Magic the Gathering’s Tarkir Dragonstorm Prerelease Experience

The image above is the deck that I built for pre-release Tarkir Dragonstorm(yes, my playmat is Blood Moon). I played this to a 2-2 finish. I fought HARD every round, but some cards are so hard to beat. One game, I lost because I was not skilled enough to draw red mana. It happens to us all. I had a great time playing at the event, though. Before I go into how I think the greater Tarkir Dragonstorm Limited will progress, though, let me go into what my friends played. Sage of the Hours was my MVP card for matches. Kept me in games I had no business being in.

What Decks Did My Friends Play?

As I said, one of my friends was going in with the belief that Black and White were the best cards in Tarkir Dragonstorm’s Limited format. He had done a pre-release that morning as well. Both he and one of my other friends got the Mardu boxes. One of my friends got a Sultai box(he was seated right next to me), and the final guy in our group was a Temur player. 2 of my friends built Mardu decks(the Temur player and the first guy) and 2 of my friends built Sultai decks(the other Sultai guy and the 2nd Mardu player), so I wasn’t the only one to switch clans.

Nearly all of my friends finished 2-2 with me. Except for one guy who dropped out in Round 3 cause he was tired and hungry. Overall, they had a great time doing the event. Everyone had pretty exciting matches(mine were often finished quickly, so I could roam around). In general, they had also constructed removal-heavy decks that applied early pressure. Except for the other Sultai guy who opened his box with me, he built a straight control deck, and his draft was wildly good. I have featured his decklist below.

How is Tarkir Dragonstorm Limited?

It’s a pretty slow format. My games ended early, but I was the exception to the rule. We arrived on time, and we left the store at 1 am. Every round had at least 1 or 2 tables going at a time. My friend, in particular, the very first guy who liked Mardu, went to time every single round of the event. He even had to decide because he made it to turn five after time was called. Another friend(the third Mardu player) went to time at least twice. The two Sultai guys, from what I can recall, did not go to time once.

Mobilize is very powerful in limited. It applies an enormous amount of pressure, and there is a shockingly powerful synergy with it in the set. Black removal is efficient and numerous. If you look at my draft, I had 2 Dragon’s Prey. Those are two different cards that say destroy target creature. Many of my games involved playing a threat and casting removal spells on repeat until my opponent gave up or ran out of life. White had a bit of both good threats and removal.

It’s hard to stick a creature in this Limited format. It’s hard to end games because it is so easy to tell with your opponent’s board. The featured decklist even has a board wipe Omen. He had a repeatable board wipe in his Sealed deck. I have no idea if he ever cast it, but it was available to him. Tarkir Dragonstorm is a fun Limited format. It’s slow, but the cards are strong and fun to play with. In particular, Mardu stands out as being far more powerful than the others. Jeskai is a sleeper pick, though. There are some cool Flurry effects.

Overall, it was a fun time, and I highly encourage everyone to find a local game store and participate in Magic the Gathering events!