Summary
There are tons of great cards to be found inMagic: The Gathering’sDragon-focused set, Tarkir: Dragonstorm. There are, of course, plenty of Dragons and kindred related cards in the set, as well as plenty of very cool lands, combat tricks, and a few very strong planeswalkers as well.
If you’re wondering what the very best that this set has to offer, well, look no further, as we traveled to the volatile plane in search of these powerful cards. Through omenpaths and dragonstorms we went until we tried these cards first hand, so that you know which you should hunt down for your next deck.
10Windcrag Siege
Which Do You Choose?
While Windcrag Siege likely won’t see a ton of play in most competitive formats, it does offer a rather unique ability on an enchantment, making it harder than most cards to be destroyed. The Mardu choice is the one we’re after, since it lets you double up on attack triggers. The ability is intended to work with mobilize, the main keyword of the Mardu clan from Tarkir: Dragonstorm, which makes creature tokens when creatures with the ability attack.
Commander players will certainly love this card, but if any other strong attack triggers are released into Standard over the next few years, you can bet that this card will quickly become a hot commodity.
9Herd Heirloom
Powerful Mana
A good mana rockhas a place in every Magic player’s deck and Herd Heirloom is one of the better ones to come around in quite some time. Herd Heirloom can only be used to pay for creature spells, but that’s a-okay since it only costs two mana.
The versatility of the card comes from its second ability, which lets you tap it to make it so a creature with power four or more can draw a card when it deals combat damage to a player. It also grants trample to that creature, helping to push damage over pesky blockers.
8Clarion Conqueror
Shut Them Down
The more Magic: The Gathering prints powerful cards, the cards have to be released that balance out that power. Since Tarkir: Dragonstorm has two very strong Planeswalkers, as well as a whole cornucopia of creatures and artifacts with strong abilities, Clarion Conqueror has to swoop in to shut down those abilities.
Activated abilities of all artifacts, creatures, and Planeswalkers can’t be activated while this Dragon is out, shutting down options for both your opponents and yourself, so be careful about which cards you include in your deck. Planeswalkers won’t be able to activate their loyalty abilities, but their passive abilities will still trigger, so keep that in mind too.
7Mistrise Village
It Takes A Village
The rare land cycle from Tarkir: Dragonstorm all share a unique feature: they enter tapped unless you control an allied land. For Mistrise Village, you need either a Mountain or a Forest for it to come into play untapped. It alsocomes with the very strong abilityto prevent your next spell from being countered this turn, all for just one blue mana.
This unique effect means you’re able to run it in even a mono-blue Brawl deck, really any deck that plays blue, as the ability is so strong that you won’t regret running it even it if comes into play tapped.
6Betor, Kin To All
Little To No Work
With Betor, Kin to All, you don’t really have to do much at all to start gaining an advantage with him. At the start of your end step, Betor checks the combined toughness of all your creatures. Then, at different thresholds, he grants different boons for you.
Since Betor comes down with seven toughness already, you can all but guarantee that you’re at least drawing a card at the end of your first turn with him out.You can build a Dragon kindred deckwith him, but pretty much any beef creature will do.
5Elspeth, Storm Slayer
Tokens Unite
Planeswalkers have gotten a bit of an upgrade in recent sets, with Magic focusing on just one or two planeswalkers per set, and Elspeth is the latest to receive a powered-up card with the release of Tarkir: Dragonstorm.
There’s a lot of text on this card, but the primary thing we’re looking at is the passive ability to make twice as many of any token type on your turn. There are plenty of ways to make use of this ability, and that’s without even looking at the fact that she makes tokens herself. Toss her in practically any green and white token deck and you’ll have yourself a powerhouse on the battlefield.
4Ugin, Eye Of The Storms
The Sweet Spot
Perhaps the best planeswalker to be released in quite some time is Ugin, Eye of the Storm. What makes it so good is that this Ugin fits right in the sweet spot for several deck archetypes.
If you’re in the Tron package, running all of the classic Urza lands, you can reliably cast this planeswalker as early as your third turn, letting you make use of its incredible cast trigger. If you’re in an Eldrazi Kindred deck, you also can cast Ugin very early in the game, removing any threats before they’ve had a chance to do any damage.
3Voice Of Victory
Better Than Saying No
There’s really nothing better than stopping your opponent from messing with your game plan and if you have a Voice of Victory out, you don’t have to do anything at all. This creature has a static effect that makes it so your opponents can cast spells on your turn, shutting down traditional interactions.
They can still activate abilities of their cards as a way of stopping you, but that leaves very few ways to stop you in formats like Limited and Standard. While you’re at it, you can swing in with Voice of Victory for a solid three damage if unblocked since it has mobilize 2 tacked on to its 1/3 body.
2Cori-Steel Cutter
Too Good To Ignore
Initially, Cori-Steel Cutter might look like a simple little equipment. It grants +1/+1, trample and haste which is fine, but doesn’t really do much on its own. It also costs two mana to equip, which isn’t terrible, but not great in an aggressive deck.
Which is where the flurry ability comes in. Casting your second spell each turn gives you a 1/1 Monk token with prowess, which triggers both on your turn and your opponent’s turn so you’ll never lose a free token. It also lets you swap Cori-Steel Cutter to it, giving you a free equip trigger with every token you make.
1Craterhoof Behemoth
The Brawl All-Star
Look, we all know that Craterhoof Behemoth is a major pull in Tarkir: Dragonstorm. The green mythic badly needed a reprint, given its popularity in Commander as being one of the best win-conditions in the game.
The Hoof is also a big deal in MTG Arena, as puilling it from a pack means you don’t have to burn a mythic rare wildcard for your next green-based Brawl deck, which is great since those wildcards are at a premium in the game. In a Limited deck, you may’t do much better for closing out your game either, making this creature one of the best in the set.
