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Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths

Ikoria
Facts
Placement
Plane
Ikoria
Other
Symbol description
A monstrous eye
Design
Mark Rosewater (lead) ; Andrew Veen ; Corey Bowen ; David Humpherys ; Peter Lee
Development
David Humpherys (lead) ; Andrew Brown ; George Fan ; Donald Smith, Jr ; Jiachen Tao ; Gavin Verhey
Themes and mechanics
Human tribal, keyword counters , wedge colors
Keywords/​ability words
Mutate , companion , cycling
Throne of Eldraine
Throne of Eldraine Theros Beyond Death Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths
Challenger Decks 2020
Challenger Decks 2020 Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths Commander 2020

Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths, often shortened as Ikoria, is the 84th Magic expansion. It was originally scheduled to be released on April 24, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the paper release was advanced to April 17, 2020, for Asia, and delayed until May 15, 2020, for the other continents, while Magic Online and MTG Arena released on April 16, 2020. Despite this, the cards became legal in Standard and other formats on April 24, 2020, the original release date.

Set details

Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths makes use of monster movie tropes, and is especially inspired by Kaiju (a Japanese genre of films featuring giant monsters like Godzilla). The set is mostly designed bottom-up, but there are also some top-down individual card designs. Monsters are the focal point of the set. Monsters are fighting other monsters, and monsters are fighting humans and their cities. As in Core 2020, the Gainlands appear over the basic lands in about 5/12 boosters.

The set contains 274 cards (111 commons, 80 uncommons, 53 rares, 15 mythic rares, 15 basic lands), and includes randomly inserted premium versions of all cards. A unique Buy-a-Box promotional card is also considered to be part of the set. Cards with an alternate card frames have another card number than the original version. The Buy-a-Box is #275, borderless planeswalkers are numbered #276-278, Showcase cards are numbered #279-313, and the extended artwork cards are numbered #314-363. The Bundle promo is numbered #364, and the FNM-treatment cards from the universal promo pack are numbered #365-369. Finally, there are Godzilla Series Monster cards that are numbered #370-387. Both regular and foil versions of most of these cards may be found in the Collector Boosters.

The set's expansion symbol is a monstrous eye. The Showcase cards are connected to the mutate mechanic. They feature a comic book style.

Storyline

The setting is Ikoria, a plane of beasts and monsters. As the world of Ikoria developed, humans quickly realized what types of defenses were needed to stave off monsters. The humans were quick to become both militaristic and ingenious. Unfortunately for the humans, the monsters of Ikoria have begun to mutate and the fortresses that were previously successful at protecting humans have now become fodder for the monsters to annihilate. Featured planeswalkers are Vivien Reid, Lukka and Narset.

The cards that represent the Story Spotlights in Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths are:

Storyline sources

Marketing

Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths is sold in regular 16-card Draft Boosters (one card being a marketing card), mono-colored Theme Boosters, Collector Boosters, the Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths bundle and five Commander decks. The Draft Boosters feature artwork from Vivien, Monsters' Advocate, Kogla, the Titan Ape and Prickly Marmoset. The Theme Boosters feature art from Titanoth Rex (Monsters), Fight as One ({W}), Frost Lynx ({U}), Cunning Nightbonder ({B}), Porcuparrot ({R}), and Humble Naturalist ({G}). The Collector Boosters feature a showcase version of the key art.

Godzilla Series Monster cards

Each booster box contains a box topper. For the box toppers Wizards of the Coast partnered with Toho Corporation to feature its iconic monsters such as Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah. These skinned cards, called the Godzilla Series Monster cards, feature Godzilla-themed "skins" on reprints of regular cards. The name of the original card is featured in a small font below the Godzilla name of the card. The skin name is considered flavor text and does not affect gameplay.

Each booster box has a single-card Box Topper pack featuring a foil Godzilla Series Monster card. In Japanese boosters, there are 18 different Box topper cards in foil, three of which are only in Japanese. Due to an internal error, these Japanese-only cards do not appear in English or French Collector Boosters. In all other languages, there are 15 different box toppers. WPN stores will have an additional foil Godzilla card as part of the Buy-a-Box promotion.

The 19th card with this treatment is the set's Buy-a-Box card Zilortha, Strength Incarnate, which initially only existed as a preview card in its Godzilla Series form. The in-Multiverse version would finally be released three years later in Commander Masters.

The 20th card with this treatment is a second Buy-a-Box card through a promotional event; this being Hangarback Walker as Mechagodzilla. The Hangarback Walker is not considered to be a part of the Ikoria set.

Godzilla Series' cards are also featured Magic Online (as a part of Treasure Chests) and MTG Arena. While all 19 cards from Ikoria are featured in Arena, Magic Online only featured 15 cards (The non-Japanese Box Topper cards other than Void Beckoner, as well as the Buy-a-Box). The 3 Japanese-only cards will have their Godzilla name in their supported language in the Arena version.

