bad mind you but pairing Karn with Metalwork Colossus, Mox Amber, and The Antiquities War is where you will want to start. In non-artifact decks he'll be a medium draw engine.

Top 5 Colorless Cards

The slam dunks don't stop here. So many excellent colorless cards. Let's finish it up with colorless cards of a different variety, lands!

	2 -- So, when you have five swamps and one Cabal Stronghold you'll finally be able to net mana with Cabal Stronghold? That's glacially slow and means you can't run many utility lands in your Mono-Black deck. Black did pick up a slow board wipe in Phyrexian Scriptures, so maybe you can buy enough time with removal to kick Josu or cast that massive Torment of Hailfire. I'd want to play other accelerators too like Powerstone Shard or Gilded Lotus.
	4 -- The Enemy Check Lands are the best cards in the set hands down. They will see play no matter what for as long as they are legal in Standard. They also work great with the Amonkhet cycle lands like Irrigated Farmland. Welcome back enemy checklands!
	3 -- Pretty powerful to buy back that Torrential Gearhulk or Noxious Gearhulk at end of turn. Same is true for drawing cards, making tokens, or finding a creature. I expect the whole Memorial cycle, minus Memorial to War, to be amazing. Memorial to War is going to take a backseat to Field of Ruin. These are also sweet to find with Hour of Promise, especially Memorial to Genius.
	2.5 -- Scry 1 on lands was great back in Theros block. Two color decks will have an option to play this if they want. I could envision Approach playing this over Field of Ruin but Control is going to value Field of Ruin a little higher since it doesn't have the combo of Approach of the Second Sun. In Modern, Eldrazi can pick a couple of these up but they'll still want at least one Wastes to not get locked out by Blood Moon and to have a basic to tutor for from Path to Exile.

I'm not going to rank the lands. They are playable and the check lands along with the Memorial lands will be played for all eighteen months. Instead let's rank the Top 15 best cards out of Return to Dominaria!

That's my top fifteen cards. Lock it in. Had to go with Top fifteen instead of top ten because after I made my top ten list, I still had so many playable cards. Sixteenth and Seventeenth would've been Verix Bladewing and Lich's Mastery, and I still think those are playables from this set. Again, Return to Dominaria is going to be one of the best sets ever for Standard. Expect a shake up!

It's been a long and fun journey everyone. Now it's time to start brewing some new decks for Standard. I can't wait! Make sure to tune in next Friday for some spicy lists!

Until then,

Ali Aintrazi

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