Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Set Review

Tarkir Dragonstorm prerelease is April 4, and the set releases April 11. This phenomenal revisit to Tarkir is sure to please old and new fans alike. It’s time to do a Commander Set Review for Tarkir: Dragonstorm. 

You can find other recent Commander set reviews here:

• Aetherdrift
• Foundations
• Jumpstart 25
• Duskmourn
• Bloomburrow

The Commander Set Review this time is structured a little differently. As usual, I’m covering only the best cards in the set for Commander. That means the more average three color cards, and any for very niche archetypes, won’t be covered. That said, the three-color Wedges are important this set, so I’ve broken down the Multicolor section of the review into Abzan, Jeskai, Mardu, Sultai and Temur to cover those more powerful cards together. 

Without further ado, let’s brave the Dragonstorms and find out just how many heaters this set has. 

Spoilers: it’s a lot.

TARKIR DRAGONSTORM: UGIN

What better way to start today than with big daddy Ugin, Eye of the Storms? You don’t need to be a genius card evaluator to see he’s the real deal. In theory you can exile at least two things the turn you cast him, by using his {0} to add <><><>. In a Colorless deck, this is going to be a second copy of OG Ugin as far as removal goes a lot of the time. Card draw on a plus, and an ultimate that lets you cast your library? Certified bomb.

TARKIR DRAGONSTORM: WHITE

Clarion Conqueror is what happens when white gets a Collector Ouphe. It’s Collector Juiced. A lot of the time this is gonna hit your deck hard too, but if you build around it, it can be devastating. 

Elspeth, Storm Slayer is fantastic. She’s a token doubler first and foremost, which is one of the strongest Planeswalker static abilities we’ve seen. She can tick up to make two Solider tokens, or for a very generous {0}, she can jump your whole team with permanent counter buffs until your next turn. She protects herself incredibly well. Her {-3} is also removal. What more could you want, or need?

Smile at Death is a “five-mana do-nothing”, but if you do untap, it’s probably better than on-rate for the first trigger. After that, you’re getting a lot of extra value. I like this more the more I think about it.

Voice of Victory is probably the “stax” piece you want over Clarion Conqueror. It’s closer to Grand Abolisher, and a mana less. I can see this being played a lot, to be honest. 

Top 5 White Common/Uncommons:

1. Coordinated Maneuver – A pile-on with enchantment removal as an option? Sign me up.
2. Duty Beyond Death – boardwipe protection at 2 mana that also buffs the board. Sweet.
3. Tempest Hawk – You can now build the Cawblade deck of your dreams.
4. Static Snare – can be cast on opponent’s turns too, remember.
5. Starry-Eyed Skyrider – jumping attacking tokens at three mana can be lethal

TARKIR DRAGONSTORM: BLUE

A three mana way to protect your untapped Dragons is pretty great to be honest, especially given it replaces itself a good proportion of the time with another spell or Dragon. I think this will be a little underplayed. 

Wow, what a cool Clone. It’s your standard fare at four mana, but the Renew ability is wonderful. You can get up to serious shenanigans with this, especially in mill strategies. 

A two mana way to get multiple cards into your yard every upkeep is a thing of beauty. Ripples of Undeath was a top pick from me for MH3, and if you’re in Sultai or Dimir and want to be using your yard, Stillness in Motion is a hot pickup. 

Taigam, Master Opportunist does a lot for just two mana. A very interesting mono-blue Commander in his own right, I’m mostly looking forward to slotting him into Shiko & Narset, Unified. The exiling of the spell with Suspend is what makes this so fun – that spell that comes back eventually is gonna trigger Flurry again for you.

Top 5 Blue Common/Uncommons:

1. Roiling Dragonstorm – Repeatable draw for Dragon decks. Love it.
2. Highspire Bellringer – Cost reduction needs that 1/4 Flying body, and gets it.
3. Veteran Ice Climber – Blue apparently likes to mill when attacking or doing damage now.
4. Wingblade Disciple – We love 1/1 flyers. We love a 2/2 flyer that makes them.
5. Ringing Strike Mastery – Deceptively solid one mana “removal” in blue. 

