Spoilers have been going on this week and unlike the previous spoiler, season I decided to wait till Sunday to talk through what we've seen. We've seen a ton of the cards, so this post will be pretty long. As usual, this review is for EDH and the relative usefulness of the set. Dragons of Tarkir lives up to its name with something like 10-15% of the set having Dragon on the type line. Expect to see the names Kaalia, Prossh, Karrthus, and Atarka show up a lot. Though honestly they managed to make the set not that great for Kaalia overall with the shift to allied colored Dragons and various clauses on the cards.
Spoilers can be found here:
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/spoilers/148-dragons-of-tarkir
White:
Anafenza, Kin Tree Spirit:
This is a great rate, though the effect is somewhat low impact. She could be played as a White Weenie general, but Thalia is generally better to keep opponents off balance. In a deck that has Green mana the +1/+1 counters can be useful for purposes other than making your creatures bigger, but its not better than the options you already have available to you.
Arashin Foremost:
Obviously good for tribal warriors, this loses out to Silverblade Paladin everywhere else.
Hidden Dragonslayer:
This guy is pretty good. He gets around Torpor Orb and has a very equippable body. I see him finding homes in decks that want to play various lock out pieces, likely mono-white options.
Ojutai Exemplars:
This guy is mana efficient and all of the options have purpose, but he conflicts with wanting both creatures and a steady stream of non-creature spells. He obviously works in a U/W blink, R/W equip, or U/W/R shell but I would not recommend him for a mono-white deck.
Profound Journey:
The effect and the rebound are both good, but 7 mana is a huge cost. Seven mana buys you so much more than this in EDH. I can't think of anywhere to put this.
Radiant Purge:
This passes the Sunforger test and is a solid removal spell in a multiplayer environment. I like this since it exiles, a much stronger option in a format rife with recursion.
Sunscorch Regent:
This is right on the edge of great. In multiplayer many more spells are cast than normal, swelling this guy by crazy numbers in short order. I will likely find room for him in Kaalia and that deck is packed. My one complaint is that he is small to start and six mana can, in the same colors, buy you more proactive options like Soul of Theros, Sun Titan, or Yosei. If there isn't a lot of single target removal running around where you play then he's absolutely worth an inclusion. Obviously the incremental lifegain can be a useful angle as well for decks like Oloro or Trostani that play with Well of Lost Dreams and Cradle of Vitality. Maybe the best of the single color dragons.
Blue:
Anticipate:
This card hasn't been getting a lot of press but Impulse minus one is better than most of the cantrips we've seen in a long time. Any deck that wants to play a storm-like game, Shu Yun, Dralnu, Riku, etc, is going to want this. Not super exciting or splashy but a solid card that's going to replace a number of cantrips for purely efficiency reasons.
Dragonlord's Prerogative:
I assume that there is going to be a cycle of rares with Dragon bonuses. This is fine without a dragon as having a second Opportunity is going to be useful a decent percentage of the time in something like Niv-Mizzet or Melek. Getting the bonus is going to only matter if you are playing a long game against another blue deck, so the best place I can think of to use all the parts of this animal is Silumgar control. Obviously either one works, but Drifting Death lends itself to a better control strategy since it can repeatedly sweep small creatures and is awesome with a number of other dragons and a small number of equipment like Sword of Feast and Famine, Fire and Ice, and the boots to protect your other dragons and give Sil haste. Its also immune to targeted removal. This has a role in that deck by being a protected draw spell in combination with your protected general.
Shorecrasher Elemental:
This guy is useful if you are doing blue devotion stuff, or want to repeatedly turn a permanent face up. I can't think of him being good enough, even under those situations since he doesn't really DO anything or gain evasion.
Stratus Dancer:
This is a cycle of face up effects. This guy is ok, but not as good as the white one. The Negate is arguably more useful than Smite the Monstrous, but blue has enough tricks and doesn't appreciate the body as much as white does. Still a good card if you want creatures for equipment and to protect your team from wraths.
Black:
Blood Chin Warrior:
This guy is pretty saucy. First he's another card for the eventual ORC TRIBAL deck since so many of them are Warriors already, but more realistically he adds a lot of reach to a tribal warrior deck. I can see him in Kresh since a repeatable fling effect that gets around damage mitigation is strong. He also fits in both of the Mardu Khans' decks since they are both warriors. In Zurgo he's more likely to be eating Zurgo, whereas in Alesha he's more likely to be eating Anathemancer or Karmic Guide for repeatable reanimation. There are a lot of good warriors and I'd be surprised if there isn't a deck there.
