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by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist Dragonlord Silumgar has seen play in Standard, Modern, and EDH.  Dragonlord Silumgar is the Elder Dragon for the Sultai clan in Dragons of Tarkir. Like the other Dragonlords, he costs 6 mana to cast - in this case, 4UB (4 colorless, 1 Blue, 1 Black). He's a 3/5 flyer with deathtouch, and when he enters the battlefield, you gain control of target creature or planeswalker for as long as you control him. Essentially, Silumgar is a Dragon-type Sower of Temptation that can also target planeswalkers.
This Elder Dragon is pretty good. He's a great target for Sultai reanimator decks to bring back from the graveyard. While he doesn't have the raw power of many of the other Dragons in the set, the deathtouch and ability to steal an opponent's strongest threat makes Silumgar very powerful. Dragonlord Silumgar can also serve as a decent blue/black Commander of a deck built for control. Silumgar is also used as a complementary piece in EDH, especially in Scion of the Ur-Dragon and Marchesa, the Black Rose decks. His previous form in Fate Reforged, as Silumgar, the Drifting Death, is also a good choice for Commander. The older form is a 3/7 flyer with Hexproof, making it harder to deal with in both combat and with removal. Plus, the Drifting Death has an ability to make your opponents' defending creatures lose -1/-1 each time a Dragon attacks. That ability is easier to build an EDH deck around. But the Sower-type ability is very powerful and the Dragonlord has become considerably more popular as a Commander. In any case, Dragonlord Silumgar was a great card in a highly Dragon-friendly Standard format and has even seen competitive Modern play. Beyond that, he should continue to be a casual favorite with strong playability in both control decks and Dragon-themed decks in EDH and Kitchen Table Magic.
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by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist  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. Still, six mana is a huge investment and essentially eats up your turn. So, if it gets countered, that's a big waste of resources.
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. That card offers drawing three cards for five mana and no protection against being countered. 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. Jace's Ingenuity, on the other hand, has been, due to being a more palatable five mana. So, how does Dragonlord's Prerogative stack up? It's a strictly better version of an older effect and 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, Dragonlord's Prerogative pretty much never could be countered. As for Commander, Talrand, Sky Summoner was one of the first Legendary Creatures to adopt Dragonlord's Prerogative for his deck, loving the functional reprint of Opportunity. It's not often uncounterable, but that doesn't really matter for Talrand's purposes. Niv-Mizzet the Firemind Commander players wanted it, too, plus many other Dragon Commanders such as Scion of the Ur-Dragon, Dragonlord Ojutai, Intet, the Dreamer, and more. It's very good in the EDH format, especially whenever you can make it uncounterable. Dragonlord's Prerogative has relatively narrow playability since it needs 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! by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist  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. by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist  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 ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist  Furious Forces, the red/green Intro Pack for Dragons of Tarkir, features Harbinger of the Hunt and the Formidable mechanic. These Formidable abilities only activate when the total power of creatures you control is 8 or more. Let's see how this deck introduces this mechanic, and if it does it well. Creatures (21) 1 Dragonlord's Servant 2 Atarka Beastbreaker 2 Glade Watcher 2 Colossodon Yearling 2 Hardened Berserker 2 Sabertooth Outrider 1 Summit Prowler 2 Lurking Arynx 2 Stampeding Elk Herd 1 Harbinger of the Hunt 1 Scion of Ugin 2 Savage Ventmaw 1 Dragonloft Idol Sorceries (5) 1 Roast 1 Epic Confrontation 1 Dragon Fodder 1 Magmatic Chasm 1 Seismic Rupture Instants (7) 1 Draconic Roar 1 Tread Upon 2 Tail Slash 1 Press the Advantage 2 Sarkhan's Rage Artifact (1) 1 Atarka Monument Enchantment (1) 1 Berserkers' Onslaught Land (25) 1 Evolving Wilds 12 Forest 12 Mountain Harbinger of the Hunt is one of the better of the five Dragons from the cycle featured in the Intro Packs. His ability to do damage across the board can come mighty in handy when dealing with 1 toughness creatures. In the late game, he can ensure that your forces will be able to overpower your opponents. Since you're going to be running fairly large creatures in a Red/Green aggro strategy anyway, your creatures should be easily able to absorb