MtG Returns to Tarkir with Dragonstorm
Launching April 11th, the next Magic: The Gathering expansion will take players back to the world of Tarkir, concluding the current Dragonstorm story arc in the process. As fearsome dragons tear their way through the multiverse, players will take control of one of the five Tarkir clans to face returning antagonist Sarkhan Vol and foil his attempts to give control of Tarkir over to the Dragons.
Diving headfirst back into more traditional MtG lore after Bloomburrow, Duskmourn and Aetherdrift, Dragonstorm will offer a range of products for returning fans and those just stepping foot into the world of Magic. Both the Prerelease Kits and Commander Decks highlight the Clans of Tarkir and build to their strengths, with seeded boosters in the former to aide new players alongside plenty of exciting limited and debuting card formats for collectors.
At the heart of Tarkir: Dragonstorm are the five clans; the Abzan, the Jeskai, the Mardu, the Sultai and the Temur. As with their debut in 2014, each Clan centres around a tri-colour ‘wedge’, a unique mechanic and now a unique Spirit Dragon. Let’s break down the Clans with some further details!
Clan Abzan
A warrior clan focusing on familial bonds and calling upon their ancestor spirits, the Abzan are led by Felothar, descendant of Khan Reihan. The Abzan use Black Mana, with White and Green rounding out their wedge in Dragonstorm. Their Spirit Dragon is Betor, the “living amalgamation of the lost and collected Abzan ancestral spirits embodied into a single being”. Betor brings a number of effects to the battlefield based upon the total amount of toughness amongst controlled creatures by the player, potentially culminating in an opponent losing half of their life. The ‘Endures’ mechanic builds thematically upon the Abzan as a sturdy clan that is hard to defeat, utilising their higher levels of toughness on creatures as compared to the other four clans. Creatures with Endure are able to create a spirit creature token based on the strength of the endure action, or take +/+ Counters to boost themselves.
Clan Jeskai
These Monk practitioners of the Way have returned to their boldly coloured attire, highlighting Red which is their main Mana source in their wedge for this cycle. Their Spirit Dragon, Shiko, is emblematic of the Jeskai’s hopes to unite the people of Tarkir. Their unique mechanic is Flurry, designed to help players build up to a big turn by granting bonuses whenever a player casts their second spell. This Keyword will appear across multiple card types, so can have incredible chaining potential when utilised correctly. Of note are Clan specific Saga cards, which work to incorporate the lore behind each Clan summoning their Spirit Dragon – in this case, Jeskai players can look at the top three cards of their Library, placing one in their hand and the other two at the bottom of their library in any order. Once the Saga card holds three Lore counters, casting a noncreature spell will give a controlled target creature double strike for that turn, Sacrificing the Saga card at the end of the turn. Only the Jeskai Saga, ‘Rediscover the Way’ was revealed to this point, with more info to come for the other Clan Sagas.
Clan Mardu
A nomadic clan of warriors, the Mardu use their superior technology and tactical agility to expand their territory, employing their skill as blacksmiths to channel lightning through their bodies and weapons via their Lamellar armour. White Mana forms the core of their wedge flanked either side by Red and Black. Their Spirit Dragon is Neriv, whose ability doubles any damage from a controlled creature that is dealt in the same turn they entered play. The Mardu’s strength and organisation ensures they are perhaps the only Clan able to stand toe to claw against the forces of wild dragons in Tarkir aided by their unique mechanic, ‘Mobilise’. Mobilise creates temporary allies in the form of 1/1 warrior creatures who will attack then be sacrificed immediately afterwards.
Clan Sultai
The jungle-dwelling Sultai use the environment around them to grow their power and influence, aligning with Green Mana being the core of their wedge. The Sultai don’t believe in letting things go to waste, even their fiercest warriors, so will bring them back to life in Zombie form to continue serving the clan, a cultural practice which sees them being lead in Dragonmount by Kotis, their new Khan and Zombie Warrior, promoted and resurrected for their service during the fall of the Dragonlords. The Sultai further explore their relationship with life and death in their mechanic, ‘Renew’. Renew activates from the graveyard, demanding a mana cost and the card triggering the effect to be exiled. When executed, Renew provides counters for a target creature which can include +1/+1 and Keyword counters like flying, deathtouch and lifelink. No Clan would be complete without their Spirit Dragon, and while the Sultai’s has been revealed as Tuval, a majestic blue and teal behemoth, nothing has yet been revealed about their in-game effects or abilities.
Clan Temur
Led by their Khan Eshki, the Temur are a Blue Mana core Clan living in the norther wilderness of Tarkir, drawing power from the natural environs around them. Dressed in furs and armour sourced from the fauna around them, the Temur exhibit a strong connection to the natural world. Their Spirit Dragon is Ureni, whose entrance to the battlefield brings damage to an opponent based upon the controlled number of lands by the player. As with each other clan, the Temur also have their new mechanic, Harmonize, appearing on Incidents and Sorceries which can be cast from the graveyard at a fixed cost. However, this cost can be reduced by tapping controlled creatures to reduce the Harmonize cost to a minimum of one mana, exiling it from the graveyard once utilised.
There is plenty more for Magic: the Gathering fans to be excited about in the lead-up to the release of Dragonstorm, including many hidden details referencing the older Tarkir sets, many returning characters alongside a range of standard and brand new collectible card types for this wave. For MtG collectors, there are a few key pieces of info as Tarkir: Dragonstorm will boast:
- Draconic Cards – These will come in non-foil and traditional foil, found in both Play and Collector Boosters
- Dragon Presence Basic Lands – Borderless Basic Land cards featuring new artwork showing the large shadow of a dragon Nosferatu-ing across the landscape, found in both Play and Collector Boosters
- Dragons Eye Basic Lands – Available only in Collector Boosters, these boast unique art for each Basic Land type themed around the eye of a dragon, with the Mana symbol of that colour taking the place of the iris.
- Ghostfire & Halo Foil Ghostfire – These cards will only be found in Collector Boosters
- Borderless Reversible Dragon Cards – Will come in non-foil and traditional foil, appearing in both Play and Collector Boosters.
- Special Guest Cards – While non-foil will be available in Play Boosters and traditional foil in Collectors, there is a new finish type in Dragonscale foil, only available in Collector Boosters.
The Headliner card for Dragonstorm will be a Serialised Double Rainbow Foil Retro Mox Jasper, with 500 individually numbered copies available in Collector Boosters regardless of language, however the card itself will always be in English. Non-foil and traditional foil versions will be available in Play and Collector boosters for those unable to secure one of the incredibly rare versions.
The content range for Dragonstorm will of course feature Play and Collector Boosters, the standard Bundle Package, five Commander Decks each built around a single Clan and five Prerelease kits which do the same. To assist the community in building around the ‘wedge’ of each Clan, Dragonstorm prerelease kits will contain five standard Boosters and one Seeded Booster, which will feature only cards matching the Clans Wedge colours. Launching April 11th with Pre-release kit events running from the 5th, Tarkir: Dragonstorm will be available in all dedicated gaming stores throughout Australia.
