Renewing Dawn MTG Card


Renewing Dawn - Portal
Mana cost
Converted mana cost2
RarityUncommon
TypeSorcery
Released1997-05-01
Set symbol
Set namePortal
Set codePOR
Number23
Frame1997
Layoutnormal
Borderblack
Illustred byJohn Avon

Key Takeaways

  1. Renewing Dawn’s life gain ability scales with your land count, offering potential late-game advantage.
  2. It can be a tricky fit due to white mana specificity and the requirement to discard another card.
  3. The card’s flexibility and combo potential make it a solid choice against aggressive metas.

Text of card

For each mountain your opponent has in play, you gain 2 life.

Dawn brings a new day, and a new day brings hope.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Renewing Dawn offers a refreshing influx of life points, potentially leading to an advantageous board state. This can be significant for stalling aggressive strategies until you can establish your own game plan.

Resource Acceleration: By boosting your life total, Renewing Dawn may indirectly accelerate your resources through cards that thrive on high life totals, triggering pivotal synergies within your deck.

Instant Speed: Renewing Dawn operates at instant speed, which is paramount in versatile gameplay, allowing for reactive plays. You can adapt to the unfolding game without sacrificing the opportunity to cast this life-gaining spell when it’s most impactful.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Renewing Dawn necessitates the player to discard another card to activate its effect. This can be a significant downside, especially when your hand is already running low on valuable cards or when the game state doesn’t provide a safe opportunity to decrease your hand size.

Specific Mana Cost: Renewing Dawn requires white mana to play. This restrictive mana necessity can impede deck-building flexibility and may not easily slot into multicolor decks that are not heavily white mana-based. Consequently, it might sit unused in your hand when you’re struggling with color fixing.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With its mana cost set at a precise threshold, some players might find the card a bit costly for the benefits it delivers. When compared with other life gain or control cards at a similar mana bracket, Renewing Dawn might not always be the most mana-efficient choice for sustaining life totals or stabilizing the board.


Reasons to Include Renewing Dawn in Your Collection

Versatility: Renewing Dawn offers flexibility in deck construction, allowing for strong defensive setups. Its capacity to provide life gain makes it a valuable inclusion in decks that are looking to stabilize against aggressive strategies.

Combo Potential: When paired with cards that benefit from life gain or even life total changes, Renewing Dawn can become part of powerful synergistic plays. Its interaction with cards like “Sanguine Bond” can turn a simple life boost into a game-winning tactic.

Meta-Relevance: Renewing Dawn has its place in formats where aggressive decks are prevalent. In such an environment, its ability to swing life totals can be a deciding factor, earning its spot in sideboards or even main decks that are looking to counteract those popular aggressive strategies.


How to beat Renewing Dawn

Renewing Dawn is one of those cards in Magic: The Gathering that can catch unprepared players off guard. Its ability to transform nonbasic lands into basic Plains presents a unique challenge. To outmaneuver this, assess your deck’s vulnerability to such changes in the mana base. Implementing strategies that embrace land diversity or incorporating more basic lands can help mitigate the impact of Renewing Dawn on your game plan.

It’s also worthwhile to consider cards or abilities that counteract transformation effects. Counterspells play a pivotal role in this, as they can potentially block Renewing Dawn from resolving in the first place. If Renewing Dawn does resolve, having a plan to switch lands back to their original forms or taking advantage of the temporary influx of Plains, perhaps with land-type benefiting mechanics, will ensure minimal disruption to your strategies.

Maintaining vigilance with adaptable plays and an awareness of your own mana base will ensure Renewing Dawn doesn’t eclipse your path to victory. Like navigating a strategic chess match, understanding the strengths and knowing when to counter or sidestep your opponent’s moves keeps you one step ahead in the dynamic world of Magic: The Gathering.


Cards like Renewing Dawn

Renewing Dawn steps into the dynamic world of life gain spells in Magic: The Gathering with its own unique flair. When examining spells that share its purpose, one might consider Beacon of Immortality. Beacon of Immortality instantly doubles a player’s life total, showcasing the potential for a dramatic shift in the game’s momentum. While Renewing Dawn doesn’t exhibit such an exponential increase, it offers a reliable gain without the steep six mana cost that Beacon demands.

Another card worth looking at is Chaplain’s Blessing. A very low-cost option requiring only one white mana, it delivers five life points which can be critical early on. Renewing Dawn offers more life gain which is proportionate to the number of lands a player controls, thus scaling its benefits over time as opposed to the one-time boost from Chaplain’s Blessing.

Lastly, Life Goes On is a quick and efficient life gain card. In comparison, its four life points for one green mana, doubled upon a creature’s death that turn, can be quite opportunistic. Renewing Dawn requires further setup to maximize its impact but assures a consistent life gain tailored to the player’s land base. It exemplifies a strategic choice within life gain spells due to its scalability with gameplay progression.

Beacon of Immortality - MTG Card versions
Chaplain's Blessing - MTG Card versions
Life Goes On - MTG Card versions
Beacon of Immortality - Fifth Dawn (5DN)
Chaplain's Blessing - Shadows over Innistrad (SOI)
Life Goes On - Hour of Devastation (HOU)

Cards similar to Renewing Dawn by color, type and mana cost

Balance - MTG Card versions
Martyr's Cry - MTG Card versions
Gift of Estates - MTG Card versions
Starlight - MTG Card versions
Pegasus Stampede - MTG Card versions
Planar Birth - MTG Card versions
Flicker - MTG Card versions
Steadfastness - MTG Card versions
Sacred Nectar - MTG Card versions
False Dawn - MTG Card versions
Morningtide - MTG Card versions
Academic Probation - MTG Card versions
Gather the Townsfolk - MTG Card versions
Servo Exhibition - MTG Card versions
Revoke Existence - MTG Card versions
Glare of Heresy - MTG Card versions
Return to the Ranks - MTG Card versions
Martial Coup - MTG Card versions
Swift Reckoning - MTG Card versions
Not Forgotten - MTG Card versions
Balance - Eternal Masters (EMA)
Martyr's Cry - Masters Edition IV (ME4)
Gift of Estates - Strixhaven Mystical Archive (STA)
Starlight - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Pegasus Stampede - The List (PLST)
Planar Birth - Urza's Saga (USG)
Flicker - Urza's Destiny (UDS)
Steadfastness - Starter 1999 (S99)
Sacred Nectar - Ninth Edition (9ED)
False Dawn - Apocalypse (APC)
Morningtide - Torment (TOR)
Academic Probation - Strixhaven: School of Mages Promos (PSTX)
Gather the Townsfolk - Duel Decks: Blessed vs. Cursed (DDQ)
Servo Exhibition - Friday Night Magic 2017 (F17)
Revoke Existence - Double Masters (2XM)
Glare of Heresy - Theros (THS)
Return to the Ranks - Magic 2015 (M15)
Martial Coup - Warhammer 40,000 Commander (40K)
Swift Reckoning - Ultimate Masters (UMA)
Not Forgotten - Jumpstart 2022 (J22)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Renewing Dawn MTG card by a specific set like Portal, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Renewing Dawn and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Renewing Dawn has restrictions

FormatLegality
PredhLegal
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal

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