the damage they would take from the Harbinger's abilities. The best creature in the deck, however, is very likely Savage Ventmaw. He pays for himself as soon as he attacks, and the longer he goes unchecked, the more you can do in your second main phases. Together, Harbinger of the Hunt and Savage Ventmaw do some work at the top end of the mana curve.. Trouble is, the creature line-up in this deck isn't all that impressive., even if its parts look pretty good on their own Atarka Beastbreaker is a fine common creature, though, with the Formidable mechanic. If you have a total power of 8 or more on board, he can gain +4/+4 until end of turn for only 1G. Glade Watcher is a 3/3 with Defender, with the Formidable ability to lose defender until end of turn for 1 Green mana. Colossodon Yearling is a vanilla 2/4 creature. Hardened Berserker is an odd sort of "ramp" card. Whenever he attacks, the next spell you cast costs 1 colorless mana less. Sabertooth Outrider is a 4/2 that can gain first strike if you can activate Formidable. Summit Prowler is a vanilla 4/3. Lurking Arnyx is a 3/5 that can force a creature to block. Stampeding Elk Herd is a 5/5 that can give all your creatures trample until end of turn if you have Formidable. Scion of Ugin is a colorless Dragon that costs 6 mana and is a 4/4 flyer. Lastly, Dragonloft Idol is a 3/3 for 4 that gains +1/+1, flying and trample if you control a Dragon. Obviously, Formidable isn't too hard to activate in this deck. But the Beastbreaker is the only creature that really stands out as actually good. The one thing that R/G Aggro decks really need is to stay ahead of the curve, and this deck doesn't really do that at all. Hardened Berserker does help a little bit, but not enough to consistently make any sort of difference. Also, Formidable can be countered by one of your creatures being destroyed by removal before they can resolve. If you go to activate a Formidable ability, and one of your creatures is meanwhile destroyed, bringing your total power under 8, that ability will fizzle. This probably shouldn't be a huge deal, but it's something to keep in mind. Non-Creature Spells The most interesting cards in the deck lie in the non-creature spells. Berserkers' Onslaught is a lesser version of an older card called Rage Reflection. Whereas Rage Reflection gave all of your creatures double strike at all times, for one less mana to cast, Berserker's Onslaught only gives your creatures double strike when they attack. To be fair, this won't matter much of the time, as you don't really want to play conservatively in this type of deck. But it does make a difference.. It's good for an Intro Pack, though. Roast is a very good removal card, dealing 5 damage to a creature without flying. Dragon Fodder is a card that works well in most red decks, but is awkward as a one-of. Draconic Roar is great if you have a Dragon in hand or one on board. The rest of the non-creature spells are good in a Limited environment, but not really in Constructed.
Improving the Deck
To say that Dragonlord Atarka would be a good addition to this deck pretty much goes without saying. Atarka has made noise in Standard in the early going and while 7 mana seems like a lot, it's well worth an 8/8 with flying and trample that can take creatures and planeswalkers down upon entering. Surrak the Hunt Caller is easily the best of the Formidable creatures, and being a 5/4, is most likely going to activate Formidable on his own. Giving a creature haste during each of your combats is very powerful and makes cards like Savage Ventmaw and the aforementioned Dragonlord that much more dangerous. To really get the most out of Formidable, you should perhaps consider Shaman of the Great Hunt and Savage Knuckleblade. You'll have to splash blue to play the Knuckleblade, but both are 4 power creatures that offer great value. The new planeswalker, Sarkhan Unbroken, also helps you gain advantage with extra mana and card draw, but also needs the blue mana. Playing a ramp creature like Rattleclaw Mystic should speed up the deck a bit, too. The deck could also use more consistent removal and quicker creatures like Flamewake Phoenix. With the Ferocious ability, which only requires you control a creature with power 4 or more, Heir of the Wilds is a much stronger card than Glade Watcher. The only Formidable creatures that will likely remain after changes would be the Beastbreakers and one or two copies of Surrak. Ferocious is a much more consistent ability, but the power of the Beastbreakers can't be overlooked. Also, Atarka's Command is a flexible non-creature spell this deck probably shouldn't go without. This Intro Pack tries to do something cool. In a casual setting against another Intro Pack, it could hold the line and probably push through a few wins. But it really needs to focus on really being a R/G Aggro deck to succeed. You could also morph this list into a Temur (Red/Green/Blue) deck to really achieve consistent results.
