Opening any of these cards will make you feel like you own a Dragon’s hoard
Tarkir: Dragonstorm releases on April 11, and with it comes a storm of exciting (and powerful) cards that are bound to massively impact casual and competitive play. If there’s one thing Magic players love, it’s Dragons — and lots of them.
Dragons have remained a fixture of Magic’s history for quite some time, so perhaps it isn’t a massive shock to see such an enthusiastic focus on Tarkir: Dragonstorm from the community. After the fairly unexciting release of Aetherdrift earlier in the year, players are eager to return to familiarity in Tarkir and embrace Siege Rhino, er — I mean Skirmish Rhino once more.
The Cards Everybody Wants from Tarkir: Dragonstorm
Market Price: $364.06
Market Price: $54.24
Market Price: $118.11
There’s a lot is going on with Tarkir: Dragonstorm, and knowing what you’ve opened may leave you feeling overwhelmed or a bit confused, especially when it comes to understanding the value of the cards and the different treatments. While not exhaustive, let’s break down some of the cards you’ll be absolutely thrilled to open from Play and Collector Boosters on Tarkir: Dragonstorm release day and beyond.
#10 Tempest Hawk
Tempest Hawk
Tarkir: Dragonstorm, Common
It became a strong pre-purchase going into Tarkir: Dragonstorm release week, where Tempest Hawk reads as an unassuming common but is drawing the attention of Commander players. What makes the Hawk so interesting is the “you can run any number of copies of the same-named card” clause that is becoming a popular aspect of Commander. Cards such as Slime Against Humanity and Hare Apparent are resilient purchases due to these exciting clauses in mind, creating a novel way to approach Commander since the format often adheres to singleton rules. In particular, Kastral, the Windcrested is becoming an excellent Commander to lead a Tempest Hawk strategy, as it fits the theme while creating value for each time you deal combat damage to a player with a Bird card.
And sure, opening a Tempest Hawk in Play and Collector Boosters may seem unexciting — but it’s the kind of card that can become valuable (for a common) where it’s worth keeping safe in a trade binder, as there will be a crop of players looking to build it as a Commander strategy upon Tarkir: Dragonstorm’s release. In particular, foil copies of Tempest Hawk could run a reasonable price as players need (at least) three dozen copies of the card to run a viable deck, meaning prices could rise post-release as players look for the more premium printings.
#9 Mistrise Village (Borderless)
Mistrise Village
Tarkir: Dragonstorm, Rare
The release of Tarkir: Dragonstorm sees a cycle of rare land cards, with Mistrise Village being the most desirable out of the bunch leading up to release. As it turns out, Magic players really dislike countermagic and being told “No!” when casting their spells, but Mistrise Village turns the next spell you cast into an uncounterable one. These styles of abilities are fairly popular in Commander — especially in competitive circles — where any card that says “win the game” can enter play without a player worrying about a stack of countermagic coming in response.
There’s also some Constructed competitive applications with the card, and it’s looking primed to appear in Standard Azorius Control and other similar archetypes, as it’s excellent at breaking parity and ensuring your spells resolve in the longer games. As a result of this ability, Mistrise Village is looking to become a high-value card to open from Tarkir: Dragonstorm, with a premium on the Borderless printing showcasing the Temur clan.
#8 Craterhoof Behemoth
Craterhoof Behemoth
Tarkir: Dragonstorm, Mythic
One exciting aspect of Magic releases is how Wizards of the Coast often incorporates iconic reprints for Standard play, and Craterhoof Behemoth is one of these. A popular win condition in Commander, Craterhoof Behemoth is a long-time favorite with players and is often played alongside Avenger of Zendikar or a Tooth and Nail to end games. A Craterhoof Behemoth reprint may not be incredibly exciting due to Innistrad Remastered’s release earlier this year but with the reprint in Takrir: Dragonstorm, the card is now playable in Standard — and players are excited.
Market Price: $16.04
Market Price: $43.97
Market Price: $156.77
With this reprint in Tarkir: Dragonstorm, the card’s value is slowly dropping to more affordable levels, which is excellent for more budget-minded Magic players. Cards like Craterhoof Behemoth often come with evergreen demand due to Commander play, so opening any variant of the Behemoth is a fantastic hit and one that you can easily trade away if you don’t intend to use it. Speaking of card treatments, Craterhoof Behemoth sees a flurry of unique treatments with Clan Borderless, Ghostfire Showcase, and Ghostfire Showcase Halo Foil appearing in Tarkir: Dragonstorm, with the latter (and most expensive) printing only appearing in Collector Boosters.
