There is an unusually strong presence of a game mechanic from a previous set in DMU. {{Ability|Kicker}} was introduced in [[Zendikar Rising]], and but there are very close to as many more Kicker cards in DMU as than in ZNR.

The Dominaria United card set consists of 206 cards across all five rarities; 12 Masterpiece, 18 Mythic, 52 Rare, 55 Uncommon, 69 Common. Plus additional full art variants of 24 of those cards: 7 Mythic, 12 Rare, 5 UC.  As sometimes happens, an ability introduced in a previous set (in this case {{Ability|Kicker}} from the [[Zendikar Rising]] set) was added; 52 DMU cards have Kicker, and one interacts with Kicker. The great majority of them are Kicker cost 2, a sharp contrast with ZNR Kicker cards. Most of them also require a gem match of a color or colors different to their own color.