Dominaria Remastered was the second of the new (to paper) remastered sets. It was released in 2023 and included cards from 27 sets and 30 years of Magic's history.
As a result, this set included a lot of cards as reprints that, unfortunately, had already been printed in retro frames. I didn't realize just how high that percentage was until I started to write this post. It was so difficult, in fact, that I could not pick five cards from any one category that were newly printed in the retro frame treatment. What I decided to switch it to was impactful reprints that helped to drop prices, bring a card a foil treatment for the first time in retro frame, or seem particularly relevant for commander as well.
As I wrote this post, I couldn't help but feel immense disappointment in this set of reprints. There were so many other cool cards that would have been great to have access to instead of printing a bunch of cards that were already available to us. I do feel happy though that this set had a big impact on the prices of several cards including all of the one mana value tutors which are not pictured here. If you are someone who cares a lot about foils, this set did a lot of great things for you and I am still very happy that it had a positive impact on my all foil retro deck and provided me with the commander for it in Tatyova.
The one thing I wished for above all else for would have been a Melissa Benson art Shivan Dragon in black borders with retro frames and foil.
White
Getting access to Sevinne's Reclamation is great! This card can be used to ramp in colors that aren't green that may have a fetch land in the graveyard. It also allows you to bring a large amount of relevant cards back from the yard straight to the battlefield. Swords became available to purchase as a retro foil for the first time in this set with new art as well. Lyra could command an angel typal deck but be cautious because there probably is not enough support for that at this time.
Blue
Mystic Remora was finally reprinted in an actual set other than a secret lair and with new art. I'm a big merfolk player so it this new art was windmill slammed into my retro merfolk typal deck. If you are one of the people who is opposed to Terese Nielsen following controversy, you finally have new art for Force of Will and the ability to purchase a retro foil of this card.
Black
The art by Mark Zug for Royal Assassin is one of my all time favorite pieces in the game and I can finally have this art on a retro frame. It looks absolutely incredible. Speaking of great art, the art for Terror by Adam Rex is amazingly eerie.
Red
If you wanted to do a different take on goblin typal (which has a large amount of support in retro frames) Pashalik Mons can provide you with just that by combining the typal strategy with the aristocrat archetype.
Green
You would never guess it, but before this set the only way to get a Wild Growth at all was in foil was a 7th edition version and it cost close to $100! This set also made the Mark Poole Birds of Paradise accessible in the retro frames and provided us with new art for Sylvan Library with the old border.
Multi-Colored
This set did give us a couple of fun build around commanders in Tiana & Tatyova for the first time in retro frames. I was extremely disappointed in the Radha they elected to reprint out of all of the versions of this character. Sol'kanar is a reprint from legends that even now sees play. In addition to these cards, several other new to retro frame legends were printed that may produce some interesting builds. I've chosen to build Tatyova as a merfolk typal deck that admittedly fails to take full advantage of her ability but is still strong.
Artifact
Urza's Incubator sees it's first reprint since being printed in the Urza's block and we get a new stax piece is Damping Sphere.
Land
Enemy check lands get a reprint in retro frames! These lands are not incredible by today's standards but they are great in a two color deck and at the time this set was released, there were not as many options as there are now. Since this set has been out, we have seen shock lands printed in retro frames which was huge as well as all of the fetch lands. It's not nearly as difficult to make a strong mana base because of this. These are still good enough to run in any two color deck and are great in budget builds. We don't, as of yet, have access to the ally check lands but hopefully we will someday soon.
These two cards round out the reprints I was most thankful for from this set. Maze of Ith is a card that I try and squeeze into almost every build and I was stoked to see it printed in retro frames where I could get a foil version of it for my Tatyova deck. Dark Depths is a fun win condition to play in commander and it would only be a year before it's mate, Thespian's Stage, got a reprint in Ravnica Remastered. I've added this two card combo in the Tatyova deck as well. Make sure when you build with these two cards you do not put them in a land slot!
While this set was mostly full of cards that had already been available in retro frames, it did a great job of making a number of cards have a much more accessible price point. And that, for me, is still a win.
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