TARKIR DRAGONSTORM: BLACK

I really liked Infantry Shield in my review of the new Commander Precon cards, and this is for all intents and purposes another flavor of that effect. You get to go really wide with this in self-mill decks, and it can also be a decent Mobilizer in the midgame as a Deathtouch attacker that can spawn two or three tokens. Definitely run some looting or surveil-based draw if you run this. 

Qarsi Revenant is Vampire Nighthawk on steroids. I believe sixteen years is long enough to power creep a card, though. The Renew ability on this vamp makes it a champ. Putting these counters on another creature can unlock some strong attacks – or give a Commander like Yargle and Multani some very relevant keyword counters.

Sidisi, Regent of the Mire is a pod effect at just two mana. Is this the cheapest pod ever?!

While Sidisi only costs two, you do need a creature other than it in play to do the thing, and that creature is from your yard. So a few more hoops. But, hoops I’m happy to leap through. A strong recursion piece for sure.

The next card just feels like something I’ve seen before.

Sinkhole Surveyor is kinda Bitterblossom, yeah. If you’re in a deck that wants to do Bitterblossom things, then you’re likely wanting this card, spirit token synergy aside.

Top 5 Black Common/Uncommons:

1. Yathan Tombguard – punch people for card draw in a counters-based deck. Lovely art, too.
2. Cruel Truths – this set’s four mana draw spell has Surveil action.
3. Strategic Betrayal – hose your playgroups reanimator player with this one trick Doctors hate.
4. Krumar Initiate – “Paul of Blood” is slower to grow than a wall, but sticks around longer.
5. Corroding Dragonstorm – perhaps stronger in limited, but still decent in some Commander decks.

TARKIR DRAGONSTORM: RED

So trample and haste are really good keywords for an equipment. Not only does Cori-Steel Cutter grant them with a buff, but you’ll also get the chance to make a token with prowess and auto-equip it each turn. This is really flexible, especially for surprise blocks. Will likely overperform.

Dracogenesis is the Omniscience of the set, but just for Dragons. So in that sense, it’s closer to Rooftop Storm. Is it good? Well, yes. Yes it is. Are you benefitting a lot by slapping this into the Ur-Dragon and getting to reduce your Commander just to tax? Also yes. Very good card, and fair for eight mana, to be honest.

Magmatic Hellkite is the latest variant on a land destruction 4-drop. This time, the land enters with a stun counter, shutting the opponent off of mana the next time they untap. I really like this design and use of stun counters.

Is this Dragon lord going in Dragons decks? No, not at all. Or at least, it shouldn’t. That doesn’t mean it isn’t a good card, though. Stormscale Scion is a brilliant finisher for decks like Eris, Roar of the Storm and Stella Lee. Make sure you add cards like Mana Geyser and Rousing Refrain to get this thing cooking.

Tersa Lightshatter is Faithless Looting on a body, with Haste. She also has a Threshold ability that lets you play random cards from your yard when she attacks. Not the most impressive card, but a fine role player in many a deck that wants to put cards in the yard and isn’t in blue or black.

Top 5 Red Common/Uncommons:

1. Sunset Strikemaster – Red gets a mana dork that doubles as late game Flying hate? WOW!
2. Seize Opportunity – The perfect kind of flexible card to copy in decks that Flurry or Storm.
3. Rescue Leopard – Cats in Cars often Rummage for Cards. 
4. Overwhelming Surge – Most of an Abrade that you get to take both parts of. 
5. Breaching Dragonstorm – A solid way to skim through and cast from exile.

TARKIR DRAGONSTORM: GREEN

Bloomvine Regent is better than most three-mana ramp in Mono-green outside of synergies with Harrow. You get a 4/5 flyer that gains you life if you draw it later. Why play Cultivate or Kodama’s Reach?

Herd Heirloom is pretty dang strong for creature based decks. A two mana rock than can grant trample and card draw when you don’t need the mana is very, very good, and helps keep games moving. I know I’m slamming it into my Henzie deck, and I think its a good pickup for Disa as well, cos giving Tarmogoyfs trample is key to triggering Disa to get more value.

