Chris InglisCommander Legends, released back in 2020, was the first Magic: The Gathering (MTG) Commander set that is designed to be drafted. Drafting is the process where players pick cards from a common pool. Commander Legends is larger than a normal MTG set containing 361 regular cards. Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur’s Gate, released on June 10, further innovates this format by integrating iconic characters and thrilling mechanics from the popular role-playing game, Dungeons & Dragons (D&D).
The amazing people at Wizards of the Coast sent me quite a large media kit, with one bulky item wrapped in packaging that had me excited to open it. That excitement turned into laughter for me (and a terrified shreak from my wife) as a mimic chest was revealed, purple tongue and all. The back of the box opens to store your MTG cards which is the perfect size for the cards I got in the media kit.
Iconic characters Minsc and Boo headline the packaging for this new set, and I was lucky enough to score a couple of cards that featured this dynamic duo, giving me nostalgia of playing Baldur’s Gate on PC in 1999. “Go for the eyes, Boo!”
I am still very much an amateur at MTG and am more a collector than a player. It’s a great feeling opening a new pack and seeing what cards are inside. This media kit came with eight 15-card set booster packs, three draft booster packs and three collector booster packs.
I don’t know what half of the cards could do; however, my first thought was to see if I recognised any names, items or locations from playing the PC games. I did manage to score some Flaming Fist cards, which were one of the factions you meet in the game, as well as a Dynaheir card who is one of the companions you can recruit. The ankheg monsters were always a bother for me in the game when exploring the wilderness, so it was cool to see one of them represented in the deck.
New to Commander Legends are background enchantments. Each card gives your commander a bonus that will help you in the game. Most often, this bonus comes in the form of an ability your commander gains or a boost to their power and/or toughness.
Initiative is also important to a MTG player, just like in D&D. For MTG though, initiative enables three significant bonuses: First, whenever a player takes the initiative, they venture into Undercity (Undercity is a new dungeon card). Second, the player with the initiative ventures into Undercity again at the beginning of their upkeep. Third, several cards in the set get better if you have the initiative.
There are also gates which are a returning land type. I was a little disappointed that I missed out on getting an actual Baldur’s Gate care, but I did manage to get the Citadel Gate and the Black Dragon Gate. There are seven gates in total, and they have abilities that care either about which other gates you control or the number of other gates you control.
After opening all the booster set packs, I was impressed at the quality and colour range of the cards I had collected. There were several art style cards which look fantastic, as well as numerous character and item cards. Out of all cards, I received just four mythics and about a dozen or so rare cards which was cool to see.
A big thanks to Wizards of the Coast for sending us this media kit to celebrate the release of Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur’s Gate. For more information on the set, head over to the official website.
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