#mtg dragonstorm

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Tarkir: Dragonstorm Retrospective - Top 10 Commanders

Number 3 - 6,650 decks

Kotis, the Fangkeeper

The most popular commander from the main set, Kotis, the Fangkeeper combines a "voltron" strategy with a commander staple from back in the original Tarkir block, Villainous Wealth. Kotis has the benefit of protecting himself with indestructible, making it a bit safer for you to stack auras on top of him to buff his power and make him harder to block. If you are able to hit with him, he also undoes the card disadvantage normally associated with auras: the more stuff you stack on top of him, the more cards you get to cast for free. Being in Sultai colors also gives him the best access to cards that reward you for controlling things you don't own.

Kotis synergizes with auras that make him harder to block, raise his power, or both, like Rancor (64% synergy), Aqueous Form (61%), and Favor of the Overbeing (53%).

Kotis is currently the 12th most popular Sultai commander, and was the 10th most popular commander for the week as of writing this. While a deck focused on taking your opponents' cards isn't a new thing for Sultai, a voltron strategy is actually pretty novel, especially a commander that combines the two ideas. Kotis also gets bonus points in that it will be more rare that he gets repeatedly removed, a major source of frustration for many Commander players. As a win-con, card advantage engine, being easy to build around, and having an exciting pseudo-gambling ability that can trigger each turn, Kotis has a lot going for him that will keep him popular. I suspect that he'll cross into the top 10 pretty soon, and probably end up in the 8000-deck range, passing Zimone and Dina (#9) and Sidisi, Brood Tyrant (#8).

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Tarkir: Dragonstorm Retrospective - Top 10 Commanders

Number 4 - 6,000 decks

Ureni of the Unwritten

The face commander of the "Temur Roar" precon, Ureni of the Unwritten is a pretty straightforward Dragon typal commander. Ureni wants you to be playing a lot of ramp to cast the 7-mana monster at a reasonable pace, and to be playing a lot of dragons to have as close to a 100% shot of pulling one from the top of your deck as possible. If your deck is built right, Ureni will almost always end up bringing at least one friend along with him, making removing him a big hassle. But he is a commander that your opponents must remove, since he threatens to bring more dragons if he can attack. He also boasts 7 power, making three hits from him lethal to any opponent.

Ureni synergizes with cards that reward you for pulling off his trick and cheating your dragons into play, like Dragon Tempest (81% synergy) and Lathliss, Dragon Queen (80%). Hellkite Courser (81%) is particularly interesting here, as it comes into play, brings Ureni into play to put another dragon into play, then Ureni gets to immediately attack to put a second dragon into play.

Ureni is currently the 10th most popular Temur commander, and was the 8th most popular commander for the week as of writing this. Ureni gets the benefit of having a straightforward card-advantage-focused gameplan in the most popular theme in Commander, Dragon typal. He gives you a little bit of a deck restriction to help get you started (ramp and dragons are needed), but from there you get to decide which cards you want to include, and how much of each category. Unfortunately, Eshki has to compete in that space with Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm (#1), one of the most popular commanders of all time. If your main goal is just to put dragons into play, Miirym will basically always do it better, and for one less mana. However, I can see Ureni easily making it over the 7,000 deck threshold, passing up Kalamax, the Stormsire (#8), but the top 5 seems out of reach.

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Tarkir: Dragonstorm Retrospective - Top 10 Commanders

Number 6 - 5,650 decks

Betor, Ancestor's Voice

Betor, Ancestor's Voice doesn't work terribly well as the backup commander for the toughness-focused "Abzan Armor" precon, but is pretty interesting in their own right! Each turn that you keep Betor in play, they will keep growing your board by adding +1/+1 counters to your creatures and bringing new creatures into play from your graveyard. All you have to do is keep them alive, and keep gaining and losing life. As such, Betor decks are usually full of cards that do one or more of these things, especially leaning towards spells that allow you to pay life to get an advantage, since Betor is able to gain you life on their own.

