Leviathan (Original Art)

Arguably the most iconic image from The Dark set (along with Maze of Ith), Leviathan is a nine-mana blue 10/10 creature with trample, that enters the battlefield tapped, and doesn’t untap during your untap step. At the beginning of your upkeep, you may sacrifice two Islands to untap Leviathan. Leviathan can’t attack unless you sacrifice two Islands. Leviathan from The Dark (1994), is one of the original “big blue creatures” – a massive sea monster meant to represent the ultimate oceanic threat. In early Magic design, each color had its own “giant creature” – Force of Nature (Green), Shivan Dragon (Red), Serra Angel (White), Lord of the Pit (Black). Richard Garfield and early designers wanted each color to have access to a “finisher” that matched its philosophy. For blue, that meant power through cost and control – a gigantic creature that could dominate the board but came with steep restrictions to reflect blue’s need for planning and resource management. The art by Melissa Benson has also become iconic – the looming, serpentine monster emerging from the depths captures early Magic’s mythic and mysterious tone perfectly. In Commander (EDH), it occasionally appears in casual / “Sea Monster” decks, as a thematic finisher (e.g. Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle or Wrexial, the Risen Deep). Leviathan is not on the Reserved List.