Always wanted an Opportunity that can't be countered? With Dragonlord's Prerogative, you may have just that! If you have a Dragon in hand as you cast it or have one already in play, you're in luck. Enjoy your four cards! Then again, I highly doubt that Opportunity has been countered much in the past. Then again, 6 mana is a huge investment and essentially eats up your turn.

But in control and tempo builds, you can play Dragonlord's Prerogative on an opponent’s end step.  This is much like the role Jace’s Ingenuity has played in the past. So the potential added protection against counter-magic is useful. But is it just flavorful icing?

Opportunity is pretty good in Limited and usable in Commander. But it's hardly ever been a Standard playable card. So how does Dragonlord's Prerogative stack up? Were it not a rare, I wouldn't care so much. The rarity is likely Limited influenced, as it is a strictly better version of an older effect.  Still, drawing 4 cards at instant speed is awesome. This is a cute draw card with a seemingly very narrow additional effect.

However, Esper Dragons and Blue/Black Control ended up playing it on a regular basis with a fair amount of success. It turns out that 6 mana for 4 cards is always pretty much worth it, especially with no chance of being countered. With Dragonlord Ojutai and other Dragons seeing plenty of Standard play during the Standard heydey of Dragons of Tarkir, it pretty much never could be countered.

As for Commander, Talrand, Sky Summoner was one of the first Legendary Creatures to adopt it for his deck, loving the functional reprint of Opportunity. Niv-Mizzet the Firemind Commander players wanted it, too, as well as many other Dragon Commanders such as Scion of the Ur-Dragon, Dragonlord Ojutai, Intet, the Dreamer, and others. It's very good in the format, especially whenever you can make it uncounterable.

It's true that Dragonlord's Prerogative has relatively narrow playability due to it needing Dragons in your hand to be used to full effect. While I've argued in the past that this easily could have been an uncommon, that doesn't matter now that no one is drafting the set. The card does exactly what it was designed to do, give Dragon decks a fair, but powerful way to draw cards. It is indeed a Dragonlord's Prerogative to draw 4 cards and there's nothing you can do about it!

Secure the Wastes is a neat Instant-speed spell card from Dragons of Tarkir. Originally, it was pigeonholed into White/Black Warriors decks as a way to dump lots of cheap tokens into play. The obvious Tribal synergies made it a decent card, but it had potential to do a lot more given the right Standard-format environment. Recently, Esper Control has found a home for it as an alternative finisher to its massive Dragonlords: Ojutai and Silumgar. It's still a fairly affordable card, at $3-4 a copy. Having been printed in an Intro Pack, Massed Ranks, has also tempered its price.

Being at Instant speed means that your open mana need not be wasted at the end of an opponent's turn. Even 1/1 creatures can end up becoming lethal threats if your opponent is finding their threats countered or destroyed. Blue/White Control decks, as well as Jeskai Ascendancy, Jeskai Tokens, and Bant Tokens have use for this card as a supplement to their strategies, as well. Since Secure the Wastes hasn't become yet widely accepted as a staple in any archetype, there's probably room for this instant's value to grow.

Secure the Wastes will survive the spring 2016 rotation, which will take Khans of Tarkir and Fate Reforged from the format, but not Dragons of Tarkir. If you're looking for a card people may still be undervaluing, this could be a good pick. It's probably not going to see any play in Modern, and especially not Legacy or Vintage. It's decent in Commander / EDH token happy decks, but it's not a staple in the format. Still, I like this as a decent value rare all the way until it rotates from Standard in late 2016. It should find plenty more homes before then.

With current Standard staples like Den Protector and Dragonlord Ojutai making leaps and bounds in price, there are still a couple of cards ready for a breakout. Today, our pick is Ojutai's Command from Dragons of Tarkir. We've already seen Atarka's Command and Kolaghan's Command exceed $10 a piece, and both are Modern playable. Ojutai's Command is also Modern playable, but perhaps not quite to the extent of those other two. Still, the spread between non-foils and foils is ridiculously small at the moment. The buy-a-box promo is still a very strong buy at the moment, too, selling for almost the same as the non-foil set printing. Also, the stamped pre-release foil is at an all-time low at $4.50.

While it may not be wise to "go deep" on this Command, it could easily hit $5 and foils could double in price during its time in Standard. With Dragons of Tarkir going to outlast the other two Khans block sets, Khans of Tarkir and Fate Reforged, in Standard, this is the Command with the strongest upside at the moment. It's fine to pick up a play-set now, especially in any of its foil printings.

When it comes to figuring out undervalued rares from Dragons of Tarkir, it's hard for me to overlook Gleam of Authority. This Enchantment looks like a must-answer to me. It's a two-mana (1W) Aura that does way more than its mana cost would suggest.

First, the Enchanted creature gets +1/+1 for each +1/+1 counter on other creatures you control. This is for each counter, not just each creature. Plus, it gives the creature vigilance and the ability to pay 1 White mana and tap to Bolster 1. Because it's an instant speed ability, it can be used at the end of an opponent's turn.

The best use for this card, sadly, would be in a Heroic deck, which lost everything when Theros block left Standard in October 2015. However, Gleam of Authority did sneak into an Azorius (White/Blue) Heroic deck at GP Kyoto in April 2015.  That being said, there were creatures that can amass +1/+1 counters still in Standard for some time. These included very playable cards such as Servant of the Scale, Anafenza, Kin Tree Spirit, Avatar of the Resolute, and Managorger Hydra, among others.

