Dragons of Tarkir Spoiler Digest 1: PAX East, Elder Dragons, Planeswalkers, Mechanics, and More!



The past week has been an extremely exciting one for Magic: The Gathering. Dragons of Tarkir spoilers have taken off in full force, revealing a new cycle of Elder Dragons, new versions of the Khans of Tarkir khans including a planeswalker Narset, a new version of Sarkhan, and much more. In addition, the Magic panel at PAX East unveiled a number of exciting things about both Dragons of Tarkir and the next three sets of Magic.


Elder Dragons
Sarkhan's actions in Fate Reforged have reshaped Tarkir, and the clans of the khans have been replaced by dragon-led clans. To emphasize the great time that has passed since Fate Reforged and the power of the dragons who lead the clans, Fate Reforged's dragon legends return with a new creature type on their type line - "Elder". Storyline buffs will be quick to point out that this is not the same "Elder" as seen on the original Elder Dragons, but this is interesting nonetheless. The cards themselves are also very exciting.

Dromoka is the first green/white legend to have lifelink, is uncounterable with a huge body, and makes the rest of your creatures uncounterable by preventing your opponents from acting on your turn Grand Abolisher-style. She shows promise as a potent finisher, against control decks in particular.

Ojutai has aggressive, efficient stats with conditional hexproof that should keep him alive long enough to set up counterspell protection in subsequent turns. Additionally, on hit, Ojutai provides an Anticipate (a new Impulse-style draw spell) to dig through your deck and provide card advantage. Control decks will be happy to find an efficient and evasive threat which pulls double-duty in maintaining card advantage.

Silumgar takes the classic Sower of Temptation ability and adds several upsides - significant, bolt-proof toughness, the ability to steal planeswalkers, and deathtouch to ensure trades with most larger threats. While several cards have offered the ability to steal planeswalkers by taking any type of permanent (Zealous Conscripts, Confiscate, etc.), Silumgar is the first card to specifically allow the theft of a planeswalker.

Kolaghan has Rorix Bladewing stats while tacking on two more powerful abilities. The first is haste for the rest of your creatures, which is always welcome. The second is a huge punisher ability for any opponent who plays a card they've cast before - they lose ten life. Through a bit of discard and careful management of what removal spells you can come up against, Kolaghan can put your opponent in a no-win situation. Their only outs will hit them for half of their starting life total, while not removing Kolaghan means they're still taking six damage every turn. Editor's Note: Kolaghan only punishes creatures and planeswalkers. Our apologies.

Atarka is, appropriately, the largest of the Dragonlords. With an 8/8 body and two forms of evasion for seven mana, Atarka is a huge threat that demands an immediate answer. Additionally, she provides a powerful ETB trigger, allowing you to divide five damage among opposing creatures and planeswalkers. This is reminiscient of Bogardan Hellkite, but cheaper to cast and with a more threatening body - albeit, without the ability to hit players.


Narset, Planeswalker
Narset fell to Zurgo in the timeline of Khans of Tarkir. She survived in the Dragons of Tarkir timeline and her spark ignited, turning her into a planeswalker. She offers a powerful slew of abilities - her +1 can reasonably draw a card up to half the time, her -2 allows you to get two uses out of your spells, and her ultimate locks your opponent out of casting noncreature spells permanently. Perhaps the most exciting aspect of Narset, however, is her starting loyalty. Six is far and away the highest of any four-cost planeswalker. With the use of her +1 ability, she can end her first turn with seven loyalty, which makes her extremely difficult to take down - even with no protection.


Sarkhan Unbroken
Sarkhan appears on yet another planeswalker card, marking the first time a planeswalker has received two planeswalker cards in the same block. He returns to his original coloration of red/green, and also picks up blue. This also marks the first time that a planeswalker has appeared with four different colors, and only the second time that a planeswalker has appeared with three colors at the same time. His +1 gives you raw card advantage and allows you to follow him up with a cheap protection spell or to ramp up slightly in subsequent turns. His -2 provides even stronger protection, dropping a formidable Dragon into play. His ultimate provides a powerful game-ending ability similar to Nissa Revane's, letting you flood the board with every single dragon in your library.

Dromoka Clan
The Abzan clan has been reforged as Green/White under Dromoka's guidance. Bolster has returned, appearing on multiple powerful cards, including the new version of Anafenza. Multiple dragons have been revealed in this color combination so far, including Enduring Scalelord, an uncommon dragon that can combo with another copy of itself to generate infinite +1/+1 counters off of a single bolster trigger.


Ojutai Clan
Under the tutelage of Ojutai, the Jeskai has been honed and reshaped, losing their Red component. While Prowess has not returned, there are several cards with similar mechanics. Cards like Ojutai Exemplars have several powerful options that trigger on noncreature spells, and Cunning Breezedancer effectively has double-prowess. To fuel these cards, as well as the prowess cards in Fate Reforged, the rebound mechanic has returned. Casting rebound spells will enable abilities form the aforementioned creatures multiple times with a single card.

The Ojutai clan also offers the first example of a new cycle of Commands, offering the choice of two abilities from four. Ojutai's Command can be likened to the powerful Cryptic Command, offering a counterspell and a card draw mode, along with two other interesting options - returning a creature with converted mana cost two or less, or gaining 4 life.


