Courtesy of Wizards of the Coast (WotC) and the MTG Arena subreddit, take a look at the return of an iconic red planeswalker in Jumpstart: Historic Horizons — Sarkhan, Wanderer to Shiv!
+1: Dragon cards in your hand perpetually gain “This spell costs 1 less to cast”, and “You may pay X rather than pay this spell’s mana cost, were X is its mana value.”
0: Conjure a Shivan Dragon card into your hand.
-2: Sarkhan, Wanderer to Shiv deals 3 damage to target creature.
Permanently decreasing the cost of dragons in your hand seems very powerful, especially as a +1 ability. Thanks to the new perpetual mechanic, they keep the discounts, so if you can return the dragons to your hand, you can continue to discount them even if they’ve previously been cast.
While slightly less flashy, Sarkhan’s 0 and -2 abilities provide situational advantages – allowing you to conjure a Shivan Dragon if you’re low on threats, or deal three damage if you need to remove a smaller threat.
Also previewed alongside Sarkhan were two additional cards: Scion of Shiv and Sarkhan’s Scorn.
So what do you think of the new Sarkhan? Do you have a Historic deck in mind that he’ll find a home in? Let us know in the comments!
Jumpstart: Historic Horizons is scheduled to release on MTG Arena on August 12.