But, wow, this card is awesome in a Heroic deck with all of the +1/+1 counters that deck produces. Hero of Iroas makes this card cost only a single White mana to cast. Plus, it even gives you another way to Bolster. This card just seemed too good to not ever see play, but it just never got much of a chance without Heroic around in Standard. Even though there were enough +1/+1 counters running around for this to do something mean, it never really caught on.

However, Gleam of Authority does still see play in a few EDH decks, particularly with the Commanders Anafenza, the Foremost and Daghatar the Adamant. It's definitely a decent card in those particular decks.

Updated 2/21/18

by Richard Rowell, Write W.A.V.E. Media Staff

The Cruel Plots Intro Pack from Dragons of Tarkir is all about the Exploit mechanic. Exploit is an optional ability allows you to sacrifice a creature in order to gain an effect. As many creatures also have a "when it dies" effect, this makes Exploiting a creature doubly useful.

The Deck List:

Creatures (26)

2 Shambling Goblin
1 Hand of Silumgar
2 Palace Familiar
2 Dutiful Attendant
1 Minister of Pain
1 Gurmag Drowner
2 Youthful Scholar
2 Rakshasa Gravecaller
2 Sidisi's Faithful
2 Qarsi Sadist
1 Ukud Cobra
1 Vulturous Aven
1 Wandering Tombshell
1 Profaner of the Dead
2 Silumgar Butcher
1 Necromaster Dragon
2 Ruthless Deathfang

Instants (6)

1 Negate
1 Silumgar's Scorn
1 Coat with Venom
1 Ultimate Price
1 Gravepurge
1 Death Wind

Artifact (1)

1 Silumgar Monument

Sorcery (1)

1 Mind Rot

Enchantment (1)

1 Reduce in Stature

Land (25)

1 Evolving Wilds
13 Swamp
11 Island

Creatures

Necromaster Dragon is the cover card of the deck, but he has nothing to do at all with the Exploit mechanic. His ability activates when he deals combat damage to a player, and it costs 2 colorless mana to activate. That ability both gives you a 2/2 Zombie creature token and each opponent puts the top 2 cards of his or her library into the graveyard. You can use these tokens as Exploit fuel, of course. He's a 4/4 flyer for 5 mana, so it's possible he'll connect fairly often. "Milling" opponents is not really what this deck is about, so you're playing him mostly to get the tokens.

Ruthless Deathfang, however, makes a lot more sense for this deck's purposes. He's a 4/4 flyer for 4UB, and each time you sacrifice a creature, a target opponent must sacrifice a creature as well. It's sort of like a worse version of Dictate of Erebos. It's really good with Exploit.

So what nifty Exploit creatures do we have? We actually have a pretty good one in Profaner of the Dead. While he's not a "money" card in the set, the Profaner is quite playable. He costs 3U to cast and is a 3/3 Naga Wizard. His exploit abiity is quite powerful. When the Profaner exploits a creature, any of your opponents' creatures with toughness less than the exploited creature's toughness return to their owners' hands. With Exploit, the creature can in fact sacrifice itself to its own Exploit ability. This would mean any of your opponents' creatures with two or less toughness would be "bounced." A creature like Profaner is the answer to aggressive decks that really don't want their creatures going back to the hand.

Sidisi's Faithful is a one-drop Blue Exploit creature, and its ability is to bounce a creature to its owner's hand. Otherwise it's just a 0/4, which can be useful for defensive purposes. Qarsi Sadist is a 1/3 for 1B that has an Exploit ability of gaining you 2 life and costing an opponent 2 life. Vulturous Aven is a 2/3 flyer for 3B that Exploits for two cards at the cost of 2 life.

Minister of Pain is another Exploit creature, and his ability is to give opponents' creatures -1/-1 until end of turn. This is really good against decks that play a lot of tokens or otherwise small aggressive creatures. Gurmag Drowner's Exploit ability lets you look at the top 4 cards of your deck, choose one, and throw the rest in the graveyard. Rakshasa Gravecaller Exploits for two 2/2 Zombie tokens. Silumgar Butcher is a 3/3 for 4B that Exploits to give a target creature -3/-3.

There are some creatures in the deck that also actually benefit you by being sacrificed. Shambling Goblin gives a target creature -1/-1 when it dies. Palace Familiar draws you a card when it dies. Dutiful Attendant gives you a creature back from your graveyard to your hand. Youthful Scholar gives you two cards.

The other creatures in the deck are mainly defensive. Hand of Silumgar is a 2/1 with Deathtouch, Ukul Cobra a 2/5 with Deathtouch, and Wandering Tombshell is a 1/6. (Note: the Cobra and Tombshell are excellent Exploit targets for Profaner of the Dead.)

Non-Creature Spells

As far as Intro Packs go, there is quite a fascinating assortment of non-creature spells, primarily so with the instants. There's one artifact, the obligatory Monument for this deck, which is in this case Silumgar. Having the ability to fix for blue or black mana and get a 4/4 Dragon when you need it isn't bad. The lone Enchantment in the deck is Reduce in Stature, an Aura that enchants a creature, turning it into a 0/2. Mind Rot is the only Sorcery in the deck, a card seen in many sets, that makes a player discard 2 cards. Its inclusion here seems a bit odd, as there's no other discard component to this deck.

