Tarkir: Dragonstorm is here at last! With all of the hullabaloo about "hat sets" and Universes Beyond, we're finally getting a bit of good old fashioned classic Magic: The Gathering with this set. Our return to Tarkir is truly a return to form. Unlike many return sets, Tarkir: Dragonstorm feels familiar and nostalgic yet simultaneously represents a fresh take on it at the same time. In doing this, it manages to capture the essence of the world far better than other returns like Shadows Over Innistrad, Battle for Zendikar, and Guilds of Ravnica did.

With this new set comes a whole host of new Commander preconstructed decks. Recent sets have seen a notable lessening in how many of these decks are released per set, but it wouldn't be Tarkir without properly representing all five of the clans. As such, each clan gets its own deck, and throughout the next several weeks - barring other major topics like the Pauper set review next week - I intend to discuss how you can upgrade all of them.

What better way for me to start off than talking about my personal favorite clan, the Abzan?

Right around the time the original Khans of Tarkir set was releasing, I found myself actively playing Legacy. I was hooked on the Maverick deck - where I get my username from - which was primarily Selesnya when I picked it up. Thanks to inclusions of Deathrite Shaman and Thoughtseize, it switched to what would soon come to be known as Abzan.

Then Khans itself came out and I couldn't stop playing Abzan just about anywhere I went. I drafted the colors like crazy in Limited, shoved several of the cards into Commander decks and Cubes, and even played decks like Abzan Midrange and Abzan Rally the Ancestors in Standard for a time. With Selesnya being my favorite guild on Ravnica, it felt like an extension of the things I already loved there.

Now there's a whole Commander preconstructed deck themed around the clan and I couldn't be more excited. It just so happens that I think this is a particularly excellent Commander deck for players to pick up as well. Let's look at the decklist and then I'll get into exactly why I feel this way.

Abzan Armor Precon | Commander | Wizards of the Coast

• Commander (1)
• 1 Felothar the Steadfast

• Creatures (40)
• 1 Arasta of the Endless Web
• 1 Arbor Adherent
• 1 Arboreal Grazer
• 1 Axebane Guardian
• 1 Baldin, Century Herdmaster
• 1 Betor, Ancestor's Voice
• 1 Blight Pile
• 1 Canopy Gargantuan
• 1 Carven Caryatid
• 1 Crashing Drawbridge
• 1 Dragonlord Dromoka
• 1 Faeburrow Elder
• 1 Hornet Nest
• 1 Ikra Shidiqi, the Usurper
• 1 Indomitable Ancients
• 1 Indulging Patrician
• 1 Jaddi Offshoot
• 1 Nyx-Fleece Ram
• 1 Overgrown Battlement
• 1 Protector of the Wastes
• 1 Rampart Architect
• 1 Rhox Faithmender
• 1 Seedborn Muse
• 1 Shadrix Silverquill
• 1 Shalai, Voice of Plenty
• 1 Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa
• 1 Sylvan Caryatid
• 1 Towering Titan
• 1 Tree of Redemption
• 1 Wakestone Gargoyle
• 1 Walking Bulwark
• 1 Wall of Blossoms
• 1 Wall of Limbs
• 1 Wall of Omens
• 1 Wall of Reverence
• 1 Wall of Roots
• 1 Weathered Sentinels
• 1 Welcoming Vampire
• 1 Wingmantle Chaplain
• 1 Zetalpa, Primal Dawn

• Instants (5)
• 1 Anguished Unmaking
• 1 Despark
• 1 Infernal Grasp
• 1 Swords to Plowshares
• 1 Tower Defense

• Sorceries (6)
• 1 Expel the Interlopers
• 1 Feed the Swarm
• 1 Reunion of the House
• 1 Slaughter the Strong
• 1 Tip the Scales
• 1 Will of the Abzan

• Enchantments (3)
• 1 Assault Formation
• 1 Behind the Scenes
• 1 Jaws of Defeat

• Artifacts (7)
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Colfenor's Urn
• 1 Orzhov Signet
• 1 Selesnya Signet
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Staff of Compleation
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots

• Lands (38)
• 5 Swamp
• 6 Plains
• 7 Forest
• 1 Access Tunnel
• 1 Bojuka Bog
• 1 Canopy Vista
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Deceptive Landscape
• 1 Evolving Wilds
• 1 Exotic Orchard
• 1 Fortified Village
• 1 Isolated Chapel
• 1 Overgrown Farmland
• 1 Path of Ancestry
• 1 Radiant Grove
• 1 Sandsteppe Citadel
• 1 Sungrass Prairie
• 1 Sunpetal Grove
• 1 Temple of Malady
• 1 Temple of Plenty
• 1 Temple of Silence
• 1 Twilight Mire
• 1 Woodland Cemetery

Buy This Deck Export text

What's interesting to me about this deck is just how different the Abzan look this time around. In the original Tarkir block, the Abzan clan was focused heavily on +1/+1 counters. This led to tons of really cool cards that continue to be popular Commander favorites. If you've ever played with a deck using lots of +1/+1 counters, chances are you've played with cards like Hardened Scales, Abzan Battle Priest, Abzan Falconer, Ainok Bond-Kin, and Mer-Ek Nightblade.