Deathbringer Regent:
This guy is obviously good since the condition is pretty easy to get to in EDH. The trigger shuts out reanimation effects, but repeatable Raise Dead's like Phyrexian Rebirth are solid with him. Basically any black deck that wants to get to seven mana would like this.
Risen Executioner:
This guy is ok, but most zombie decks are going to have lots of creatures in their graveyard, making his extra mana cost hard to pull off without exiling cards from your own yard a la delve. Of course the problem there is that you want the creatures to be there for your various effects like Living Death or Patriarch's Bidding. You can always play him as a lord and just look at the potential recursion as a nice bonus every once in a while, but that gives up a lot of potential power that you are paying for in the card. Not a great option, but I wouldn't laugh at a tribal zombies deck that packs this guy.
Sidisi, Undead Vizir:
She's back! The new Sidisi is one of the best cards we've seen in the new set. She's flexible and powerful. She doesn't need to have a creature in play to be a demonic tutor, and she doesn't need to eat a creature when she comes into play. With this much flexibility and a powerful effect, I expect her to be a new inclusion in virtually every deck with black mana. As a general she's been getting a lot of consideration for replacing Maralen in the mono-black Ad Nausium deck since she is more reliable. Though she does take a couple more mana to start, its much harder to disrupt her. A primer card for EDH, I would pick some up immediately if interesting in black in the format. Personally I'm planning on putting her in Ghave and Mimeoplasm
Silumgar Assassin:
Much worse than the White and the Blue one, picking off smaller creatures is not great as there are tons of effects that do that at a better rate than 5 mana. Creatures also tend to be larger in EDH. He does get around Torpor Orb and Stifle effects, so there is some value to having him in something like Sygg.
Red:
Crater Elemental:
This card isn't playable, but it is absolutely hilarious.
Decent of Dragons:
I can't think of anywhere that I'd want this card. I suppose its a pretty sweet way to upgrade your foody/token dudes. I suppose playing this in a Warstorm Surge shell also has some value. So...Kresh/Atarka/Prossh? Kresh seems like a great place to have lots of dudes, Atarka wants to have the Dragons, and Prossh does essentially the same thing as both of them. The other Jund general, Karrthus, is particularly hilarious since if you can cast this, then the next turn steal all of the token you gave them AND swing. I guess I found some places :)
Dragon Tempests:
This goes into most of the decks listed above, but also functions in mono-red. You want lots of dragons to maximize the second trigger, but giving all of your flying creatures haste is already a big game. Haste is good in normal magic and insane in EDH. Seems strong in any sort of Dragon tribal deck and particularly good with Decent of Dragons.
Lightning Berserker:
This guy doesn't seem like a good card for EDH, but I really like him in a mono-red or red heavy mana base. He works really well at attacking unprepared opponents and red has plenty of damage-doublers through double strike and Furnace of Rath type effects. He also work well with Pandemonium like cards. I think there might be an aggressive Dash type deck that wants to be able to turn all of its mana into combat damage on demand.
Thunderbreak Regent:
This guy isn't as exciting in EDH because of the lower number of targeted effects, higher life totals, and the inability to have multiple Regents outside of clone effects. The mana efficiency also counts for less. I still like him if you are doing some really dense dragon stuff, and he's funny in Scion. If you see the spell coming you can turn him into Thunderbreak, then turn him into Skittles with the trigger on the stack.
Zurgo Bellringer:
I like this guy as a general for the deck that Lightning Berserker fits in. It would work in similar fashion to Isamaru, but where Isamaru eventually runs out of gas, Zurgo seems like he would be adept at out maneuvering removal. I think he takes over the deck that Norin the Wary currently has since he plays better with equipment but is still a tricky guy to pin down. He could also just be a creature in that same deck. Its worth noting that he is both an Orc and a Warrior.
Green:
Collected Company:
This is a very solid card in a deck that wants lots of value dudes. I can see this in something like Saffi, where you have lots of low cost etb creatures. Its also a really deep dig, and at four mana instant you can easily hold this up in Green. I like this in any deck with small foody dudes.
Deathmist Raptor:
While self-recursive creatures are always great, the trigger on this one is restrictive for EDH, especially since you don't have multiples of this guy triggering each other. There just aren't enough good morph creatures, specifically Green is weak on them. I suppose Animar would be able to consistently return him...but Animar doesn't need just another 3/3 dork. He's going to be pretty awesome in standard though.