by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist 
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 ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist  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, Old School Duelist 
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 ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist 
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 ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist 
Hidden Dragonslayer is a 2/1 Human Warrior with Lifelink. It was a creature in a cycle that produced other good creatures like Den Protector and to a lesser extent Stratus Dancer. The Megamorph ability costs 2W and allows you to destroy a target creature with power 4 or more than an opponent controls. It also gives the creature a +1/+1 counter.
While that Megamorph ability sounds a bit costly, it's an ability best used later in the game. Hidden Dragonslayer can deal with a lot of threats that many aggressive decks would face. 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. Hidden Dragonslayer saw a lot of competitive Standard play, starting with Selesnya Aggro as a two-of alongside Den Protector. It also saw play in Megamorph decks with Mastery of the Unseen. This Enchantment not only could gain you a significant amount of life when cards were flipped face-up, but it could also "manifest" cards from the top of your deck. It would make that card a face-down 2/2 creature that could be flipped face-up for its regular mana cost. Hidden Dragonslayer was useful in this deck because not only could its ability essentially be used for one fewer mana, but you could easily manifest it without having to actually cast it. By far, the deck that made the best use of Hidden Dragonslayer were Collected Company decks as a one-of in the sideboard. As a two-mana creature, it was a hit off of Collected Company. While a lot of its value comes from its flip ability, a 2/1 with lifelink is not bad at all to hit. Outside of Standard, Hidden Dragonslayer hasn't seen much play in EDH or anywhere else for that matter. However, Hidden Dragonslayer has seen some play in Cube as an efficient creature that can also serve as creature removal. While it's not a top pick in most Cubes, there is interest in it. Also, Najeela, the Blade-Blossom has occasionally included the Dragonslayer in EDH, but with so many strong Warriors to choose from, Hidden Dragonslayer is hardly an auto-include in the popular Commander deck. Overall, Hidden Dragonslayer was a very good card in Standard. While it's still a decent card on paper, the Dragonslayer simply hasn't found another consistent home.
by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist
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 ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist
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 ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist  Many players weren't a fan of the Khans of Tarkir Event Deck. The Fate Reforged Clash Pack was full of value, however. Now that Wizards is only making Event Decks every other set, it's once again time for a new Event Deck with Dragons of Tarkir. Landslide Charge isn't perhaps the huge value that the Clash Packs have been, but it is a playable Constructed deck. The cover card of this deck is Thunderbreak Regent, a Dragon from Dragons of Tarkir that has attracted a great deal of hype. First of all, being a Red Dragon has driven up his price due to casual appeal. But he's a pretty solid creature for Standard, as well. The Regent is a 4/4 flyer for 2RR (2 colorless, 2 Red) that deals 3 damage to any player that targets it or another Dragon with a spell or ability an opponent controls. The Regent is therefore a bit tricky to remove. It's obviously best used in a Dragon-centered deck. With the various Dragonlords from Dragons of Tarkir seeing play, it's not hard to see Regent seeing a good amount of play for the foreseeable future. Let's take a look at the deck list: Creatures (23) 4 Elvish Mystic 4 Heir of the Wilds 4 Fanatic of Xenagos 2 Golden Hind 2 Mogis's Warhound 1 Yasova Dragonclaw 1 Boon Satyr 1 Savage Knuckleblade 1 Polis Crusher 1 Mistcutter Hydra 1 Surrak, the Hunt Caller 1 Thunderbreak Regent Non-Creature Spells (12) 2 Wild Slash 2 Lightning Strike 2 Temur Charm 2 Roast 1 Arc Lightning 1 Crater's Claws 1 Stubborn