Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker – A Magic the Gathering Card Review

by Phoenix A. Desertsong, Staff Writer, Healer & Advocate

Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker isn't quite the Sarkhan Vol planeswalker Magic the Gathering players expected. Not only is he not three colors as many predicted, but he’s actually mono-red. So is Sarkhan version 3.0 any good?

Sarkhan Vol was pretty good in his day, and very solid in Commander. Sarkhan the Mad has found a home in some Commander decks, as well. He costs 3RR to cast for a Planeswalker that begins with 4 loyalty counters. For that cost, he better do something special!
 
Actually, his +1 ability is very good. Until the end of turn, he becomes a legendary 4/4 red Dragon creature with flying, indestructible, and haste. For 5 mana, that’s not bad at all, especially when you’re actually gaining him loyalty. That’s a very solid ability.
 
The -3 ability is Flame Slash, deal 4 damage to target creature. It is a form of protection. While it’s a bit costly, it will deal with problem creatures that Lightning Strike and many other removal spells currently in Standard cannot. Sometimes, a creature simply has to go.
 
His ultimate ability for -6 is an emblem, and it’s a very different kind of emblem…
 
 “At the beginning of your draw step, draw two additional cards” and “At the beginning of your end step, discard your hand.”
 
At first glance, this emblem doesn’t look very good. However, if you’re running a deck that constantly burns through cards in hand, such as a R/G or Jund (R/G/B) mid-range deck, drawing 3 cards each turn that you’ll likely be able to play that turn isn’t so bad. By the time you even get a chance to use that emblem, it’s in the late-game anyway.

Actually, you may never even need to use that emblem, because by the time you cast Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker and swing with him, you should have the game pretty much in hand anyway. But it’s a nice option to have in the late game so you’re not simply top-decking, a fear that a lot of aggro decks have.
 
Overall, Sarkhan the Dragonspeaker is a pretty solid mid-range Planeswalker. His emblem is rather situational, depending on how bad your draws have been; for example, you can just throw away land you don’t need. Also, if you have fetchlands in your deck, like in Modern, you’ll be going through your deck a bit faster. So, discarding lands is not going to hurt that much.
 
In Commander, being mono-red gives him a many options of decks he can work in, which is great. He does automatically have the ability to “go ultimate” with Doubling Season on board, as well. However, honestly, you’re not going to be using his ultimate all that much in Commander unless you play a deck where you don’t mind constantly discarding your hand. There are decks like that, but not many. You’re mostly going to play him for his first two abilities which is you play most planeswalkers in the first place. There is a laundry list of Commanders that can find a home for him, especially the more aggressive Red/Green and Red/White ones.

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