Set Prospective
Tarkir: Dragonstorm
This article is part of our community-sourced Set Prospective series. We survey Cube designers before the set’s official release to document their first impressions of new cards.
My only Magic hiatus was during Khans of Tarkir. Theros’ Greek flavor had bummed me out, so I wasn’t around for Siege Rhino’s Standard reign of terror or Treasure Cruise’s turbo-banning in Modern. I barely paid attention to Tarkir’s now-famous lore and innovative block design.
And yet, Khans’ cultural osmosis was stronger than the filter of my decade-ago hiatus. I love Icy Blast for being a kitchen-table stall-breaker a decade ago; I still shudder at
In the past, Khans’ reflections on memory endeared us to it; in the present, Wizards returns to Tarkir with Tarkir: Dragonstorm, hoping to cash in on our nostalgia. It remains to be seen what the future holds, and whether we will remember Dragonstorm as fondly.
Results
“This is the most traditional 'Magic feeling' set in the last two years.”
Dragonstorm garnered 248 survey responses from around the Cube world, the most enthusiastic response since Modern Horizons 3. This may be due to fond memories of the original Tarkir, or perhaps it is a quirk of our increased outreach for this set, relative to the other Standard-legal sets of the past year. Nonetheless, our median respondents is testing 8 TDM cards, and has assigned a median of 1 card a high rating (above 7.75).
| Card | Testers▼ | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Descendant of Storms | 39.1% | 6.7 |
| Cori-Steel Cutter | 30.2% | 6.4 |
| Voice of Victory | 26.2% | 7.2 |
| Sinkhole Surveyor | 25.0% | 6.3 |
| Tersa Lightshatter | 23.8% | 6.2 |
| Surrak, Elusive Hunter | 22.6% | 5.7 |
| Desperate Measures | 22.2% | 6.0 |
| Sunpearl Kirin | 21.8% | 6.0 |
| Rot-Curse Rakshasa | 21.0% | 5.5 |
| Kishla Skimmer | 16.9% | 6.0 |
| Elspeth, Storm Slayer | 16.5% | 6.2 |
| Heritage Reclamation | 15.7% | 6.3 |
| Avenger of the Fallen | 15.3% | 5.6 |
| Stadium Headliner | 14.9% | 6.3 |
| Rally the Monastery | 14.5% | 5.4 |
| Qarsi Revenant | 13.7% | 6.1 |
| Anafenza, Unyielding Lineage | 11.7% | 5.6 |
| Lasyd Prowler | 11.3% | 5.6 |
| Static Snare | 10.9% | 5.3 |
| Taigam, Master Opportunist | 10.9% | 5.0 |
| Sage of the Skies | 10.9% | 5.3 |
| Songcrafter Mage | 10.9% | 6.6 |
| Clarion Conqueror | 10.5% | 5.6 |
| Skirmish Rhino | 9.7% | 6.8 |
| Sidisi, Regent of the Mire | 9.7% | 5.8 |
| Auroral Procession | 9.7% | 6.8 |
| Mardu Siegebreaker | 9.7% | 6.3 |
| Hardened Tactician | 9.3% | 6.3 |
| Winternight Stories | 8.9% | 5.6 |
| Warden of the Grove | 8.9% | 5.9 |
| Hollowmurk Siege | 8.9% | 5.2 |
| Glacierwood Siege | 8.9% | 6.1 |
| Ugin, Eye of the Storms | 8.9% | 5.6 |
| Marang River Regent // Coil and Catch | 8.5% | 6.0 |
| Scavenger Regent // Exude Toxin | 8.5% | 6.1 |
| Glacial Dragonhunt | 8.5% | 5.9 |
| Shocking Sharpshooter | 8.5% | 5.6 |
| Stormbeacon Blade | 8.5% | 5.2 |
| Channeled Dragonfire | 8.5% | 5.2 |
| Synchronized Charge | 7.7% | 5.4 |
| Duty Beyond Death | 7.7% | 5.1 |
| Disruptive Stormbrood // Petty Revenge | 7.7% | 5.6 |
| Dragon Sniper | 7.7% | 6.8 |
| Unending Whisper | 7.7% | 5.8 |
| Shock Brigade | 7.3% | 5.9 |
| Wingblade Disciple | 7.3% | 5.5 |
| Frontline Rush | 7.3% | 6.3 |
| Attuned Hunter | 7.3% | 5.1 |
| Salt Road Packbeast | 7.3% | 6.4 |
| Dalkovan Packbeasts | 7.3% | 5.5 |
| Magmatic Hellkite | 6.9% | 4.6 |
| Seize Opportunity | 6.5% | 5.6 |
| Undergrowth Leopard | 6.5% | 5.4 |
| Twinmaw Stormbrood // Charring Bite | 6.5% | 6.6 |
| Felothar, Dawn of the Abzan | 6.5% | 4.6 |
| Yathan Tombguard | 6.5% | 5.8 |
| Sagu Wildling // Roost Seek | 6.5% | 5.9 |
| Herd Heirloom | 6.5% | 5.5 |
| Host of the Hereafter | 6.0% | 5.7 |
| Dirgur Island Dragon // Skimming Strike | 6.0% | 4.6 |
| Furious Forebear | 6.0% | 5.4 |
| Smile at Death | 5.6% | 4.3 |
| Fortress Kin-Guard | 5.6% | 6.2 |
| Traveling Botanist | 5.6% | 5.2 |
| Kishla Trawlers | 5.6% | 5.9 |
| Sunset Strikemaster | 5.6% | 5.1 |
| Kishla Village | 5.2% | 4.7 |
