The Dragons of Takir Pre-Release Review

The Dragons have returned to Takir thanks to the efforts of Ugin the Spirit Dragon and Sarkhan Vol. The Dragons now control the clans that roam Tarkir. More importantly, Sarkon Vol, is finally whole without the madness inflicted upon him. It is hinted some of this has passed onto Ugin or he is being tormented by his nemesis because that is what Nicol Bolas would do anyway.

The clans have been renamed for the Dragon Lords that control the clan. The Five clans are now ruled by the 5 Dragonlords from Fate Reforged: Dromoka (Green/White), Ojutai (Blue/White), Silmugar (Black/Blue), Kolaghan (Black/Red) and Atarka (Green/Red). This cuts down the colors of the clans from 3 colors to 2 colors. The Dragonlords all have fairly potent effects and are not beasts to be taken lightly. Sitting at 5-6 mana, they are properly a force to be reckoned with. Each clan has at least one other multi-colored dragon it can call on.

The change to the clan's colors eliminates the wedge and it is just 2 allied colors for the clans. Deck building just became a bit easier to use all the colors available. This was especially important as the deck could function better without any fetch-lands or Mana fixing. Still, people would run 3 color decks, even if it was just a quick splash.

When the pre-release began, you were given your clan pack. This small box included: your Dragon's spin-down die, 4 Dragons of Tarkir boosters, 1 Fate Reforged booster and 1 seeded clan booster pack. Using these cards, and the basic lands you could get from the venue, you were to build a minimum 40 card deck. You would generally want around 16-18 lands in your deck. The rest depended on the kind of deck you were building. Each archetype has its own way to run and there are too many to directly talk about them all. In the pre-release you would encounter a variety of decks. All you could hope for is that you built your deck right. The good news is that you had all the cards you pulled as your card pool and you could modify your deck between matches. If you happened to win some useful cards from the Tarkir Dragonfury game then you could add those into your deck. You could also trade with other players to modify your card pool. It can prove useful.

The Dice Game, Tarkir Dragonfury, has fun to play. The goal was to use your clan's spin-down die to knock down as many pieces as you can. Each piece is worth 1-4 points. In the back middle was a point modifier, allowing you to double your points. You would use your spin-down die as a Breath Weapon to plow down the annoying humans of Tarkir. You got 2 throws with your die and you got to keep your best point value of them.

Depending on the total you were awarded different cards: 3 points – Land, 9 points – Land and Common, 12 – Land, Common and Uncommon, 18+ points – Land, Common, Uncommon and Rare. For the venue where we were the prizes were: Evolving Wilds (Alternate Art), Dragon Fodder (Alternate Art), Dragon Servant (Alternate Art) and Foe-Razer Regent (Alternate Art). Each of these cards were in limited supply with the Dragon Servant being exhausted before the event was over. The highest score for the venue by the end was 36.

The Pre-Release of the Dragons of Tarkir was a lot of fun to attend. People are there to have a good time, with a few there to take home the prizes. The Dragons have returned to Tarkir and Ugin has come out of his millennium of slumber. Sarkon Vol is whole once again. Narest has transcended to being a Planewalker.