Dragons Of Tarkir

Avatar of the Resolute could be useful in a Heroic deck...

One thing is bothering me. Where are the bicoloured lands? I fully expect the lifegains to get another printing, this time to show a dragon ruled world...

Hmm.. maybe it's a given and so they are not being spoiled - or maybe they are going to take an interesting step and not offer any common / uncommon mana fixing here? That would make drafting interesting...

Unlikely though.



Yes, an interesting departure from previous sets where the revealing was sometimes as 'an additional cost' to casting the spell. From what I can see this is as an 'optional addition' which brings extra benefits if you do but isn't obligatory.

You work a mana base that will let you as per when you had no mana fixing in sets - usually 9 of one and 8 of the other for most draft decks. I wonder though if they will do it like Dragon's Maze did? One mana-fixing land in each pack with an x% chance of it being rare (a shockland then or a fetch now)

You are right though in that this does seem like it will need mana fixing to get a decent draft going so perhaps people just haven't spoiled them as they have been in the first 2 sets of the block. Would be interesting to see if they are alternate art though.

Hmm.. interesting question about Sorin - as it could affect the Innistrad timeline as well. I'd presume that it's worked in that he was either somehow present or somehow aware?

...Lord of Innistrad is still the best Sorin for me though. This one is good but...

Nahiri? She was waaay in the past - would have to check on timelines but all of the Commander 2014 planeswalkers were set far back in time, possibly before even this - actually it would have been before this as she made the hedrons that sealed the Eldrazi.

Not sure they will drop Sorin completely but I wouldn't object if they did. I would dearly love, love LOVE to see a bitter and vengeful Elspeth return - disillusioned with the way she has been used and angry at the sorrow and heartbreak her striving to do the right thing has brought. A W/B version that shows the beginning of her fall into darkness maybe (please Wizards, please)

Sarkhan - in terms of this standard... wow. He's a strategy all by himself.

In terms of after rotation and for general use in EDH etc I'd actually say he is very viable. His +1 is actually really strong. Draw a card and gain mana? What's not to like about that if all you ever do with him is that then 2 turns in he's almost paid for himself.

The token generation ability is reasonably strong as well. A 4/4 dragon token is relevant in most formats and at worst is a blocker big enough to cause issues to anything except the EDH range of creatures.

His ultimate? If you've built a Standard or EDH deck around the idea of being able to use this ability it's potentially a game ender - especially in standard. With 30 dragons available in the DoT set that's a lot of lizard he could potentially be bringing out if you manage to get him off.

I really like the card.

Sarkhan in flavor terms? Well it looks like he's avoiding a certain amount of the backlash somehow. It's interesting that he'd dropped into Jeskai colors alongside Narset (who has also changed slightly...) possibly he has become 'enlightened' as well?

This really makes me want to read the flavor articles to see what happens.

Yes - you are spot on. My bad.

He fits even more into those colors. Now... what was HIS original clan - I forget...

Well it would appear not - we've already got 2 new planeswalkers appearing in the form of Sarkhan and Narset.

The one thing I've noticed is that in this whole block - Khan's, Fate and now Dragon's - I've yet to see a card art that I dislike. Normally I can find at least one that makes me cringe (even if I do end up using them on occasion) but some of these are truly beautiful. Makes you hope for some official playmats somewhere down the line.

There are times when Ultra Pro use the tie in with WoTC to make 'official' playmats with the card art on them - obvious examples include the Theros Gods, Ugin and the Planeswalker ones. However sometimes they also do one or two cards from a set - Legion's Initiative has been done as has Savage Punch from the current set.

Interesting... I think they are to replace the clan banners from Khans... and might be the extra mana fixing I was speculating on...

Another...

Yes - he will.

I really like the monuments. They are like a powered up version of the RtR keyrunes. I'd be prepared to run those as mana fixing in EDH for the benefits of the creature.