Tarkir: Dragonstorm - Set Review

Alright: we've got the official spoiler list here,  what I feel is a readable list here, and the mechanics article, in case you haven't seen that.  

No sense in burying the lede here; so far I'm a fan of Dragonstorm! I think there's some neat cards, I really like how the mechanics create identity and distinction for the clans of Tarkir, and I think the execution of the shard aspect of the set is handled well. 

There's a couple silly cards but maybe they aren't as bad as I think? Let's talk.

White
One important note is that while Clarion Conqueror is a damn good body at the price, it shuts down everything, including your stuff. Important to keep that in mind during pre-release weekend. But I haven't seen an ability like that in awhile, so I'm glad it's there. 

The Devotees-we'll start with Mardu since it's first-are a VERY smart way to help fix colors in this set. I feel like these are smart design choices that will help people enjoy Dragonstorm and I was very glad to see each one. 

The Flurry ability reminds me that this set looks to be fairly mana hungry-at least in Limited. I'm already wondering if 17 mana sources is correct. But in constructed, I just want to start looking for any spell I can play without paying mana to try and maximize cards like Sage of the Skies as early as possible. That could easily come out turn one with a Lotus Petal, City of Traitors start, and having two of those that early? YIKES.

United Battlefront seems weird and is probably bad, but I want to mess around with it anyway. 

Blue
The Renew ability on Agent of Kotis just reinforces what I was saying about Flurry: having enough mana in your games is probably going to be a big deal. Assuming there's a payoff, anyway. But getting to four mana and then deciding that you want to spend it putting +1 counters on a creature isn't a bad decision, just one that you don't want to blow your tempo on too much.

Similarly, a card like Bewildering Blizzard feels like it could be backbreaking--but you still have to get to six mana to play it.

Did Winternight Stories need to be a rare? I feel like we've gotten other effects like this at uncommon and they've been fine. What's the upgrade here? It doesn't seem THAT much better.  

Black
Avenger of the Fallen looks bonkers. That is all.

I also really like the design and feel of Hundred-Battle Veteran. 

There's a new legendary enchantment, which is wild! I haven't seen one of those (The Sibsig Ceremony) in a long time. 

Red
Channeled Dragonfire is making me rethink whether or not Harmonize is a good ability. Seven mana to flashback two damage is bad and it doesn't matter how you slice it. Reducing the cost to reasonable by tapping a five power creature? How is THAT good? Firebolt came out in Odyssey and it was fine but nobody was going to mistake it for a format defining card. 

It may be that Harmonize has a similar issue that Vehicles in Aetherdrift had. But we shall see. 

Dracogensis is a stupid card and I hate it. It isn't interesting, it allows for very stupid things to happen, and practically screams "Glory of Cool Things". It's particularly insufferable for Commander, the format it's obviously for. 

Green
I'm very happy to see a Craterhoof reprint; the card is too expensive and a lot of fun. 

Is Dragon Sniper one of the best one drops ever? Certainly one of the best defensive ones and I bet will be an all star in the Limited format due to all the flying creatures. 

Multicolor
Here's where the money is, right? Auroral Procession feels like a color pie shift: I would expect this as a G/B card, not G/U. Perhaps this is allowed because of the philosophy of the color wedge in this set? 

I think all of the Sieges are flavorful and interesting, really like those choices. 

Call the Spirit Dragon; this card is stupid and I hate it. It even says "win the game" on it, but then it makes you jump through  hoops in order to do so. This actually makes it worse, since making all your Dragons indestructible should already win you the game. Another card that is particularly insufferable for Commander, the format it's obviously for. It's unfun, and scuttles interaction. 

Digging a little further; there's a lot of very cool things that start around the five mana slot. Again, making me think that the Limited environment might reward players who plan for a late game and have the mana for it. 

Artifact/Land
Ugin on its face reminds me of Sire of Seven Deaths; if you can cast that, you win. And on one hand: OK, big mana spells should do big things! But on the other, if you've ever played against a Sire of Seven Deaths you know how unfun that is. Crushing to any gamestate it enters into, it flips the game around in ways that don't allow it to be unflipped. 

I'm not a huge fan of these designs, but Ugin might be slower and more interactive. We shall see.

The rest of the artifacts are solid: good role players to help us do cool things in the format. I'm not upset about any of it: Mox Jasper will be broken as soon as someone can utilize a (changeling) Shapeshifter with it, but...I'm actually OK with this. It's conditional and most shapeshifters don't have other abilities that keep players from interacting. 

The common and uncommon lands are known quantities, good mana fixers. No notes. 

The rare cycle of lands, these are cool! They are mostly great mana fixers I think: the abilities on them are neat but not broken by any means. Still; don't sleep on them, they have great utility. 

All in all, I like this set and I'm eager to try it out! Will the Omens be as interesting as they appear? Does this set need good mana planning in Limited? How important will Reach be? 

I'm interested in finding out. Let's go!

