Tarkir: Dragonstorm is finally here! The long-awaited return to this beloved Asian-inspired plane filled to the brim with dragons has arrived at last. This past Tuesday we got to see the full debut stream showing off dozens of awesome cards and special card treatments. Today, I'm going to go over and recap several of the coolest cards revealed throughout the week and provide you with some cool resources to get the full rundown of what to expect.

Let's jump right in!

The Cards People Are Talking About

Betor emphasizes something the Abzan are well known for: high toughness. The card rewards this high toughness aspect by not merely offering one major ability but one that scales higher and higher the more toughness you have to work with. This ability is rather unique, even among "toughness matters" cards, which has made it a major talking point among players of all kinds shortly after being previewed.

Players naturally gravitated fairly quickly to Surrak for the myriad of effects it provides. Three mana for a 4/3 trampler is sweet enough on its own, but the fact that it can't be countered makes it hard for control decks to deal with. With Thrun, Breaker of Silence rotating out of Standard soon, this might make a good replacement. More importantly, though, was the Shapers' Sanctuary-style effect, particularly since it can cause Orcish Bowmasters to create infinite triggers and force the player to draw their whole deck and lose the game. An interesting card that's certain to see play.

Players love a good anthem effect and they also love extra combat steps. This offers both in one card, enabling massive damage to go through and wipe out your opponents' forces. With the right setup of first strike and mobilize, this card can end games in a flash, which has caused many players to get excited to play with it when the set releases.

What's New and Pricey?

Forget Standard, can you say Modern? Tron has long been a popular archetype in that format, and so too has the recent innovation of Eldrazi Ramp in the wake of Modern Horizons 3. This new Ugin is a monster in Tron at the very least, and while it might be a little harder to cast in Eldrazi Ramp, there's no doubt players will try it there as well. This has made Ugin an extremely expensive card right out of the gate and is sure to be the chase card of the set.

You know what's always red hot? Doubling effects. Elspeth, Storm Slayer is not just a token doubling effect - something that guarantees a high price tag on its own - but she's a planeswalker who offers a continual stream of tokens as well. This makes her not only a guaranteed casual all-star but likely a very real contender for Standard play as well. Expect this one to potentially go even higher than she already is now.

What's this? Suspend is back?! This powerful mechanic hasn't seen a printing into Standard since the original Time Spiral block and is usually reserved now for Modern Horizons sets or Commander-exclusive releases. Taigam copies all manner of spells, ranging from simple cantrips to powerful creatures that you can double up on a few turns later. The possibilities are endless with this one, with players excited to play the card in several formats and see what sort of nonsense they can conjure up.

Cool New Reprints

The biggest and baddest reprint was the surprise inclusion of Craterhoof Behemoth in this set. This card is famous for its impact in Commander, Cube, and even older formats like Modern and Legacy. Now Craterhoof Behemoth returns to Standard once more, potentially enabling all kinds of crazy gameplay. It also comes to Pioneer for the first time, providing a new way for Nykthos Ramp and Elves decks to close out the game. Even with a Standard set reprint, Craterhoof remains red hot, so don't expect this one to drop too much in price anytime soon!

One additional set of reprints that have many players thrilled to see back are the five uncommon trilands that come into play tapped. While these cards are far worse in playability compared to the triomes of Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths and Streets of New Capenna, these are an excellent source of fixing for decks going forward. This is especially true with rotation impending, removing the pain lands and allied fast lands in the process.

Finally, all ten - or should I say fifteen? - Special Guest cards were revealed during the debut stream. To celebrate the return to Tarkir, Wizards is reproducing the now-famous Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths wedge colored Ultimatum cycle with new Tarkir flavor. Additionally, the original Khans of Tarkir was well-known for its inclusion of the allied fetch lands, bringing them to Modern for the first time. Wanting to put these into the set but avoid the trappings of putting them into Standard again, Wizards opted to include the enemy fetches as Special Guests. Additionally, special Dragonscale Foil fetches can sometimes be found in collector boosters for those looking for a little additional bling in their mana bases.

Additional Resources

If you'd like more information on this set, check out the following links to various official resources from Wizards of the Coast:

• Tarkir: Dragonstorm official card image gallery
• Where to Find Tarkir: Dragonstorm Previews
• Collecting Tarkir: Dragonstorm
• Tarkir: Dragonstorm Mechanics
• Tarkir: Dragonstorm story

That wraps things up for week one! Next week I'll be back to cover even more coolness that gets shown off on the back half of the preview season. With only three-fifths of the Commander decks revealed so far, I'm holding out on discussing those until next week, so if you'd like to find out some of the more awesome stuff there, be sure to check back next time! In the meantime, be sure to check with your local game store for all the details on upcoming Tarkir: Dragonstorm prerelease events. If you're looking to ensure you get your hands on what you need from the set - and boy is there some hotness this time around - make sure you head over to the CoolStuffInc Tarkir: Dragonstorm now and lock them in!

Paige Smith

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/themaverickgirl.bsky.social

Twitch: twitch.tv/themaverickgirl

YouTube: TheMaverickGal