While Magic: The Gathering's high-profile crossovers with iconic series like Final Fantasy and Spider-Man have been turning heads recently, the next set in the lineup, Tarkir: Dragonstorm, is rapidly approaching. This expansion brings us back to the beloved plane of Tarkir, and we're excited to offer an exclusive first look at five cards that are poised to make a significant impact at the draft table next month. The set is now available for preorder on Amazon.
Flip through the gallery below to see all five cards, and continue reading for insights from Wizards of the Coast about the set's design and overall theme.
Magic: The Gathering - 5 New Cards from Tarkir: Dragonstorm
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These five cards form a "cycle," sharing common design elements across Magic's color spectrum. Each card is a cheap, common-rarity creature with abilities linked to one of Tarkir's three-color clans, and an additional feature that enables you to convert mana into a color from that clan.
“Three-color limited environments need quite a bit of mana fixing, at all rarities,” explains Wizards of the Coast Senior Game Designer Adam Prosak. “We wanted lots of decks to be able to access mana fixing, so we created quite a few designs dedicated to helping solve mana issues. In particular, these creatures allow you to play to the board while developing your mana at the same time - many other designs (such as tapped lands) only make mana and you tend to fall behind in order to fix your mana.”
Preorder MTG Tarkir: Dragonstorm Cards
### Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm - Play Booster Box
$164.70 at Amazon### Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm - Collector Booster Box
$299.88 at Amazon### Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm - Collector Booster
$24.99 at Amazon### Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm - Commander Deck Bundle - Includes All 5 Decks
$224.95 at Amazon### Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Deck - Abzan Armor
$44.99 at Amazon### Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Deck - Jeskai Striker
$44.99 at Amazon### Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Deck - Sultai Arisen
$44.99 at Amazon### Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Deck - Mardu Surge
$44.99 at Amazon### Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Deck - Temur Roar
$44.99 at AmazonSenior Worldbuilding Designer Lauren Bond highlights that, although the mechanical design came first with this cycle, common cards often serve as a canvas to depict the world of a set. In this case, they showcase the distinct evolution of Tarkir's clans since their last appearance. “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 while revisiting previous planes. This makes Dragonstorm stand out with its straightforward return to Tarkir. Senior Worldbuilding Art Director Forrest Schehl acknowledges the importance of such feedback to WOTC but clarifies that “the top-level pitch for Tarkir was established well before the release of Murders at Karlov Manor” and the subsequent sets, and it remained unchanged.
“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 slated for release in both paper and digital formats on April 11. In-store prerelease events will commence on April 4. Continue reading for the full interview with Wizards of the Coast’s Adam Prosak, Lauren Bond, and Forrest Schehl.