Denial 1 Outpost Siege Lands (25) 10 Forest 5 Mountain 4 Evolving Wilds 4 Frontier Bivouac 1 Temple of Abandon 1 Island Sideboard (15) 2 Arc Lightning 2 Rending Volley 2 Disdainful Stroke 2 Encase in Ice 2 Abzan Beastmaster 2 Reclamation Sage 2 Act of Treason 1 Stubborn Denial  Chase Rares & Creature Spells The two "chase" rares in the deck are the aforementioned Thunderbreak Regent and Outpost Siege, the latter of which has seen tons of Standard play. Most of the time you'd use the Khans ability for some pseudo-card draw. But the Dragons ability is pretty good if you're playing a more creature-based deck. It's a strong card that many Red Deck Wins variants have used. While many of the other rares in the deck aren't currently worth a ton of money, there are tons of playable cards. Boon Satyr, Mistcutter Hydra, and Polis Crusher are all from Theros and rotated out of the Standard format in October 2015. The Hydra continues to see play in sideboards in Modern and Legacy, due to its protection from blue. The Satyr has seen plenty of play in the past, mostly in mono-Green Devotion, but other cards have pushed it out of those decks. Polis Crusher is really only useful against Enchantments, but is excellent in the right match-up (for example, taking out an opposing Courser of Kruphix.) The other rares in the deck are more recent and all fairly useful. Yasova Dragonclaw has become quite popular in Commander, and is pretty useful in other Constructed decks, as well. Her ability to steal opposing creatures for only 3 mana is extremely powerful. Even though the power of the opposing creature must be less than Yasova's (usually 4), that's most of the time going to be useful enough. A repeatable Act of Treason effect is pretty strong. Crater's Claws is a X burn spell that has being seeing a lot of Constructed play. With the amount of mana ramp available in this deck, between the 4 Elvish Mystics and 2 Golden Hinds, it's possible to burn a player for a great amount of damage. There are also a ton of creatures with power 4 or more in the deck, so the additional 2 damage that the card's Ferocious effect provides should happen more often than not.
Besides the Temple of Abandon, the last two rares in the deck are Savage Knuckleblade and Surrak, the Hunt Caller. Knuckleblade is a 4/4 creature for only 3 mana and has 3 abilities, one of which is its ability to gain haste for a single Red mana. It can also dodge removal for 2U (2 colorless, 1 Blue) by returning to your hand. Also, for 2G (2 colorless, 1 Green) Knuckleblade can gain +2/+2 until end of turn. It's a powerful creature that activates Ferocious and go head to head with most creatures. Surrak, the Hunt Caller is a 5/4 Human Warrior for 2GG (2 colorless, 2 Green) with a Formidable ability that gives a creature Haste during each combat phase on your turn. Gathering the 8 necessary power to activate this ability is fairly easy with this deck, especially with his own 5 power, so he can often give himself haste. Another cool thing about his ability is that you can play your "mana dorks" such as the Mystic and Golden Hind in your first main phase, give them haste during combat, and tap them for mana during your second main phase. He's solid as a one-of, especially in this deck.
The rest of the creature line-up is rounded out by Fanatic of Xenagos, Heir of the Wilds, and Mogis's Warhound. The Fanatic is a strong creature that has not seen as much play as some expected. The Fanatic is a strong creature that has not seen as much play as some expected. It's always going to be a 4/4 when it hits the field, whether its tribute is paid or not. In this deck, he's very powerful and will often have haste. Heir of the Wilds is very often going to be a 3/3 when it attacks due to all of the creatures in this deck that are either power 4 on their own or can be with their effects (like the Fanatic.) Also, having Deathtouch means that larger creatures may not want to block it. The Heirs and the Fanatics work well together as a team. The 2 copies of Mogis's Warhound are basically in the deck to help guarantee Ferocious by giving another creature +2/+2 when it's Bestowed. You'll rarely play him as a 2/2 for 1R who must attack every turn if able. When you go about improving the deck, these are probably the first two creatures to go, probably in place of 2 more copies of Savage Knuckleblade.
