While Magic: The Gathering’s recent crossovers with franchises like Final Fantasy and Spider-Man have garnered significant attention, the next set, Tarkir: Dragonstorm, is rapidly approaching. This set returns to the plane of Tarkir, and we have an exclusive preview of five cards expected to be highly influential in upcoming drafts. (The expansion is available for preorder now on Amazon.)
View the five cards in the gallery below, followed by insights from Wizards of the Coast on their design and the set's overall vision.
Magic: The Gathering - 5 New Cards from Tarkir: Dragonstorm
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These five cards form a "cycle," sharing common design elements across Magic's color spectrum. Each is a low-cost, common-rarity creature with an ability linked to one of Tarkir's three-color clans and a secondary ability converting mana into a color from that clan.
“Three-color limited environments require substantial mana fixing across all rarities,” explains Wizards of the Coast Senior Game Designer Adam Prosak. “We aimed to provide ample mana fixing for diverse decks, leading to designs focused on mana solutions. These creatures, in particular, allow for board presence while simultaneously developing mana—unlike designs like tapped lands, which only produce mana, potentially hindering early-game development.”
Preorder MTG Tarkir: Dragonstorm Cards
### Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm - Play Booster Box
0$164.70 at Amazon
### Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm - Collector Booster Box
0$299.88 at Amazon
### Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm - Collector Booster
0$24.99 at Amazon
### Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm - Commander Deck Bundle - Includes All 5 Decks
0$224.95 at Amazon
### Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Deck - Abzan Armor
0$44.99 at Amazon
### Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Deck - Jeskai Striker
0$44.99 at Amazon
### Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Deck - Sultai Arisen
0$44.99 at Amazon
### Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Deck - Mardu Surge
0$44.99 at Amazon
### Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Deck - Temur Roar
0$44.99 at Amazon
While the mechanical design of this cycle came first, common cards often serve to showcase the set's world—in this case, highlighting the clans' evolution since their last appearance. Senior Worldbuilding Designer Lauren Bond explains: “The action-oriented Jeskai monks, the Temur's use of whispers, the Sultai Nagas as jungle protectors, Mardu military prowess with diverse roles, and the Abzan clerics regenerating lost kin trees.”
Recent criticism regarding some Magic sets' overreliance on tropes prompted a more straightforward approach to Dragonstorm’s Tarkir return. Senior Worldbuilding Art Director Forrest Schehl notes that this feedback is valuable but that Dragonstorm’s core concept predates and remained unaffected by subsequent sets.
“Our goal was to blend Dragons and Clans in a novel way for Tarkir, with the Dragonstorms—a defining plane feature—playing a significant role. Lauren and I felt immense pressure to create an authentic and substantial next chapter for this beloved plane.”
Tarkir: Dragonstorm is available for preorder now, with a physical and digital release scheduled for April 11th, and in-store prerelease events beginning April 4th. A full interview with Adam Prosak, Lauren Bond, and Forrest Schehl follows.
