Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Decks: Are They Worth It?

Last updated on August 17, 2025

Teval's Judgment | Illustration by Alix Branwyn

Tarkir: Dragonstorm looks like peak Magic: The Gathering. It’s got the awesome worldbuilding that people loved about Khans of Tarkir, and it even manages to borrow the dragons from Dragons of Tarkir without feeling like a rehash of the lesser, 2-color set. To commemorate our return to the clans of the original setting, this round’s got a full five Commander precons, one for each of the clans.

I’m beyond stoked to revisit this plane, so much so that I’m not even going to bother with my usual “Commander precon” fatigue speech. If you’re a fan of Khans—rather, if you’re a fan of Magic, there’s something here that’ll appeal to you.

Let’s dissect these precons, going over deck themes, reprint quality, and new additions to the Commander format.

Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Deck Bundle - Includes All 5 Decks (Abzan Armor, Jeskai Striker, Sultai Arisen, Mardu Surge, Temur Roar)

• GET ALL 5 TARKIR: DRAGONSTORM COMMANDER DECKS—This bundle includes all 5 decks, with 1 Abzan Armor (White-Black-Green), 1 Jeskai Striker (Blue-Red-White), 1 Sultai Arisen (Black-Green-Blue), 1 Mardu Surge (Red-White-Black), and 1 Temur Roar (Green-Blue-Red)
• FIGHT DRAGONS WITH DRAGONS—Return to Tarkir for an epic battle between dragons and clans; discover which clan fits your playstyle with distinct three-color gameplay, and add draconic power to your collection
• BATTLE ALONGSIDE YOUR CLAN—The five clans of Tarkir are back, each with their own vibrant culture and immersive gameplay; find your clan and join the fight with a playstyle that fits you
• FOIL BORDERLESS COMMANDERS—Every Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Deck contains 2 Traditional Foil Legendary Creature cards featuring gorgeous Borderless art, including each clan’s Mythic Spirit Dragon
• 50 NEW COMMANDER CARDS—Each deck introduces 10 never-before-seen Commander cards to Magic: The Gathering; with this bundle of all 5 decks, you’ll add all 50 new cards to your collection.

$219.99

Buy on Amazon

All About Tarkir: Dragonstorm

What Is Tarkir: Dragonstorm?

Ureni, the Song Unending | Illustration by Alexander Ostrowski

Tarkir: Dragonstorm (TDM) is a Standard-release set billed as a “return to Tarkir,” our first real revisit of that plane in about 10 years. It’s ostensibly a 3-color set focused on the wedge color combinations, and it’s a typical “faction” set focused on the color trios and their new themes and mechanics. Oh, and there’s a bunch of dragons. So many dragons.

Abzan Armor

Mardu Surge

Jeskai Striker

Temur Roar

Sultai Arisen

Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Deck - Abzan Armor

Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Deck - Mardu Surge

Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Deck - Jeskai Striker

Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Deck - Temur Roar

Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Deck - Sultai Arisen

$44.90

$44.66

$38.47

$63.57

$63.22

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Amazon

Abzan Armor

Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Deck - Abzan Armor

$44.90

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Mardu Surge

Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Deck - Mardu Surge

$44.66

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Jeskai Striker

Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Deck - Jeskai Striker

$38.47

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Temur Roar

Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Deck - Temur Roar

$63.57

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Sultai Arisen

Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Deck - Sultai Arisen

$63.22

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Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander (TDC) is the EDH tie-in for the set, including five 3-color Commander precons, each focused on one of the clans.

How Does Tarkir: Dragonstorm Compare to Other Commander Products?

There isn’t much that sets TDC apart from previous precon line-ups outside of the fact that there are five decks here. There’s no big gimmick here like Archenemy in Duskmourn Commander or Planechase in a few other recent line-ups.

Should I Buy Tarkir: Dragonstorm?

This is the first time that I’ll definitively just say yes, you should buy something from this set. For one, you get to choose something that aligns with the way you play Magic, like you’re able to at the TDM prerelease or how you might bias towards a certain guild in a Ravnica set. Tarkir clans are expressions of individual playstyles, and there’s something for everyone here. Plus, this set is Magic: The Gathering at its core! If you’re a Universes Beyond naysayer (no judgment), show Wizards that this is what you want to spend your money on. Support the in-universe worldbuilding that makes Tarkir and MTG as a whole great!

Jeskai Striker

Commander, Theme, and Strategy

Jeskai Striker is a spellslinger deck, though a confused one. Spellslinger strategies usually take different forms, with some leaning on tokens, others trying to pile on as many spells as possible in one turn, and still others going for big ritual combo turns. This deck seems to be trying to do all of the above out of the box. The individual card quality is good enough, but it’s just a fixer-upper in terms of consistency and deck theme.

