Unveil 5 New Tarkir Cards: Dragonstorm Set in Magic: The Gathering

While the excitement around Magic: The Gathering's recent crossovers with iconic franchises like Final Fantasy and Spider-Man has been palpable, the upcoming set, Tarkir: Dragonstorm, is set to captivate players by bringing us back to the beloved plane of Tarkir. We're thrilled to offer an exclusive first look at five cards that are poised to make a significant impact at the draft tables next month. This expansion is now available for preorder on Amazon.

Dive into the gallery below to explore all five cards, and continue reading for insights from Wizards of the Coast about their design and the overarching themes of the set.

Magic: The Gathering - 5 New Cards from Tarkir: Dragonstorm

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These five cards form a cycle, each representing one of Magic's colors while sharing common design elements. They are affordable, common-rarity creatures that feature abilities linked to Tarkir's three-color clans, with an additional mechanic that converts mana into a color from that clan.

Wizards of the Coast Senior Game Designer Adam Prosak explains, "Three-color limited environments need quite a bit of mana fixing, at all rarities. We wanted lots of decks to be able to access mana fixing, so we created quite a few designs dedicated to helping solve mana issues. In particular, these creatures allow you to play to the board while developing your mana at the same time - many other designs (such as tapped lands) only make mana and you tend to fall behind in order to fix your mana."

Preorder MTG Tarkir: Dragonstorm Cards

Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm - Play Booster Box

0$164.70 at Amazon

Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm - Collector Booster Box

0$299.88 at Amazon

Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm - Collector Booster

0$24.99 at Amazon

Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm - Commander Deck Bundle - Includes All 5 Decks

0$224.95 at Amazon

Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Deck - Abzan Armor

0$44.99 at Amazon

Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Deck - Jeskai Striker

0$44.99 at Amazon

Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Deck - Sultai Arisen

0$44.99 at Amazon

Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Deck - Mardu Surge

0$44.99 at Amazon

Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Deck - Temur Roar

0$44.99 at Amazon

Senior Worldbuilding Designer Lauren Bond shares that while the mechanical design of this cycle was the initial focus, the team also used common cards to highlight the world of the set. "The passionate action-oriented monks of the Jeskai, the Whispers using Temur magic, Nagas in the Sultai as protectors (and avengers) of the jungle, Mardu military prowess including supporting roles (and that dragons can come in many shapes and sizes!), and Abzan clerics regrowing the lost kin trees," Bond elaborates.

One of the criticisms leveled against some recent Magic sets has been an overreliance on tropes or thematic gimmicks, even when revisiting previous planes. This makes Dragonstorm's straightforward return to Tarkir a refreshing change. Senior Worldbuilding Art Director Forrest Schehl notes that such feedback is crucial for Wizards of the Coast, but the "top-level pitch for Tarkir was established well before the release of Murders at Karlov Manor" and subsequent sets, and remained unchanged. "We wanted to combine Dragons and Clans in a way that hadn’t been seen on Tarkir in the same set and the Dragonstorms that were a defining feature of the plane were going to play a big role in shaping how we approached this 'return-to'. The pressure to get it right was something Lauren and I felt from day one, we always wanted to build the next chapter of this beloved plane with authenticity and substance," Schehl states.

Tarkir: Dragonstorm is now available for preorder, with the set slated for release in both paper and digital formats on April 11. In-store prerelease events will commence on April 4. For a deeper dive into the design and worldbuilding, continue reading the full interview with Wizards of the Coast's Adam Prosak, Lauren Bond, and Forrest Schehl.