Silumgar Clan
Silumgar lords over the remnants of the Sultai, twisting them to his own ends and rejecting Green. Delve has been passed over in favor of the exploit mechanic, which allows you to sacrifice a creature to gain an additional effect. The new Sidisi exemplifies this mechanic perfectly, providing a Demonic Tutor if you allow her to exploit a creature - which can even be herself.

Silumgar has a powerful Command which is also reminiscent of Cryptic Command, offering a counter-magic mode as well as a Boomerang mode, plus Last Gasp and the ability to destroy a planeswalker.


Kolaghan Clan
Kolaghan leads the former Mardu clan in a reckless charge, leaving its White aspects behind. The dash mechanic returns from Fate Reforged - as seen on Zurgo Bellstriker, Zurgo Helmsmasher's new incarnation. This Orc puny and cowardly in contrast to his Khans of Tarkir-timeline counterpart, but that doesn't mean he's a bad card. With a 2/2 body for one mana, a minor drawback, and dash as a bonus, he's one of the top aggressive red creatures of all time.

Kolaghan also leads many powerful dragons. Thunderbreak Regent is a four-mana 4/4 flier who Lightning Bolts anyone who targets your dragons, and Swift Warkite is an uncommon powerhouse who allows you to psuedo-dash a cheap creature from either your hand or your graveyard.

Kolaghan's Command stands out as another powerful Command. Offering discard, Raise Dead, Shock, and Shatter as possible options, it's all but guaranteed to provide two-for-one advantage in a flexible fashion.


Atarka Clan
Atarka presides over the remnants of the Temur clan, rejecting the Blue aspect of the clan in favor of an all-consuming Red/Green philosophy. Formidable replaces ferocious, asking twice the power to enable its effect, but allowing that power to be spread over any number of creatures. Shaman of Forgotten Ways shows off this mechanic in style, by offering Biorhythm if you can fulfill the conditions.

Atarka's brood is filled with savage dragons, from the fighting Foe-Razer Regent to the massively mana-ramping Savage Ventmaw. The Ventmaw seems like it could make a splash in Temur Ascendancy ramp decks, quickly accelerating the rate at which threats can be drawn and cast.

Atarka's Command seems immediately viable as a Modern inclusion in Burn decks. It offers a Lava Spike mode along with a "players can't gain life" mode for only two mana, doing a solid impression of the Modern staple Skullcrack. When you account for a mini-Overrun mode offering the potential for 4-6 damage with creatures swinging, and occasionally the ramp mode which can allow you to sneak in another Lightning Bolt a turn early, this card is quite the splash in Burn and pulls the deck towards Red/Green or even Naya colors.


Megamorph
Morph returns with a twist as "megamorph", a variant that allows creatures to turn face up with a bonus +1/+1 counter. This provides additional flexibility in the modes of creatures. There is now incentive to morph a creature even if it does not provide a cost discount, an accelerated face-up turn, or an ability upon turning face up, as the megamorphed body will be larger.

The mechanic has two marquee mythic rares so far. Deathmist Raptor provides a powerful recursive body, and Shorecrasher Elemental is a cheap variation on Morphling and Aetherling. Shorecrasher in particular seems like a shoe-in for Mono-Blue Devotion lists given its UUU mana cost and Elemental subtype.
Additionally, there appears to be a powerful cycle of megamorphers who offer a 2/1 body with an ability for two mana, and a Megamorph ability providing a spell-like effect when flipped face up. These "Power Rangers" are certain to make a splash in Constructed, and provide a powerful incentive to include morph cards in Cube.


Other Mythics
Descent of the Dragons is the only mythic rare revealed so far that does not fit in one of the above categories. Instead, it offers a powerful effect, allowing you to call on Dragons to devour any number of creatures on the battlefield. This can be used to upgrade your own army or downgrade opposing creatures, similar to Hour of Need. There is also a lot of potential for shenanigans in Commander, like in Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund decks. You can give your commander persist or undying to steal all of the Descent-spawned Dragons and attack with them immediately.


Cycle Watch
With all the exciting cards we've seen so far, what is left to be revealed? We're currently missing cards from the following cycles:
  • The blue Ojutai legend who exemplify the former khans. Though Narset was their leader in Khans of Tarkir, the void she left by planeswalking away has been filled by Tiagam, who in the Khans of Tarkir timeline was a defector to the Sultai. However, in this timeline, he will appear as the "lieutenant" of the Ojutai, likely with an ability relating to rebound.
  • Surrak, the Hunt-Caller, the Dragons of Tarkir version of Surrak Dragonclaw.
  • Dromoka's Command has yet to be revealed.
  • The "Power Rangers" are missing the Red member.
  • We have seen 14 of the 15 possible mythic rares of the set. The final mythic rare will likely appear in White, Blue, or Black, each of which only has one mythic rare at the moment - though Blue is not likely given that both planeswalkers are partially blue.


Other PAX East News
PAX East took place this past weekend, and provided a number of exciting revelations:

  • Tarmogoyf is returning again in Modern Masters 2015, along with Karn Liberated.
  • Dual-faced cards are returning in Magic Origins - the 2015 core set, with a cycle showing Planeswalkers in the moment they achieve their spark.
  • The Fall 2015 set will be Battle for Zendikar

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