Ordinarily tutors have to be pretty impressive to get a look when Chord of Calling and Finale of Devastation exist. Nature’s Rhythm manages to elbow its way into the conversation by merit of having an easy to achieve second casting condition in Harmonize. You can shave off the cost of the tutor nicely by having a fattie in play.

It takes a lot for me to get excited about another +1/+1 counters card, and Warden of the Grove wouldn’t quite do it for me if it was just another riff on Master Biomancer. However, what makes this one different is the face that you can instead make a big creature token. Going wide is always good, as is having expendable blockers when you’re on the offensive. 

Top 5 Green Common/Uncommons: 

1. Heritage Reclamation – the latest riff on this effect can be cycled for the graveyard mode, which I like a lot. 
2. Rite of Renewal – Two regrowths stapled together with some graveyard hate.
3. Dragon Sniper – Pewpew! Great for keyword soup and Archer/Reach decks.
4. Encroaching Dragonstorm – Fab budget option to get rid of Explosive Vegetation when you’re on Dragons.
5. Undergrowth Leopard – Cats love early drops that can disenchant if necessary.

TARKIR DRAGONSTORM: MARDU

While Mardu decks do have access to plenty of extra combat effects already, having one stapled to an anthem that provides deathtouch is pretty great. On top of that, it provides devotion for Gods like Iroas, God of Victory – a cheeky little bonus. You can get thing in and out of the yard with recursion, or maybe even copy it as it’s permanent.

If you ever wanted to build “Oops, all Blightnings!” then you have a Commander. Lightning Skelemental and co can do some serious work in this deck. Other than violently stripping your opponent’s lands, you could instead look at Flametongue Kavu, Pyrogoyf, Inferno Titan and the like, and play a lot of haste enablers.

The “Siege Chicken” is the real deal. In any deck that has good EtBs and wants to keep attacking, this can be a real value generator. I’ll be slotting one in my rebuild of Isshin that’s for sure. 

Inevitable Defeat is premium removal. It’s Anguished Unmaking stapled to Lightning Helix. Hell yeah!

This is reasonable on-rate card draw that sticks around to cut away at life totals. It’s not super exciting, but it does the job.

TARKIR DRAGONSTORM: SULTAI

I always love weird options for Commanders. Teval, Arbiter of Virture is here to give a tricky build condition that keeps you conscious of your life total. This value can’t go on forever… or can it?

You’re not going to run this in every Sultai deck, but in the Sultai decks that ramp a lot, or that can, oh, I don’t know… delve… it becomes eminently castable. It’s Decree of Pain but more painful. 

Kotis is one of the most fun looking ways to play other people’s spells I’ve seen in quite some time. Being indestructible helps a lot, and casting spells for free? That’s insane. This is a sort of Voltron-Etali in Sultai, which is exactly as weird and exciting as it sounds. 

Triple Entomb on a five drop with a reasonable lifelink-ing body? Wow. Sure, it’s hella specific, but you can still achieve all you want to with this, including setting up combos. 

Maybe my favorite Saga of the set, Awaken the Honored Dead does exactly what you want it to do for three mana: destroy a nonland permanent. And then? Well, it keeps giving. A free mill three, and a way to get something back from the yard. 

TARKIR DRAGONSTORM: ABZAN

Betor is a nice add to the Abzan Armor precon, but they’re also a great Commander option in their own right. It’s nice to see space being played with that I haven’t seen seriously used since Lathril, Blade of the Elves, and this thing is one Wound Reflection away from annihilating the table.

If you want to reanimate something and you want it done properly, then call the Abzan. Perennation is gonna create one heck of a problem on the table. Good luck removing it.

TARKIR DRAGONSTORM: TEMUR

Dragonback Assault is… really good? It gives Temur landfall decks another win condition, strapped to an Anger of the Gods effect. Landfall decks will obviously benefit most from this, but even Dragon decks that play plenty of fetchlands can make it work. 