Den Protector:
This is a morph I can get behind! Eternal Witness effects are great since the kinds of decks that really want to pay for this are also the kinds of decks that want to have the body to eat or equip. Unfortunately he's not an Elf, but he does get around Torpor Orb. The unmorph clause is significantly less abuseable than a striaght etb effect, but something like Temur Sabertooth is going to make resetting him trivial. This is the kind of card that Animar is going to enjoy, but he also works in G/B shells that have lots of Raise Dead effects. Solid card that you can put in most green decks and shines in value decks that have the time to play him from hand.
Foe-Razer Regent:
Seven mana is so much, but he does work off reanimation and Sneak Attack, so he'll make some dragon heavy deck happy. If you have lots of ways of fighting than his second ability becomes quite useful. I really wish he had flash though, as it would make the card much much better. If you want to play lots of Dragons and don't have much room for single target removal since you want to dedicate a lot of space to ramp, Atarka(either one), springs to mind.
Shaman of Forgotten Ways:
People are losing their mind over this card because it has the text of a banned card on it. There are some many differences though. Biorhythm is a spell first of all. That means it has inherently less predictability than an activated ability of a creatures. In order for Shaman to blind side you, your opponent has to have 11GGG and a way to give him haste. If my opponent puts that much work in, I'll let them have it. Not the least part because for that much mana and under those conditions ANYTHING they can do in Green is going to be over the top. That's the same as a Genesis Wave for 11, and 5 mana more than an Entwined Tooth and Nail. That's a Chord of Calling for Kozilek or Ulamog. Biorhythm itself only cost 8 mana. Even if you cast Shaman and get all the way back to your turn, his active costs 11 mana, and he doesn't contribute to it with his own tap ability! None of this is to say that he's a bad card. He is in fact a really good card. I would play him in Mayael first and foremost since you need a density of huge creatures to make that deck work, and then I'd probably find good homes for him among the other ramp decks, but his power is comeplety from being a Worn Powerstone that taps for multiple colors of mana. Sometimes you activate his second ability and win, but its not going to be often.
Sunbringer's Touch:
This is another Uril only card, but damn does it do work there.
Arashin Sovereign:
This is not going to cut it for EDH. Going to the graveyard is often more positive than eating a draw step, so the unkillable nature of the card isn't even that good.
Atarka's Command:
Simple, flexible, has proactive options so you can cast it whenever you want, or save it to shut down someone's fliers/life gain. I think this fits in Borborygmos Enraged or Radha.
Boltwing Marauder:
Another card that fits into the Pandemonium deck, this card is also fine in aggressive Kaalia lists or potentially with Prossh.
Dragonlord Atarka:
The first of the rebooted dragons, this Atarka is a more traditional deck than her FRF version. They have the same cost, but World Render is a two swing general, whereas Dragonlord is a larger version of Bogardan Hellkite. I do wish that Dragonlord had flash, but it would probably be silly to wish that. In any case, Dragonlord is going to play a lot different than World Render. She's going to be more about consistent mana development and curving up to her. You aren't rushing to play her the way you are with World Render, but otherwise they are going to use very similar cards. As one of the 99 she's going to be much better than World Render since she's got a lot of utility to arcing 5 damage and being an enormous body. Seems like the kind of card that Maelstrom Wanderer is going to love, and she fits into Karrthus or other Dragon focused deck the easiest of all the Dragonlords in this set because of her colors.
Dragonlord Dromoka:
The worst of the Dragons in both versions :(
Dromoka offers nothing interesting to build around other than a solid body. I guess she covers your combo if you get to seven mana and have her survive to your turn, but I kind of doubt that will happen often. As one of the 99 she's ok but not spectacular. I could see her in Scion as searchable cover for a game winning pump spell if the players at the table don't know that you have her and let his search ability resolve.
Dragonlord Kolaghan:
The trigger is essentially never going to happen in EDH, and feels very strange on the card in any case. As is she's a 6 power flyer with haste that gives all your other dudes haste. She's really good even missing half her text. As a general she's like a larger version of Urabrask, though likely a worse card overall since Urabrask also shuts off blockers so frequently, but she does buy you into black, which can be quite good with effects like Living Death and Rise of the Dark Realms combined with her Haste giving ability. As one of the 99 its harder, but she's a big game in Scion, Karrthus, Prossh, potentially Kaalia. Giving your guys guaranteed haste with the number of monsters those decks play can be really scary, and a number of those generals are really scary with haste themselves.