Betor synergizes with cards that pay life for a benefit, like Black Market Connections (52% synergy), especially if that card is also a big creature that Betor can reanimate, like Doom Whisperer (60%) and Beledros Witherbloom (57%).

Betor is currently the 13th most popular Abzan commander, and was the 22nd most popular commander for the week as of writing this. Commander-precon Betor has a few things going for them that main-set Betor doesn't. Firstly, its theme is a bit less explored. The Orzhov bats from Bloomburrow did focus on "gain and lose life" as a theme, but adding green does give the archetype some new tricks, reanimation as a payoff is pretty neat, and Betor has the benefit of being a dragon, something that most people find a lot cooler than a bat (sorry to the bat-lovers). Secondly, it isn't feast-or-famine. This Betor still gives you some decent payoff even if you just put three +1/+1 counters on something and reanimate a 1-mana utility creature. I can see Betor climbing into the top 10 Abzan commanders, displacing Ixhel, Scion of Atraxa (#10) and Nethroi, Apex of Death (#9).

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Tarkir: Dragonstorm Retrospective - Top 10 Commanders

Number 8 - 3,250 decks

Betor, Kin to All

While many toughness-themed commanders will allow you to attack with walls and deal damage with toughness, Betor, Kin to All goes all in on the Abzan's love of defense. They add seven toughness to your board all by themself, and if you can get your creatures' total toughness up to 10, then you'll get to start drawing cards. If you can get it up to 20, then all your creatures untap, making you even better at defending. And if you can get your total toughness all the way up to 40, then Betor will start quickly killing all of your opponents. That's not even to mention that they're a 5-power flier, making them a threat through commander damage as well.

Betor synergizes with cards that can rapidly increase your board's total toughness, like Tree of Redemption (60% synergy) and Tree of Perdition (59% synergy), as well as cards that will allow you to attack with walls, like Assault Formation (58% synergy).

Betor is currently the 19th most popular Abzan commander, and was the 118th most popular commander for the week as of writing this. Unfortunately for Betor, there are already a few toughness-matters commanders in Abzan colors, which will likely continue to remain more popular than them. Betor also suffers from being a "feast or famine" commander, if you want them to do anything more cool than hit your opponents and draw cards, then you need to put in some serious effort to setup your board. You either get to "do your thing" and basically just win, or you don't and leave disappointed. With that said, I could see them climbing a few more spots to pass Merry and Pippin (#17) and Vishgraz, the Doomhive (#16).

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Tarkir: Dragonstorm Retrospective - Top 10 Commanders

Number 9 - 3,150 decks

Neriv, Heart of the Storm

As the spirit dragon of the Mardu clan, Neriv, Heart of the Storm goes all in on their love of speed and aggression. A big beater in his own right as a 4-mana 4/5 flier, Neriv also ups the aggression of any creature you control that deals damage on the turn it enters, either through a triggered ability, or with haste. While initially less obvious than straight-up aggression, Neriv also combines very well with any effects that create creature tokens that have haste or that enter attacking, such as with myriad triggers. Combining the two, like giving myriad to a creature that hurts each opponent when it enters, will net you some serious damage!

Neriv synergizes with effects that give creatures haste like Enduring Courage (62% synergy) and Nahiri's Resolve (55%), and with effects that cause creatures to deal damage when they enter, like Warstorm Surge (60%).

Neriv is currently the 21st most popular Mardu commander, and was the 90th most popular commander for the week as of writing this. Dragons are always very cool, and Neriv has found a pretty interesting niche for itself. While there are other commanders that care about creatures with haste, none do so in quite the way that Neriv does, emphasizing speed and aggression above all else. Also, unlike the other haste-matters commanders, Neriv has access to white, which gives it some neat effects like the aforementioned Nahiri's Resolve, which those other decks don't have access to. With all these things going for it, I can see Neriv getting to 4,000 decks in the future, to hang out with the likes of Megatron, Tyrant (#17) and Olivia, Opulent Outlaw (#16).