The Instants are where these spells get interesting. Negate is a simple counter-spell for non-creature spells. Silumgar's Scorn can counter any spell unless its controller pays an additional 1 mana, but counters that spell completely if you reveal a Dragon card from your hand or have a Dragon in play as you cast it. Coat with Venom is an interesting spell that gives a target creature +1/+2 and deathtouch until end of turn for only a single Black mana. It's a very defensive spell, and seems better suited for a Theros block Heroic deck than this Intro Pack – but it is good.

Ultimate Price is a reprint from Return to Ravnica, which destroys a mono-colored creature for 1B. It was a card that was very popular in its days in Standard, and should be quite good again. While there are plenty of strong multi-colored creatures, there are also many mono-colored creatures that you'd want to hit with this card.

Gravepurge is another reprint, this one from Dark Ascension. It allows you to put up any number of creature cards from your graveyard to the top of your deck, then draw a card, for 2B. Being Instant speed, it's probably best played at the end of an opponent's turn. Optimally you'd want to do so in order to draw one creature right away and have another one at the beginning of your next turn. You can stack as many as you wish, allowing you to reuse Exploit effects over and over. It's not a card you would typically see in competitive decks, but it's good in this case for an Intro Pack.

The last non-creature spell, Death Wind, is also a reprint, this one originally being printed at common in Avacyn Restored. It was bumped up to uncommon for Dragons of Tarkir. Death Wind is an X cost spell, and for X and a single Black mana, target creature gets -X/-X until end of turn. Because it's -X/-X indestructible abilities do not apply if the creatures toughness becomes 0 – it still dies. Not only can it be a useful removal spell, but even as a combat trick, as well.

Improving the Deck

The best Exploit creature in the Dragons of Tarkir set is easily Sidisi, Undead Vizier. Her Exploit ability allows you to add any card from your deck to your hand. On top of that, she's a 4/6 creature with Deathtouch. Not much can get around that. Some decks in Standard played two copies of her as soon as she was released.

Dragonlord Silumgar saw some Standard play upon release, as well, and his ability to steal an opponent's creature or planeswalker is extremely powerful. Speaking of planeswalkers, until he rotates out of Standard, Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver is a great candidate for this deck. Not only does he exile cards from your opponent's deck but also allows you to play any creatures you exile with Ashiok's ability.

Silumgar Sorcerer is another very good creature with Exploit. It's a bit surprising that no copies of him were included in this Intro Pack. He's another Exploit creature that has seen Standard play in Mono-Blue Devotion. He costs 1UU to cast and has Flash, meaning you can play him on an opponent's turn. He is a 2/1 flyer and his exploit ability counters a target creature spell. He's a creature you'll want a full playset of in a deck.

The deck probably also wants a bit more removal and another copy of Ultimate Price could replace the seemingly random Mind Rot. An extra copy of Silumgar's Scorn in place of Reduce in Stature seems like a good plan, too.

Of the Dragons of Tarkir Intro Packs, this one has a pretty solid strategy. It may not have a chase rare like Myth Realized or Secure the Wastes, but it's a solid introduction to the Exploit strategy.

by Richard Rowell, Write W.A.V.E. Media Staff

The Enlightened Mastery Intro Pack for Dragons of Tarkir features a defensive tempo strategy built around the dragon Pristine Skywise. The deck also features some very useful cards including Anticipate, Myth Realized, and Silkwrap. There are also seven different cards (10 total copies) with Rebound in the deck, which allow you to get two casts from one card.

Here's the list:

Creatures (17)

2 Zephyr Scribe
1 Dragon's Eye Sentry
3 Elusive Spellfist
1 Orator of Ojutai
2 Updraft Elemental
2 Student of Ojutai
1 Ancient Carp
2 Strongarm Monk
2 Cunning Breezedancer
1 Pristine Skywise

Instants (6)

2 Anticipate
2 Artful Maneuver
2 Ojutai's Breath

Enchantments (4)

1 Myth Realized
2 Silkwrap
1 Skywise Teachings

Artifact (1)

1 Ojutai Monument

Sorceries (7)

1 Mystic Meditation
1 Sight Beyond Sight
1 Taigam's Strike
1 Great Teacher's Decree
1 Void Squall
2 Ojutai's Summons

Land (25)

1 Evolving Wilds
13 Island
11 Plains

First, we'll take a look at Pristine Skywise, the cover card for this deck. It's a 6/4 flying Dragon that costs 6 mana (4WU) to cast. Whenever you cast a non-creature spell, you untap Pristine Skywise and it gains protection from the color of your choice until end of turn. There are several ways to use this protection to your advantage. You can use it defensively, untapping Pristine Skywise and giving it protection from the creature it's going to block. It can be used in response to removal, as well, by choosing the color (or one of the colors) of the offending removal spell. You can also use this ability while attacking to make it so Pristine Skywise remains untapped even after attacking and force through an attack by choosing the color of any potential blockers for protection.

In addition, you have two copies of Cunning Breezedancer, which is only a 4/4 for 4WU, but gains +2/+2 until end of turn whenever you cast a non-creature spell. With all of the cards with Rebound in this deck, you'll get some extra triggers for sure.