Shiko and Narset, Unified leads the deck, showing off the new flurry mechanic from the main set. Double-spelling is trivially easy, so you should trigger it basically every turn, and you’re at least drawing cards even if you’re not copying spells. Elsha, Threefold Master takes the deck in a different direction, focusing more on a Voltron build that pays you off with a board full of creature tokens. It’s the trickier commander of the two, but they both seem good enough for different builds.

Notable Cards: Reprints and $$

Quick caveat as always that I won’t consider the new-to-Magic cards in each deck for financial purposes since their pre-sale prices aren’t indicative of how much they’ll actually be worth. So instead, we look to reprints.

Jeskai Striker has seven reprints in the $2-5 range, two in the $5-10 range, and no “big money” cards to speak of. That’s a Jeskai Strike-out on value, and the mana base is as unexciting as precon mana bases tend to be. Come on Wizards! Just spot us that on-color Triome in each of these decks! Looks like this deck’s value needs to be propped up by the new cards quite a bit.

Thankfully, there are some exciting newcomers here. Tempest Technique will appeal to all those Voltron aura players out there, and there’s some hype for Caldera Pyremaw as a new spellslinger wincon. Voracious Bibliophile also looks nuts to me, and I’m sure the Hinata, Dawn-Crowned players are salivating.

Verdict

I’m not going to be too harsh on any of these decks, since they’ll appeal to whomever just likes these respective color combinations. That said, Jeskai Striker falls a bit flat. Between a confused multi-directional strategy and little reprint value overall, it’s not the deck I’d opt for if I could only buy one. The theming can be adjusted, and there are some powerful new cards here, so it’s not exactly a dud either. If you’re a Jeskai fan pick it up, but if you’re not, I doubt this will convert you.

Sale

Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Deck - Jeskai Striker

• FIGHT DRAGONS WITH DRAGONS—Return to Tarkir for an epic battle between dragons and clans; discover which clan fits your playstyle with distinct three-color gameplay, and add draconic power to your collection
• HIT HARD AND HIT OFTEN—Join the Jeskai spirit dragon, Shiko, and former planeswalker Narset and the Jeskai clan to cast extra spells and flurry spell effects with this Blue-Red-White Commander deck
• 2 FOIL BORDERLESS COMMANDERS—Every Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Deck contains 2 Traditional Foil Legendary Creature cards featuring gorgeous Borderless art, including each clan’s Mythic Spirit Dragon
• BATTLE ALONGSIDE YOUR CLAN—Led by monk-practitioners of the Way, the Jeskai seek unity of thought and a shared understanding of reality. Precise, compassionate, and rigorous, they consider it their duty to guide Tarkir to a better future.
• INTRODUCES 10 COMMANDER CARDS—Each deck introduces 10 never-before-seen Commander cards to Magic: The Gathering

$38.47

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Mardu Surge

Commander, Theme, and Strategy

Mardu Surge is our designated aggro deck of the bunch, playing into token generation and showing off the new mobilize mechanic. It’s punchy and likes to attack, so you’ll be making enemies early. Well, if you’re doing it right, at least. There are a number of sacrifice outlets built into the deck to take advantage of mobilize tokens before they go away, but I’d hesitate to call this an aristocrats deck. Think of it like a second helping of that Hail, Caesar precon from Fallout.

Zurgo, Stormrender rocks the command zone and rewards you with card draw or damage based on how your creature tokens end up leaving play. If your opponents eat up your mobilized attackers, you’ll draw cards, and if they let the 1/1s slip through, they’ll take multiple instances of chip damage. Neriv, Crackling Vanguard points in a very different direction, scaling up with the number of differently named tokens you control, kind of like Gimbal, Goblin Prodigy. Seems fun to build around in some capacity, but I’d stick with Zurgo out of the box.

Notable Cards: Reprints and $$

Mardu Surge gives us six reprints in the $2-5 range, five in the $5-10 range, and a “big-ticket” card with Grand Crescendo seeing its first reprint since New Capenna Commander. That’s already a step up from Jeskai Striker, and it gets my approval as far as money spent to value gained is concerned. Some of that value’s tied to good colorless staples like Skullclamp and Lightning Greaves, too.

The new additions from this deck aren’t spectacular, at least not as new staples. There are still some solid prints though, like Ainok Strike Leader as a token generator and protector, or Ironwill Forger, which looks like it could cause some trouble if left unchecked. Will of the Mardu has some large token creation potential stapled to a removal spell as well. Everything else is fine but unremarkable.