With Tarkir: Dragonstorm, though, the focus is shifted away quite a bit from these counters. Instead, the focus is now on utilizing high toughness to your fullest advantage. In many ways, Felothar the Steadfast is simply a modernized take on Doran, the Siege Tower. Both are Abzan with similarly low costs and the same stats, but Felothar gives you a ton of extra value for that one extra mana tacked on. Doran made it hard to attack with walls and other cards with defender without the aid of something like Rolling Stones, so now Felothar amends this and provides players with an awesome way to play this long-time fan favorite.

In fact, this mechanic is such a fan favorite that it's the central focus of another majorly popular commander: Arcades, the Strategist.

Arcades also makes other creatures deal damage with their toughness and lets defenders attack as though they didn't have defender. Additionally, much like with Felothar, Arcades provides a steady stream of card advantage for players to make good use out of. The big difference with Felothar, though, is that she makes all your creatures deal damage with toughness - not just defenders. Additionally, while she doesn't provide the consistent card advantage like Arcades, she gives it to you in large singular bursts.

A major benefit to the similarities between these two commanders is that we can take some solid inspiration from Arcades in talking about this deck. As such, it's worth noting that this is quite possibly one of the most affordable precons for you to upgrade, full stop. A major draw for many Arcades, the Strategist players is how cheaply the deck can be built. After all, have you looked at the price of your average creature with defender? They're worthless!

Simply put, most cards with defender are useless in your average deck. There's a reason the most you usually see a deck run this mechanic is playing copies of Wall of Blossoms and Wall of Omens. Both are simple and effective card draw, provide a good blocker, and can generate easy value with common abilities like bouncing or reanimating. Arcades is the kind of deck where dirt cheap draft chaff like Steel Wall and Wall of Ice become genuinely playable.

If you really wanted to, you could easily replicate this play style with Felothar. The deck is essentially set up for it as is, so by simply throwing away a somewhat ho-hum card like, say, Staff of Compleation you can easily upgrade it with something dirt cheap like Wall of Tanglecord or Fortified Rampart. That way you're able to put something into the deck and taking out something else that doesn't really fit the theme.

Naturally, I've highlighted how simple your upgrades can get with dirt cheap vanilla creatures you can get for pennies. How about cards that actually do something? There's quite a number of very good ones in my opinion. I took a look at Scryfall and searched for cards with toughness greater than 5 but power less than 4 and that yielded about 107 options. Of those options, around ten stood out to me as viable choices.

The Necrobloom is a real standout here. Not only is it a cheap creature with a huge butt, but as you play more and more lands it makes even more creatures. Even just the 0/1s go a long way as they turn into legitimate 1/1s with the help of Felothar, though naturally it gets even better if you can reach the Field of the Dead mode and spit out 2/2s instead. The land dredging is a bit irrelevant for a deck like this, but given that you can also run fellow big butt creature Perennial Behemoth, perhaps you can spruce up your mana base with some utility lands to help out.

If you want to get your creatures back out of your graveyard at a steady frequency, Colfenor, the Last Yew is great for this. Whenever one of your creatures dies, you can get back another smaller creature from your graveyard, which is great since Felothar loves it when you sacrifice your creatures. This is even better when you double it up with something like Deadwood Treefolk to get back multiple cards at once. It's even better if you get back a creature that has seven or more toughness with the first Deadwood Treefolk trigger and then sacrifice that creature to bring back Deadwood Treefolk after it dies to vanishing.

Alternatively, you can save your creatures instead. Essence of Antiquity is awesome for this, allowing you to disguise it at first and then flip it over for protection against powerful spells targeting them. Not only that, but it's huge! With 10 toughness, it'll be bringing the smackdown extremely hard on your opponents. So too will something like Silklash Spider, a card that deals with the pesky fliers your average creature won't be able to block - all while having a massive statline itself. I'd be remiss if I didn't also mention Pontiff of Blight in the these recommendations as well, as it once again provides huge stats in addition to going nuts with the powerful extort ability.

So how about non-creatures? The biggest thing a deck like this wants are ways to buff your board with lots of extra toughness. While there's certainly cards like Slagwurm Armor that'll give individual creatures buffs, going wider is probably the more optimal play. The precon already has some great options like Tower Defense and Assault Formation to provide extra buffs. I also like Solidarity for a similar high-level buff to Tower Defense, but without the keyword. If you want reach, maybe try something like Spidersilk Armor instead. It only gives a minor toughness boost, but the permanent reach makes up for it tremendously. Additionally, with all the extra toughness, try using Angelic Chorus to give yourself plenty of life and ensure you stick out the game to make it to the end. After all, endurance is the Abzan way.

This deck rocks and is easily the one I'm most excited to pick up in the coming weeks when Tarkir: Dragonstorm releases. It's so easy to upgrade that every card I mentioned in this upgrade section after the list would cost maybe $15 max to pick up. This is the perfect deck for someone who doesn't have much money to throw at the game but still wants to have a great time. It's a fun deck, and one that you'll certainly have an awesome time with at your next Commander night.

Paige Smith

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