None of the other creatures in the deck are incredibly exciting, but there are some interactions with non-creature spells that are at least interesting. Zephyr Scribe provides a way to card filter for a single Blue mana and a tap. But whenever you cast a non-creature spell, you untap the Scribe. The most interesting creature, however, is probably the Elusive Spellfists. They cost 1U to cast and begin as 1/3 creatures that can gain +1/+0 and can't be blocked until end of turn for each non-creature spell you cast. Strongarm Monk gives your creatures +1/+1 until end of turn for each noncreature spell you cast, but as base 3/3 creatures for 4W, they're a bit underwhelming.

Non-Creature Spells

Since the creature lineup is rather light on the offensive side, the noncreature spells need to make up for it. First, we'll take a look at the valuable rare in the deck, Myth Realized.

The hope with Myth Realized is that you can drop it on turn one. With each non creature spell you cast, it gains a lore counter. For only a single White mana, it can become a creature until end of turn with power and toughness equal to the number of lore counters on it. The Myth has its own ability to have lore counters added onto it for 2W. These lore counters can be added at any time, too, so they can be added during your opponent's end step if you have open mana.

Another interesting Enchantment in this deck is Skywise Teachings. For a casting cost of 3U, you get an Enchantment that gives you the ability to create 2/2 flying Djinns for 1U whenever you cast a non-creature spell. On paper this seems pretty good, but can become quite a mana sink. On the other hand, Silkwrap is a nice efficient removal spell for 1W that deals with your opponents' creatures that cost 3 mana or less. Eliminating your opponents' early threats is pretty useful, especially as they trigger the non-creature spell effects.

The gameplan of this deck mostly revolves around the Rebound spells. The first is the Instant speed Artful Manuever, which for 1W gives a target creature +2/+2 until end of turn. With Rebound, the spell is exiled, and you then get to cast it again for free from exile. Oftentimes, you may find yourself casting it on your turn so that you can use it again on your next turn. To get the full effect, it seems best to use this offensively, rather than defensively.

Ojutai's Breath is another Instant speed Rebound spell. This one costs 2U and taps down a creature. That creature then can't untap during its controllers next untap spell. It's definitely a defensive tempo play that's probably better used later in the game to tap down any opposing flyers (or creatures with reach) to get your Cunning Breezedancers and Pristine Skywise through for landing game-winning hits.

The remaining Rebound cards are all at Sorcery speed. Sight Beyond Sight is simply a worse Anticipate, although you get two casts from it, and it triggers the effects of several of your creatures. Taigam's Strike costs 3U but gives a creature both +2/+0 and unblockable. Getting that effect twice from one card is pretty good. Great Teachers Decree gives all of your creatures +2/+1 until end of turn for 3W, and again, you get that effect again during your next turn. Void Squall is a bounce spell for 4U, which is a bit pricey, even being able to cast it twice. Lastly, there's Ojutai's Summons which puts a 2/2 flyer into play for 3UU. Getting two 2/2 flyers for 5 mana isn't all that bad, but there's more efficient ways to spend mana.

Improving the Deck

The creature that this deck would benefit the most from using is Seeker of the Way, which has seen a lot of play in Standard, as not only does his Prowess ability give him +1/+1 for each noncreature spell cast, but Lifelink as well. The other creature that would greatly benefit you is Monastery Mentor, which not only has Prowess, but creates 1/1 tokens as well. Playing the popular Soulfire Grand Master here doesn't make a ton of sense, since he doesn't interact well with Rebound spells, as they exile themselves.

Dragonlord Ojutai is awesome in this particular deck. Being a 5 drop dragon that can't be targeted by your opponents as long as it's untapped, you also get an Anticipate effect whenever it deals combat damage.

The new creature line-up would look something like this, including a more aggressive one-drop.

3 Dragon Hunter
4 Seeker of the Way
4 Elusive Spellfist
4 Monastery Mentor
1 Dragonlord Ojutai
2 Cunning Breezedancer
1 Pristine Skywise

That's 19 creatures, dropping the Ojutai Monument (not terribly necessary in this deck) and one of the sorcery spells, probably Mystic Meditation or Void Squall. Skywise Teachings could be replaced by another copy of Myth Realized. With this revamped lineup, you want to focus on offense. That being said, the two copies of Ojutai's Breath are probably a bit too slow. Two more copies of Artful Manuever would probably be better suited to the more offensive shift in the deck. You could also go for a more control-based deck, although the Rebound spells may not be quite as good in that case.

Overall, Enlightened Mastery isn't exciting at first glance. However, given a good number of creatures on board with the right Rebound spells played at the right time, this deck can get the job done with better creatures added into the mix.

by ElspethFTW, Gaming Successfully Staff

While the Massed Ranks Intro Pack for Dragons of Tarkir may feature the least interesting of the five Dragons, it does feature a solid rare in Secure the Wastes. Beyond that very playable token generating instant, is there anything else worthy of attention in this deck?