Non-Creature Spells and Mana Base
Besides Craters' Claws and Outpost Siege, the non-creature spell lineup is headlined by Wild Slash from Fate Reforged and Roast from Dragons of Tarkir. While Wild Slash doesn't look exciting, it's a Shock that can stop damage from being prevented; it has been seeing plenty of Standard play. Roast can deal with big creatures such as Siege Rhino, which is one of this deck's worst nightmares as a 4/5 wall. It's even become quite a popular removal card in Modern. The other non-creature spells are 2 Lightning Strike, 2 Temur Charm, 1 Stubborn Denial, and 1 Arc Lightning. It's just enough burn to deal with most chump blockers and the last points of damage. If you find you need more, there's plenty to turn to in the sideboard. There are 2 more Arc Lightnings and 2 Disdainful Stroke for additional counter-magic. Also, you have 2 Rending Volleys to deal with specifically white and blue creatures and 2 Encase in Ice to deal with red and green creatures. Two copies of Reclamation Sage help with artifact and enchantment removal if you need it. Two of Act of Treason help you deal with stealing big creatures from your opponent to guarantee swinging in for major damage. Lastly, there are 2 copies of Abzan Beastmaster if you feel you need extra draw power. The mana base is fairly solid, as well, with 4 copies of Frontier Bivouac to provide all three colors of mana for the deck. It would be better with 4 copies of a fetchland like Wooded Foothills instead of the much slower Evolving Wilds. Improving the Deck & Conclusions Landslide Charge is a pretty decent start to a Temur (red/green/blue) deck, although it does have a lot of Theros block cards like Fanatic of Xenagos in it. But this deck could be improved fairly quickly. My first inclination would be to remove the 2 Mogis's Warhound for 2 more Savage Knuckleblade (as mentioned early), and moving the Polis Crusher to the sideboard for a 4th copy of the Knuckleblade. The Mistcutter Hydra is probably better off in the sideboard, as well. Ashcloud Phoenix would be a better option for this deck. Another creature to consider would be Rattleclaw Mystics in place of the Golden Hinds for more consistent mana ramp. Overall, Landslide Charge is a pretty good Event Deck, and as it's one that is typically selling for under retail, not a bad investment if you plan to play in your local Friday Night Magic and need a deck that just needs a few tune-ups to be fun to play while also being reasonably competitive.
by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist 
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, Old School Duelist 
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 in which this Surrak made the most sense. 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 after the Standard rotation of Theros block, 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, Old School Duelist 
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:
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. by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist  When I first looked at the red/black Command, I was mostly underwhelmed. But after doing some research and discussing it with a couple of players, I can see why people might like this card. Let's see what are the four modes for this card, of which you can choose two from:
I think one non-traditional place this card could work well is in the newest Commander variant, Tiny Leaders. Getting a creature back in a format where you run so few creatures already in a 50-card deck is good. Discard is good with Blightning and other great discard spells CMC 3 or less making that strategy work. There are enough artifact effects, too. Plus many Tiny Leaders have 2 or less toughness, so it's an easy Commander kill, plus value most of the time. Of course, there are currently only a few niche decks in Tiny Leaders that could play it. Kolaghan's Command has great value in Limited for pretty much the same reasons that it's good in Tiny Leaders: it’s really never going to be a bad draw. Artifacts are more prevalent in Limited due to the fact that they work in any color. Discard is especially far more valuable, as is getting back a creature from the graveyard. Adding a Shock effect to that is quite good. So it’s a very strong Limited card. In Constructed, I see it as a useful sideboard play in Grixis (Red/Black/Blue) control decks, especially in Modern where getting back certain creatures is even more valuable. The artifact destruction is very relevant in Modern, as well, and 2 damage kills Noble Hierarch and Snapcaster Mages. As far as Standard play is concerned, how much mainboard play this card will see depends on how the meta shapes up. The Shock effect kills Morph creatures and Elvish Mythics and adds a bit extra value on top of that. In a Control type deck, three mana seems worth it for what the card can do and it’s a card that is still useful later in the game. It’s not my favorite of the Command cards, but it’s solid. by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist  While it's no Cryptic Command, Ojutai's Command is an interesting card. It has four modes of which you can choose two:
