Dragons of Tarkir Spoilers

No matter how disparate the Magic community gets between varying formats and different levels of commitment to the game, spoiler season has a little something for everyone. It’s hard to not get at least a little excited for new cards, well except maybe Legacy and Vintage players who are only hoping, or dreading, another “opps, [mtg_card=Treasure Cruise].” There genuinely is a little something for everyone though, whether it’s assembling ratings and pick orders for limited, speculating on what cards to buy cheap, or brewing and playing new decks with sharpie proxies before the set releases. Wizards of the Coast has kicked off the first spoilers for Dragons of Tarkir, and I thought I’d share a few worth talking about.

This is our first look at Dragons of Tarkir’s cycle of mythic dragons and it’s a direct tie in to the block’s time travel story line. Back in the past, Fate Reforged, Silumgar was simply [mtg_card=Silumgar, the Drifting Death], but now that all the dragons haven’t been killed off he’s back as a Legendary Elder Dragon. Silumgar has traded some toughness and other abilities to straight up [mtg_card=Mind Control] any creature of planeswalker, granted it’s only for a long as you control Dragonlord Silumgar – I guess we can’t have him showing up [mtg_card=Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker]. Thankfully, this card would be stupidly good if Silumgar still had hexproof. The lack of protection means Dragonlord Silumgar is generally going to be at its best when it’s doing a [mtg_card=Zealous Conscripts] impersonation to borrow your opponent’s planeswalker at a key moment to tick them down off the board, like to ultimate. It’s still a powerful effect regardless, and I’m interested to see what the rest of the dragons end up being. I wouldn’t be surprised if the jump from rare to mythic pushes at least one of them into a Standard or Commander staple. Also, some folks have speculated that that’s [mtg_card=Tasigur, the Golden Fang]’s corpse dangling around his neck.

Ojutai’s Command is perhaps the card that most folks are excited for and is another preview of an upcoming Dragons of Tarkir cycle. As I’ve mentioned in the past, there’s just a certain floor when it comes to cards like charms. Even when you’re paying a little bit of a premium on the casting cost, these cards are just too flexible that even the bad ones tend to not be that bad. For those unfamiliar, commands are essentially charms that do two things instead of one. [mtg_card=Cryptic Command] is the most well-known and heavily played one, but the others have had their moments and are generally included in most Commander decks. Ojutai’s Command already has sort of a [mtg_card=Cryptic Command] vibe with its counter draw mode. However, its first mode has the potentially for it to see play outside of straight control decks. Although you do get to do “fun” things with it and [mtg_card=Snapcaster Mage] in a Modern control shell, like cast Ojutai’s Command to get back [mtg_card=Snapcaster Mage] and then flashback Ojutai’s Command with that [mtg_card=Snapcaster Mage]. And yes, this works because [mtg_card=Snapcaster Mage] won’t be added to the stack until after Ojutai’s Command has finished resolving, so it’s in the graveyard and a target.

I sort of wonder why this card wasn’t just exile target multicolored nonland permanent. I guess being able to get rid of planeswalkers might have pushed it a little too much, but WotC keeps churning out these kind of cards and I feel like eventually they are just going to hop over that fence any ways. It’s not like we haven’t already seen that jump with cards like [mtg_card=Hero’s Downfall]. The last one that comes to mind is [mtg_card=Renounce the Guilds] and even in a format full of multicolored stuff, Return to Ravnica, it barely saw sideboard play. I fear Radiant Purge is destined to the same fate, while the rate to kill say [mtg_card=Siege Rhino] that can never get brought back with [mtg_card=Whip of Erebos] or [mtg_card=Tasigur, the Golden Fang] is pretty decent, there’s just too many [mtg_card=Goblin Rabblemaster], [mtg_card=Courser of Kruphix], and friends. Maybe next time.

A slightly more expensive [mtg_card=Diabloic Tutor] isn’t much to write home about, but it doesn’t take much either for this card to be way better than that. Whether it’s with recursion, sacrificing tokens, or finding other creatures to sacrifice for value, Sidisi, Undread Vizier starts looking pretty insane. Basically the more this card approaches 4/6 deathtouch and draw your best card for five mana the better it looks. Hell, in an ironic time paradox, Sidisi, Undread Vizier plays pretty well with her former self [mtg_card=Sidisi, Brood Tyrant] as the later makes lots of zombie fodder for the former to exploit. I could see Sidisi, Undread Vizier finding a nice home in the [mtg_card=Satry Wayfinder]/[mtg_card=Whip of Erebos] decks. That said, the [mtg_card=Diabloic Tutor] effect will certainly be at its best in some kind of combo oriented deck, though the value of drawing your best card, or sideboard card after Game One, can’t be understated. The 4/6 deathtouch body isn’t too shabby either, it eats everyone’s favorite bench test [mtg_card=Siege Rhino]. This will certainly see some Standard play, and Commander decks were already running [mtg_card=Rune-Scarred Demon].

The best way to think about Thunderbreak Regent is to examine its worst case scenarios. Setting aside it being countered, its absolute worst case is getting tidied up in a sweeper of some kind where it can’t get any additional value. Though it’s worth noting it gets to make [mtg_card=Crux of Fate], one of the more prevalent Standard wraths, pretty awkward if your board has anything else in play. Would you like to sweep up Thunderbreak Regent or that [mtg_card=Goblin Rabblemaster]? After that it’s eating some removal spell where it’s essentially a pseudo three power haste. Thunderbreak Regent does die to most of the commonly seen Standard removal, except the three damage or lower variety, but it still gets its hit in thanks to the ability. Everything beyond that is just gravy, whether your opponent is forced into killing another dragon triggering the ability or Thunderbreak Regent just gets a few swings in. And that’s all pretty damn good for being stapled to a four mana 4/4 flyer. I doubt it’s enough to make [mtg_card=Crucible of Fire] a real thing, but it will likely find a place in the aggressive and midrange Temur and RG decks.

Personally, I continue to be impressed with WotC’s approach to card and set design lately. I think they are striking a great balance between cards being viable in multiple formats or providing something for everyone. What cards are you looking forward to playing with? What are you hoping will get spoiled next?