Here's the list:

Creatures (23)

1 Dromoka Dunecaster
2 Servant of the Scale
2 Dromoka Warrior
3 Lightwalker
1 Territorial Roc
1 Scaleguard Sentinels
2 Sandcrafter Mage
2 Salt Road Quartermasters
2 Champion of Arashin
2 Aven Tactician

2 Sandsteppe Scavenger
2 Enduring Scalelord
1 Arashin Sovereign

Enchantments (3)

2 Pacifism
1 Sheltered Aerie

Artifact (1)

1 Dromoka Monument

Instants (8)

2 Inspiring Call
2 Scale Blessing
1 Enduring Victory
2 Dromoka's Gift
1 Secure the Wastes

Land (25)

1 Evolving Wilds
13 Plains
11 Forest

The cover card Arashin Sovereign is big, but beyond that not incredibly exciting. It's a 6/6 flyer for 5GW (7 total mana) and when it dies you can choose to put it on the top or the bottom of your library. You can either choose to get it back for your next turn or put it to the bottom to potentially draw again later. For a rare dragon, though, that's really underwhelming. You don't really want this as your best creature.

Bolster is the main mechanic of this deck. This ability gives you the chance to put a +1/+1 counter on a creature with the least toughness among creatures you control. Unfortunately, most of the Bolster cards occupy the higher end of the mana curve in this particular deck.


Still there are some cool cards of note. Servant of the Scale is a useful one-drop common creature that enters with a +1/+1 counter. When it dies, you get to put any counters it has onto another creature. Scaleguard Sentinels is a good creature if you happen to have a Dragon in hand or in play as you cast it.

Sandcrafter Mage is a good creature with Bolster – in Limited. Enduring Scalelord is pretty cool as an uncommon Dragon in a deck that has lots of +1/+1 counters flying around. Having both on the battlefield at the same time allows you to "go infinite" and stack as many counters as you want which is pretty much a win condition.

On the non-creature side, Inspiring Call is really good for both card draw and helping your Bolstered creatures to become indestructible. Scale Blessing is a 4 drop instant (3W) but as the game goes on, its effect becomes far more relevant. Not only do you get to Bolster 1, but any creature that already has a +1/+1 counter gets another one.

The best card in this deck, however, is clearly Secure the Wastes. An Instant speed Warrior token generator for only a single White plus X is just really, really good. It's one of the most useful cards of the entire Dragons of Tarkir set. But even its inclusion probably isn't enough to make what's a pretty mediocre Intro Pack deck worth buying.

A better "boss" creature for this deck would be Dromoka, the Eternal, who bolsters whenever she or another Dragon attacks. Dragonlord Dromoka is really good here, too. The other Dragon to consider for this deck is Sunscorch Regent. Two copies of that is far better than Enduring Scalelord, as the Regent gains a +1/+1 counter any time your opponent casts a spell.

Dragonscale General is a great way to ensure you get plenty of Bolstering done, too. Perhaps the best creature for this deck, though, is Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit. Her Bolster ability activates whenever another non-token creature enters the battlefield under your control. Optimizing the mana-curve towards more efficient creatures should make her even better.

The Massed Ranks Intro Pack is probably still worth buying at its original price  just for the Secure the Wastes and two Booster Packs. Still, it's certainly not the strongest choice of the five decks for Dragons of Tarkir. It's also getting pretty hard to find in sealed form. It does at least introduce the Bolster mechanic to newer players and is a fairly easy deck archetype to upgrade quickly.

Updated 2/21/2018

by  Richard Rowell,  Write W.A.V.E. Media  Staff

Relentless Rush, the red/black Intro Pack for Dragons of Tarkir, features an alternate art foil version of Boltwing Marauder and a whole suite of creatures featuring the Dash mechanic. Using Dash lets you cast a creature, sometimes even for cheaper than its original casting cost, and giving it haste at the cost. That haste comes with a cost, however: having to return it to your hand at the end of the turn.

This deck focuses on hitting hard and fast with the Marauder being a potential finisher. It also features a decent uncommon in Lightning Berserker and an interesting rare card in Foul Renewal.

Here's the deck list:

Creatures (20)
2 Lightning Berserker
2 Kolaghan Aspirant
3 Kolaghan Skirmisher
2 Kolaghan Forerunners
2 Screamreach Brawler
2 Ambuscade Shaman
2 Warbringer
2 Sprinting Warbrute
1 Boltwing Marauder
2 Swift Warkite


Sorceries (4)
1 Duress
2 Tormenting Voice
1 Defeat

Instants (7)
1 Foul-Tongue Shriek
2 Twin Bolt
1 Foul-Tongue Invocation
2 Flatten
1 Foul Renewal

Artifacts (2)
1 Vial of Dragonfire
1 Kolaghan Monument

Enchantments (2)
2 Impact Tremors

Land (25)
1 Evolving Wilds
13 Mountain
11 Swamp


Creature Spells

Let's take a look at the heart of this deck, which is the cover card, Boltwing Marauder. He costs 3BR (3 colorless, 1 Black, 1 Red) to cast and is a 5/4 flyer. Whenever another creature enters the field under your control, you can give a target creature +2/+0 until end of turn. With the amount of creatures in this deck, especially with them often returning to your hand if you use their Dash abilities, you're often going to use this ability on the Marauder itself to swing for a lot of damage in the air.

Swift Warkite is an interesting Dragon that is a whopping 6 mana (4BR) to cast, but can bring back a creature with a converted mana cost of 3 or less from the graveyard. That creature gains haste and returns to your hand at the end of the turn.

The main issue with Swift Warkite is that you're going to want to play this before combat for that haste to be relevant. It has an okay synergy with the Ambuscade Shaman or Boltwing Marauder, but 6 mana is a lot to invest to get essentially one free Dash.