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Tarkir: Dragonstorm Story - Episode 7

Sarkhan had not been expecting the ritual to give him control over the wild dragons. But now that the wild dragons viewed him with reverence, he would not disappoint his followers. They would bathe the Multiverse in fire, starting with the temple which houses the only thing with a greater power over the dragons than him.

Tarkir: Dragonstorm | Episode 7: Return

The Meditation Realm is shattered. The dragonstorms rage. And Sarkhan comes to finish his foes, on wings of vengeance.

(Story summary continued under the cut.)

In the Meditation Realm, Narset watches as Jace, Ugin, and Bolas are consumed by the void. She escapes alongside the others. Narset returns Loot to Vraska, and then she and Elspeth prepare for the oncoming dragons. Sarkhan’s onslaught has grown in size such that it darkens the sky.

Narset defends the temple while Elspeth takes to the air to challenge Sarkhan directly. As she battles the dragons, Narset discovers something that was missing since she became Waymaster. All she needed to do was trust her body and her magic and fighting the wild dragons became the easiest thing in the world.

Ajani rides alongside the Abzan khan on her dragon. While it had taken some time, he finally understood what Narset, Elspeth, and Nur were teaching him. What he had hated most was how safe it felt to be under Phyrexia, to have the world flattened into black-and-white, to act without thinking. Now, he understands that his grief flattened the world in a different way with the same result. But he can choose to make a difference. He leaps from the back of the dragon.

Narset watches Ajani plummet from the sky, and is almost caught unaware by a dragon materializing from the storm. A second later, the dragon falls, with Ajani standing over its back. From the darkened skies of the dragonstorm descend the Abzan warriors atop their dragons. The teamwork and skill of the Abzan allows them to take the bigger dragons down. However, they will never be able to win if new wild dragons continue to emerge from the storm.

On dragonback, Ajani and Narset join Elspeth in the skies. Sarkhan was the first to help Ajani after his spark ignited. He knows there is an honorable man under the dragon. He attempts to appeal to Sarkhan’s humanity, but he is too far gone.

Narset will lead Elspeth and Ajani on one last charge. It will mean their demise, but they can wound Sarkhan’s eyes and make his army easier to defeat. However, they are stopped by a booming voice.

Ugin emerges, and his presence scares the wild dragons into retreat. It was as Sarkhan had feared, failing to take the temple had allowed Ugin to easily dismantle his army. He rushes the elder dragon with a burst of flame. His fire merely disappoints Ugin, who regards Sarkhan with great sadness. He opens his maw to release ghostfire that chars Sarkhan’s flesh black, forcing him to retreat as well.

At once, Tarkir is safe and the dragonstorms are calmed. However, the Multiverse is in even greater peril: Nicol Bolas is freed, and Jace Beleren may emerge more powerful than ever.

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Tarkir: Dragonstorm Story - Episode 6

Jace hated arguing with Vraska, something that was happening a lot more following the events of the Ghirapur Grand Prix. He also hated what he had to do to Chandra. He knows that he had nearly lobotomized her, but something had to be done. He needed Loot back, and she was in the way.

Vraska snaps at him. He’s never been someone who would maim his friends just because they’re “in the way.” They need to stop and consider if this is really what they want to do, or if they would be happy now if they simply let things be.

Jace knows that he would be happy. But after the Phyrexian invasion, his own happiness can never be enough. Then, he calls out to Loot as he crawls away into the dragonstorm. He would always think back to this moment, pursuing his son through dangerous winds, wrapping him in a blanket of magical sleep while he squirmed and protested. Where did things go wrong?

Tarkir: Dragonstorm | Episode 6: How Wretched Love

Odd company in the Meditation Realm. Narset solves a problem and discovers a new one.

(Story summary continued under the cut.)

Now, in the Meditation Realm, with a sleeping Loot tucked under his arm, and standing beside Elspeth and Narset, he can’t believe how frustrating this plane is. Anytime he’s figured it out, he finds himself staring at his reflection.

Narset buries her face in her hands. Clever people always get messed up as soon as something doesn’t conform to the way they think things work. Everything is more complicated than someone like Jace can understand. And so, she stills her mind.