The unearth effect is cute. In this case I mean the Urza's Legacy card for one black mana. Actually, this effect is worse as its only converted mana cost 2 instead of 3. So this feels like a bit of a jip. However, there are some creatures in Modern that would make this relevant, Snapcaster Mage, especially. Reanimation isn’t something you would typically find in U/W (Blue/White) Control, and having the ability to reanimate the Mage to be able for it to flashback another spell and draw a card is probably worth 2 mana. Some other good targets in the format could include Dark Confidant, Tarmogoyf, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, and any other one or two-drop staple creature in the format. It’s hard to say what it will bring back in Standard, but we shall see. Gaining 4 life is okay and can keep you alive in the right spot. It could be the difference between hanging on for another turn and the end game. It's not a terrible tempo play, either, against burn strategies. Drawing a card most of the time would seem a better option, but this option could be useful in the right situation when combined with another effect. Counter target creature spell is fine, but that plus a card draw is a card that's been done before that never saw much play outside Limited: Exclude from Invasion. With the big “bomb” type creatures being released in present day sets, however, countering a target creature spell is perhaps more relevant than ever, especially by the point in the game that a card like this would be cast. This card is very good in Limited and is a great tempo play. As far as in Constructed, there are mixed opinions. Most players agree that it’s a useful card, but some feel that it just feels a bit under powered at four mana. Three mana would seem a bit inexpensive, however. Considering what it can bring back to the board in Modern and net you a card, it seems it will be played in that format. It’s not quite clear how solid it will be in Standard and other formats. Some people think this is an awesome Command, and while it's not format-changing, it has its usefulness. by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist  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's 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. by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist  Icefall Regent is essentially the Dragon version of Frost Titan. It wouldn't be surprising to see some Control or Tempo players brew with this card, but many of the aspects that made the Titan good years ago in Standard are missing from this card.
First of all, Frost Titan tapped down permanents, not just creatures, and could do so upon entering the battlefield and while attacking. You also had a big 6/6 body that cost 4UU to cast, only one mana more than Icefall Regent. Plus, while the Regent is tricky to target with opponent's spells by requiring an extra cost of 2 colorless mana, the Titan could stifle abilities, too. So how much does being a 4/3 flying Dragon make up for these deficiencies? The Regent is only a rare, first of all, so we can't expect the power level to be the same here. But a Frost Titan Dragon would have been pretty awesome. Icefall Regent should be very good in Limited and could see some Standard play during its time, as well. It does die to Anger of the Gods, which doesn't target. To its credit, other removal becomes expensive when trying to take it down. Being a 4/3 in the air in a Control build is very good, but restricting its tap ability to only creatures, especially as it can only use that ability upon entering, limits this card's overall value. At the very least, the Regent will help your tempo a bit, especially if it can help force some damage through and force your opponent to spend a bit extra to remove it from the board. It's decent enough to be considered for Constructed play, but I think even in Commander, it will only be played where a Blue Dragon might be needed, like in Intet, the Dreamer or Ojutai, Soul of Winter/Dragonlord Ojutai led builds. It's just hard to get excited about this card, but some tempo players might play it. by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist  Who doesn't like drawing cards? Damnable Pact is a decent way to draw cards in Black. It has the typically Black caveat of trading life for cards, and in some ways is a scale-able Sign in Blood or Skeletal Scrying. It has the Sorcery speed of Sign in Blood and the scale-ability of Skeletal Scrying without the additional cost of exiling cards from your graveyard as an additional cost.