Overall, the synergy of the creatures in this deck is pretty good. The Dash mechanic is well-represented, and there are enough other creatures with Dash in the Tarkir block that could easily supplement this deck: Mardu Shadowspear and Mardu Strike Leader in Black and Mardu Scout and Goblin Heelcutter in Red are excellent candidates to upgrade the creature lineup.

The Warkites are probably best replaced by a couple copies of one of those other Dash creatures. Flamerush Rider is another creature you could consider, as it can make a token of your best attacking creature. That token entering the battlefield also has great synergy with the Marauder and Shamans, as well. Another card to consider would be Brutal Warchief, which fits well in this attack-happy deck, and has the added benefit of paying 3RR to choose how your opponent's creatures block.

Lightning Berserker is probably the best creature in the deck outside of Marauder itself. Being a 1-drop that can pump itself +1/+0 for any number of Red mana is pretty solid. It also has a Dash cost of only a single Red. Of all the cards in the deck, it has the best synergy with the Marauder, as it's cheap enough to recast every turn.

Kolaghan Skirmisher is a fairly vanilla 2/2 for 1B, but it does have a Dash cost of 2B. They're not too exciting. Kolaghan Aspirant is a worse version of an older card called Ashmouth Hound; whenever it becomes blocked, it deals 1 damage to that creature. The Hound could deal 1 damage if it were to block itself, as well. It's not terrible, though.

Kolaghan Forerunners is actually a pretty decent Dash creature. It costs 2R to cast and also has a 2R Dash cost. The Forerunners always have 3 toughness and Trample, but its power is decided by how many creatures you control, making it much better as the game goes along. It also has solid synergy with the Marauder, as its damage is a lot harder to block due to the trample.

Screamreach Brawler is pretty unexciting as a 2/3 for 2R, but it also has a Dash cost of 1R, which makes it okay for purposes of this Intro Pack.

Ambuscade Shaman is a nice compliment to Boltwing Marauder. Whenever he or another creature enters the battlefield, that creature gains +2/+2 until end of turn. A 2/2 for 2B doesn't seem all that great, but if you cast him for 3B - his Dash cost - he's essentially a 4/4 with Haste when he's cast. When paired with the other Dash creatures in this deck, this Shaman actually can do a good deal of work for you over the course of a game. Lightning Berserker becomes a 3/3 with his effect alone. Plus, if you manage to have both copies of this deck on the field at once, you get the effect twice.

Warbringer is extremely effective in a deck like this, as it reduces Dash casting costs by 2 colorless mana. A 3/3 for 3R isn't too exciting, but it also has a 2R Dash cost. However, it's worth playing it for its regular cost just to keep it on board to get the Skirmishers, Forerunners, and Brawlers on the board with dash for only a single colored mana.

Sprinting Warbrute is a 5/4 for 4R that has to attack every turn if able, but has a Dash cost of 3R. With Warbringer, that Dash cost is only 1R.

Foul-Tongue Shriek is probably the most interesting non-creature spell in the deck. For only a single Black mana, target opponent loses 1 life for each attacking creature you control. You then gain that much life. This is an interesting tempo play. While this particular deck may or may not take full advantage of it, there's the potential to create some serious life point swings. You only need 3 creatures attacking to create a 6 point life swing, which for a single mana is really solid. It's a common with some potential.

The non-creature spells are rounded out with the obligatory Monument and Vial of Dragonfire. In this case, the monument is of Kolaghan, which serves as both a mana rock for Red and Black mana and providing an opportunity to create a 4/4 flying Dragon. The Vial of Dragonfire is an expensive Shock. You'd be better off replacing both with copies of Wild Slash or Lightning Strike.

Also, as is usually the case with Intro Packs, the mana base has 25 land in order to guarantee hitting your land drops. A full playset of Bloodstained Mire - the red/black fetchland - would allow you to drop this land count to 23 or 24 to make the deck a bit more consistent.

All told, there's a decent basis for a very playable Dash-centered deck. As the creatures that would complement and improve this deck aren't incredibly expensive, this Intro Pack looks to be a pretty good buy. Keep in mind that while there are synergies that are fairly effective in the deck, it probably won't be the shell of a future tier-one deck. It will be at the very least fairly fun and consistent, however.

Non-Creature Spells

As usual, Intro Packs tend to have rather strange combinations of non-creature spells. In this case, this non-creature lineup is headlined by Foul Renewal. It serves as both a way to return a creature to your hand and also a sort of removal. It gives a target creature -X/-X where X is the toughness of the creature you got back from the graveyard. Whether or not that's worth 4 mana is hard to say, but as removal in an Intro Pack. it's not too bad.

Twin Bolt is decent enough removal for the early game. Tormenting Voice gives you two cards at the cost of 1R and having to discard a card. Impact Tremors is an interesting enchantment that deals 1 damage to each opponent whenever a creature enters the field under your control. Flatten is a bit costly at 3B, but gives a target creature -4/-4. Defeat only destroys a creature with power 2 or less. Foul-Tongue Invocation forces your opponent to sacrifice a creature, and if you reveal a Dragon from your hand as you cast it or control a Dragon already, you get to gain 4 life out of it. There's also a random copy of Duress thrown in.

by Richard Rowell, Write W.A.V.E. Media Staff

While Ire Shaman may be the most playable of the five two-drop Megamorph creatures in Khans of Tarkir, it stands to reason that Hidden Dragonslayer stands to be a close second. The Dragonslayer is a 2/1 Human Warrior with Lifelink. The Megamorph ability costs 2W and allows you to destroy a target creature with power 4 or more than an opponent controls.

