If I had a 0/4 for 1RR that said 'once per turn, during your main phase, you may discard a card. If you do, draw a card.' and 'Creatures that attack it have wither.' I would be fine with it.
In a Dragon deck obviously it's better cause if it lives you get to cast a 6 drop on T4 with color already fixed. But nobody should let that happen in Commander/Brawl.
Not even that, though. Each time you use his ability, its "toughness" increases by 1. It's not great by any stretch, but for a deck like RDW, it can put focus on him and allow you to rummage for a bit while you're doing your thing. I've seen many way worse PWs. I think he's very niche, but if you look at him strictly as a rummmager, it seems less bad. I'd completely ignore the 2nd ability. And once you go 4 turns of rummaging, you get a pretty powerful ultimate. i don't even care that he can't protect himself, but it seems that I'm in the minority about him.
It is perfectly functional is basically where this gets us. It isn't 'oh man this is amazing!' but it certainly fills more roles than Tybs (because Tybs sucks), and is easier to slot into decks than Jaya (who does this better but at a 5 drop... harder to justify).
The more I look at this the less enthused I am. Both plus ones are Meh at best. Rummaging isn't a very good ability at all and I'd rather just play Cultivate in my dragon EDH deck if I'm looking to ramp. Also, both abilities do stone-cold nothing if your hand is empty or you don't have the right cards in hand. It kinda reminds me of Jaya Ballard and I think Jaya is Tibalt bad.
I think he's supposed to be a Brawl commander. He'll certainly fit right into my Ur-Dragon deck, that monstrosity needs all the color fixing it can get. I can see him being a fun build around in limited too.
He curves nicely into Scourge of Valkas, with no additional land ramps needed. Also color fixes so he can be played with multicolor Dragons, even nonred ones. I like that his first two abilities vaguely allude to Sarkhan Unbroken's colors, in that the first one involves card draw and the second, mana ramp. His ult is similar to Sarkhan Vol, threatening 20 damage. I'd say this is one of my favorite Sarkhan cards.
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Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
PSA to everyone who keeps forgetting about the Reserved List:
You're on a website dedicated to talking about MtG. You're only a few keystrokes away from finding out what cards are on the Reserved List. You're also only a few keystrokes away from finding out why some cards on the Reserved List got foil printings in FtV, as Judge promos, or whatnot, as well as why that won't happen again. Stop doing this.
This guy is decent if you are ramping into dragons, I suppose...? Otherwise that's an easy and hard PASS. Compare the looting ability to Dack Fayden.. doesn't even compare well to Merfolk Looter.
People are seriously underrating and underestimating this niche card. Sure, if a niche card only does one thing, slam it all you want. But this is a GREAT niche card.
Imagine his first ability read: "You may discard a card. Then if you control a Dragon, draw a card."
Which one looks worse? As far as I'm concerned, his first ability had to be as generic as possible.
Attractive enough for you to play and protect it, because at least the payoff is very good.
This is a modern playable card and could make RG dragons viable. As he currently stands he is viable in RG Ponza with Dragon threats, which has already appeared in mtgtop8.com (though I cant remember if it were paper or mtgo event) sporting Stormbreath and Thunderbreak Regent. What really seals his position is his ability to come off of a Bloodbraid Elf cascade.
ITT: Lots of misusing the term Loot for Rummage and lots of justifying a mono-red 'walker because he's better than Tibalt. Better than Tibalt?! Think about that. What does it even mean? Chandra, Torch of Defiance is in Standard, right now, and we're praising the new Sarkan because its better than Tibalt? Also, as a P.S.A., Loot >> Rummage. The ability to draw the card before you pitch one makes actual looting far superior. You could almost say strictly better. So please, don't use the term loot if it doesn't actually loot.
Bad card is bad. Bottom line. I've defended 3 drop walkers before, but you may recall a recent Jace that bucked the trend of 3 drop walkers always being good. Most of all tho, I'm sad to see my red mage brethren propping this up just because its monored. The times of languishing without reasonable walkers to call your own are long past. You can, and should, do better now.