Dragonlord Ojutai:
This is Hexproof done right. He's only Hexproof when he's doing things, meaning that the person playing Ojutai gets to play mind games with his opponents. He's sat with him two turns in a row, but he's attacking me now. He must have something. Really he has nothing, he's bluffing you into getting an Impulse off to find something cool. I like the mind game aspect of the card, also the fact that this Ojutai is actually castable and reasonably safe. Also, his art is some of my favorite in the set. As one of the 99 he works in a lot of these Jeskai spell heavy decks. Unlike his Exemplars, he doesn't need extra stuff to protect him and you can wait till he has boots or some other kind of cover. He doesn't have a etb effect for something like Brago, so he definitely wants to be in a deck that wants to punch people, my money's on Shu Yun voltron.
Dragonlord Silumgar:
This guy is a house. People don't run enough single target removal that kills a 3/5 black creature, so while I'll play Treachery before I play Sil, I'll play Sil pretty frequently. Taking Planeswalkers is novel, but I don't see lots of walkers. They are just too slow for EDH most of the time. They have to be judged by what you get form one activation, so while he's good its mostly on the back of being a huge Sower of Temptation. I would prefer to have Drifting Death as my general because of Hexproof and the ability to stop the inevitable token maker dead in his tracks. That said, Dragonlord is still a fine general. Having a etb control magic is very powerful and is going to make people scared to play their best creatures, exactly what a control deck wants.
Harbinger of the Hunt:
While this card is less efficient than its larger cousin Scourge of Kher Ridges, Harbinger has the advantage of costing 5, three less mana than Scourge. In the same amount of time it takes you to naturally get to eight mana you could play Harbinger and activate it five times. It also hits fliers in smaller increments, letting you do other things with your mana if your goal is to kill Bitterblossom tokens or the faeries from Notorious Throng. I like this guy and think he has a home is R/G decks that have trouble with little fliers.
Kolaghan's Command:
While I appreciate the flexibility, this doesn't seem to have as much punch for the mana that Atarka's Command had. It does pass the Sunforger test, so having instant speed tutorable Raise Dead, Smash, Shock could be a worse deal, and it wouldn't be the worst to naturally draw. Probably worth an inclusion in Alesha. That deck wants Sunforger for the general since +4 power is damn hard to deal with on a first striker, wants to put dudes in its graveyard, wants to have answers to opposing artifacts(as all decks do), and even playing an attrition game isn't that bad. Hell, the shock could even be good combined with first strike damage to take out a blocker before it kills Alesha.
Narset Transcendant:
Obviously planeswalkers have to be judged by how good htey are form one activation since even 7 loyalty is mostly trivial in EDH. Getting to Rebound one spell is not that powerful, and neither is drawing a card like 50% of the time. The ult could be annoying if you could get there, but it won't even stop everyone. I don't think this is the walker for EDH, though playing her as one of the 99 in the other Narset deck could be good. It doesn't work with the trigger, but that deck is so packed with non-creature spells that you'll draw a card closer to 70% without any manipulation, and rebounding Time Walks is a big game.
Necromaster Dragon:
The activation cost on this guy kills him for me. He still has a home in Lazav where he gets to grind for two and make blockers, but I'm sad that he eats up resources even after you commit 5 mana and have to connect with him.
Ojutai's Command:
I don't like this card. I think that none of the modes beyond draw a card and counter target creatures spell will hold value. There just aren't that many decks that can take advantage of the two cost or less mode. If it was two power or less we would be in business, but really the only cards that come to mind with cost two or less are green. Saffi, Sakura Tribe Elder. That puts this in three colors, where there is just so much competition.
Sarkhan Unbroken:
Yes, his name is hilarious. I don't hink he's broken in EDH though, outside of Doubling Seasoning out all of your dragons. He's certainly good, though the colors keep him out of Prossh and Karrthus and Atarka. He does fit in Intet and Animar though, and both of those decks would be built to try to cast Dragons on the cheap. I liken him to Broodmate Dragon. He comes into play, makes a 4/4 token and threatens to make another one. If he comes down early enough the 4/4 might be enough to protect him from there. If you get another untap he's obviously nuts, both ramping mana and drawing cards, or churning out another 4/4 flyer. I don't like many planeswalkers in EDH, but SU is very good. He'll have a narrow range of decks due to color concerns, but he'll be damn good in all those options.
Savage Ventmaw:
This card is fucking amazing. If you can give it haste its essentially free. It can even be color fixing! Maelstrom Wanderer or other decks with natural haste are going to love this thing. If it makes it to your next turn he is all gravy. Rosheen Meanderer is going to love him. Essentially any deck that has red and green mana and would play Genesis Wave or Tooth and Nail wants this guy to jump them from six mana to twelve mana.
