While Magic: The Gathering’s huge crossovers with issues like Final Fantasy and Spider-Man is perhaps stealing the highlight recently, the following set within the line-up is already storming towards us. Tarkir: Dragonstorm returns to Magic’s personal airplane of Tarkir, and we’ve obtained an unique first take a look at a 5 playing cards that I count on we’ll be seeing a whole lot of on the draft desk subsequent month. (The growth is available to preorder now on Amazon).
Flip by means of the gallery under to see all 5 playing cards, and skim on for a phrase from Wizards of the Coast about their design and the set as a complete.
These 5 playing cards are what’s known as a “cycle,” with all of them sharing some widespread design floor unfold throughout every of Magic’s colours. In this case, all 5 are low cost, common-rarity creatures with a capability tied to certainly one of Tarkir’s three-color clans, and one other that permits you to flip mana right into a shade from that clan.
“Three-color restricted environments want fairly a little bit of mana fixing, in any respect rarities” explains Wizards of the Coast Senior Game Designer Adam Prosak. “We needed a lot of decks to have the ability to entry mana fixing, so we created fairly just a few designs devoted to serving to clear up mana points. In explicit, these creatures assist you to play to the board whereas creating your mana on the similar time – many different designs (corresponding to tapped lands) solely make mana and also you are likely to fall behind as a way to repair your mana.”
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Senior Worldbuilding Designer Lauren Bond says that whereas that mechanical aspect got here first with this explicit cycle, the workforce usually depends on widespread playing cards as a spot to showcase the world of a set – on this case, how these clans are totally different from the final time gamers noticed them. “The passionate action-oriented monks of the Jeskai, the Whispers utilizing Temur magic, Nagas within the Sultai as protectors (and avengers) of the jungle, Mardu navy prowess together with supporting roles (and that dragons can are available in many styles and sizes!), and Abzan clerics regrowing the misplaced kin timber.”
One criticism of some current Magic units has been an overreliance on tropes or thematic gimmicks, even whereas revisiting earlier planes, which makes Dragonstorm standout in its comparatively simple return to Tarkir. Senior Worldbuilding Art Director Forrest Schehl says that suggestions like that’s essential to WOTC, however that “top-level pitch for Tarkir was established properly earlier than the discharge of Murders at Karlov Manor” and the units that adopted, and didn’t change after them.
“We needed to mix Dragons and Clans in a manner that hadn’t been seen on Tarkir in the identical set and the Dragonstorms that have been a defining characteristic of the airplane have been going to play a giant function in shaping how we approached this ‘return-to’. The strain to get it proper was one thing Lauren and I felt from day one, we all the time needed to construct the following chapter of this beloved airplane with authenticity and substance.”
Tarkir: Dragonstorm is up for preorder now, with the set scheduled for launch in each paper and digitally on April 11 and in-store prerelease occasions kicking off on April 4. Read on for the total interview with Wizards of the Coast’s Adam Prosak, Lauren Bond, and Forrest Schehl:
IGN: This card cycle appears laser focused at being much-needed glue for Limited – what have been the targets these playing cards wanted to realize?
Adam Prosak, Senior Game Designer: Three-color restricted environments want fairly a little bit of mana fixing, in any respect rarities. We needed a lot of decks to have the ability to entry mana fixing, so we created fairly just a few designs devoted to serving to clear up mana points. In explicit, these creatures assist you to play to the board whereas creating your mana on the similar time – many different designs (corresponding to tapped lands) solely make mana and also you are likely to fall behind as a way to repair your mana.
They additionally strike me as “lore glue,” if you’ll, with every offering some perception into their clans. Was that an specific a part of their function within the set?
Lauren Bond, Senior Worldbuilding Designer: While the mechanics of those playing cards got here first, as worldbuilders we regularly look to widespread playing cards (particularly cycles) as a spot to showcase key parts of setting as gamers will see them continuously in drafts. This cycle being anchored within the “returning shade” of every clan was a chance to indicate how that shade manifests within the new model of the clan. The passionate action-oriented monks of the Jeskai, the Whispers utilizing Temur magic, Nagas within the Sultai as protectors (and avengers) of the jungle, Mardu navy prowess together with supporting roles (and that dragons can are available in many styles and sizes!), and Abzan clerics regrowing the misplaced kin timber.
Three-color units aren’t made fairly often, are you able to speak about a number of the challenges of doing them and the way you tried to handle these in Dragonstorm?
AP: By their nature, three-color playing cards go into fewer decks than their monocolor (or two shade) counterparts. They are sometimes thrilling, so long as they aren’t overdone.
Building a sealed/draft atmosphere is the largest problem – most constructed codecs simply enable for 3 colours, so it’s not too difficult for 3 shade playing cards to discover a dwelling. On the opposite hand, we’ve to supply sufficient mana fixing to permit gamers to play their three shade playing cards, with out making it so plentiful that there each deck can play all 5 colours simply.
This would be the first time since 2023’s Lost Caverns of Ixalan {that a} Standard set has returned to an present airplane with out some form of thematic twist like Aetherdrift or Murders at Karlov Manor, and the remainder of 2025’s line-up means it will likely be the final time a set does so for roughly one other yr after that a minimum of. With that in thoughts, is there an added strain right here to do justice to what followers predict of each Tarkir and a “basic” Magic setting generally?
Forrest Schehl, Senior Worldbuilding Art Director: Fan suggestions is tremendous essential to us and is one thing we consider throughout early growth of each new set we make. That being mentioned, the top-level pitch for Tarkir was established properly earlier than the discharge of Murders at Karlov Manor and remained the identical all through growth. We needed to mix Dragons and Clans in a manner that hadn’t been seen on Tarkir in the identical set and the Dragonstorms that have been a defining characteristic of the airplane have been going to play a giant function in shaping how we approached this “return-to”. The strain to get it proper was one thing Lauren and I felt from day one, we all the time needed to construct the following chapter of this beloved airplane with authenticity and substance.
Lastly, whereas it’s one which was beforehand revealed, I’ve to ask about Stormscale Scion – a card that’s mocking the Storm Scale itself! People have had a whole lot of enjoyable speaking about this card and the surprising return of Storm to Standard, was {that a} laborious resolution to make? Is there a little bit of an attractive problem to returning to “dangerous” mechanics like that, Affinity, or Phyrexian Mana lately?
AP: I discover that making new playing cards for present mechanics is commonly simpler than making new mechanics. With present mechanics, we’re capable of be taught some classes about what labored properly and what pitfalls to keep away from. With the Stormscale Scion, we discovered that the cardboard is enjoyable and highly effective even with just a few copies, so we leaned into that fairly than a number of the different storm playing cards that win you the sport, however provided that you’ve solid a lot of spells.
Tom Marks is IGN’s Executive Reviews Editor. He loves card video games, puzzles, platformers, puzzle-platformers, and plenty extra.
