While Aetherdrift left me feeling a bit checked out due to card quality, Dragonstorm: Tarkir has me fully back in. This set is absolutely incredible, both thematically and in terms of card quality. I was once again back to cutting down my list of 20-30 cards (25 this time) to 10, which is a welcome change from Aetherdrift.

I have also never really realized how “Dragon Guy” I actually am. I don’t think of myself that way, and I certainly don’t love dragons as much as other people do, but I like them more than maybe I care to admit. The showcase frame of this set is excellent, and it’s cool to see the variety of dragons that this set provides.

Reprints

Twin Bolt

Twinbolt probably isn’t good enough to see play but it is noteworthy that it is here. It’s a potential two-for-one for two mana and while on paper there should be enough small red creatures running around for that scenario to happen somewhat frequently, most of those red creatures are X/2s. In a world where those creatures aren’t incredibly pushed Twin Bolt is much better but unfortunately we live in the pushed world where it probably isn’t good but it’s cool to have.

The Top 10

Kin-Tree Severance

Kin-Tree Severance is interesting. I think it is unplayable unless you are specifically in Abzan colors or have the ability to make Abzan mana, but where Severance gets interesting to me is with Up the Beanstalk, since even if you cast it for three mana, it still has a mana value of six, so it will trigger Beans. It also always trades even or up on mana if you cast it for three mana. It’s a bit like Despark but there are plenty more three drops than four drops and the Beanstalk synergy could be pretty real.

Caustic Exhale

Caustic Exhale is a sneaky one, and while you don’t want your removal spell to make you work, if you can reliably have a Dragon in your hand or on board, this is basically a significantly better Cut Down. While that is a big ask, in a Dragon build that is quite a nice pay off. I don’t know the exact number of Dragons you want in your list to optimize this costing one mana and while this would not be a playable card at two mana without the upside of cost reduction, a two mana instant speed -3/-3 is not the worst thing in the world but if you can get it to reliably cost one, I think you’ll be very happy with this one.

Dragon Sniper

Dragon Sniper has enough keywords that I just figure it has to be good somewhere. Does it wear auras well? Does it get +1/+1 counters from something? I have no idea but based solely on vibes it has to fit in. Vigilance, Deathtouch, and Reach inherently makes it a good defender and if you can increase the power somehow it’ll be an equally good attacker. At the very least, the Finn the Fangbearer players are hyped about this one.

Static Snare

Welcome to the fray White’s Witchstalker Frenzy! Static Snare looks very good to me in aggressive white decks. It is not hard to get this to cost 1-2 mana where it is a very good effect, with the upside of hitting artifacts. It notably is also good against these decks, as, like Witchstalker Frenzy, it only cares about how many creatures are attacking, not your creatures specifically. This screams sideboard staple to me and I think it’ll be a very good option for those decks.

Skirmish Rhino

People are pretty rightfully losing their minds over Skirmish Rhino and I can’t say that I blame them. It’s a very fun call back and feels more like a 2025 version of Siege Rhino. One mana less for the trade off of one less life drain and one less P/T may not seem like a great trade but one mana is all the difference here. In an aggro matchup, Skirmish Rhino helps stabilize the board a full turn quicker than Siege Rhino, as a 3/4 is still nothing to scoff at for three mana. I can’t say how good it will be but I can assure you it’ll be among the most played commons and uncommons from the set, at least early.

Auroral Procession

Auroral Procession is awesome. I never realized how much I wanted an instant speed Regrowth until now. Realistically this will probably only see significant play in some kind of combo list but it’s a tempting card to just jam in anything honestly. It also has random upside of trigger Insidious Roots in some kind of Sultai Roots list and could work in decks like Lotus Field or the Time Warp decks we see in Modern sometimes.

Disruptive Stormbrood/Twinmaw Stormbrood

Instead of combining these into one spot, I’m going to count these as my fourth and third cards, respectively, as they are quite similar, but I want to rank them differently.

Disruptive Stormbrood is better than Twinmaw Stormbrood on both halves of the card, giving you options for a lot of different removal, with the Omen half removing creatures and the Dragon half removing artifacts and enchantments. This is pretty versatile, and I think the concept of a removal spell that shuffles back into your deck might actually be good.

I give Twinmaw Stormbrood the edge over Disruptive because I think the Omen part is pretty significantly better. They both have their limitations and are obviously both sorceries but Roast is a real card people have played in the pas,t and the Omen is quite literally Roast. I suspect people would be much more eager to play Roast if it was also a 5/4 flyer that gained five life. I know it isn’t an Adventure, but this would be an insane Adventure card. But a Roast that returns itself to your deck with the upside of also being a stabilizing threat seems quite good. I’m very in on playing this card.

Channeled Dragonfire

We’ve seen the full gambit of outcomes when it comes to Shock variants. Burst Lightning has proven to be a success with an extra cost allowing it to deal four damage, but what about one with a better form of Flashback? I think Channeled Dragonfire is very good for a variety of decks, even as a sorcery that only deals two. It’s pretty versatile and can be cast twice,which helps a lot of different decks from aggro to spell slinger archetypes. I’d expect this to play better than it looks.

Sunpearl Kirin

I’m putting Sunpearl Kirin at one because I’m calling my shot that this will replace Fear of Isolation in Bounce lists. I know you’re trading two toughness, it being an Enchantment, and being able to bounce a land (which is upside), but Kirin is significantly more flexible and acts as both a generic bounce similar to how Fear of Isolation worked but it can also function similarly to a mini version of This Town Aint Big Enough because it can protect your stuff at instant speed. The ability to do that seems incredibly impactful, and there’s maybe a world where this and Fear of Isolation exist together, but the flexibility this provides seems too good to pass up in the Esper lists.

Honorable Mentions

Favorite Card in the Set

Magmatic Hellkite

Magmatic Hellkite is awesome, and I think this is the best version of this effect that we’ve seen. Blowing up a land with a 4/5 flyer is obviously good, but the really compelling thing here is the stun counter. This not only provides you the advantage of making your opponent’s mana worse, but it also sets them back a turn, which is quite a large tempo advantage. I really hope this sees play somewhere, and I know I’ll be brewing around it.

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Dragonstorm is a bit of an end of an era in that it’s the last Standard set before the Universes Beyond era officially starts, and while I have made a promise to myself to give Final Fantasy and the ensuing UB sets a real shot, I’m happy that the set before this big shift is very much a Magic set. There are a lot of cards in this set I want to play with, and I am excited to do so.