Events

  • Magic Online and MTG Arena release: April 16, 2020.
  • Tabletop Prerelease / Release: April 17, 2020 (Asia) / May 15, 2020 (North America, Europe, Latin America, and Australia/New Zealand).
  • Commander Nights: April 27–June 18. A weekly Commander league with rotating rules and achievement-based prizes.

Promotional cards

Tokens, emblems and markers

The sixteenth card in the boosters is a token, emblem, or marker with advertisements on the backside.

  1. {W} 1/1 Cat creature with lifelink, created by Cubwarden.
  2. {W} 1/1 Cat Bird creature with flying, created by Skycat Sovereign.
  3. {W} 1/1 Human Soldier creature, created by Bastion of Remembrance, Daysquad Marshal, Forbidden Friendship, Garrison Cat, General's Enforcer, Nightsquad Commando and Valiant Rescuer (1 of 3).
  4. {W} 1/1 Human Soldier creature (2 of 3).
  5. {W} 1/1 Human Soldier creature (3 of 3).
  6. {U} 8/8 Kraken creature, created by Ominous Seas.
  7. {U} X/X Shark creature with flying, created by Shark Typhoon.
  8. {R} Artifact named Feather with "{1}, Sacrifice Feather: Return target Phoenix card from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped," created by Everquill Phoenix.
  9. {R} 1/1 Dinosaur creature with haste, created by Forbidden Friendship.
  10. {G} 3/3 Beast creature, created by Trumpeting Gnarr and Vivien, Monsters' Advocate.
  11. {G} X/X Dinosaur Beast creature with trample, created by Quartzwood Crasher.
  12. Emblem for Narset of the Ancient Way.
  13. Companion marker.

Punch card

There is also a set of double-sided keyword counters on a punch card. The counters correspond to the "Modal Creatures" cycle as listed below.

Themes and mechanics

Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths is about "building your own monsters". This is represented by the keyword ability mutate. You can mutate a creature you control by paying the mutate cost and placing the card below or above a non-Human creature. They mutate into the creature on top plus all abilities from under it. A creature can be mutated multiple times. Mutate was first referred to on the silver-bordered card Surgeon General Commander in Unsanctioned.

The set also introduces the mechanic companion. The companion ability lists a deckbuilding rule. If your starting deck follows that rule, then the legendary creature outside the game (i.e. sideboard) can serve as your chosen companion. Originally the mechanic allowed players to play their companion from the sideboard as if that card is in your hand once during the game, it was later modified to players may pay {3} to move their companion from sideboard to hand in sorcery speed (See Notable card for details). Once your companion enters the game it doesn't return to the sideboard for the rest of the game.

The set makes use of keyword counters. These were introduced on a test card in the Mystery Booster set (Recycla-bird with Flying counters). The set uses twelve different types of counters (thirteen including loyalty counters). The others are bounty, foreshadow, +1/+1, deathtouch, first strike, flying, hexproof, lifelink, menace, reach, trample and vigilance counters. Note that double strike and indestructible counters only appear on cards in the C20-set, and not in Ikoria itself. Some creatures gain variable ability counters, and tying into the theme of granting keywords several creatures reward creatures with particular keywords (keyword "lords").

Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths also features the return of Human tribal, hybrid mana and cycling.

Color-wise, the set is enemy color themed, leaning into wedges for the apex predator legends and associated triomes. This is reflected in the uncommon multicolor cards: there are three cycles of gold enemy-color signposts as opposed to one cycle of hybrid ally-color signposts. Unlike Khans of Tarkir, this implementation of wedges focuses on the common enemy color (ex. for the {W}{B}{G} wedge, Indatha is primarily black, while Abzan is primarily white). Fixing is more prevalent than in Khans but it tends towards splashes more than even splits, and there are only ten cards (two Rare cycles) that can only be cast with full wedge mana. Overall enemy color decks are most populous with gold support, while allied color decks have minor support and full wedge decks are less likely from format speed.

Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths supports the following draft archetypes:

All allied color combinations have an archetype focused on a keyword in those color types.

Card types

The set introduces the Otter creature type and reintroduces the Shark type. It also features the first standard-legal Brushwagg since Mirage (Almighty Brushwagg), and the first black-bordered Squirrel since Odyssey (Helica Glider).

The set also introduces the Lukka planeswalker type.

Cycles

Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths has 22 cycles, including two double cycles. There is also one mirrored pair.

^ While the {U/B} color pair cares about flash, flash isn't something that makes sense for a keyword counter, so the black mentor instead cares about lifelink. The other allied pairs care about flying ({W/U}), menace ({B/R}), trample ({R/G}) and vigilance ({G/W}).

