Dominaria United Limited is shaping up to be an exciting format and a welcome sight coming off Magic: The Gathering‘s lack of a traditional Limited set over the summer.
White is a color that has access to one of Dominaria United‘s new mechanics, Enlist. This mechanic lets an attacking Creature tap another nonattacking Creature you control without summoning sickness. If you do, the attacking Creature gains power equal to the power of the tapped Creature.
Enlist is a good Limited mechanic that rewards attacking and applying pressure against the opponent. White supports this mechanic with both efficient Creatures and a tokens theme. The 1/1 tokens throughout White’s cards are excellent ways to fuel Enlist without leaving more impactful Creatures out of combat.
There are four main archetypes White fits into in Dominaria United Limited:
- White and Blue: Flying Tempo
- White and Red: Token and Enlist Aggro
- White and Green: Go-wide and Domain
- White and Black: Midrange sacrifice life drain and gain.
Dominaria United will support splashing beyond two-color decks. Look to splash effective White cards in your decks, even if it isn’t the main color.
Here are the best White Common and Uncommon cards in Dominaria United.
Argivian Cavalier
This is a fun twist on the typical three-mana 3/2 Creatute in Limited. Argivian Cavalier is a three-mana 2/2 with Enlist. When it enters the battlefield, you create a 1/1 White Soldier token. This is a solid effect.
White decks want to go wide and fill the battlefield with Creatures. Soldiers are a relevant Creature type that can benefit from various buffs. Argivian Cavalier immediately gives you a Creature to tap when it attacks. It can swing in as a 3/2 if you tap the token, making it a nice threat.
Benalish Sleeper
One of the first cards revealed from Dominaria United turns out to be one of the best White Commons. Benalish Sleeper is a good two-mana 3/1 Creature that will generally trade up in combat. The kicker ability is great too.
For one extra black mana, Benalish Sleeper will make each player sacrifice a Creature. White has plenty of access to tokens to mitigate the ability’s damage to your battlefield. There’s more than enough color fixing that having your two colors online by turn three shouldn’t be too difficult. Look to pick this card in draft.
Citizen’s Arrest
Citizen’s Arrest is a worthwhile piece of White removal to run. It hits Creatures and Planeswalkers. The only concern with Citizen’s Arrest is its restrictive mana cost. At 1WW you’ll want to run this card in, at most, a two-color list. For those leaning into Domain strategies, Citizen’s Arrest could be too difficult to cast exactly when you need it.
This also fits in the small Enchantment archetype in Dominaria. If you can rip a Zur, Eternal Schemer during the draft, Citizens’ Arrest becomes a premier removal spell because it synergizes so well with Zur compared to Instant or Sorcery removal options.
Destroy Evil
In Limited, there comes a point in the match where you need to deal with an opponent’s bomb. This concern is enhanced in Sealed where there’s a higher concentration of powerful Rare and Mythic Rare cards in each deck. Destroy Evil is a clean answer to most of the strongest cards in Dominaria United that can’t be dealt with in combat.
Taking out Enchantments is also relevant. This will destroy opposing Sagas, which will be all over this format. Destroy Evil is a sideboard card, but can make it into the main deck depending on how the format evolves.
Knight of Dawn’s Light
Life gain isn’t a major theme in Dominaria United, but getting an extra life whenever it happens is a good ability. What makes Knight of Dawn’s Light a strong uncommon is its stout body. A two-mana 2/2 with first strike is a formidable Creature. It will stop the opponent from attacking early and can stand up against low-toughness three and four-drop Creatures.
There’s also a major threat of activation. For only 1W Knight of Dawn’s Light gets +1/+1 until the end of turn. This is a repeatable effect. This card fits well into aggressive White builds, while also retaining value in slower control decks that need to gum up the battlefield so they can find win conditions.
Phyrexian Missionary
Phyrexian Missionary is another excellent low-cost Creature in White. This card is a two-mana 2/3 with lifelink. Aside from being a great blocker, Phyrexian Missionary also has a solid kicker ability. If it’s kicked, you can return a target Creature from your graveyard to your hand.
This is a good card at different phases of the game. It can be run out early as a body that will block and gain life. It can come in later into the game and help get back a threat from the graveyard.
Juniper Order Rootweaver
W/G decks in Dominara United can lean into a go-wide strategy while still having support from Green’s big-bodied threats. Juniper Order Rootweaver is a fine two-drop 2/2 with kicker. Its ability to give a Creature a +1/+1 counter will be huge against decks that want efficiently trade Creatures in combat.
This can be played on turn two if you really need an early blocker, however, it might be more effective to think of Juniper Order Rootweaver as a three-drop Creature. The +1/+1 counter is what makes this more interesting than a standard 2/2 for two.
Heroic Charge
Oftentimes aggro decks in Limited will need to punch in the last bit of damage in the mid-game. This is where mass buff effects like Heroic Charge come in. For four mana, this Instant will give the team +2/+1 helping them force tough blocks or simply blowing the opponent out during combat.
The kicker ability will be the best at dealing damage to the opponent for lethal. For a 1R kicker cost, adding up to a total of six mana, Heroic Charge also gives your Creatures trample. The only concern is the 2WW mana cost could be difficult to cast, but by the time this card is relevant, you should have both colors online.
All images via Wizards of the Coast.