Verdict

I’m usually glad to see an aggressive deck for in-pod play. While other decks in this cycle can pressure opponents, Mardu Surge is designed to be in your face from the start and never let up. That’s healthy for well-rounded gameplay. I do wish they’d eased back on the sacrifice stuff here, and the secondary commander’s off flying around with its own strategy.

Still, a respectable if simple theme and solid reprint representation makes this a hit that Mardu () lovers will want to pick up, especially if they’ve been rocking Caesar, Legion's Emperor over the last year.

Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Deck - Mardu Surge

• FIGHT DRAGONS WITH DRAGONS—Return to Tarkir for an epic battle between dragons and clans; discover which clan fits your playstyle with distinct three-color gameplay, and add draconic power to your collection
• STRIKE WHILE THE IRON IS HOT—Ally with the Mardu clan to make attacker tokens and sacrifice them for value with this Red-White-Black Commander deck
• 2 FOIL BORDERLESS COMMANDERS—Command your army with the Mythic Spirit Dragon, Neriv, or Zurgo, leader of the new Mardu; every Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Deck includes 2 Traditional Foil Legendary Creature cards featuring gorgeous Borderless art
• BATTLE ALONGSIDE YOUR CLAN—The Mardu are nomads who defend and expand their vast territory through agile tactics and the exploitation of weakness. A unified force, they are revered for their lightning-wielding fighters, expert beast riders, and commitment to their clan.
• INTRODUCES 10 COMMANDER CARDS—Each deck introduces 10 never-before-seen Commander cards to Magic: The Gathering

$44.66

Buy on Amazon

Sultai Arisen

Commander, Theme, and Strategy

Sultai Arisen is a grindy reanimation deck that weaves in tons of self-mill and other graveyard strategies. It plays around in the “leaves your graveyard” space that WotC’s been toying with for recent Limited sets, though that’s more of a “package of cards” or a sub-strategy than anything fully realized here. So yeah, it’s a Sultai () graveyard value deck.

The lead commander is Kotis, Sibsig Champion, which lets you cast creatures from your graveyard by exiling a few extra cards, and it also grows over time as creatures enter from the graveyard. It’s kind of the conduit through which a lot of the deck’s action happens, while not being a centerpiece necessarily. Alternatively, there’s Teval, the Balanced Scale, which is more ramp-oriented and builds board presence via 2/2 creature tokens. I like Teval better as a card, and it might be the straight-up best commander in all of Tarkir: Dragonstorm, but a lot of this precon is built assuming you’ll have Kotis as the commander.

Notable Cards: Reprints and $$

Sultai Arisen has four reprints in the $2-5 range, seven in the $5-10 range, and another big money card clocking in above $10. Two caveats here: Most of the cards in the $5-10 range are on the upper end, with this being the first proper reprint for Hedron Crab and Dauthi Voidwalker. That $10+ reprint is Ob Nixilis, the Fallen, a strong card but not a Commander staple by any stretch.

There are some intriguing new cards here. Steward of the Harvest is the one that’s sparked the most conversation, allowing you to turn all your creatures into Strip Mines or Gaea's Cradle’s, or just normal, humble mana dorks. Colossal Grave-Reaver and Afterlife from the Loam are both great reanimator top-end cards that I expect to show up in GB+ graveyard decks moving forward. There’s also Teval's Judgment, which plays in that “leaves the graveyard” space, and Will of the Sultai, which looks like a game-ender in landfall decks.

Verdict

I’m never all that excited about “the graveyard deck” of the bunch, though I like that the “leaves the graveyard” effects make Sultai Arisen feel just distinct enough from past offerings. There aren’t enough of those cards to flesh out an entire theme yet, and they didn’t even include many of the best cards that work in this space. But if the archetype ever takes off, you’ll want cards from this deck. The commanders both seem solid with strong buildaround potential outside the precon, and the value’s a hit, so altogether this gets one undead nod of approval. Be warned though for in-pod play: Both the other black-aligned decks come equipped with a copy of Bojuka Bog.

Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Deck - Sultai Arisen

• FIGHT DRAGONS WITH DRAGONS—Return to Tarkir for an epic battle between dragons and clans; discover which clan fits your playstyle with distinct three-color gameplay, and add draconic power to your collection
• GROW BACK FROM BEYOND—Ally with the Sultai to fill your graveyard and return with zombie druids with this Black-Green-Blue Commander deck
• 2 FOIL BORDERLESS COMMANDERS—Command your army with the Mythic Spirit Dragon, Teval, or Kotis, leader of the Sultai clan; every Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Deck includes 2 Traditional Foil Legendary Creature cards featuring gorgeous Borderless art
• BATTLE ALONGSIDE YOUR CLAN—Adept at transforming challenge into opportunity, the Sultai cultivate sprawling land into farms and cities. Not even death can stop them, as their powerful necromancers raise the honored dead to continue leading and serving.
• INTRODUCES 10 COMMANDER CARDS—Each deck introduces 10 never-before-seen Commander cards to Magic: The Gathering