Double cycles

Pairs

Reprinted cards

The following cards have been reprinted:

Functional reprints

Preconstructed decks

Planeswalker decks are discontinued for expansions. For this set, they are replaced by five Commander decks (Ikoria Commander). This is essentially Commander 2020 aligning with Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths. The 71 new cards in the decks are set on the world of Ikoria, but the reprints can be from anywhere. There are a handful of cards from the main Ikoria set in these decks in the reprint slots, but the number is fairly small. The cards are only legal in Eternal formats like Legacy, Vintage, and Pauper. They have their own expansion symbol and set code (C20) to set them apart.

Notable cards

Companions

Companion creatures were deemed to be too strong as they dominated in almost every constructed format — three of them had been banned in at least one sanctioned format in less than two months, prompting WotC to change Companion's rules altogether. The ban of Jegantha, the Wellspring in December 2024 demonstrated that even lax restrictions for an engineless payoff were too limiting, making a revisit even less likely.

  • Lutri, the Spellchaser was banned in Brawl the day it was released in digital form. But more notably, mtgcommander.net, the governing body of Commander, announced Lutri's commander ban on the day it was spoiled. As Lutri's deckbuilding restriction is satisfied by every Commander/Brawl deck, it would have granted an unfair advantage to Blue-Red decks.
  • Lurrus Of The Dream-Den's deckbuilding restriction mattered very little in formats already built around cheap permanents. It was banned in Legacy, but surprisingly in Vintage as well, the first card banned in Vintage specifically for power level reasons. It was later returned to Vintage in February 2021, given that the companion tax had long since been established to be effective. Lurrus remained a dominant contender in Modern and Pioneer for several years until it was banned in those formats in March 2022.
  • Zirda, the Dawnwaker was banned in Legacy alongside Lurrus for its infinite mana combo with Grim Monolith. This was the fastest-ever ban in the format (other than cards that received a 0-day ban like Mind's Desire). Otherwise, Zirda had little to no impact in other formats.
  • Yorion, Sky Nomad had the greatest impact on Standard. "Yorion Piles", decks that used Sagas and other entry-effect enchantments from Theros Beyond Death to generate value, dominated the midrange, control, and ramp ends of the metagame. Leaning towards a long-game strategy, it was least affected by the rules change, and its power as a flicker engine is held back in larger formats where diluting a deck's power density is more detrimental and mana efficiency is paramount. Modern Horizons 2's pitch Elemental cycle created a deck with strong blink-supporting answers, giving Yorion a strong niche. The clunkiness of the eighty-card deck, the growing strength of the four-color spell pool, and tedious gameplay led to it being banned in Modern on October 10, 2022.
  • Jegantha, the Wellspring was among the easiest to free-roll, appearing as a fringe benefit once the core of a deck was built. In December 2024, it came to be considered limiting to diversity, stifling the incidence of double-colored cards, and so Jegantha was banned in Pioneer and Modern. This was the last major Companion influence in competitive metagames, and with its departure, the remainder are fringe players.
  • Kaheera, the Orphanguard was likewise easy to free-roll, appearing in creature-less or creature-low decks.
  • Obosh, the Preypiercer had minor success pre- and post-change, with the restriction easily manageable with larger formats expanding the 1-drop slot, or with Adventure creatures filling the curve.
  • Gyruda, Doom of Depths generated a combo deck revolving around resolving as many of its triggers as possible, but as a six-mana blue spell, it was far too vulnerable.
  • Keruga, the Macrosage had potential in Fires of Invention decks with Adventure creatures, but eventually it was clear the lack of cheap interaction was untenable and it was supplanted by Yorion before the rules change. It is still occasionally seen in Historic Brawl decks alongside Jodah, Archmage Eternal as the commander.
  • Umori, the Collector had some Standard success pre-change in mutate decks, but the rules change crippled its cost-reduction ability, as usually, players wanted to cast it turn 3 before an explosive turn 4.

Banned and restricted cards

  • Winota, Joiner of Forces asks for cheap non-Humans to cheat out powerful Humans, which results in decks attempting to rush out as many copies of Agent of Treachery as possible. While this was alleviated in Standard with the banning of Agent, such an effect only gained power with larger formats, and it was hence banned in Brawl in May and Historic in July — it was so powerful the Historic suspension was done under emergency timing. Winota's rise to power in Pioneer was more gradual, coming to be seen as balanced for a good while. However, it quickly proved too much for the reduced Pioneer format Explorer shortly after its introduction to Arena, and so the card was once again banned in May 2022. This was a sign of things to come, for Winota was banned in Pioneer a month later. Historic would later rebalance the card so that it triggers only once per turn, thereby permitting its return to the format.
  • Drannith Magistrate was a catch-all hate piece for Companions, Escape and Adventures, among other things, but the ability to catch Commanders was considered generally unfun for Brawl, where it was banned in May 2020. Ironically, its application for stopping Companions was prevented after the rules change.

Trivia

References

External links