Let’s be real, the hype around Dragons of Tarkir is something fierce. We have dragons, a couple of insane planeswalkers, dragons, megamorphing, cards that
make dragons, cards that punch dragons, cards that rebound…
Oh, and dragons!
How many dragons? All of them!
I’ve never been more excited for a set. Dragons are my favorite creature type, and I absolutely love the plethora of different ways dragons can be
designed. Flavor is a very big deal, as is storytelling and lore, and this set is a Grand Slam!
Before we get into it, it’s important to note just how important it is to evaluate cards individually. Who cares if Ojutai’s Command is better or worse
than Cryptic Command? Why waste time even thinking about it when Standard is the focus? I made a similar argument when it came to Courser of Kruphix versus
Oracle of Mul Daya. So what? You’re doing new cards a blatant disservice when you’re directly comparing them to cards that aren’t relevant to the format of
your choice.
But enough of that. Let’s start with my favorite creature spoiled so far: Thunderbreak Regent.
So…if I were a Magic card, and it represented almost everything I love doing in Magic, this is that card. Sean McKeown would tell me something along the
lines of, “Back in my day, our 4/4s for four had drawbacks, and they were still insane!” Well, Sean, times have changed!
I’m not interested in making this card compete with Ashcloud Phoenix, I’m interested in making this card compete with Shaman of the Great Hunt. Shaman has
had problems breaking through in Standard, mostly because you need a lot going for it to be good. It rarely rumbles with anything on the ground, and the
tension of Bile Blight and Drown in Sorrow versus Valorous Stance has made building the Monsters decks very tough. Now, you have a roundabout “interactive
haste” creature, which is super good at punishing the decks that look to maximize efficiency and the “two things in one turn” strategy, and fantastic at
keeping the pressure up when they can’t do that. It also attacks and blocks pretty well, though not as well as Ashcloud Phoenix (when did this ever become
a bad blocker, outside of specifically Siege Rhino scenarios?) The card is also pretty effective against planeswalkers, which is important because it feels
like planeswalkers in general are going to be significantly weaker and/or demand a lot more impact the turn they come down than usual.
Speaking of casting our dragons earlier, Atarka’s Command is basically the type of spell I want to be casting in my big creature decks.
“Danger! Hype Train brake failure!”
Atarka’s Command was really hard for me to take in, mostly because there’s so much going on with it. It’s hard to break things down one by one, because
it’s very feasible to see every single combination of the modes be used in many, many matchups. What I’ll try to do is analyze the card based on the
combinations of modes, rather than individual modes:
– Your opponents can’t gain life this turn + Atarka’s Command deals 3 damage to each opponent.
Skullcrack, in a nutshell, and what seems to be the absolute floor on the card. If that’s the case, then that’s a fine deal to have. There isn’t much more
to say about that, other than the potential collapse that players may have if they were reliant on Siege Rhino or Wingmate Roc triggers, or casting a
Jeskai Charm to get back into the game.
– Your opponents can’t gain life this turn + You may put a land card from your hand onto the battlefield.
This is a pretty nice combination to have when you’re looking to stunt an off-board progression while developing your on-board progression. This is
probably the most common mode you’ll be using when on the draw against Siege Rhino decks, and it will help a lot in flying over them via Stormbreath Dragon
or a Sarkhan of your choosing.
– Your opponents can’t gain life this turn + creatures you control get +1/+1 and gain reach until end of turn.
When Wingmate Roc threatens to put the game out of reach, this combination will stop that dead. This will also be useful for any sort of lifelinking flier,
but the only situation where that seems to be a big deal is when Sorin, Solemn Visitor is in the equation. Offensively, the lifelink situation still
applies, but sometimes those Rabblemasters and goblin tokens need a little bit more of a push.
– Atarka’s Command deals 3 damage to each opponent + You may put a land card from your hand onto the battlefield.
This feels like the most default mode of the card in the early game, especially when you’re looking to jump from two to four. Chipping your opponent for
three isn’t the flashiest thing, but that’s okay. This is actually the mode that makes the card very interesting to include from a deckbuilding standpoint.