Like Sign in Blood, Damnable Pact allows you to target a player, unlike Skeletal Scrying. There have been times where playing a Sign in Blood on an opponent has actually been a good thing to do. Given enough mana late game, you could actually draw an opponent to death with Damnable Pact. The major issue with this particular Black draw spell is that it costs you 1BB and a life to draw just one card, and 2BB and 2 life to draw 2 cards. Sign in Blood allows you to draw 2 and lose 2 for only BB. Both of these cards are sorcery speed, as well. Skeletal Scrying is instant speed, but it hasn't seen Constructed play in ages because Sign in Blood is so much more consistent and efficient. That being said, any card that can actually kill an opponent late game is pretty good, so I find that Damnable Pact is a good blend of Sign and Scrying. This isn't a card that you would depend on in any competitive Constructed format. Indeed, it saw little to no Standard play. It's just not a very good card in the early game. Even with Black's ability to produce a ton of mana quickly with cards like Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, this simply wasn't efficient enough to make it. In Commander, however, life total really is the only limit to how good this card can be. Black decks in that format have ways to gain life back very quickly. Mono-Black decks also run Gray Merchant of Asphodel, which gains you life and makes your opponent lose life; that makes casting this seem a lot less deadly. But the deck that likes this card the most is Nekusar, the Mindrazer. That is a deck already focused on making people draw lots of cards and lose lots of life. So, not only can this Pact draw you cards, but it can deal double damage to an opponent. Edgar Markov is also a fan of this card. Overall, Damnable Pact is a decent Black draw card, and one that can actually win you a game by draining your opponent of their final few life points for the cost of some worthless cards. Updated 3/25/2018 by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist  Avatar of the Resolute is much more than just a better version of Garruk's Companion. Not only is a 3/2 for GG (2 Green) with trample, but he also has reach. On top of that, he gains a +1/+1 counter for each creature you control with a +1/+1 counter on it. This makes the Avatar better as the game goes along, which is always a good thing for a 2-drop creature.
Green "stompy" players obviously love this. It's overall much better for Constructed than the Dragon-happy Scaleguard Sentinels. It's especially good with the enchantment Hardened Scales. It can be even better in Modern, as its two green mana symbols are excellent for Green devotion deck. There are creatures like Experiment One and Scavenging Ooze that can gain counters like crazy. It's aggressive enough to be part of a Mono-Green Aggro strategy. Whatever the case, Avatar of the Resolute is a very strong creature that is extremely Constructed-playable. With its ability to gain tons of counters, Commander decks led by Daghatar the Adamant and Dromoka the Eternal are happy to play it.. It's good in any Green/White deck that runs cards like Cathars' Crusade and/or Doubling Season. Having trample, the Avatar becomes a mighty finisher that can also block flyers with Reach. This is definitely one of the better cards even in a strong set as Dragons of Tarkir. by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist  Assault Formation is one of the most brew-able cards we've seen in awhile. Doran the Siege Tower is super popular in Commander for a reason: it makes your creatures deal combat damage according to their toughness rather than their power. Now you have that ability on an enchantment that costs only 1G.
Not only that, but Assault Formation has two other things that it can do, too: allow a creature to lose defender for a turn for G, or have creatures you control gain +0/+1 (essentially +1/+1) until end of turn for 2G. Right away, this card instantly makes popular creatures like Hornet Nest, Sylvan Caryatid, Courser of Kruphix, and Siege Rhino better. Hornet Nest essentially becomes a 2/2, Caryatid a 3/3, Courser a 4/4 and Rhino a 5/5. It also makes Nyx-Fleece Ram, a 0/5 Enchantment creature from Journey into Nyx, into essentially a 5/5 beater. It also makes a Limited favorite like Jeskai Barricade, a 0/4 defender with Flash that can save one of your creatures from removal, into a 4/4 that has the ability to lose that defender thanks to Assault Formation. There are plenty of other creatures that benefit from this effect, as well. Crater Elemental from Dragons of Tarkir is a 0/6 for 2R that may have trouble seeing Constructed play, until you consider this card. That card has the ability to become an 8/6 beater for 2R, but only if you control creatures with power 8 or greater combined already. With Assault Formation, you could potentially have a 6/6 for 2R on turn 3 in a Red/Green deck, due to Elvish Mystic and Sylvan Caryatid providing mana ramp. Obviously, the set design team had this in mind when that Elemental was created. There are countless other