All 17 Abzan Cards in Tarkir: Dragonstorm Ranked

Last updated on April 29, 2025

Felothar, Dawn of the Abzan | Illustration by Victor Adame Minguez

I’ve always been a fan of multicolor cards. I just think they’re neat, and I love constructing decks with dubious mana bases that draw on three, four, or even all five colors for some value and a range of powerful effects.

This corresponds closely to a love of multicolored sets, and I can’t wait to see what I can do with all the 3-color cards in Tarkir: Dragonstorm. The Abzan cards look especially promising for Cube and Commander, so let’s dive into them and see what they do!

What Are Abzan Cards in Tarkir: Dragonstorm?

Perennation | Illustration by Eli Minaya

Abzan cards in Tarkir: Dragonstorm have an Abzan color identity, or a color identity that includes white, black, and green (). This list is determined by color identity, not watermark or affiliation, so I’m only ranking cards with all three colors rather than ones that fall under that general banner.

The Abzan wedge focuses heavily on creatures, with special attention to creatures with high toughness and +1/+1 counter distribution. Abzan cards also tend to interact with the graveyard for a flavor win with the clan’s reverence of their ancestors, and it contains some decent removal since it sits at the intersection of white and black, Magic’s best removal colors.

This ranking primarily considers these cards for Commander, though I also consider them for Cube and Standard.

Honorable Mention: Great Arashin City

While not technically an Abzan card, this land was so clearly designed for those decks I wanted to include it. I don’t think much of it for Commander since Abzan decks often want to recur their creatures with cards like Karador, Ghost Chieftain or Tayam, Luminous Enigma. Exiling them seems suspect.

But it plays nicely with Insidious Roots decks, and I see it doing something in a Cube that supports that enchantment. It also has potential in generic Abzan decks as a card that does more than a Swamp.

#17. Abzan Devotee

Abzan Devotee looks like the most promising of the devotee cycle, which isn’t saying much; these cards were clearly designed to provide the Limited format cheap fixing. But I could see a budget Commander deck running this as a mana-fixing Reassembling Skeleton in a pinch. I might even be underselling the card since it filters mana from your Ashnod's Altar loop.

#16. Abzan Monument

Abzan Monument is a perfectly reasonable fixer for your budget Doran, the Siege Tower deck, but I can’t see myself playing it without a $50 budget restriction or something. Maybe not even then.

#15. Kin-Tree Severance

Kin-Tree Severance offers very reasonable interaction. It’s on par with Utter End with two of the three colors and does a reasonable Anguished Unmaking impression with all three.

The trouble with this card is that I’m not sure why you wouldn’t just play Anguished Unmaking or Utter End; Abzan already has so much excellent removal that this one seems overly redundant.

#14. Reputable Merchant

Reputable Merchant ought to be a strong Limited role-player as it often works out as a 3-mana 3/3 that drops another counter when it dies or enables your 2-drop to get a good attack, but it doesn’t appear strong enough to make a splash elsewhere.

#13. Armament Dragon

Armament Dragon can be anything from a 6-mana 6/7 to a massive boost for your entire board. Its power level trends towards a Limited card, but it has potential in Peasant Cube or perhaps pEDH.

#12. Deceptive Landscape

I adore the Landscape cycle from Modern Horizons 3. Evolving Wilds exists in the fugue state of being excellent budget fixing but a terrible land; the Landscapes solve this neatly! You have an Evolving Wilds if you must fix your colors, but Deceptive Landscape’s just an untapped land if you don’t, salvaging your curve. And if you don’t need a land, you can cycle it away! I dearly hope we see a second cycle of similar cards for 2-color combinations.

#11. Sandsteppe Citadel

Sandsteppe Citadel is totally fine! It’s an excellent budget fixer for Abzan or 4-color decks, and it makes a delightful addition to Peasant Cubes. Or any Cube interested in supporting multicolor archetypes without cards as format-warping as the Triomes, for that matter.

#10. Perennation

Expensive reanimation spells need some oomph to justify their cost, and Perennation’s hexproof and indestructible counters certainly count. You definitely aren’t playing this as a combo card, but I can see it working as a super-protection spell for your commander, plus it has promising synergies with cards like Kathril, Aspect Warper and Odric, Lunarch Marshal.