Free Pizza: Prehistoric Avengers

 With some challenges this season, I took advantage of a Khonshu meta and got my Free Pizza with this

Why this? Because I can use Mystique to copy Cosmo and shutter the on reveal actions of the discard decks. Blanking two lanes is pretty strong. 

I also used an affliction deck to climb most of the way there and here's what that looked like:

This list isn't ideal but there's potential there to develop. 

What I've found challenging is where to place cards-Laufey, USAgent and Man-Thing all have the potential to dominate their lanes when combined with cards like Diamondback or Spider-Woman but they don't all play nice together. 

Which I suppose is thematically appropriate! But it makes for some pretty wild swings in gameplay. 

Blast Off

 I think I may have to retire this one.

I was playing a game against Fuz and butting up against the tension in the deck. Namely; I need ways to keep both the board and opponent's hand size clear. That's a lot to ask for. 

Sure, cards like Oppression fit in well but Magic is just so fast that now I need ways to clear the board before Oppression and Noetic Scales come online. I will lose the game if I haven't advanced a plan before then, because everyone else has things to do on turns 1-3. 

4 Anvil of Bogardan
3 Necrogen Spellbomb
4 Noetic Scales

4 Guiltfeeder
2 Master of Cruelties

4 Oppression
3 Seal of Fire

4 Geth's Verdict

4 Tainted Peak
4 Mountain
14 Swamp
2 Rocky Tar Pit

2 Demonfire
2 Persist
2 Black Sun's Zenith
2 Glimpse the Impossible

So how to adjust this? Well, Fuz suggested that I just blow up the removal effects but I'm wondering if the discard is the real problem. 

Oppression might be better as a straight up discard spell, like Hymn to Tourach or if I'm getting really weird, Brink of Madness could be wild. (Note to self, do not do that). But even Cerebral Confiscation or better, Mind Drain, could do a better job at keeping my opponent's hand restricted and making Noetic Scales better. 

So I'm not abandoning this one, because I still think there's some there, there. And it's interesting! But I don't think it can get beyond a B- power deck. For now, I'm going to leave it. 

Disco Candybar

 A friend of mine is detailing the work he's doing on a boardgame here. 

If you ever wanted a peek behind the curtain to see how games get made, you might find this interesting! Sean is a veteran designer and has worked on a lot of different things. 

Full disclosure; Sean's a friend and I've even been part of playtest groups for games he's designed or been a part of designing. 

Vortex

So; let's get a little weird. Because after a few more games, I still didn't feel as though I had enough control. It's important to get to four mana for Noetic Scales but I also need ways to stall until I can get a Scales.

I also need ways to dig for cards so: I'm trying on two copies of Commune With Lava, a Master of Cruelties, and two copies of Black Sun's Zenith. 

Commune can help me dig into my deck and it gives me a full turn to play the cards, so if I need to tap out, that isn't a problem. Black Sun's Zenith isn't a card that destroys creatures but it should slow them down. -1 to everything in play is great if my only creature is a Guiltfeeder or Master of Cruelties. 

I feel as though I'm on the verge of something but I can't quite get there. It may be that I'm barking up the wrong tree entirely. 

Brawl

After the changes made, things feel better. Not great, but better. 

I lost two matches because in one case I couldn't find my removal and in the second, the rules pulled a gotcha on me.

Noetic Scales is good, y'all. I managed a near one-sided Wrath of God-leaving behind a lonely Springheart Nantuko that had been bestowed on another creature. At three life, I was easily dispatched. Of note: I drew one removal spell in the meantime, a Dead/Gone. Four Geth's Verdicts added but all went hiding in that game.

In my second matchup, I realized the Glory of Cool Things element that was plaguing the deck: Gibbering Descent. I'm trying to madness this card out without any real madness enabler cards. Sure: Anvil of Bogardan helps but that's one card. Then I pay four mana to put the Descent into play and do what exactly? Get one point of damage in per turn? 

Yikes. 

I thought about The Long Reach of Night and that may work better. Bandit's Talent was also something I thought about but I feel like the payoff might not be very consistent. I want to bounce cards to my opponent's hand AND I want to make them discard. These things aren't humming along together. 

Master of Cruelties is still worth considering though, so maybe a one of-fun of, along with two Long Reach? 

Let's find out.

Onslaught

I played one game with Bruticus against Noah, who was doing a MUD (big mana artifacts, do bad stuff) thing. The game went much like one might expect and the obvious problems where there; Older cards that have cheaper reprints now, like Megrim, were not as efficient, and not nearly enough removal to keep the early rush of creatures off my back.

Noetic Scales can do a lot, but since it doesn't come down until turn four I need to invest in early game removal. 

After a lot of thinking I began to wonder: what if Megrim is the stumbling block? The obvious replacement is Liliana's Caress but what if I don't need that card at all?

I thought about Master of Cruelties and I may try it anyway? But one copy of Gibbering Descent, Keldon Megaliths and the Megrims are coming out for removal. Geth's Verdict seems like a fine addition.