MTG: All Tarkir Dragonstorm Commander precons

During our recent MTG Tarkir Dragonstorm preview, we got a little sneak peek at what’s awaiting the Commander playerbase. Since this is an extension of the original Tarkir block, it only makes sense to have a Commander deck for all five of the factions.

In the preview, we also saw two Commanders for each of the decks, though the actual decklists will be coming later. No matter which faction you prefer from the classic Khans of Tarkir block you prefer, there’s something for you — though there have been some changes since those days, from a lore perspective.

Each one of them I think will be incredibly strong in its own way. The Tarkir Dragonstorm set for MTG already looked wildly powerful after just seeing a few cards in it, and I don’t think that trend is going to stop for Commander. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the decks play out, but we can tell you a little something about them, and two of the commanders — the main one, and a Spirit Dragon for each.

Note: We will add the full decklists to this article once they’ve been revealed.

---

All Tarkir Dragonstorm Commander precons in MTG

Abzan Armor (White/Black/Green)

Play defenders, turn toughness into power (Image via Wizards of the Coast)

If you’re a fan of Defender decks in MTG, look no further than the Tarkir Dragonstorm precon Abzan Armor. Its main gimmick is to play Defenders/High Toughness creatures, and then turn that into powerful attacks. Felothar the Steadfast does that for you by having each creature you control assign combat damage equal to their toughness, and can attack as though they didn’t have defender.

If you need some card draw, you can sacrifice a creature to draw cards equal to the sacrificed cards' toughness, and then discard equal to its power. If you pick a 0/6 for example, there’s no downside. Then you have Betor, Ancestor’s Voice. You can give a number of +1/+1 counters on your creatures based on how much life you gained in a turn.

Then you can also return up to one target creature card with mana value less than or equal to the amount of life you lost this turn from your graveyard, and into play. This plays nicely with the first Commander, since you can sacrifice, draw from it, and put something back into play.

---

Jeskai Striker (Blue/Red/White)

Cast extra spells, flurry spell effects (Image via Wizards of the Coast)

The Jeskai Strikers deck for MTG Tarkir Dragonstorm is built around two mechanics - Prowess and Flurry. Elsha, Threefold Master is a 1/1 with Trample and Prowess — whenever you cast a noncreature spell, this creature gets +1/+1 until the end of turn.

Then, whenever Elsha deals combat damage to a player, you make that many 1/1 white Monk creature tokens with Prowess. That really allows you to flood the board with potential game-ending damage, depending on what you hit with.

Then you have Shiko and Narset, Unified, which has Flurry — Whenever you cast your second spell each turn, copy that spell if it targets a permanent or player, and you may choose new targets for the copy. If you don’t copy a spell this way, draw a card. As this is Red/White/Blue, it’s incredibly easy to stack up aggressive combat buffs, and duplicate the right ones at the right time.

---

Sultai Arisen (Black/Green/Blue)

Fill the graveyard, return with Zombie Druids (Image via Wizards of the Coast)

Self-Mill + Graveyard Revival and free creature tokens? Sign me up. Sultai Arisen is based around exactly that, and for that alone I think it will be a popular MTG Tarkir Dragonstorm Commander deck. Both Commander cards work in sync with each other nicely. Kotis, Sibsig Champion lets you cast a creature spell from your graveyard on each of your turns by exiling three cards in addition to other costs.

Then, whenever one or more creatures you control enter, if one or more was from the graveyard, Kotis gets two +1/+1 counters. Teval, the Balanced Scale gives you a self-Mill trigger, by milling 3 anytime it attacks.

You also can put a land card into play from the graveyard tapped, allowing more value from Fetch Lands. In addition, whenever one or more cards leave your graveyard, create a 2/2 black Zombie Druid creature token. That goes neatly with the exile cost for Kotis.

---

Mardu Surge (Red/White/Black)

Make attack tokens, sacrifice them for value (Image via Wizards of the Coast)

Do you like decks that feature lots of tokens, and annoying ways to make your opponent lose life? Then Mardu Surge is here for you in the MTG Tarkir Dragonstorm Commander precon collection. Zurgo Stormrender has Mobilize 1 — so whenever this creature attacks, a tapped/attacking 1/1 red Warrior creature comes into play, that is sacrificed at the end of the next end step.

Whenever a creature token you control leaves the battlefield, if it was attacking you draw a card. Otherwise, each opponent loses 1 life. That’s a ton of value for simply having tokens. I’m also a fan of Neriv, Crackling Vanguard. A flying/deathtouch Spirit Dragon, when it enters you receive two 1/1 red Goblin tokens.

Then, whenever Neriv attacks, exile a number of cards from the top of your deck equal to the number of differently named tokens you control — not just creature tokens. During any turn you attacked with a commander, you can play those cards. This deck can generate massive value out of nowhere, and thus, is going to be a lot of fun to play too, I think.

---

Temur Roar (Green/Blue/Red)

Ramp mana, summon dragons (Image via Wizards of the Coast)

What would a Blue/Green/Anything deck be without mana ramp? Welcome to what could be the most frustrating deck in the MTG Tarkir Dragonstorm Commander collection - Temur Roar. It’s a mana/ramp summon dragons deck, so you will no doubt know exactly how you feel by just this sentence. Eshki, Temur’s Roar receives a +1/+1 counter anytime you cast a creature spell, and if it’s a Power 4+ creature, you draw a card.

If that card’s power is 6 or greater, she deals damage equal to her power to each opponent. That is going to get really bonkers, really fast. Of course, Ureni of the Unwritten is a 7/7 dragon. When it enters or attacks, you look at the top eight cards of your deck. You can then put a Dragon from among them into play. However, since that’s play and not cast, you don’t get the Eshki bonus. You do, however, get a free dragon into play, potentially.

---

Check out our other MTG guides and features:

• MTG Final Fantasy reveals incredible alternate Commander for ‘Revival Trance’ deck
• MTG Aetherdrift review
• MTG Final Fantasy expansion’s Jumbo Cactuar creates some truly ridiculous ways to end games (and friendships)