#7 Dracogenesis
Dracogenesis
Tarkir: Dragonstorm, Mythic
It may not come as a shock to you, but Tarkir: Dragonstorm offers a ton of powerful Dragon cards with a ton of adjacent Dragon support, with Dracogenesis looking to be a massive draw for The Ur-Dragon Commander players. For a whopping eight mana, Dracogenesis lets you cast Dragon spells without paying their mana costs — essentially an Omniscience, but for Dragons. One thing that’s worth noting here is that Dracogenesis also works with your Dragon Commander, meaning you can cast Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm or Ureni of the Unwritten for free from the command zone while also skirting around any Commander tax you may have accrued during a game. While Dracogenesis is definitely a “win more” card, it’s becoming a desirable hit from Tarkir: Dragonstorm Play and Collector Booters while tapping into the broad casual appeal that makes Commander so popular to play.
#6 Voice of Victory (Clan Borderless)
Voice of Victory
Tarkir: Dragonstorm, Rare
It was the bestselling pre-sold card from Tarkir: Dragonstorm going into this week, where attention around Voice of Victory hasn’t diminished and is looking to be a valuable card to open from the set. Grand Abolisher remains a desirable (and disruptive) card to play in Commander, which is why Voice of Victory is becoming a notable hit from Tarkir: Dragonstorm, as it already carries the essence of Grand Abolisher but in a more aggressive manner.
Creating two 1/1 Human Warrior tokens whenever Voice of Victory attacks (due to Mobilize) is excellent, as it means you can spread the damage around while also leveraging the tokens for Sacrifice synergies if needed. However, the Mobilize ability is a bonus, as the primary reason you’re playing the Human Bard is to shut down any spells your opponents want to cast throughout your turn. While traditional copies of Voice of Victory are already climbing in value, it’s the Clan Borderless printing that’s commanding the most interest because players want to have the most exotic variants for their decks — as it’s very likely the card will become a Commander staple upon release.
#5 Call the Spirit Dragons (Draconic Showcase)
Call the Spirit Dragons
Tarkir: Dragonstorm, Mythic
Dragon Commander players don’t need much to win games these days, but Call the Spirit Dragons certainly makes things easier by turning your Dragons on the battlefield into indestructible ones. That isn’t all, as at the beginning of your upkeep, you put a +1/+1 counter on a Dragon you control of that color, and if you happen to put +1/+1 counters on five Dragons this way — you win the game.
Cards like these aren’t necessarily must-haves for Commander, but it’s always nice to have access to an “I win” button, especially if you run something like The Ur-Dragon as your Commander or want to take a more casual approach to playing games. While traditional copies of Call the Spirit Dragons will remain a fantastic hit when cracking those Tarkir: Dragonstorm packs, the stunning Draconic Showcase will come at a premium since there’s a subset of players who will want the fanciest versions for their Commander decks.
#4 Elspeth, Storm Slayer (Ghostfire Showcase)
Elspeth, Storm Slayer
Tarkir: Dragonstorm, Mythic
Elspeth is back once again, and she means business! Elspeth, Storm Slayer looks to be one of the hottest cards you’ll want to open from Tarkir: Dragonstorm. What makes this Planeswalker card so exciting is her passive ability as it’s essentially an Anointed Procession — a card that sees evergreen Commander play as doubling effects are popular in the format. And for one more white mana, you’re gaining a mixture of abilities that helps develop your board into a threatening one. From adding +1/+1 counters to each creature you control to removing a threat, there’s a ton of utility with Elspeth that has driven demand for the card to new levels since its reveal last month.
Market Price: $38.16
Market Price: $44.05
Market Price: $397.82
Despite most of the focus for Elspeth coming from Commander players, there’s merit to running the card competitively with Collector’s Cage as Yoman5 covered a while ago — making it a fantastic card to “surprise” into play without paying any mana! While opening a traditional copy of Elspeth, Storm Slayer is exciting (and valuable) in itself, Ghostfire Showcase, Borderless, and Ghostfire Showcase Halo Foil copies will also command a decent premium upon release, with the latter printing likely being the most expensive copy of the Planeswalker from the set.