creatures even in recent sets that work well with this card. The one that should definitely be mentioned, however, is Ornithopter. Being a 0/2 flyer for 0 mana is already good, but to have a free 2/2 flyer is sort of silly. Then when you consider you can pump your whole team with Assault Formation, too, having some free flyers that can suddenly deal 3 a piece is quite scary. As with many Enchantments, though, in Constructed you may end up with dead copies in hand. Still, the effect on Assault Formation is powerful enough to warrant trying to build around it. Whether this card will help create a stable archetype good enough to compete is another question. Considering there are cards in Modern that make this card even better, such as Wall of Omens which draws you a card, it's possible that this card could become more than simply a Standard-playable curiosity. Of course, Doran the Siege Tower decks will be happy to include Assault Formation as a duplication of Doran's effect, but also enjoy the benefits of the other two activated abilities. Now Wakestone Gargoyle and Rolling Stones dsn't have to be the only ways to shut off Defender in that deck. Even better, Assault Formation allows the Doran ability to spread into different color combinations, allowing for big red and blue creatures to enjoy the benefits, although it's hard to say which Commander decks would benefit from this card. At the very least, it will at least make Doran decks even more consistent. It's always fun to see a Constructed-playable Enchantment that could do real work in competitive play. Players are quite excited about this one, competitive and casual alike, and so am I. by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist  A 2/2 for RR (2 Red) that can gain flying for R and fire breathing for 1R (1 colorless, 1 Red) is already a pretty good creature. But for the mythic rare Dragon Whisperer, the real power is in the Formidable ability to make 4/4 Dragons for 4RR. In a dragon based deck 8 power to activate Formidable is not hard at all to achieve. You get 2 of that power from the Whisperer himself and the fire breathing can help that cause.
Here's a super useful creature that can make Dragons, but most of the time, you'll probably just use him to swing.for 2 or maybe 3 or 4 damage in the air. 6 mana is a big investment in a red deck, although a RG Devotion deck dedicated to Dragons may be able to pull it off. In Commander, Zirilian of the Claw decks may find room for the Whisperer, as well as some of the other Dragon Commanders, especially the Red/Green/X Legendary Dragons. Just to have a creature that can make Dragons, while providing some early damage, is useful for those decks, as Dragon decks typically take some time to get rolling. The Whisperer is a nice complement to Dragonmaster Outcast, a mythic rare from Worldwake that’s already popular in Commander. The Outcast creates a 5/5 flying Dragon at the beginning of your upkeep if you control 6 or more lands, and it’s only a 1-drop (R) creature. The Whisperer is better than Kargan Dragonlord, though, another two-drop creature mythic rare (from Rise of the Eldrazi) that requires quite a mana investment to level up into a trampling flyer. Truthfully, the Whisperer has more in common with the Dragonlord, except that it actually creates Dragons, whereas the Dragonlord mimics becoming one. While the Whisperer may see some play in Standard, it's one of those flavorful cards that may take time to see how it fits into the current metagame. Despite the high raw power of the card, its more like its inferior cousin Kargan Dragonlord than a Dragonmaster Outcast. It may just prove to be too slow for competitive play. In any case, it will be a fun card in Limited, Commander, and casual play. by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist  Crater Elemental is an especially interesting creature. A 0/6 for 2R is very unusual for mono red. Its first ability makes it a better version of Bloodpyre Elemental, being able to pay a red mana and tap to sacrifice itself to deal 4 damage to a target creature. That's a Limited playable ability, but what's really interesting is the Formidable ability. For 2R, if you control creatures with total power 8 or more, Crater Elemental gets base 8 power until end of turn. That's a potential big beater out of nowhere. Give it any sort of evasion or trample and it could be a game-ender.
In Limited, this is really good if you amass the power which is not too hard to do in Khans Limited. Is it good enough for Constructed, though? 2R seems well worth paying for that kind of power, but 8 power that can be easily chump blocked isn't so fabulous. It's probably going to be Limited playable only. Crater Elemental looks like a card that could be a lot of fun, but this doesn’t outclass anything being played in Constructed Aggro decks at 3 mana like Goblin Rabblemaster or Mantis Rider. But there are also casual connotations as creatures with big power potential always seem to find a home. Elemental tribal is sort of a thing, you know. |
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