Ureni, the Song Unending has that infamous Animar rules text of protection from black and white. It’s also a burst of damage directed at opponent’s boards based on the number of lands you control. As a top end finisher, it’s going to be good at sniping away pesky token blockers that get in the way of your draconic domination. 

Eshki gets out of hand quickly, and provides a quick clock in the command zone provided you build your deck with ways to pile +1/+1 counters onto her. She does suffer a little from that Temur drawback of laying out your plans in advance (looking at you, Storm from the X-Men drop), but she makes up for it with very pushed stats. 

Its Temur Snapcaster. It’s best to look at this as a cost reduction of three mana, as it can satisfy that much of the Harmonize cost on its own. That makes it pretty decent in the right shell – looking at Kalamax in particular. 

TARKIR DRAGONSTORM: JESKAI

Shiko looks like a fun Jeskai blink Commander, though it’s competing in that mana intensive space with Vadrok, that might just be a little better. Still, in any kind of shell that enjoys blinking, Shiko is going to put in a lot of work. Vigilance takes this from half-decent to playable.

Jeskai Revelation is Inspired Ultimatum, but easier to cast, and with different sauce. It’s still packed to the brim with MSG umami, though, and is going to see plenty of play in spellslinger decks, and both OG Narset and the Aftermath variety too. I’m gonna slap one into Shiko and Narset for starters.

So this being sorcery speed outside of blink decks does tend to limit it slightly, but even then it’s a powerful option to include. Copying the next spell – any spell – is a very, very powerful ability. This is gonna do some nuts things. 

New Way Forward is what happens when you give the Inkshield scroll to the Jeskai. Inklings? Nah. They’d rather Draw 25. All in all, a decently playable card, even if holding up five mana is a big ask. 

TARKIR DRAGONSTORM: MULTICOLOR, ARTIFACTS & LANDS

Coalition Victory Call the Spirit Dragons is a pretty boring card all told, and it’s a good thing is a win condition with plenty of hoops to jump through. It’s fine, but I don’t even know that I’d want to use a deck slot on it unless I was going out of my way to make it work. And here’s the thing: doing that is boring. 

Barrensteppe Siege is solid value whichever way you slice it. Growing the team slowly, or chipping away at opposing boards. I like both modes here equally.

Glacierwood Siege is most often going to be playing lands from your graveyard, and honestly? I’m happy to pay three mana for that on an enchantment.

Windcrag Siege might be the best siege by merit of being a three mana doubler for attack triggers. This is wild, and I’m happy to finally see it in RW, and not just Mardu or Gruul. Countless decks want this, so expect it to be in demand on a similar scale to Warleader’s Call, at least in Commander.

Dragonfire Blade is more or less Champion’s Helm, except it can be equipped for even less, but for the tradeoff of your creature being less hexproof. Is that worth it? Well, yeah, especially when the cost to play it is only one mana in the first place. 

Mox Jasper is the set’s chase mana rock, and it’s a belter. It’s limited just to Dragon decks, but that’s still a really good option for them. A free mana rock. Hell yeah. 

Maelstrom of the Spirit Dragon riffs on similar lands of this ilk, and I think this one is quite good. Five mana to tutor a dragon, in your mana base? Seems a more than reasonable rate.

Of the new land cycle, I could take or leave many of them, but Mistrise Village stands far and above the rest. A two mana outlay to make your next spell uncounterable is cracked, especially considering cEDH. 

Top 5 Multicolor Common/Uncommons:

1. Kheru Goldkeeper – What in all that is holy is this nonsense?
2. Hardened Tactician – one mana to sac any  token to draw is sweet.
3. Kishla Skimmer – very solid draw engine.
4. Host of the Hereafter – hey, its Ozolith lite. 
5. Disruptive Stormbrood // Petty Revenge – Flexible removal with a body.

END STEP

Tarkir: Dragonstorm is one my favorite sets for quite some time. Even just covering the better cards in this Set Review we came up with dozens upon dozens of exciting Commander playables, and dare I say it? Quite a few new staples. What a set! Let us know what you’re hyped for.