While that Megamorph ability sounds a bit costly, that's not an ability you're going to use until later in the game. It deals with a lot of threats that many aggressive decks would face, especially those may otherwise stonewall alpha strikes. Also, the Tarkir Warriors may become a viable archetype after Theros block rotates from Standard, especially with support like Arashin Foremost and Blood-Chin Fanatic also being in the set.

Anytime that you can get a two-drop that adds value later in the game, that's something that will probably see at least some Constructed play. Also, Hidden Dragonslayer isn't bad next to a card like Mastery of the Unseen. With Mastery, having this card being Manifested allows you to flip it face up for its original mana cost of 1W. (It would seem you could alternatively pay its Megamorph cost instead, as well.) If you flip it face-up with Mastery's effect, you still get the ability to destroy a creature with power 4 or more. So, there's some actual potential with this card even outside of the Warrior archetype, as it's not dependent at all in being played alongside other Warriors.

by Richard Rowell, Write W.A.V.E. Media Staff

Of the five two-drop Morph creatures in Dragons of Tarkir, Ire Shaman is the easiest to flip. Of those that should see Constructed play, this is probably the most likely candidate. First of all, he's a 2/1 for 1R that can only be blocked by two or more creatures. While this isn't the greatest form of evasion, who will usually want to block with two creatures to kill a 2/1? It takes even two 1/1 Monk tokens from Monastery Master to kill him, and a face-down 2/2 Morph can't even trade with him.

He gets a lot better with his Megamorph ability, though. For a total cost of 3R you end up with a 3/2 that also exiles the top card of your library and allows you to play it until end of turn. We've seen with Chandra, Pyromaster how powerful that effect can be. That's a good amount of value for a Morph creature.

While Megamorph hasn't exactly been a well-received mechanic, this is probably going to long-term be the best of the five due to his usability in aggressive decks. There is also the synergy with +1/+1 counters that could become more relevant as the metagame shifts due to the two Standard rotations that will occur while Dragons of Tarkir is still in the format. Mono-red aggro and Red/White decks should find a home for this guy at some point. At the very least, he's going to be very strong in Limited, but he should be a decent Constructed player, too.

by Richard Rowell, Write W.A.V.E. Media Staff

Stratus Dancer is an interesting Morph creature, but she's no Voidmage Apprentice or even Kheru Spellsnatcher. A 2/1 flyer for 1U that can become a 3/2 flyer after flipping face-up (due to Megamorph) is decent. The flip cost is reasonable at 1U. On top of that, upon flipping, the Dancer can counter a target instant or sorcery spell.

Voidmage Apprentice is a common creature from Legions that also cost 1U to cast, but also was only a 1/1. However, for 2UU (2 colorless, 2 Blue), he could morph to counter any target spell. That's a total investment of 5UU to target a spell, which is pretty good in Limited (especially at common). Stratus Dancer is more like a limited Negate, but with only a 2UU investment.

Kheru Spellsnatcher is an interesting card, but its Morph cost is 4UU. Then again, you can steal the spell you counter with the Spellsnatcher's ability. It's been fun to play in Khans Limited, but Stratus Dancer is a lot cheaper.

Being a flyer is already a plus for the Dancer in Limited. Also, the Megamorph ability is a fine way to counter removal. Since removal is at such a premium in Limited, the value of having a 3/2 flyer that can counter many kinds of said removal is huge. While I don't see her as much of a Constructed card, Stratus Dancer is pretty solid for Limited. Were that Megamorph ability expanded to include all non-creature spells, even if it cost another mana, then I would see it being played in some sideboards.

by  Richard Rowell, Write W.A.V.E. Media  Staff

Do we really need another Zombie lord? Magic the Gathering already has plenty of Zombie boosts on creatures: Cemetery Reaper, Death Baron, Diregraf Captain, Lord of the Undead, Undead Warchief, and Zombie Master. All but Zombie Master give your other Zombies at least +1/+1 and Undead Warchief gives +2/+1. Zombie Master allows your Zombies to regenerate for a single Black mana and gives them all swampwalk (can attack players without being able to be blocked if they control a Swamp).

Risen Executioner is a 4/3 Zombie Warrior for 2BB (2 colorless, 2 Black) that can't block. He gives other Zombie creatures you control +1/+1. What makes him different from the other Zombie lords is that you can cast him from your graveyard. The drawback is that you have to pay 1 colorless mana more to cast him for each other creature card in your graveyard. If he's the only creature in your graveyard, though, you're in luck. Basically, he's a more expensive Gravecrawler that pumps other Zombies.

Since even before the set released, Risen Executioner has been a bulk mythic rare. There was some early interest in him for inclusion in Zombie Commander decks such as Ghoulcaller Gisa and Grimgrin, Corpse-Born. He's a bit redundant even in those decks. The Executioner isn't a bad card. It's just one of those mythic rares that is just a bit too good to be a rare, but not really strong enough to hold much value as a mythic. In Limited, I can see why this was a bit too strong to be a rare. It could do some serious damage.

