What is PIKO in Magic: The Gathering?

PIKO is the set code for Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths Promos, the collection of alternate-treatment promo cards released alongside the main Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths expansion in 2020. It contains 137 cards.

Are Ikoria promo cards (PIKO) legal in the same formats as regular Ikoria cards?

Yes. PIKO cards are functionally identical to their Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths counterparts and share the same format legality. If a card is legal in Standard, Modern, Pioneer, or any other format from the base Ikoria set, the promo version is equally legal.

When was Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths released?

Ikoria launched on Magic Online and MTG Arena on April 16, 2020. Paper release was April 17, 2020 in Asia and May 15, 2020 in most other regions, due to COVID-19 disruptions. All cards became tournament-legal on April 24, 2020.

What mechanics are featured in Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths Promos?

PIKO cards carry all of Ikoria's mechanics, including mutate (merging two creatures into one), companion (a deckbuilding-condition creature outside the game), keyword counters (granting abilities like flying or trample permanently), and the returning mechanic cycling.

What is the story of Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths?

The Ikoria story is told in the novella Sundered Bond by Django Wexler (April 2020). It follows Lukka, a soldier who illegally bonds with a monster, alongside characters including Jirina Kudro, Vivien Reid, and Narset. The central theme is humanity's fearful relationship with the plane's enormous creatures.

Why was the companion mechanic from Ikoria changed?

Companion allowed players to access a designated creature from outside the game if their deck met specific conditions, effectively giving them an eighth card. It proved too powerful across multiple formats and was errata'd in June 2020 to require paying an additional {3} mana before the companion enters your hand.

Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths Promos (PIKO) Guide

Promo cards are a beloved corner of Magic collecting, and the Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths Promos set (PIKO) gathers the alternate-treatment versions released alongside the main Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths expansion. With 137 cards in the set, PIKO represents one of the more substantial promo releases tied to a single expansion - fitting for a set as ambitious as Ikoria.

What is Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths Promos?

PIKO is the official promo set accompanying Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths, Magic's 84th expansion. The base set was released in a staggered window due to the COVID-19 pandemic: digitally on Magic Online and MTG Arena on April 16, 2020, with paper release advanced to April 17, 2020 in Asia and delayed to May 15, 2020 for most other regions. Cards became tournament-legal across all formats on April 24, 2020 - the original planned release date.

Like other promo sets, PIKO doesn't add new cards to the game. Instead, it packages existing Ikoria cards in alternate printings - think prerelease stamped foils, Bundle promos, Buy-a-Box cards, and other promotional treatments - all collected under a single set code for cataloguing purposes.

Format check: PIKO cards are functionally identical to their Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths counterparts. Legality follows the base set - wherever a card is legal in Ikoria, the PIKO version is equally legal.

Themes and mechanics

Because PIKO mirrors the main Ikoria set, the cards in this promo collection carry all of Ikoria's signature mechanical identity. Ikoria is a plane defined by enormous monsters, and the mechanics reflect that.

The headline mechanic is mutate - an ability that lets you cast a creature spell under or over another non-Human creature you control, merging the two into a single monstrous hybrid. It's one of Magic's more ambitious designs, essentially letting you build a custom creature over the course of a game.

Ikoria also introduced companion, a mechanic that lets you designate a creature from outside the game as a companion if your deck meets a specific deckbuilding condition - giving you access to an eighth card in a virtual sideboard. Companion had an outsized impact on competitive formats and was eventually errata'd in June 2020 to add an additional {3} mana activation cost before the companion enters your hand.

Keyword counters appeared here too, letting creatures permanently gain abilities like flying, trample, or lifelink through counters rather than text on the card itself. It's a clean mechanical expression of Ikoria's monster-fusion theme.

Returning mechanics include cycling - discard this card, draw a card - which has a long history in Magic and fits naturally into a set where you want to keep moving toward your big threats.

Lore and setting

Ikoria is a plane overrun by enormous, often bizarre creatures called beasts. Humans survive in walled city-states called Citadels, living in an uneasy coexistence with the wilderness outside.

The story of the set, told in the novella Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths - Sundered Bond by Django Wexler (published April 2020), follows Lukka, a soldier of the Coppercoat military force who bonds with a monster against the laws of his society. The cast also includes Jirina Kudro, daughter of the ruthless General Kudro; the planeswalker Vivien Reid, who is deeply sympathetic to Ikoria's creatures; and Narset, who appears as part of the broader story. The central tension is between a society built on fear of monsters and individuals who see something worth understanding - or protecting - in them.

Lore aside: Lukka's arc across Ikoria and subsequent sets is a significant thread in Magic's modern storyline. His bond with a monster and eventual betrayal of his own people set up his role in later chapters of the Phyrexian saga.

Set legacy

Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths is remembered as one of the most mechanically adventurous sets of its era - and one of the most controversial. Mutate is widely regarded as a fascinating but difficult-to-balance design. Companion, however, is the mechanic that defined the set's competitive legacy: it warped multiple formats almost immediately after release and led to one of the rare mid-cycle rules changes in Magic's history.

For collectors, PIKO represents a chance to own alternate versions of some genuinely iconic cards from that release window. The promo treatments from Ikoria are among the more visually striking of the era, fitting for a set built around monstrous, larger-than-life creatures.

The staggered release due to the pandemic also makes Ikoria a historically notable set - one of the few expansions where digital and paper players had meaningfully different launch experiences, and where tournament legality dates were formally decoupled from physical availability.