Aggressive G/R/x decks don’t necessarily need a ton more reach these days, as Crater’s Claws does to the job on that front, but from a deckbuilding
perspective, Atarka’s Command does help a lot of opening hands, and promotes more slants toward pinching the turn 3 as often as possible rather than
spending time playing a dinky dork like Sylvan Caryatid or flimsy accelerants like Rattleclaw Mystic. There is obviously a tradeoff here, as sometimes you
simply won’t have an additional land to play, but that’s a fine price to pay given how many other things the spell can do.
– Atarka’s Command deals 3 damage to each opponent + Creatures you control get +1/+1 and gain reach until end of turn.
This mode is pretty straightforward, both offensively and defensively. You maximize your damage output on the attack, and on the backfoot, you get to snipe
a flier and/or pump your team to profitably block. Clean, cut, and simple.
– You may put a land card from your hand onto the battlefield + Creatures you control get +1/+1 and gain reach until end of turn.
The last combination of modes, and the combination that I think will be the least used. I can’t think of a common scenario where you’ll need this, but if
you do, it’ll probably be when you’re looking to jump the curve while also making profitable blocks. This won’t happen often, as you aren’t going to have
many opportunities to create multiple-for-ones, but nonetheless, it’s still something to keep in mind when looking at everything you can do with this
versatile card.
I’m sure there are multiple things I’m missing with Atarka’s Command, but from a preliminary standpoint, it’s definitely something that’s going to make an
impact on Standard for a while.
Speaking of making an impact…
Just when I was ready to jump off the Temur train, Sarkhan comes back in his Super Saiyan form. There’s a whole lot going on with it, but let’s tackle it
head on!
+1: Draw a card, then add one mana of any color to your mana pool.
Wait…what?
I mean, what can I really say? Sarkhan
Un
broken starts off strong. The first ability is obviously ultra-powerful, and I think the additional mana to your mana pool is going to often times be just
as powerful as drawing a card, especially in Temur-colored decks. If you need that extra juice for your Crater’s Claws or the seventh mana for that
monstrous ability on Stormbreath Dragon, here you go. Sarkhan will have your back with this ability when you’re on board or when you’re looking for threats
to deploy.
-2: Put a 4/4 red dragon creature token with flying onto the battlefield.
If you need a threat on demand, however, then how about a 4/4 dragon? It’s a super powerful way of protecting himself, and for a planeswalker that’s pretty
demanding to cast in the first place, I don’t think I could ask for a better way to do so. Going down to two loyalty is a little precarious, but at worst,
I would pay five mana for a 4/4 flier in this format anyway. I can actually see myself cashing Sarkhan in to get two dragons.
Because dragons!
-8 Search your library for any number of Dragon creature cards and put them onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library.
In short: Kill your opponent with all of your Stormbreath Dragons! It’s going to be pretty tough to get to the ultimate, but the actual ultimate is to play
it like Jace, Architect of Thought or Chandra, Pyromaster, which is to keep generating cards. This may be one of the ultimates where the simple threat of
reaching the ultimate will often be good enough, and that’s more than fine with me.
What does a deck with Sarkhan Unbroken look like? I have no idea, but I can see starting with a slightly slower midrange build with a less painful
manabase, especially if you’re invested in Atarka’s Command to not only make up for the less explosive draws, but to catch you up if you do fall behind.
Using Sarkhan Unbroken to further keep the wheels turning is well worth it, especially when you can get him down on turn 4 a decent percentage of the time.
Creatures (26)
- 4 Elvish Mystic
- 3 Stormbreath Dragon
- 3 Courser of Kruphix
- 4 Goblin Rabblemaster
- 4 Heir of the Wilds
- 4 Savage Knuckleblade
- 4 Thunderbreak Regent
Planeswalkers (2)
Lands (24)
Spells (8)
I don’t know if this deck is good or not, but so what? No one’s going to have a tournament ready deck as of now, but this is good way of showing what I
would do with a few of our many new shinies. I, for one, can’t wait to see what the rest of Dragons of Tarkir has to offer!