Magic: The Gathering’s Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty Is Overflowing With Old And New Mechanics

Today marks the first day of Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty preview season for Magic: The Gathering, and it’s looking to be an exciting start of the year for the trading card game. Neon Dynasty is the 20th anniversary of the return of the fan-favorite plane. However, instead of using the old tropes, Kamigawa got a little boost.

Kamigawa, located in the current day 1200 years ago, is home to a cybernetic civilisation that features robotics and body modification. There are also lots of neon lights. It’s now Magic’s most high-tech plane, a Japanese-inspired cyberpunk realm that I never thought we’d ever see. The Kamigawa from old is still with us, though, because this modern society lives in harmony with nature, spirit, and kami.

The set’s mechanics, like the Kamigawa new version, are an amalgamation of both old and new. They also blend different eras more than the story. Speaking of story, there will be some spoilers to explain the set’s mechanics, so be warned. Wizards have already started the Neon Dynasty story on their website. This follows Kaito Shizuki (new ninja Planeswalker) in his quest for the missing Emperor of Kamigawa. It’s going to some wild places, and it’s the most excited I’ve been in the Magic story in years. Give the stories a chance.

And now, without further ado, here’s the absolutely packed slate of mechanics for Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty:

Sagas return in the first premiere set of the year for the third year in a row, but they’re doing something very different this time around. Usually, when a Saga’s final turn comes, and its final chapter resolves, it leaves the battlefield and goes straight into the graveyard. On Kamigawa, however, these stories come to life when the last chapter is read, exiling and flipping to the other side of the card, revealing a creature that’s here to stay on the board.

The coolest mechanic in the race for Coolest New Mechanic is Reconfigure. This allows you to transform creatures into weapons. A Reconfigure cost will be associated with certain creature cards. If paid while the card is active, it attaches to another creature and makes that creature into an Equipment. That same cost can be paid to unequip the creature, to return it as a separate entity on the battlefield. The mechanic eliminates Equipment that sits on the battlefield and does nothing. Instead, it gives you another body to make the board more sticky. I’m excited to see how this plays out in practice. It’s a great flavor combination with cyberpunk.

Since its debut in Ikoria, ability counters are back to give permanent keywords like flying and indestructible. They are counters that grant abilities and appear to not have been affected. Some cards can now also care about the counters or other modifications.

Like the Historic mechanic from Dominaria, “Modified” is a catch-all term for creatures that have a counter on them of any kind, have an aura you own attached to it, and/or have an equipment attached. Spells or creatures may have rules text that cares whether something has been “Modified” to enable an effect, but the keyword itself doesn’t do anything in particular.

It’s not Kamigawa without ninjas, and their primary mechanic is back! That’s right, until Neon Dynasty rotates, get ready for secret strikes from your opponent’s hand during combat. Mechanically, Ninjutsu hasn’t changed. Ninjutsu still requires you to pay an additional cost to exchange unblocked attacks creatures for your ninja. This allows the board to be tapped and attacked, but it is not free. There’s plenty of shenanigans to utilize with Ninjutsu, so mastering the strategies and timing will be key to unlocking its usefulness.

Returning mechanic Channel lets you make use of your cards in hand, even if they aren’t used for their primary purpose. Channel allows you to discard a card and pay a fee in order for Channel to effect the rule text. Boseiju the Endurer, a legendary land, taps for 1 green mana and can be channeled to get 2 mana to eliminate a target artifact or enchantment or any non-basic land your opponent has. You can find a basic land in your library to put on the battlefield, and it will not be untapped. However, this effect is undoubtedly powerful.

With the Magic story going into high gear for the first time in a while, it’s time to officially welcome back the devious Phyrexian Praetors. Last year, Vorinclex was seen in Kaldheim. Now Jin-Gintaxias has begun to experiment with a favorite Magic character. Resident Kamigawa Tamiyo has fallen into the Praetor’s grasp, becoming the first Planeswalker to undergo the Phyrexian Compleation process without her spark being destroyed in the process. Unfortunately this means that our Moonfolk favourite researcher has turned to the dark side. She had all of her body replaced with artificial material. Tamiyo Compleated Sage is proud to show off her new Phyrexian face and the return of Phyrexian mena. Phyrexian mana allows you to pay twice the amount of colored mana. This is a reasonable cost for fixing your mana and releasing a spell sooner than anticipated.

According to our press briefing, two cards will use Phyrexian mana, one being Tamyio, Compleated Sage, which gets an awesome Phyrexian language version, just like recent printings of Vorinclex and the other Praetors.

Tamiyo’s “Compleated” static ability is a hybrid blue and green Phyrexian mana, allowing you to pay for the Planeswalker with blue mana, green mana, or 2 life. However, Tamiyo will only be able to play with less loyalty counters if you pay for life. It is a bad idea to follow the lead of the Phyrexians.

This is all about the mechanics. But not what we have in store for you, Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty preview season. We’ll be debuting our exclusive preview card on February 3 at 11 a.m. Central and it happens to use one of the mechanics above! Please let us know in the comment section which one you believe it to be. 

Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty releases on Magic: The Gathering Arena February 10th, with prerelease physical events beginning on February 11. A week later, the full paper set will release on February 18.