The gameplay mechanics present in Magic: The Gathering’s newest set, Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty have done a lot to distinguish itself from other recent sets, despite many of them offering strong competition for the most unique gameplay. Zendikar Rising’s modal double-faced lands changed the way deck construction ratios worked, and Strixhaven’s Learn mechanic ended up being much stronger than expected with Mascot Exhibition seeing play in Standard. Kamigawa is complex and its mechanics will change the way people play aggressive equipment and auras in Standard and beyond.
Every set of Magic: The Gathering cards comes with new mechanics to make the game exciting to revisit year after year. Still, as time has gone on, the designers at Wizards of the Coast have had to get more and more creative to keep sets unique and replayable. One of MTG’s greatest strengths is its wide variety of playstyles, so Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty’s design success will most likely be predicated on how good the new mechanics are.
The two new mechanics are called Reconfigure and modified creatures – Reconfigure is a new take on equipment, while cards that call out modified creatures care about auras, enchantments, and counters. It’s hard to know how these cards will function before the set release, but both these mechanics are strange and seem to lean toward helping aggressive decks have more reach. Reconfigure is especially tough, as it can change a card’s type and attaches creatures to other creatures – something only done similarly in Ikoria with Mutate.
MTG’s Reconfigure & Modified Creatures In Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty
For those that remember the historic mechanic from Dominaria, calling out Artifacts, Sagas, and the Commander format favorite Legendary Creatures, modified is similar – it’s a grouped term rather than a keyword mechanic. In order to get the most out of the effect, players have to play auras and equipment along with creatures, but the easiest way to fulfill the requirement is counters. Cards like Felidar Retreat from Zendikar Rising and Ranger Class from Adventures in the Forgotten Realm all point to aggressive +1/+1 counter synergies and Kodama of the West Tree can give those creatures trample to get through a crowded midgame.
Reconfigure could also give aggressive decks some interesting counterplay versus control decks. This mechanic lets players cast creature spells that can become equipment later in the game. Paying a card’s reconfigure cost will let them attach the creature to another, usually giving the recipient its stats and keywords. The play pattern for these Magic Arena and Alchemy playable cards will often be casting them as creatures, dealing damage to opponents early on while the board develops, and then equipping them to stronger creatures to finish off the game and hide them from creature removal. If the recipient creature dies, the equipment will become a creature again, but this is an upside as it will still be able to block and attack.
Returning mechanics like Channel still have utility, especially because they’ve been put on a cycle of powerful rare lands. This mechanic lets players discard the card from their hand and pay a mana cost to activate a special effect rather than casting the spell. It’s sneakily powerful, mostly because these can’t be countered by traditional counterspells – cards like Stifle will need to counter the ability directly. Along with Channel, the set is getting loaded with Magic’s returning Kamigawa mechanic Ninjutsu, Vehicles, Sagas, Legendary Creatures, and even Phyrexian mana, so there will be a lot to unpack once the set comes out. Metagames are usually determined based on card interactions rather than individual card power, so how all these strategies play with and against each other remains to be seen. Magic: The Gathering and Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty look surprisingly powerful, and hopefully many of these effects will see play in Standard, Modern, Pioneer, and beyond.