by Johnny Cycles, April 1st, 2025
Spring Break is here for my kids, so I won’t be posting anything the first week of April. That’s the bad news. The good news is that Tarkir: Dragonstorm releases April 8 on MTGO! Dragons are my first love in Commander, Modern, Pioneer…well, in all the formats. I can’t wait to test out the new cards!
These are the three cards I want to test out first, but they are largely enablers for decks I’ve already played (Gruul Dragons, Mono Red Dragons, and Rakdos Dragons). Of these, I’m most excited to try out Sarkhan, Dragon Ascendant in conjunction with Magda, the Hoardmaster in a Rakdos shell. My Rakdos Dragons deck performed woefully a year and a half ago. Can some new additions make it compete at the level I think it should?
Unfortunately, other than Magmatic Hellkite, Tarkir: Dragonstorm isn’t giving us a playable Dragon for the Modern format. For Dragons to compete, they need to have at least 4 toughness and haste and cost no more than 5 mana. I’ve been calling for a 4/4 flying, hasty Dragon to be printed for 4 mana, but, alas, Wizards has not answered.
Rather than power creeping Dragons by lowering their mana cost, Wizards instead chose to give us a bunch of tri-colored Dragons that offer value in other ways. Some, like Betor, Kin to All, Ureni, the Song Unending, and Shiko, Paragon of the Way, do things the turn they enter, even if that thing isn’t attacking. Of the three, Shiko, Paragon of the Way is the most playable and powerful.
Meanwhile, Neriv, Heart of the Storm is our only 4-mana mythic Dragon, but requires us to play a second, hasty threat to take advantage of it. We could, of course, use it as a top-end to an aggressive deck, but then it wouldn’t really be a Dragon deck. Still, it’s worth trying out in place of Rampaging Raptor or Questing Beast.
Finally, Teval, Arbiter of Virtue is an intriguing option that could slot in to a Sultai graveyard deck with cards like Psychic Frog, Tarmogoyf, and Abhorrent Oculus, but my first thought is the deck would become weaker by adding the 5-drop.
Still, I’m excited to test these Dragons out in Modern and Pioneer!
There’s another card that’s gotten some hype and it’s Dracogenesis. I don’t think we try and play this card fairly, but instead look to the various Omniscience decks that cheat the massive enchantment onto the battlefield. I’ve played against a variety of brews in Modern that I can look to for a blueprint, while there currently happens to be a Standard deck that uses Abuelo’s Awakening to return Omniscience to the battlefield from the graveyard for 4 mana. I think a brew like this one is the best positioned to play Ureni, the Song Unending.
Clarion Conqueror is an exciting new Dragon that can find a home in my Boros Gideon Tribal deck. I’m also excited to try it out in a more dedicated Prison deck in both Modern and Pioneer.
Finally, Mox Jasper has gotten a lot of attention simply because it’s a mox. And while I’m going to pick up a playset of the legendary artifact once it drops low enough, I don’t think it’ll be good in any of my current Dragon builds. It’s possible I’ll find a home for it in one my brews with the new Dragons from the set, but I’m not holding out hope. I do think it has potential in a deck not looking to play it fairly, but that’s not a route I’m interested in taking.
Tarkir: Dragonstorm has given me a ton of exciting Dragons to brew around. I have a feeling I’ll be building decks with these cards for quite awhile! I can’t wait to try them out and share the gameplay with all of you!
Thanks for reading!
Schedule
April 4th – Off – my kids have Spring Break.
April 11th – Dragons in Modern – Mono Red Dragons with Sarkhan, Dragon Ascendant
April 18th – The Podkind, Chapters 33 and 34 – the Podkind’s training speeds up in the aftermath of the attack and they are given a powerful, new weapon to aid them in their mission.
April 25th – Commander – Simic Artifacts with Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student
The Usual Blurb
My goal is to publish an article between Wednesday and Friday every week. I am a stay-at-home dad of three with a part-time job, though, so there may be weeks that life gets in the way. Whenever possible, I’ll publish articles and videos when they’re ready. Published articles with edited game play are pretty time-intensive, hence the once-a-week-schedule. However, I’ll publish videos of unedited practice matches to my YouTube channel when I can and when it makes sense. Be sure to check there if you’re looking for a match but it isn’t yet on the site.
If there is a topic you want me to write about, a deck you want me to try out, or if you want less of one thing and more of another, let me know in the comments or email me: johnnycycles16@gmail.com. If you enjoy the site, please let your friends know via word of mouth or social media or messenger pigeon, if that’s your preference. This is a relatively new site that needs all the clicks it can get!
Thanks for reading and watching, subscribing and sharing!
About Me
I’m a former Russian literature professor who specialized in 19th-century Russian literature. I love Dostoevsky more than Tolstoy, but both will change your life. I’m currently a stay-at-home dad of three with a part-time job. I love fantasy fiction, mysteries, and horror movies. If you’re surprised at the length of my articles, hopefully my history as an academic plus my love of fantasy help explain it…
Thanks for reading! I look forward to reading your comments on my articles, Russian literature, or the best fantasy series ever written (Tolkien, Jordan, Sanderson?).
