Tarkir: Dragonstorm Set Review - Minotaur

Rot-Cursed Rakshasa
| art by Chris Rahn

White | Blue | Black | Red | Green | Artifacts & Lands | Allied & Shards | Enemy & Wedges | cEDH | Reprints | Pauper/Budget

Here There be Minotaurs

Well, we're back, baby! We're finally back on Tarkir after over a decade.

Tarkir is just such a vibrant and exciting world, and it feels like such a breath of fresh air for Magic. A chance for Magic to really show how important its worlds are and why it matters in the story.

Tarkir is before my time, but it 's often be whispered about how incredible it was back in the day, so I'm pumped to explore it, and while this Dragonladen world might not have any Minotaurs residing in it, there are still new things Minotaur decks can learn.

As always, this review is targeted toward the formats of Pioneer and EDH, but, by all means, you're welcome to apply my thoughts to other formats.

The bells ring and trumpets blow, Dragons approach, so we best be on the move with the Mardu.

Black

Bone Devourer

To start this Dragon-themed set, let's look at a Dragon that I think will make a big impact with Minotaur decks.

The Bone Devourer

plays really well with aggressive strategies that Minotaurs often apply as most Minotaur decks are often getting into combat and getting creatures killed, both ours and theirs, so when enough die we can flash in the Dragon to make it massive. Alternatively, we can cast this following a board wipe to make an insane threat.

Additionally, Minotaurs often struggle against flying decks, so having a beater of a Dragon can help us defend, and if it gets removed in combat or with a spell we will get a truck load of cards to refill our hand in service to our aggressive playstyle.

This will come down to personal preferences, but I think at minimum four creatures need to die before flashing in Bone Devourer

. With four counters on it, it becomes a decent threat and good enough card advantage for its cost. Some may want to be greedy and wait, but in my opinion Minotaurs can't wait that long.

Desperate Measures

looks insanely powerful not only in Pioneer, but also in EDH. Not only does it give a slight power boost in combat, but when it dies we get to draw two cards!

This effect is reminiscent of Skullclamp

, but while not as broken, it's more versatile because we can use this at instant speed. We can play it as a combat trick to squeeze out extra damage or trade with a blocker. Alternatively, we can also play it on a creature being targeted with removal.

To my knowledge, nothing else in Rakdos for Pioneer offers as much card draw with as little drawbacks other than perhaps Village Rites

or Ancestral Anger

, but Rites

requires to sac a creature, so it can't used as a combat trick, and Ancestral

only draws one card.

It could be argued that Village Rites

pairs very well with Desperate Measures

, allowing you to draw four cards. However, that seems like something you build a deck around, which I don't think is what Minotaurs are looking for, but maybe I think there is good combo potential to explore.

Within Range

does something I'm not sure has ever been done before: it pings equal to the amount of our attacking creatures. This obviously pairs well with decks that go wide, but I think Minotaurs can squeeze some good value out of it.

I'm really interested in seeing how this plays in EDH. With Minotaurs, we're always on the attack, so getting extra chip damage is exciting, as it means were always doing some damage even when blocked.

I see this adding redundancy alongside Throne of the God-Pharaoh

, and dramatically increasing the effectiveness of Wound Reflection

. It gets even better if we use extra combat spells or damage multipliers, like Dictate of the Twin Gods

or City on Fire

Rot-Curse Rakshasa

This Demon

looks like it might be beater in Pioneer Minotaur decks. In the past I have liked to use Bloodrage Brawler

in this spot, but sometimes having to discard a card to cast Bloodrage

leaves us vulnerable to disruption.

Rot-Curse

instead is a bigger body, but it dies after it attacks. This isn't ideal for aggro, but if it connects that's a quarter of an opponent's life.

Then later in the game, we can use the Demon

to decay the enemy board so they can't block and attacking would lead their entire board to die. It's kind of a rock and hard place to be in.

This is all to say, I'm very keen to see how it plays and if it makes the cut.

Strategic Betrayal

This is an interesting edict-type effect as instead of sacrificing, the opponent has to choose a creature to exile, then the graveyard is exiled.

For Pioneer, I'm always interested in these 2-for-1 type of effects for the sideboard, especially when Arclight Phoenix

Decks always tend to pop up.

As Strategic Betrayal

not only removes a creature, but also shuts down what ever they were building in the graveyard.

Red

Cori-Steel Cutter

has so much packed into one card!

By itself, it gets our Minotaurs into the fight by improving their stats and adding trample and haste, which can be very useful to keep up the pressure if our keyword lord Minotaurs die.

Then, it can also generate Monk tokens with prowess, which can protect us when we swing out. Though activating the flurry ability will be harder later in the game when we run low on cards.

I think this has more of a chance in EDH, but I can see a world where one or two are played in Pioneer so can keep the aggressive momentum going, because in my experience, if we're behind playing an un-hasted Minotaur isn't often helpful enough.

Magmatic Hellkite

I can see this being a good inclusion in Pioneer as a one-copy inclusion or as sideboard material.

What I like the most about it is that we can remove utility lands, or manlands, or tri-color lands, and force them to get a stunned basic.

This will slow down our opponents considerably and give us a decent flyer to use in our attacks. Everything a midrange deck could want.

Infantry Shield

I don't know about the rest of you, but this Equipment seems insane!

For one it gives menace, which helps us attack, but it also has mobilize X, where we create X tokens equal to the equipped creature's power.

Given that our Minotaur lord cards buff each other up quite well, it doesn't seem unlikely that we could create six attacking tokens one each of our combats, and if we control a Taurean Mauler

, that amount only gets bigger and bigger with each passing turn.

These tokens will dramatically increase our combat damage, especially with cards like Impact Tremors

or Conspiracy

to make the tokens into Minotaurs. Even after combat, they have their uses, as we can sac them to an Altar

before they sac themselves.

I think there is going to be a lot of cases where the Shield will decide a game, even if it isn't immediately apparent to the rest of the table.

Multicolor

All-Out Assault

As far as extra combat cards go, this seems expensive to cast and is pretty restrictive. For EDH you need to playing a Mardu commander, and currently none exist for Minotaurs (but we can dream). As it stands, I think Alesha, Who Smiles at Death

is the best Mardu commander for EDH.

But, there is more to this card, as it serves to be a keyword lord by giving deathtouch, but also improving stats, so already it's redundancy for Felhide Petrifier

, but then we get the extra combat phase, which pairs well in Moraug

So given the mana restrictions, I don't think this will be played in most Minotaur deck lists, but if you have a Mardu Minotaur deck, this is perfect for it.

Neriv, Heart of the Storm

seems like a decent card for EDH and could be a good choice for a Mardu Minotaur commander. As mentioned above, currently the best choice is Alesha, Who Smiles at Death

because she's able to resurrect many Minotaur cards.

Neriv

has a chance given that that he doubles the power of any creatures played that turn. In Minotaurs this can be very devastating with all our lord effects, but it also makes Deathbellow War Cry

that much more deadly, as all four Minotaurs gain the damage buff. and if damage multiplier effects are all ready on the field, this gets even more ridiculous.

The Tempest Fades

Ugin has returned and has tamed the Dragonstorms. A fragile peace settles over the Tarkir lands as the Dragon threat finally lessens, but we can't relax yet: the meditation realm collapsed, and its fracturing leads to the edges of reality itself and the Blind Eternities.

But before then, a new Fantasy approaches, one that I can only hope is not Final.

Until then, be sure to check out the other set reviews found on the Commander's Herald & EDHREC news sheets for other perspectives on this new set.

Rot-Cursed Rakshasa| art by Chris Rahn