#9. Betor, Kin to All

Betor, Kin to All boasts an impressive stat line and a strong payoff for toughness-matters decks. I’m curious to see if this does anything in Standard with Fecund Greenshell and Bedrock Tortoise.

When it comes to Commander, I’m unimpressed; the simple “make big number” structure is boring and less impressive than Doran, the Siege Tower or Felothar the Steadfast.

#8. Yathan Roadwatcher

Abzan decks often touch the graveyard, so Yathan Roadwatcher looks like a solid payoff/enabler. I wish it had less restrictions so we could get up to heinous nonsense that would make Richard Garfield cry, but what can you do? Wizards likes printing fair cards (Modern Horizons and Universes Beyond sets not included).

#7. Skirmish Rhino

One of the biggest questions with this set: Will the second coming of Siege Rhino be as impactful as the first? Skirmish Rhino’s ETB lines up well against This Town Ain't Big Enough, you have nice pressure against grindy decks, and it dodges Cut Down.

But I’m not convinced. I don’t like that this doesn’t block a Heartfire Hero or Emberheart Challenger tagged with Monstrous Rage particularly well. I wonder if being a mana cheaper justifies adding an extra color over Debris Beetle, which shares the same benefits while blocking well and dodging another common removal spell in Go for the Throat.

If anything, I’m curious about this card’s impact in Pioneer and other formats interested in dropping one or two of these off Collected Company.

#6. Revival of the Ancestors

Revival of the Ancestors looks like a fine role-player in token or counter decks. I don’t have much to say; this is a generically good saga that only asks you to care about creatures, which is the lowest bar possible in these colors. It even provides bodies for its counters! I wonder if there’s a good Standard brew that uses this….

#5. Felothar the Steadfast

Doran, the Siege Tower has a significant weakness: It doesn’t let creatures with defender attack, so you need an Assault Formation or similar effect to exploit the full power of the toughness-matters archetype.

Felothar the Steadfast corrects that and throws in a ludicrous sacrifice ability. It’s a big upgrade over the OG, though mildly disappointing from a certain perspective; instead of doing something novel or new with the archetype, it just power creeps an old commander.

#4. Betor, Ancestor’s Voice

Betor, Ancestor's Voice is the first lifegain commander to spark my interest, so I look forward to seeing what it does. Lifegain decks generally lack oomph; they either rely on weak creatures like Ajani's Pridemate for beats or on Sanguine Bond variants for a mediocre control plan.

But Betor provides a substantial board presence through +1/+1 counters and reanimated creatures. The tension between lifegain and life loss is delicious. Betor feels like a commander you could fiddle with and tweak endlessly, especially since most sets offer one or two cards that care about lifegain or make you lose life.

#3. Severance Priest

I can’t wait to jam Severance Priest into a bunch of Standard decks and discover it’s not good enough… but I’m excited to see what this does in Cube. A Skyclave Apparition that hits the hand sounds fascinating. It might not be sleek enough for a Vintage Cube, but it looks like an excellent inclusion for something themed around multicolored cards around the power of a Modern Cube.

#2.  Felothar, Dawn of the Abzan

Felothar, Dawn of the Abzan offers a powerful sacrifice payoff. The intersection of sacrifice and +1/+1 counters is perfect for the Abzan colors to exploit, and this looks strong without being unreasonable. I feel like there’s an artifact shell somewhere with cards like Servo Schematic and Ichor Wellspring.

#1. Eerie Ultimatum

Eerie Ultimatum might be the best of the Special Guest Ultimatums, especially in Commander where the different names restriction doesn’t matter. Dumping 10 or more permanents into play ends games in incredible fashion, especially if they come with enters abilities.

Wrap Up

Skirmish Rhino | Illustration by James Bousema

I really didn’t expect to appreciate so many Abzan cards this set; I’m more of a blue player, but many of these cards have me looking forward to throwing down a bunch of creatures and plundering my graveyard for the most value possible, especially in Commander.

What are your favorite Abzan cards? Would you have liked to see different designs? Maybe a stronger focus on spirits? Let me know in the comments below or on the Draftsim Discord!

Interested in the other 3-color clans? Check out the best Jeskai cards, Mardu cards, Sultai cards, and Temur cards from Tarkir: Dragonstorm.

Stay safe, and thanks for reading!