#3 Misty Rainforest, Arid Mesa, Verdant Catacombs, etc (Special Guests – Dragonscale Foil)
Market Price: $280.27
Market Price: $338.87
Market Price: $278.71
Market Price: $285.64
Market Price: $286.06
As with most Standard releases these days, the Special Guests return in Tarkir: Dragonstorm. For those unfamiliar, Special Guests are a desirable class of reprints with theming to marry the Standard set they’re printed in. So with Tarkir: Dragonstorm, the Ultimatum cycle first printed in Ikoria: Lair of Behemothsreturn as they fit the three-color theming in the set. However, the real stars of the show are the five enemy-colored Fetch Lands that you can open in Tarkir: Dragonstorm Play and Collector Boosters.
Arid Mesa, Marsh Flats, Misty Rainforest, Scalding Tarn, and Verdant Catacombs each see stunning reprints as part of the Special Guests, but it’s the Dragonscale Foils that will be truly fantastic hits to open from the set. Only appearing in roughly 1% of Collector Boosters, the Dragonscale Foil Special Guests cards are serious value and will see collector demand upon release day and beyond. Fetch Lands remain an evergreen aspect of Magic and continue to see extensive play in every format they’re legal in, where these Dragonscale Foil versions could be as valuable (if not more) than the Expeditions series from Battle for Zendikar and Zendikar Rising.
#2 Ugin, Eye of the Storms (Ghostfire Showcase – Halo Foil)
Ugin, Eye of the Storms
Tarkir: Dragonstorm, Mythic
While there’s a ton of casual interest in Elspeth, Storm Slayer, there’s another Planeswalker seeing a tremendous amount of attention in Tarkir: Dragonstorm, and that is Ugin, Eye of the Storms. For a reasonable seven generic mana, Ugin comes with a lot of text — and all of it is really good. From drawing a card to ramping you on (colorless) mana, each ability Ugin provides is incredible, especially the passive ability to exile a threat that is one (or more) colors when Ugin enters play — also triggering whenever you cast a colorless spell with the Spirit Dragon on the battlefield.
Market Price: $41.93
Market Price: $52.14
Market Price: $139.95
Ugin, Eye of the Storms is seeing the most interest in competitive circles, in particular, within the Modern Urza Tron strategy that makes use of Urza’s Mine, Urza’s Tower, and Urza’s Power Plant to access seven colorless mana as early as turn three, where Ugin, Eye of the Storms is going to be a fantastic pay-off for all of that mana (sorry, Karn Liberated). As a result of all of this excitement, Ugin, Eye of the Storms is looking to be one of the most valuable cards from Tarkir: Dragonstorm upon release, with a multiplier on any unique treatments such as the Ghostfire Showcase, Borderless Reversible, and the Ghostfire Showcase Halo Foil printings. While Halo Foil printings are exclusive to Collector Boosters, it’s likely the Halo Foil copy of Ugin will be the most expensive one out of the series.
#1 Mox Jasper (Retro Foil – Serialized)
Mox Jasper
Tarkir: Dragonstorm, Mythic
If there’s one thing about Magic: The Gathering, it’s that the trading card game has a tremendously long history with card names and naming conventions. Cards such as Black Lotus and Mox Sapphire are so iconic within Magic, meaning it isn’t much of a surprise when Wizards of the Coast revisit classic names for newer cards, such as Mox Jasper.
Even though prices are starting to come down Mox Jasper leading up to Tarkir: Dragonstorm‘s release, it’s the Retro Frame Serialized printing that will end up being the card everybody will want to open from the set. Only appearing in less than 1% of Tarkir: Dragonstorm Collector Boosters, this stunning variant of the Dragon-focused Mox will become one of the most valuable cards from Tarkir: Dragonstorm, as it’s numbered out of 500 along with incredible works from Dan Frazier.
Market Price: $28.27
Market Price: $29.62
Market Price: $16.59
Historically, serialized cards come with a premium due to their incredible rarity — and even if you don’t intend to play Mox Jasper, there’s no doubt you’ll find someone will be eager to own the card for their own collection. Interestingly, the value depends on the number opened of serialized card. For example, if you’ve hit a card with the serialization of #001, #069 (nice), or #420 — you’re definitely in the money due to evergreen cultural trends. However, any number that is closest to #001 will be desirable by collectors, especially ones who love Dragons or Dan Fraizer. Outside of serialization, Mox Jasper looks like an exciting card for Dragon or Changeling Commander builds and will remain a excellent card to open despite the value dipping a little leading up to the set’s release.