Zombies aren't really big in Constructed right now. Even then, there are just better Zombie lords than he, Risen Executioner is a nice Zombie to have that can recast himself. The boost effect is only going to be relevant in Zombie Tribal decks. Even still, there are better choices like Death Baron and Cemetery Reaper that do the job at 3 mana, anyway. Recasting the Executioner in the later game simply doesn't seem worth the mana, not in a deck archetype that depends on having creatures in the graveyard. He's basically a Commander-only playable.

 by ElspethFTW , Gaming Successfully  Staff

Surrak, the Hunt Caller is the Surrak of the Dragons of Tarkir timeline, and he's no Surrak Dragonclaw. Not only is he mono-green rather than three colors, but he has an ability only good if you control creatures with a total power of 8 or more.

The good thing about the Hunt Caller is that he's a 5/4 for 2GG (2 colorless, 2 Green). Four mana for a 5/4 is solid enough, and his Formidable ability that gives haste can work on himself. Consistently being able to give a creature haste during each of your combats is fairly good. The caveat of total power 8 or more could be a relevant drawback, however. Still, he would be Constructed-playable.

At the time, Red/Green Devotion was the deck that this Surrak made the most sense in. The deck had strong enough creatures that playing a copy or two of this guy wasn't out of the question. The ability to give himself and the deck's other creatures haste is pretty strong. Once Devotion was no longer a thing, he was still strong enough to see some play because of the Formidable ability in aggro Temur decks  in which amassing 8 total power was rarely a problem. Abzan Midrange, Bant Aggro, and Temur Aggro were happy to have him around.

Although he's a Legendary Creature, he never really made it as a Commander. On the other hand, he does see some play in other Commander decks. It really isn't hard to get 8 total power on the board in Commander, however. His high initial power and ability to gain haste for himself and other creatures have helped him become useful as a member of the 99 in Commander decks.

All in all, Surrak, the Hunt Caller was a bit underrated during his time in Standard, but lives on as part of some Commander decks today.

by ElspethFTW, Gaming Successfully Staff

Dromoka's Command is so much more than a less expensive version of Hunt the Weak. Not only do two of its modes do something for two mana that another card did for four mana, but it has two other options, as well, which could serve quite useful. Whereas Hunt the Weak was at Sorcery speed, Dromoka's Command, like all of the other Commands, is at Instant speed. Let's take a look at this card's four modes, of which you can choose two:

• Prevent all damage target instant or sorcery spell would deal this turn.
• Target player sacrifices an enchantment.
  
• Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature. 
• Target creature you control fights target creature you don't control.
  

The final two are the combined effects of Hunt the Weak, a Sorcery spell card that has been printed in the Magic 2014 & Magic 2015 Core Sets, as well as Fate Reforged. Hunt the Weak has seen some limited sideboard play. But having that effect for only two mana at instant speed is even better.

Having the white mana requirement does restrict what decks can use it, but this card has even more uses than just the Hunt the Weak abilities. The other two modes could also prove useful. The first lets your prevent all damage a target instant or sorcery spell would deal that turn. That effect is a solid sideboard option against burn-type decks or damage based removal spells. The other forces an opponent to sacrifice an enchantment. There are plenty of popular enchantments that this would be good against, especially Enchantment Creatures like Courser of Kruphix.

At two mana, the final two modes in the right deck might make this very main-board playable in an Abzan (Green/White/Black) or Selesnya (Green/White) aggro deck as it can serve as removal that has additional upside. While it may be best suited as a sideboard card, it's well-designed for the colors that it's in.

Myth Realized is far more than just an Enchantment version of the creature Chimeric Mass. Whereas the Mass was an artifact that needed to have lots of mana invested in it for charge counters, Myth Realized gains lore counters whenever you cast a non-creature spell. Not only that, but it can even give itself counters for 2W. It also only costs a single white mana to cast.

Like Chimeric Mass, it takes only a single mana for Myth Realized to become a creature with power and toughness equal to the amount of counters on it. Unlike the Mass, however, Myth Realized only gets better with each noncreature spell you play and leftover mana spent to give it more counters (the counters can be placed at instant speed, too.)

When Myth Realized becomes a creature, any +1/+1 counters placed on it remain on it as long as it remains on the field. (This is the same ruling that makes Steel Overseer and Inkmoth Nexus best friends.) While it's not an artifact like Chimeric Mass, which has its advantages, this card can be just as powerful and amass even more power more quickly in some cases.

While it wasn't the easiest card to build around in Standard, people did try. What about in EDH? It would seem that Myth Realized would be at home in decks that manipulate counters. Sadly, it doesn't fit into a deck like Vorel of the Hull-Clade, which is blue/green, and abuses counters like crazy. It doesn't really fit into decks that would take advantage of the counters.

However, Myth Realized is at home in decks like Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest, which plays an enormous amount of noncreature spells. Daxos the Returned, an Enchantment-happy deck, is also a great home for this Enchantment. Narset, Enlightened Master also can find a home for it on occasion.

Conceptually, this card is awesome. Play-ability wise it seems okay, as anything that gets better as the game goes along is pretty awesome. To be fair, the earlier this card hits the board, the better it will be. You don't want to draw Myth Realized in the end game, which is why it's not that Constructed playable. The fun factor here is definitely great enough, however, for casual and EDH play.