While Magic: The Gathering's high-profile crossovers with franchises like Final Fantasy and Spider-Man have been grabbing headlines, the next set in the pipeline, Tarkir: Dragonstorm, is poised to make a significant impact. This set brings us back to the beloved plane of Tarkir, and we're excited to offer an exclusive sneak peek at five cards that are likely to be game-changers at the draft table next month. The expansion is now available for preorder on Amazon.
Explore the gallery below to view all five cards, and continue reading for insights from Wizards of the Coast on their design and the overarching theme of the set.
Magic: The Gathering - 5 New Cards from Tarkir: Dragonstorm
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These five cards form what's known as a "cycle," each sharing a common design theme across Magic's five colors. They are all low-cost, common-rarity creatures with abilities linked to one of Tarkir's three-color clans, and they also feature a mechanic that converts mana into a color from their respective clan.
Wizards of the Coast Senior Game Designer Adam Prosak explains, "Three-color limited environments require substantial mana fixing at all rarities. We aimed to ensure many decks could access this, so we developed numerous designs to address mana issues. These creatures not only help you play to the board but also develop your mana simultaneously, unlike other designs such as tapped lands, which only provide mana and can cause you to fall behind."
Preorder MTG Tarkir: Dragonstorm Cards
Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm - Play Booster Box
0$164.70 at Amazon
Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm - Collector Booster Box
0$299.88 at Amazon
Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm - Collector Booster
0$24.99 at Amazon
Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm - Commander Deck Bundle - Includes All 5 Decks
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Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Deck - Abzan Armor
0$44.99 at Amazon
Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Deck - Jeskai Striker
0$44.99 at Amazon
Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Deck - Sultai Arisen
0$44.99 at Amazon
Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Deck - Mardu Surge
0$44.99 at Amazon
Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Deck - Temur Roar
0$44.99 at Amazon
Senior Worldbuilding Designer Lauren Bond highlights that while the mechanical aspect was the initial focus for this cycle, common cards often serve as a canvas to depict the world of a set. She elaborates on how these clans differ from their previous iterations: "The passionate, action-oriented monks of the Jeskai, the Whispers using Temur magic, Nagas in the Sultai as protectors (and avengers) of the jungle, Mardu military prowess including supporting roles (and that dragons can come in many shapes and sizes!), and Abzan clerics regrowing the lost kin trees."
One critique of recent Magic sets has been an overreliance on tropes or thematic gimmicks, even when revisiting previous planes. This makes Tarkir: Dragonstorm stand out with its straightforward return to Tarkir. Senior Worldbuilding Art Director Forrest Schehl acknowledges the importance of such feedback to Wizards of the Coast, stating, "The top-level pitch for Tarkir was established well before the release of Murders at Karlov Manor and the sets that followed, and it didn't change after them. We wanted to combine Dragons and Clans in a way that hadn't been seen on Tarkir in the same set, and the Dragonstorms that were a defining feature of the plane were going to play a big role in shaping how we approached this 'return-to'. The pressure to get it right was something Lauren and I felt from day one; we always wanted to build the next chapter of this beloved plane with authenticity and substance."
Tarkir: Dragonstorm is now available for preorder, with the set scheduled for release in both paper and digital formats on April 11, and in-store prerelease events starting on April 4. Continue reading for the full interview with Wizards of the Coast's Adam Prosak, Lauren Bond, and Forrest Schehl.
