Tarkir Dragonstorm Spoilers & Key Set Information

After more than a decade away, Tarkir has made its triumphant return to Magic: The Gathering in Tarkir: Dragonstorm, and it’s already become one of the most popular and successful sets in a good long while.

Whether you’re coming in to Magic completely fresh, or excited to get back to the clans of Tarkir, there’s something in this set for everyone. It’s also likely a much bigger deal than you realised, for a number of reasons.

Return to Tarkir – What This Set Means for MTG

Debuting in the original Tarkir block, Tarkir is a world inspired by various Asian cultures. It’s a world of endless war, with five clans vying for control of Tarkir. The Abzan, Jeskai, Sultai, Mardu, and Temur all have their own philosophies, colours, and abilities, which alone would make them frightning adversaries to face.

But they’re not alone. Swarming the skies of Tarkir are the dragons. They were brought back to life in our previous trip to Tarkir by the time-travelling planeswalker Sarkhan Vol, and Dragonstorm explores the present of the plane and how it has not only adapted to a world full of dragons, but also one that reclaims the clans it had previously forgotten.

Dragonstorm is something of a soft reboot for Tarkir. It combines the five three-colour clans we saw in Khans of Tarkir, with the dragon-centric gameplay we got to enjoy in its follow up, Dragons of Tarkir. It combines the best of both the original timeline in Khans and the new one of Dragons, and manages to do just about everything spectacularly as a result.

Full Set Spoilers & Key Revealed Cards

Despite this being a return to Tarkir, there are surprisingly few returning dragons from our last visit. Silumgar, Kolaghan, Ojutai, Atarka, and Dromoka are nowhere to be found, with their control of the plane weakened by the remerging clans.

Instead, we’ve got a new brood of powerful dragons, with each of the clans getting a key Spirit Dragon to aid them:

• The Abzan have the white/black/green Betor, Kin to All, a new toughness-matters commander for all those who like thick bodies to block with.
  
  
• The blue/red/white Jeskai have Shiko, Paragon of the Way, who is an absolute fiend in the set’s limited format.
  
  
• Sultai, the black/green/blue clan, have Teval, Arbiter of Virtue, complete with his graveyard-delving combo potential.
  
  
• Mardu have the red/white/black Neriv, Heart of the Storm, a damage doubler if you can make a creature deal damage the same turn it entered.
  
  
• Finally, there’s Temur, the clan most allied with the Dragons. They have Ureni, the green/blue/red Dragon that can turn all your land into massive damage to a single creature.

On top of the spirit dragons, there’s also a new mechanic tied to dragons: Omens. Omens can be cast for a one-off effect before being shuffled back into your library, or they can be cast for their powerful Dragon creatures instead. Between cards like Sagu Wildling’s land tutoring and Bloomvine Regent gaining you three life whenever a Dragon enters, Omens are definitely cards you should be keeping an eye out for.

Above every Dragon, though, there is just one who stands out as perhaps the best card in the entire set: the father of all of Tarkir’s dragons, the planeswalker Ugin. This colourless Dragon is a must-have for any colourless decks, letting you remove your opponent’s permanents while also building up colourless mana for your own, nefarious plans.

It isn’t just the Dragons worth picking up, though! There are some excellent non-creature cards too, like Mox Jasper, Dracogenesis, Mistrise Village, and Cori-Steel Cutter, which are all seeing significant play in not just Commander, but also formats like Standard and even Legacy.

Finally, we’ve got the hoof. Craterhoof Behemoth got a reprint, making one of the best mono-green finishers in Commander available to Standard and, for the first time, Pioneer. It’s rare to see such a high-profile reprint included in a Standard set, so now is definitely the time to pick one up if you’ve been meaning to.

New Mechanics & Gameplay Innovations

Tarkir has long been what is known as a ‘faction plane’. Like Ravnica, New Capenna, or Strixhaven, its world is divvied up into groups, and each of those groups have their own mechanical identities ripe for all kinds of new mechanics.

Alongside Omens, which we’ve already mentioned, there are a whole host of other, new mechanics introduced in this set:

For the Abzan, we’ve got enduring. Whenever you endure, you can either but the specified number of +1/+1 counters on that creature, or make an X/X Spirit token instead.

The Jeskai have flurry. Flurry is a group of abilities that trigger when you cast your second spell each turn, rewarding you for spellslinging to your heart’s content.

The Sultai introduce renew. Renew is an ability you activate from the graveyard, exiling that card to put all sorts of different counters on a creature you control.

The Mardu make use of mobilize, one of the strongest mechanics in the set. When you mobilize, you make that many attacking 1/1 Warrior tokens, helping you go wide and hit hard.

Finally, the Temur can harmonize. Harmonize lets you play the card from your graveyard, which is always good. Even better, though, is the ability to tap a creature to reduce the spell’s cost by its power. If you’ve got a big creature in play, you could be casting spells for peanuts.

Tarkir Dragonstorm in Standard, Commander & Beyond

As a Standard-legal set, Tarkir: Dragonstorm joins the likes of Bloomburrow, Duskmourn, and Foundations in one of the most exciting and varied Standard formats we’ve had in a good long while.

Plenty of cards have been breaking in to the meta, too. Things like Cori-Steel Cutter; Shiko, Paragon of the Way; and Sunpearl Kirin are all being played in top decks, showing just how excellent this set is.

Of course, plenty of people only play Commander. Fortunately, Dragonstorm has a whopping five Commander precons available (one for each clan), full of new cards and classic reprints. The main set has a few great new toys to look out for aswell, like Ugin, Eye of the Storm; the reprint of Craterhoof Behemoth, the new blue land Mistrise Village, and Voice of Victory as a way to keep tricky counterspells at bay during your turn.

Must-Have Cards for Collectors & Investors

If you’re a fan of bling or big money cards, Tarkir’s got more than a few up for grabs. Ugin is the big pull of the set, of course, but there are plenty of other valuable cards to find too. Clarion Conqueror, Dracogenesis, and Mox Jasper are all cards to keep an eye out for, and Elspeth, Storm Slayer joins the likes of Ojer Taq, Doubling Season, and Anointed Procession as a must-have token doubler.

The most valuable cards can only be found in Collector boosters, though. These are the Ghostfire frames, mwhich give the cards an ethereal blue look, just like Ugin. The halo foil variants of these add an oil-slick-like pattern to them that looks stunning, and if you can pull an Ugin, Craterhoof, or Elspeth in one of these, you’re quids in.

A smaller card to keep an eye out for is Cori-Steel Cutter. As mentioned, it’s been having an impact on Standard, but also formats like Modern, Vintage, and Legacy too. Its popularity has caused its price to skyrocket since launch, going from an obscure bulk rare to a worthy chase card in its own right.

Where to Buy Tarkir Dragonstorm Cards

Tarkir: Dragonstorm is going to go down as one of the best sets in recent years for its flavour, powerful mechanics, excellent art treatments, and that saucy reprint of Craterhoof. If you’re wanting to pick your clan and get started, Magic Madhouse has bundles, booster packs, booster boxes, and Collector packs all up for sale.

And don’t forget, if you spend over £120, you’ll get free 24 hour shipping. SO if you grab a booster box, you’ll probably be opening it the next day!