Well, Magic players, our return to Tarkir is almost here! As preview season has gone on, I've been studying all the new cards in search of bulk staples. This time around, it felt like card after card was a hit, with almost every other common and uncommon fitting the bill!
My name is Tyler 'Savesya' Bucks, and I'm here to highlight some of the best bulk cards from Tarkir: Dragonstorm. Like I alluded to earlier, this set is so jam-packed with great cards that I have to split this list in two, so this week we have part 1, and be sure to come back next week for part 2!
Sunset Strikemaster
Let's kick things off with some exciting new design space for Magic with Sunset Strikemaster, one of the only unrestricted red mana dorks ever printed! Yes, I am a nerd when it comes to expanding the color pie, and in my opinion, creature ramp works so well in this color. On top of tapping for a red, you can also spend three mana to snipe a big flyer when the time is right! This card is just great on so many levels.
A really cool commander from last year that would love the Strikemaster is Herigast, Erupting Nullkite. Decks built around this Dragon usually have a higher curve, so any way to generate mana is welcomed! On top of that, creature sources of mana are extra helpful with Herigast, since they can be sacrificed towards those emerge costs. Tapping Sunset Strikemaster, then sacrificing it to your commander brings its cost down to just five mana on its own!
Auroral Procession
Next up we have Auroral Procession, bringing in some classic recursion to the list. Two mana to bring any card from your graveyard back to your hand is a great rate, but the fact this spell is an instant is what sets it apart. Getting back a key piece for your deck on the end step before your turn will throw the rest of the table off their game while setting you up for success!
Flubs, the Fool is all about cycling through your deck as fast as possible, so having an instant-speed way to get back a card you discarded along the way can be incredibly useful. More effects like Auroral Procession in a Flubs deck allows you to throw away cards more confidently since you know you have ways to get them right back!
Frontline Rush
I don't want to alarm you, but we have a better version of Raise the Alarm on our hands! Frontline Rush is an instant that not only has the ability to make you two Goblins, but it can also make one of your creatures pretty huge. The obvious home for this card is in a token deck, since you can either add to your army or built up one unblocked attacker to help you close out the game.
Large boards and explosive combats are what Jinnie Fay, Jetmir's Second is all about. She allows you to turn any token into a vigilant Dog or a hasty Cat, so having a way to make a few of those at instant speed can come in very clutch. Plus, you could make one big doggy or fierce kitty with Frontline Rush's second pump effect!
Fresh Start
One of the main issues with enchantment-based removal is it's usually sorcery-speed; however, Fresh Start brings flash to the table. Coming down and removing a creature's abilities while also lowering its power is a nasty combo. With decks becoming more and more reliant on their commanders, interaction like this helps you slow players down and force them to deal with the enchantment before anything else.
One of the newest enchantment decks on the block is The Master of Keys. This commander gives your enchantments escape, which is already a very powerful effect. When you can bring a removal piece like Fresh Start back out at instant speed, it could definitely take your opponents by surprise.
Tempest Hawk
Tempest Hawk is a new addition to the growing list of cards with the text "a deck can have any number of cards named _____." This time around, we get a 2/2 flyer that, when it deals damage to a player, you search for another Tempest Hawk. I love how this card can grow its ranks so aggressively. If you hit with three, you'll find another three, then hit with six, find another six, and so on... Which can become overwhelming pretty quickly.
Let's be honest, the best commander to helm a Tempest Hawk deck is Kastral, the Windcrested. Not only does it benefit Birds by recurring them, or buffing them, but it also allows you to draw cards when they hit your opponents, so that makes your gameplan very simple: play Birds, deal damage, win.
Heritage Reclamation
Our next card will hopefully inspire more players to run graveyard hate. Sure, we've had Return to Nature as an option for a few years, but Heritage Reclamation has a small difference that puts it leagues above past options. The fact you draw a card when you exile something from an opponent's bin makes this feel basically free to run. Plus, the fact you have the option to destroy an artifact or enchantment just makes this a great budget staple moving forward.
If you got the new Sultai precon, and you're running Teval, the Balanced Scale as the commander, Heritage Reclamation might be a good inclusion for the deck. I know you most likely won't use that graveyard exile on yourself, but having the option to make a Zombie and draw a card at the cost of getting rid of an unneeded card in your bin isn't too bad.
