10 Tarkir: Dragonstorm cards to keep an eye Post-Rotation

Standard rotation is coming. Starting with the prerelease of Edge of Eternities, sets from Dominaria United to March of the Machines: Aftermath leave the format, and with them, a range of preexisting options and staples that have solidified in recent years: Temporary Lockdown, Cut Down, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Monastery Swiftspear, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Pain Lands, and half of the Fast Lands are just a few examples.

With this blank space and the clear Metagame shifts it brings, it's natural that some previously irrelevant cards may gain more space in Standard, whether due to their individual power level, interaction with a specific mechanic, or simply because their deck becomes more viable without certain cards.

In this series of articles, we've listed cards from each set remaining in Standard that deserve a second look for the next season, and today we're covering cards from Tarkir: Dragonstorm.

Clarion Conqueror

There are now three activated abilities whose cost involves tapping creatures, and two of them are attached to artifacts. Combined with other troublesome activated abilities like Joshua, Phoenix's Dominant or Planeswalkers like Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, there are enough targets to make Clarion Conqueror a worthy card for sideboards or even maindecks if necessary, especially if Spacecrafts gain more competitive relevance.

Caustic Exhale

Without Cut Down, Standard black decks need to find the best one-mana interaction possible in the new format.

Options include Stab, Grim Bauble, and the new Tragic Trajectory, but Caustic Exhale shouldn't be ignored either, especially if dragons like Decadent Dragon, Marang River Regent, and Scavenger Regent gain more prominence in future archetypes, not to mention the possibility of Lorwyn Eclipsed bringing back Changelings, which interacts with the Behold keyword.

Magmatic Helkite

Magmatic Hellkite is one of the most efficient dragons in Standard right now, and its ETB trigger can keep decks with very greedy mana bases in check. It, along with Scavenger Regent and perhaps Decadent Dragon, are great enablers for Caustic Exhale next season.

Bloomvine Regent

Golgari Midrange will likely be one of the relevant archetypes at the start of the new season, and just as Dark Confidant is the payoff for a variant with a lower mana curve, Bloomvine Regent is one of the potential enablers for a late-game-focused version, in addition to making it easier to cast another copy of it with its Omen.

Herd Heirloom

Herd Heirloom does a little bit of everything for aggressive archetypes based on high-power creatures. It turns cards like Surrak, Elusive Hunter and Scrapshooter into sources of card advantage, speeds up the casting of four-mana creatures like Magmatic Hellkite or Jenova, Ancient Calamity, and also fixes mana for lists of three or more colors.

Seem pretty decent in the right shell, and a slower format might benefit from running this kind of card.

Sarkhan's Resolve

Tifa Lockhart Stompy sometimes runs Sarkhan's Resolve in the sideboard as a counter to flying creatures like Abhorrent Oculus and Marang River Regent without losing a pump slot for her explosive plays.

This role, besides remaining relevant in the new season, can also be played in other green aggro lists like Gruul Delirium, although in this case, Sarkhan's Resolve competes with Pawpatch Formation for the versatile hate slot that deals with flying creatures.

Surrak, Elusive Hunter

Surrak, Elusive Hunter does a little bit of everything: it's low-cost, has evasion, comes with a Shapers' Sanctuary attached, and bypasses counterspells, but it didn't have much play since it came out in the same set as Cori-Steel Cutter, which hindered targeted removals.

Some Golgari Midrange lists have already been running two copies of it in their lists, now that the Metagame is slower and more geared towards removal and trades, and this trend may continue after Edge of Eternities.

Surrak will be relevant as long as one-for-one trades between creatures and removal are the preferred choice, but if we return to metagames where sweepers are the answer, it will lose ground.

Disruptive Stormbrood

Disruptive Stormbrood is also already showing up in some lists and deserves attention now that Anoint with Affliction is also leaving Standard. It technically addresses most of the threats that Caustic Exhale would also address, but with the added bonus of having a Disenchant attached to a Dragon that can be revealed for Behold abilities.

Dragonback Assault

The viability of Dragonback Assault depends largely on how viable a traditional Ramp, rather than a version that simply cheats on mana costs, will be in the new Standard.

Decks like Yuna Overlords are unlikely to run this card because the two-color splash can be challenging, but if there's room with Overlord of the Hauntwoods, creating a 4/4 Dragon with each of its attacks, in addition to the traditional land drops, an enchantment that does it all while also cleaning up the board off small creatures might be a defining card.

Ureni, the Song Unending

Now that Atraxa, Grand Unifier has left the format, Ureni, the Song Unending could be the endgame for Ramp lists.

The similarities to Dragonlord Atarka put Ureni in an interesting spot for the future format. Besides protection against the two main colors that could easily deal with it, the Temur dragon also benefits from putting plenty of lands into play, even with Overlord of the Hauntwoods.

For Reanimator lists, however, Ureni probably still loses in direct competition with Valgavoth, Terror Eater, as these decks don't capitalize as well on its ETB effect.

That's all for today!

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!

Thanks for reading!