Tarkir: Dragonstorm Mechanics
It's time to return to Tarkir, a war-torn plane where elemental tempests known as dragonstorms ravage the landscape, in Tarkir: Dragonstorm. Spawning fearsome wild dragons, these dragonstorms have begun appearing on other planes thanks to the Omenpaths, and now everyone, everywhere is threatened. The five clans have been reformed, reforged, and reimagined since the defeat of the original dragonlords, and if they can stop fighting each other long enough, they may prove valuable allies in the struggle against the dragonstorms. Each clan has its own mechanic to help them in the fight against the dragonstorms, along with some more mechanics from across the plane. Let's take a look!
Endure (Abzan)
The hearty Abzan rely on familial bonds and the strength of their communities. Centered in white, black, and green, the Abzan are prepared for any challenge the other clans or Tarkir itself may present. More than anything, they endure.
Endure is a keyword action that creatures take. It's followed by a number. As a creature endures N, you choose to either put N +1/+1 counters on that creature or create an N/N white Spirit creature token. If an endure ability resolves while the creature isn't on the battlefield, you'll simply create the Spirit token.
Flurry (Jeskai)
The disciplined Jeskai move as one, coordinated on a level that other clans can only marvel at. Centered in blue, red, and white, the Jeskai seek unity of thought and undergo rigorous martial training. Overwhelm your opponents with a flurry of spells and be rewarded!
Flurry is an ability word, and each flurry ability has a different effect. Each flurry ability is a triggered ability that triggers whenever you cast your second spell in a turn. It doesn't matter what happened to the first spell. It may have resolved or been countered. It may even still be on the stack! The flurry ability will resolve before the spell that caused it to trigger.
Note that flurry abilities can trigger only once each turn, and creatures with flurry abilities have to be under your control to see that spell being cast. They don't have to see the first spell, though. If Devoted Duelist is your second spell in a turn, it won't trigger itself, but it can be your first spell, as long as it resolves before you cast your second.
Renew (Sultai)
The resourceful Sultai never let anything go to waste. Centered in black, green, and blue, the Sultai employ necromancy, espionage, and deep knowledge of Tarkir itself to maintain their power. Don't let death be the end of your creatures' usefulness with renew abilities, activated abilities that can only be activated from the graveyard.
Renew is an ability word, and each renew ability has a different effect, although they have some things in common. All renew abilities include exiling the card with renew as part of the activation cost, and all of them can be activated only as a sorcery. All renew effects also involve putting counters on creatures—often +1/+1 counters, sometimes others. Sometimes there are additional effects. It's a bountiful variety, something the Sultai would truly appreciate.
Mobilize (Mardu)
The adaptable Mardu are constantly on the move, their agility always giving them an edge. Centered in red, white, and black, the Mardu look to overwhelm their opponents with mobilize. Mobilize is a triggered ability that triggers whenever a creature with the ability attacks.
The number after mobilize indicates how many tapped and attacking 1/1 red Warrior creature tokens you'll create as the ability resolves. Once mobilize triggers, it doesn't matter what happens to the creature that attacked. You'll create the tokens even if that creature is no longer on the battlefield as the ability resolves, and you'll sacrifice the tokens at the beginning of the next end step even if that creature isn't around at that time.
Like other creatures that enter tapped and attacking, the tokens are never declared as attackers, so they won't trigger any "whenever a creature attacks" abilities.
Harmonize (Temur)
The nomadic Temur prioritize living in concert with their environment. Centered in green, blue, and red, the Temur form close bonds with the creatures they work alongside. They can leverage these bonds to redouble their magic with the harmonize ability.
Harmonize allows you to cast a card from your graveyard by paying its harmonize cost rather than paying its mana cost. In addition, if you cast it this way, you may tap an untapped creature you control as an additional cost to cast that spell. If you do, the total amount of mana you pay is reduced by that creature's power. For example, if you cast Roamer's Routine from your graveyard and also tap a creature you control with power 3, you'll pay only
The cost reduction applies only to the generic mana in the cost, so even if you tapped a creature with power 15, you'd still pay
Omens
With dragonstorms on seemingly every horizon, ill omens are ubiquitous these days. Omen spells give your opponents a glimpse of their doom to come.
Some Dragon cards in the set have their own personal Omen: an instant or sorcery on lower left of the card, similar to Adventure spells. Omens have their own name, type line (complete with the new subtype Omen), mana cost, and rules text. The Dragon's abilities are on the right side of its text box. The Dragon's name, mana cost, type line, and power/toughness are in their usual positions.
As you're casting an Omen card, you choose which part you're casting, the creature spell or the Omen. For example, if you cast Dirgur Island Dragon, it behaves exactly like any other creature spell. It goes on the stack and can be responded to. You hope it resolves, hits the battlefield, and terrorizes your opponent's puny creatures. You know, the usual. If you take this route, you can just ignore everything pertaining to the Omen on the card. But what fun is that?
If you cast a card as an Omen spell, in this case Skimming Strike, only use the Omen's characteristics. You pay
If an Omen card is in your graveyard, hand, or library, it has only the characteristics of the creature card. Ignore the Omen and all its text. If an effect allowed you to search your library for a creature card, you could find Dirgur Island Dragon. But if you were searching for an instant card, you couldn't find Skimming Strike. The same is true for the creature on the battlefield. Dirgur Island Dragon's mana value is 6, for example.
Behold
Tarkir has many impressive sights. Each of the clans has developed a style all their own based on unique cultural influences, ancestry, and centuries of … Oh, look! A dragon!
Several cards in the set ask you to behold a Dragon, often as an additional cost to cast a spell. To behold a Dragon, you can either choose a Dragon you control—you know, just point at it—or reveal a Dragon card from your hand. Some spells may have an additional effect if a Dragon was beheld. This applies no matter which manner of beholding you chose, and it applies no matter what happened to the Dragon or Dragon card in question.
Monocolor Hybrid Mana
Each clan has a three-color identity, so to make casting your cards a little easier, some cards offer you some flexibility in the form of monocolor hybrid mana symbols, sometimes called "twobrid" mana. In case you haven't seen them before, here's a quick look at some of their peculiarities.
You can pay for twobrid mana either by paying the color of mana indicated or by paying
Surveil
Surveil is now what we call an "evergreen" mechanic, meaning that it can show up anywhere and often shows up in every set. Normally, this wouldn't merit inclusion in an article like this, but they gave me this cool card to show off, so who am I to say no?
If you're asked to surveil N, look at that many cards from the top of your library. Put any number of them into your graveyard and the rest back on top of your library in any order. Surveil is great for clearing out cards you don't want to draw, setting up cards you do want to draw, and even filling your graveyard with useful things, like cards with the renew or harmonize abilities. It's not the flashiest mechanic in the bunch, but it's a workhorse that can secure victory at the right moment.
No matter which clan you've aligned with—or even if you're rooting for the dragons—Tarkir: Dragonstorm is filled with heavy hitters for decks new and old. We just kicked off card preview season and will be unveiling sweet new cards over the coming days. You can preorder Tarkir: Dragonstorm at your local game store, online retailers like Amazon, and elsewhere Magic products are sold.
