MTG beefs up Commander with M20 Yarok, the Desecrated

Creating a cycle of legendary creatures in Core Set 2020, Magic: The Gathering drops the fourth spoiler card in the cycle, Yarok, the Desecrated.

Gavin Verhey and the MTG Core Set 2020 team wanted to create a cycle of legends and are using the M20 set to launch their creations. Having already spoiled Kykar, Wind’s Fury, Golos, Tireless Pilgrim, and Kaalia, Zenith Seeker—today’s three colored legendary creature spoiler is Yarok, The Desecrated.

Yarok, the Desecrated

Borrowing the theme from Panharmonicon in the Magic: The Gathering Kaladesh set, Yarok the Desecrated is a five mana (one black, one green, and one blue) legendary three/five elemental horror with deathtouch and lifelink. A decent card on its own, Yarok earns its mana cost through its static ability.

“If a permanent entering the battlefield causes a triggered ability of a permanent you control to trigger, that ability triggers an additional time.”

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Panharmonicon had a similar ability, but only for artifacts and creatures entering the battlefield that triggered a permanent. Yarok, the Desecrated is a great Commander fit because its ability is for any permanent which enters the battlefield that triggers the ability of another permanent.

And if the Yarok, the Desecrated wasn’t cool enough on its own, the artwork illustrated by Daarken sets it apart from other legendary creatures in M20. More legendary cycle cards are on the way according to Verhey, however, how many are in MTG Core Set 2020 remains unknown.

The Magic: The Gathering Core Set 2020 is set to release on July 12, with a pre-release Draft from July 5 to 6. Early access to the M20 set can be found via MTG Arena and Magic Online starting July 2.