Hardened Tactician
Hardened Tactician is an absolutely crazy card: not only does it work great with one of the set's new mechanics, mobilize, allowing you to sacrifice tokens that will be dying anyway, but it also synergizes with so many other deck archetypes. It can turn your Food, Blood, and Maps into new cards for only one mana, as well as lowering the cost of cracking your Clues. In my opinion, I think we will see this card showing up in decks for years to come.
Tivit, Seller of Secrets is already an incredibly powerful commander, but let's give it a little more help, shall we? Adding Hardened Tactician to your list will now give all those Clues you're making an extra boost. Spending one mana to draw a card versus two is a huge difference, helping you refill your hand with ease.
Lie in Wait
Recursion plus removal is a nasty combo. Lie in Wait lets you bring a creature from your graveyard back to your hand as well as dealing damage equal to its power to another target creature. If you really want to add insult to injury, you can get revenge on the player that might have been responsible for that card being in your graveyard in the first place. Putting it back into your hand and hitting their commander is the type of petty behavior I'm here for.
A commander that tends to put some really nasty creatures into the graveyard is Indominus Rex, Alpha. These decks are filled with scary threats that have all kinds of keyword-filled text boxes, so when you cast your commander you don't have to worry about losing those creatures forever because they can come back with a vengeance!
Duty Beyond Death
If you want to save your whole board from ending up in the bin, Duty Beyond Death is a great solution. Two mana for an instant that makes you sacrifice a creature to save the rest of your team is strong enough as is. However, it also puts a +1/+1 counter on each creature you save, which might not seem like a major boon, but when you think about the rest of the table losing their creatures, and yours are better than ever; that could put you in position to take the game.
Running this new protection spell in a Shalai and Hallar deck could possibly just end the game if you have a big enough board. Putting a counter on each creature you control means that your commander will deal that much damage to one of your opponents. Imagine someone casting a board wipe thinking they are going to save the game, only to have it all blow up in their face when you send a big fireball of karma right back at them!
Yathan Tombguard
A card that cares a lot about creatures with counters on them is Yathan Tombguard! Three mana for a menacing 2/3 is a nice rate, but allowing you to draw a card anytime you hit a player with a modified creature is the real star of the show. Not only does this help propel midrange decks forward, but it can also warp the entire game by forcing your foes to make risky blocks in order to slow you down.
This creature is going to fit right in with my favorite commander, Shadrix Silverquill! I adore this deck, so any new toy that ups its draw power is a welcomed one. Also, since Shadrix will put a counter on the Tombguard, you'll have another menacing attacker to help you draw even more cards! If you want to see my personal decklist, you can check it out right here on my Archidekt.
Seize Opportunity
We talked about red ramp at the start of this list, but now it's time for red card draw. Seize Opportunity's first mode lets you to impulse draw two cards at instant speed, which is a great rate at only three mana, especially if you cast it right before your turn. On top of that, if you really need an extra power buff, you can give two off your creatures +2/+1 to add onto an already pivotal attack.
Pia Nalaar, Consul of Revival is the perfect home for this new card. Seize Opportunity giving you access to two new cards that you can play from exile will add to your Thopter army. You can also use Seize's second ability to buff the power of two of your evasive tokens, so they can punch even harder during an attack... Wait, do Thopters punch? Or do they just like fly headfirst into an opponent? I have so many questions...
Bone-Cairn Butcher
Closing out the list is a card that's going to be responsible for closing out plenty of games, it's Bone-Cairn Butcher. Four mana for a 4/4 Demon with mobilize 2 is great, but it also gives all your attacking tokens deathtouch. The fact that this can make you two tokens on its own is nice, but it's really going to shine when it turns an entire board full of creature into deathtouching fiends!
When it comes to a deck suggestion for this one, I'm actually going to change it up and say you should make a PDH deck around this card! Pauper Commander is a format where your whole deck has to be made up of commons except the twist is that any uncommon creature can be your commander! The Butcher giving you access to three colors is very beneficial in PDH; when you add all of its other abilities to the mix, you have a real powerhouse on your hands (all four of them). Personally, I have never built a Pauper Commander deck, so if any readers have experience with that format, feel free to reach out and tell me all about it!
The Wrap Up!
So there you have it! Part 1 of the best bulk cards from Tarkir: Dragonstorm! This set is just incredible, and a prime example of that is the sheer number of cards at any rarity that are playable in commander! If you're playing in a draft or sealed event, be on the lookout for the cards on this list, because there's hidden gems all throughout those packs. As I said before, there will be a part 2 of this list next week, so I will see you right back here for another Bulk Up!
