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Category:
MTG

Magic’s ninth Sword forges path in Commander through card advantage

Wield a sword like a rebel.
Image of Danny Forster
Danny Forster
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Published: Jan 18, 2023 05:22 pm

A mega Magic: The Gathering cycle that began 20 years ago will get its second-to-last Sword in the upcoming Phyrexia: All Will Be One set. 

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Originally known as the Mirran Sword cycle, the MTG colors Red and Green will now have a Sword with the release of Phyrexia: All Will Be One. Each of the five allied and enemy colors will have a Sword upon the completion of the cycle. The two remaining colors are Blue and Black. The Sword of Forge and Frontier is the Red and Green Sword, revealed today by CFB, providing protection for its respective colors while also providing card advantage upon dealing combat damage to an opponent. 

The Sword of Forge and Frontier

Every Sword in the Mirran cycle has two colors associated with it, gaining protection from those two colors while on the battlefield. Each Sword then has an ability, which for The Sword of Forge and Frontier is activated upon dealing combat damage to an opponent.

Sword of Forge and Frontier | Image via WotC
  • Mana cost: Three of any color
  • Type: Artifact—Equipment
  • Rarity: Mythic Rare
  • Equip cost: Two
  • Passive: Equipped creature gets +2/+2 and has protection from Red and Green
  • Ability: Whenever equipped creature deals combat damage to a player, exile the top two cards of your library. You may play those cards this turn. You may play an additional land this turn. 

Like all the Equipment Swords in the cycle, the cost to cast is three mana of any color and the equip cost is two. For Equipment, the price is high outside of MTG formats like Commander. Cards that reduce the cost of equipping can increase the appeal of running a Sword in a format like Standard, but players are still running a chance of the Equipment becoming a dead card in hand due to its costs. 

The Sword of Forge and Frontier attempts to alleviate some of its cost by allowing players to play an additional land upon dealing combat damage. Within the Commander format, this is a powerful effect that players can capitalize on.

In addition to dropping an additional land onto the battlefield, players can also cast one or both of the two cards exiled off the top of their library, providing a solid amount of card advantage. And the protection from Red and Green is icing on the cake, especially in a format like Commander where a majority of decks have two to three colors that are represented. 

Players can test out The Sword of Forge and Frontier on Feb. 10 with the global release of ONE. A digital release will take place on Feb. 7 and prerelease starts on Feb. 3. 

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Author
Image of Danny Forster
Danny Forster
Staff writer, lead beat writer for MTG and TFT
Danny has been writing for Dot Esports for over five years, first as a freelancer and now as a staff writer. He is the lead beat writer for Magic: The Gathering and Teamfight Tactics. Danny is also a solid Monopoly GO player, having beaten every main event without spending a dime. When Danny isn't writing or gaming, he's chilling by the water in Spacecoast Florida with his family and friends. He's always got a tan, because touching grass is important, and loves playing strategic digital and tabletop games. Past outlets Danny has written for include TheGamer and ScreenRant.
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