| Sibsig Appraiser | 5.2% | 5.8 |
| Stillness in Motion | 5.2% | 5.3 |
| Barrensteppe Siege | 5.2% | 5.2 |
| Roiling Dragonstorm | 5.2% | 5.7 |
| Runescale Stormbrood // Chilling Screech | 5.2% | 5.2 |
| Veteran Ice Climber | 5.2% | 3.7 |
| Stormshriek Feral // Flush Out | 4.8% | 6.0 |
| Stormscale Scion | 4.8% | 6.1 |
| Spectral Denial | 4.8% | 4.2 |
| Champion of Dusan | 4.8% | 5.0 |
| Sage of the Fang | 4.8% | 5.3 |
| Cori Mountain Stalwart | 4.8% | 6.1 |
| Rakshasa's Bargain | 4.8% | 6.0 |
| Venerated Stormsinger | 4.8% | 6.7 |
| Dalkovan Encampment | 4.4% | 4.6 |
| Devoted Duelist | 4.4% | 5.0 |
| Stalwart Successor | 4.4% | 6.0 |
| Marshal of the Lost | 4.4% | 5.2 |
| Frostcliff Siege | 4.4% | 5.1 |
| Formation Breaker | 4.4% | 5.2 |
| Dispelling Exhale | 4.4% | 6.2 |
| Strategic Betrayal | 4.4% | 5.9 |
| Mardu Devotee | 4.4% | 6.7 |
| Naga Fleshcrafter | 4.0% | 6.9 |
| Eshki Dragonclaw | 4.0% | 5.7 |
| Great Arashin City | 4.0% | 5.2 |
| Cori Mountain Monastery | 4.0% | 5.8 |
| Essence Anchor | 4.0% | 5.3 |
| Wayspeaker Bodyguard | 4.0% | 4.5 |
| Coordinated Maneuver | 4.0% | 4.2 |
| Dragonback Assault | 4.0% | 5.6 |
| United Battlefront | 4.0% | 5.9 |
Single Card Discussion
Heir To The Wilds
As is the recent pattern with Standard-legal Magic releases, our respondents have not coalesced around more than a handful of standouts. Descendant of Storms is the only Dragonstorm card with a testing rate over 33%. (Contrast to Kaldheim’s most popular card, which had a test-rate of over 70%!) The cubists of 2025 may be less impressed by marginal power upgrades, but it’s also possible that we’re polling a wider group overall.
Khanate Aspirants
The cards just below Descendant of Storms, tested by between a fifth to a third of our respondents, feature a trio of Dragonstorm’s new mechanics: Flurry, Mobilize, and Endure.
“A fun-looking set I'm not necessarily testing for power level, but simply because I like the design.”
Flurry is the most open-ended of these, while its enablers — cheap spells — are trivially accessible to every Magic deck, so it’s no surprise that TDM’s most Constructed-relevant Flurry card is also popular among our respondents.
Mobilize and Endure, like Flurry, are “faction mechanics,” meant to provide flavor and identity to the clans of Tarkir. Mobilize offers aggression, plus toys for sacrifice decks, while Endure bridges go-wide with counters. However, both Mobilize and Endure require unique tokens and only work in combination with creatures, in sharp contrast to the open-endedness of Flurry.
My read is that most of TDM’s faction mechanics mechanics are the design equivalent of single-use plastics. They’re useful in moderation, but Wizards is treating most of TDM’s mechanics disposably, and that means they carry complexity that can steal attention from a cube’s more satisfying decisions.
Other Notables
The three remaining new mechanics from TDM were broadly overlooked by our respondents. Renew’s banner is carried by Rot-Curse Rakshasa, an outlier of novelty for a mechanic that usually boils down to a complicated Scavenge. Harmonize, as used on Songcrafter Mage, is a new twist on Flashback, but this workhorse mechanic doesn’t take many big swings.
“Home run of a set for me and my cube.”
Omen, Dragonstorm’s most-used new mechanic, is a neat way to allow the dragons synonymous with Tarkir to take center stage, without forcing games to revolve around big fliers. However, its visual similarity to Adventure may mislead some cubeheads, and the self-shuffle effect can lead to repetitive games.
That leaves the one-off designs. Heritage Reclamation is the most-tested Common from TDM, but my personal favorite is Desperate Measures. Yes, it is a single Skullclamp, ha ha. But it’s also removal for 1-toughness creatures, and Village Rites in response to opposing removal, and a combat trick that (in the best case) can be a 3-for-2. Sweet. Eleven years later, and Tarkir’s still got the juice.
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