Standard - Tarkir: Dragonstorm Review

Currently, a few very popular cards, like This Town Ain't Big Enough, Up the Beanstalk, and Monstrous Rage, are at the very center of Standard. In fact, many decks play similar strategies and mechanics with them.

Well, at least for now, as Tarkir: Dragonstorm (TDM), the latest Magic: The Gathering set, is here, and it will certainly shake up the Standard meta. Will Bounce decks keep dominating the format? Will aggro lists rise to the challenge? Or will we see a new deck shaping up the meta?

In this article, we'll review the main cards from this set and pinpoint which strategies can get a lot from them.

White

Anafenza, Unyielding Lineage, a powerful 3-drop with Flash, has returned. It can fit any white deck that wants an answer to removals thanks to its Endure ability. If one of your creatures is dying, you can answer with Anafenza and get a 4/4 creature or two 2/2 creatures - and one of these will have First Strike. Anafenza is also an excellent blocker.

Elspeth, Storm Slayer, an incredible card for Token decks, is also returning in this set. It doubles any effect that creates tokens, and its second ability also lets you attack with your creatures through the air until the end of your turn. Finally, its -3 is a removal for big creatures. Elspeth can also be a good win condition for control decks.

Voice of Victory is another Human that has a strong ability against Midrange and Control lists. Furthermore, this card can create tokens, which makes it viable in many types of decks. You can even use it on your sideboard.

It can also be a good call in decks that use Speed, considering it is a 2-drop that can attack as three creatures instead of one. It also has some synergy with sacrifice.

Blue

Standard will now have its own Regent with Marang River Regent, a Dragon with Omen. If you'd like to see more about this mechanic, check out our full guide on Tarkir mechanics. This mechanic in particular is similar to Adventure, but, when you use it, you'll shuffle the card back into your deck instead of exiling it.

Marang River Regent is a 6/7 creature that has an incredibly strong Bounce effect, so it should easily find some space in Standard.

Naga Fleshcrafter is a Shapeshifter with the Renew ability. This ability lets you exile it from your graveyard to put a +1/+1 on a nonlegendary creature under your control, and all your other creatures will become a copy of this nonlegendary creature. This is an incredibly interesting ability that can find a lot of space if someone manages to explore it well.

Black

Avenger of the Fallen is a 2/4 creature with deathtouch, and is really similar to Preacher of the Schism. It is slightly different, though, and those small differences could make it a bit weaker.

In any case, in the right build, this creature can impact the game considerably, as its ability is a way to finish the game.

Corroding Dragonstorm is another permanent that can be great in Bounce strategies. With it, you'll be able to create a lot of value because of it gives you life, makes your opponents lose life, and also has Surveil 2. As for its bounce, you don't necessarily have to worry about its interaction with Dragons because there are other ways to return it to your hand.

This Dragon also has Regent in its name and the Omen mechanic. However, this time, it will be particularly great in control decks because it is also a powerful board wipe. And, there's more: Scavenger Regent is a 4/4 with flying and ward that forces your opponent to discard a card. It is an excellent card for black decks.

Red

Cori-steel Cutter is a two-mana equipment card that can easily see play in an Izzet build that focuses on spells, or any deck like this that wants to impact the board with an equipment card. As it gives trample and haste to the creature it is attached to, and can create 1/1 tokens with prowess, it can be quite powerful in the right list.

You can cast Runescale Stormbrood with its Omen to counter a spell that costs 2 or less, or cast it the regular way to put a 2/4 with flying on the board that will grow as you cast instants, sorceries, or Dragons. It is, without a question, an interesting creature.

Green

You can cast Bloomvine Regent with Omen for three mana to put on the board two extra Forests or a 4/5 with flying that can give you some life. Considering Standard now has Llanowar Elves, and we can use this as ramp on turn 2, I believe this card has some potential. Maybe, we'll see some sort of Mono-Green list with it quite soon!

Omen and Dragons are quite powerful in this set, so, of course, I couldn't forget Disruptive Stormbrood. On one side, it is a 2-cost removal for creatures with 3 power or less, and, on the other, it is a 3/3 flying that can destroy an artifact or enchantment when it enters play for just five mana.

This card is quite decent. At the very least, it can find space in some sideboards just because of how versatile it is.

Craterhoof Behemoth is back in Standard with a new design and look, and should impact this format considerably with its powerful effect. This 8 mana threat that you can easily cast even before you get 8 mana is a win condition for any big mana deck. Particularly considering there is a lot of great ramp and powerful green creatures in Standard, so we'll have no issue building an excellent Green Aggro Ramp in this format. Another possibility is playing this card in some Reanimator build to use its effect a lot earlier.

Multicolored

Sagas are also back in this set.

Awaken the Honored Dead is a good example of how this type of card is often incredibly powerful. In the right build, this enchantment is a powerful 3-drop that can support many strategies centered around the graveyard.

Dragonback Assault is an enchantment that will, undoubtedly, see play in Ramp lists, like some Domain strategy. For five mana, it is a mini board wipe that interacts with all your land drops and creates 4/4 Dragon tokens with flying. A good card.

Now, what can we even say about Ureni, the Song Unending? This Dragon is the perfect weapon against a few decks in the format, as it fits Ramp decks incredibly well and is a 10/10 with flying that can easily end the game. Decks with black/white removals, the strongest and most popular removals in the format, will certainly struggle to deal with this card.

However, to use its ability well, you'll need to have many lands in play, and that could be a problem. Still, I don't see any issue in building an entire list around this card to really take advantage of its effect.

Inevitable Defeat can't be countered, and can target any nonland permanent. It also drains three life from your opponent. It is excellent against aggro decks, as it removes a creature and gives you a few life points in the process.

Felothar, Dawn of the Abzan is a 3/3 with trample for three mana in Abzan colors that interacts really well with sacrifice and can interact with Mobilize, which is also featured in this set. With these mechanics, you'll be able to create tokens and use them as fuel for Felothar: this way, your board will become incredibly powerful. Remember, you'll sacrifice the tokens you create with Mobilize anyway.

Flamehold Grappler is a card that can enable some extremely powerful interactions depending on the turn it is played. On top of that, it’s a 3/3 with First Strike, making it a strong contender for the future metagame. You can use it to copy a Lightning Helix or even a Recomission, targeting up to two Abhorrent Oculus. With the current mana base in the format, there won’t be much difficulty in including this creature in decks that can take advantage of it.

Colorless

Ugin, Eye of the Storms is the new Ugin. This planeswalker is simply absurd because it impacts the game as soon as you cast it. Its +2 lets you create value by both gaining life and drawing a card, its -0 creates extra mana, and you can certainly explore its ultimate in some way. I still don't know for sure which deck would want this card, but it is strong enough to entice us.

This land also makes your spells uncounterable, which can be great against control decks and many other blue lists.

Tri-lands will also return in this set. They're great in decks that play more than two colors, obviously. Though they do enter play tapped, I believe they could be a great starting point for multicolored decks.

What did you think of this new set? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!