Terms like "good" and "bad" are insufficiently descriptive for a narrow planeswalker like this. Sarkhan, Fireblood is going to see play in one deck, in which he will be a mandatory 3-4x. If that one deck, dragon tribal, is competitive, then Sarkhan will be a relatively expensive staple for that archetype. Otherwise, he'll be cheap. If you're going to assign card strength a quantifiable value, that's a strong place to start. You know what isn't a reliable way to quantify strength? Comparing him to planeswalkers in which he won't share standard and with planeswalkers who have no business in dragon tribal decks for one reason or another.
I for one am excited about this card. I've always wanted a dragon tribal deck, and I'm not ashamed that I will be adding in changelings into my deck just to make it as competitive as possible.
The first +1 sucks, the second +1 is awesome when used in a dragon specific deck. The ult I don't expect I'll hardly ever be able to achieve but the card is niche, and fits a niche role. Dragon's need ramp to be viable and this card helps achieve that ramp.
My only worry is that if I drop this on turn 3, I'll need chump blockers so I can use it on turn 4. and I think that'll be a struggle in a dragon tribal deck.
I would only drop this thing the moment I can cast a dragon as well. When used optimally, you're paying 1 more to have a dragon and a planeswalker summon on the same turn.
Actually I realized what could of made him better. If his second +1 could of also been spent on Dragon abilities that require mana that would of been helpful.
Modern : RG Titan Shift RG | RG Revolt Zoo RG | RG Ponza RG | RGW Naya Burn RGW
Legacy : RG Belcher RG
Not even that, though. Each time you use his ability, its "toughness" increases by 1. It's not great by any stretch, but for a deck like RDW, it can put focus on him and allow you to rummage for a bit while you're doing your thing. I've seen many way worse PWs. I think he's very niche, but if you look at him strictly as a rummmager, it seems less bad. I'd completely ignore the 2nd ability. And once you go 4 turns of rummaging, you get a pretty powerful ultimate. i don't even care that he can't protect himself, but it seems that I'm in the minority about him.
GWUBRDraft my Old Border Nostalgia Cube! and/or The Little Pauper Cube That Could!RBUWG
Modern:WDeath & TaxesW | RUGRUG DelverRUG
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
It takes him 5 turns to ult he cannot get an emblem that drops Dragons every turn?
BGU Control
R Aggro
Standard - For Fun
BG Auras
Imagine his first ability read: "You may discard a card. Then if you control a Dragon, draw a card."
Which one looks worse? As far as I'm concerned, his first ability had to be as generic as possible.
Attractive enough for you to play and protect it, because at least the payoff is very good.
UR Melek, Izzet ParagonUR, B Shirei, Shizo's CaretakerB, R Jaya Ballard, Task MageR,RW Tajic, Blade of the LegionRW, UB Lazav, Dimir MastermindUB, UB Circu, Dimir LobotomistUB, RWU Zedruu the GreatheartedRWU, GUBThe MimeoplasmGUB, UGExperiment Kraj UG, WDarien, King of KjeldorW, BMarrow-GnawerB, WBGKarador, Ghost ChieftainWBG, UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU, GWUDerevi, Empyrial TacticianGWU, RDaretti, Scrap SavantR, UTalrand, Sky SummonerU, GEzuri, Renegade LeaderG, WUBRGReaper KingWUBRG, RGXenagos, God of RevelsRG, CKozilek, Butcher of TruthC, WUBRGGeneral TazriWUBRG, GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
I've already prepared the best modern playable dragons at 4 and 5 cmc: Thunderbreak Regent, Chameleon Colossus, Stormbreath Dragon and Scourge of Valkas and a singleton Dragonlord Atarka for removal. This build could potentially see turn 2 BBE into Sarkhan, which can curve into Blood Moon + 4 cmc dragon on turn 3, or simply Dragonlord Atarka.
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
Bad card is bad. Bottom line. I've defended 3 drop walkers before, but you may recall a recent Jace that bucked the trend of 3 drop walkers always being good. Most of all tho, I'm sad to see my red mage brethren propping this up just because its monored. The times of languishing without reasonable walkers to call your own are long past. You can, and should, do better now.
The first +1 sucks, the second +1 is awesome when used in a dragon specific deck. The ult I don't expect I'll hardly ever be able to achieve but the card is niche, and fits a niche role. Dragon's need ramp to be viable and this card helps achieve that ramp.
My only worry is that if I drop this on turn 3, I'll need chump blockers so I can use it on turn 4. and I think that'll be a struggle in a dragon tribal deck.