She tells Elspeth and Jace to release their preconceived notions. Stop thinking so much. The plane becomes clear and reveals a pair of colossal figures, entwined with one another: the elder dragons Ugin and Bolas. Bolas was presumed dead, killed following his attempt to make himself into a god. Ugin had gone missing soon after.

Death is no end for either elder dragon. Instead Bolas has been trapped here, with no memories and no planeswalker spark. However, as the elder dragons speak with Narset, Elspeth, and Jace, Bolas’s memories begin to return. It also becomes clear that Jace is not surprised by any of this information.

Jace manages to steal the gemstone from Ugin’s crown which gives him control over the plane. Jace learned from Loot that the Meditation Realm is a nexus of the Multiverse. It touches countless planes, and is shaped by thought. With control of it, he can remake reality. He can make the dragonstorm never happen, the Phyrexians never invade. He can bring back the friends they lost, and save everyone.

Elspeth suggests killing him, but she’s interrupted by Vraska, who followed Jace in. She threatens them to stay away from Jace, but also pleads with him to stop. Jace does not listen, and the Meditation Realm expands as he takes control of it. SAs powerful as he is, Jace is still only human, and his endurance quickly fades. The Meditation Realm shatters, revealing a void that begins to pour in.

Narset grabs Loot, and she, Elspeth, and Vraska run.

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Tarkir: Dragonstorm Story - Temur: Together Survives the Pack

Eshki Dragonclaw, khan of the resilient Temur clan, celebrates with her people. The mountain climate that they thrive in would lead other clans to starvation. For the Temur, it is a land of plenty. However, Eshki is pulled away from the festivities by the arrival of Alnuil, the greatest of the Temur sages, who had worked with Narset to uncover the Stormnexus Ritual.

Alnuil informs her that a sickness is spreading among their people, a glowing blue magic that enters the veins and weakens the host until they pass where they stand. The spirit dragon Ureni is unable to offer guidance: the solution that they seek is one that cannot be taught, it must be discovered.

Tarkir: Dragonstorm | Temur: Together Survives the Pack

A horrible curse threatens the Temur clan. Together, Eshki Dragonclaw and Alniul, the Twice Whisperer journey to discover its source—and enc

(Story summary continued under the cut.)

Eshki and Alnuil journey higher into the mountains to consult with the greatest spirits of the land. They finally reach a rise at the summit, where Alnuil consults with the spirits. Alnuil emerges hours later, shaken and unable to walk. They have been given a vision: in Rainveil forest, a reindeer falls, its blood seeping into the ground, and the roots of the trees glow bright blue. Eshki carries her friend down the mountain. It will be a long trek.

As they cross the Temur lands, they encounter more and more villages that are tending to their dead. In each village, Eshki expresses her sorrow and promises to do everything she can to help them. Time and time again, she encounters those who hold on to the old ways of thinking: the strong will survive, and the weak deserve to die. Time and time again, Eshki slams them into the snow. None can be left behind.

Rainveil forest is silent. At the heart of the woods, they find a large pool of glowing blue magic, and in the center of this they find Surrak, former leader of the Temur. At the beginning of their revolution against Atarka, Surrak had fought to stop them, to maintain peace. He was incredibly strong, and was nearly successful in beating Eshki into submission, but she defeated him by jabbing a spike of ice into his chest, a wound that he still bares today.

The two immediately begin to argue, and only with Alnuil’s intervention do they avoid coming to blows. Eshki offers Surrak a deal: help them now, and he can fight her again later. He accepts.

Eshki, Alnuil, and Surrak sit in a circle singing a ritual song. It is discordant, and spirits surround them. Alnuil explains that they are those who died trying to survive in these woods. Many of them did horrible things to survive under Atarka. When Eshki threw Surrak aside, she also rejected all of these ghosts. To save them all, she must to accept them as Temur, as worthy of support just like any other.

Eshki looks to Surrak, who had almost doomed them to a life of slavery under Atarka, and sings out the stories of these people, welcoming them to her campfire. All are welcome. None can be left behind.