$63.22

Buy on Amazon

Abzan Armor

Commander, Theme, and Strategy

Abzan Armor is another grindy deck, and it carries the most novel theme of the bunch: toughness-matters. This is a “walls” deck focused on high-toughness defenders, using cards that weaponize your cheaply-statted, large-ended creatures and crush opponents out of nowhere. It feels almost like a combo deck in that regard, though anyone who’s played with or against Arcades, the Strategist will know what’s up.

Felothar the Steadfast is the face commander, and it demonstrates what Doran, the Siege Tower looks like after years of power creep. It’s the perfect defender enabler, and it has a chunky card draw ability tacked on. Betor, Ancestor's Voice didn’t get the memo and is working with some lifegain / life loss theme that was also tossed in here to make this feel more like an Abzan precon. This is a Felothar deck 100%.

Notably, this deck also features Ikra Shidiqi, the Usurper and Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa, so there’s a partner pairing you could use to lead the deck if you’d prefer.

Notable Cards: Reprints and $$

Abzan Armor has seven reprints in the $2-5 range, another five in the $5-10 range, and a single big-money reprint in Dragonlord Dromoka, sitting around $12. Solid, especially when you consider Seedborn Muse is just under that $10 line. However, some of this value is tied up in cards like Indomitable Ancients, Weathered Sentinels, and Tree of Redemption, which have very few homes outside of decks exactly like this one.

I love the newcomers here. There are some generically powerful cards like Protector of the Wastes and Will of the Abzan, and a few hyperspecific ones that flesh out the toughness/defenders theme, like Arbor Adherent and Rampart Architect. But even the other toughness-slanted cards still have applications in other places. For example, Jaws of Defeat and Reunion of the House fit here perfectly, but I could see them breaking out in other strategies, too.

Verdict

The value’s good enough to justify the purchase, but Abzan Armor is going to be a mixed bag for players. If you’re just looking for the most unique precon experience, this is it. But if you’re going for pure power or something a little more universally applicable to your collection, a “defenders” theme isn’t the way to go. While my personal bias leads to liking this deck way more than I probably should, I’d say it’s evenly in the middle as far as deck theme goes. That said, it is a nice antithesis to the Mardu Surge precon, so it could make for a nice in-pod rivalry.

Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Deck - Abzan Armor

• FIGHT DRAGONS WITH DRAGONS—Return to Tarkir for an epic battle between dragons and clans; discover which clan fits your playstyle with distinct three-color gameplay, and add draconic power to your collection
• LET YOUR SHIELD BE YOUR SWORD—Ally with the Abzan clan to play defenders and turn toughness into power with this White-Black-Green Commander deck
• 2 FOIL BORDERLESS COMMANDERS—Command your army with Abzan’s Mythic Spirit Dragon, Betor, or Felothar, khan of the Abzan clan; every deck includes 2 Traditional Foil Legendary Creature cards featuring gorgeous Borderless art
• BATTLE ALONGSIDE YOUR CLAN—The Abzan are stalwart warriors with strong familial bonds who summon their ancestors’ spirits; they preserve the history and lineage of their clan through impenetrable defenses and sacred ancestral Kin-Trees
• INTRODUCES 10 COMMANDER CARDS—Each deck introduces 10 never-before-seen Commander cards to Magic: The Gathering

$44.90

Buy on Amazon

Temur Roar

Commander, Theme, and Strategy

Temur Roar is a big ol’ creature deck, blending a “ferocious” 4+ power matters theme with dragons! Wait a second… this is just a dragon typal deck! Hey, no complaints here. The deck’s all about ramping and slamming battlecruisers, and the curve is ridiculously high (The Ur-Dragon isn’t here to make those dragons cheaper, either!).

The face commander is Eshki, Temur's Roar, which strikes me as a total powerhouse card in general. Basically, as long as you’re casting big creatures, you’re growing the commander and drawing cards. If they’re really big creatures, you get free damage on your opponents for playing things you already want to be playing. Like dragons. But there’s also Ureni of the Unwritten, which is a dragon itself and does more draconic things. Take your pick between the two; they’re both equally viable candidates for the commander.

Notable Cards: Reprints and $$

Jackpot! Temur Roar delivers on the value with seven reprints in the $2-5 range, six in the $5-10 range, and two big money cards: Hellkite Courser at around $20 and Nogi, Draco-Zealot at a whopping $28.

Let’s be realistic though. Hellkite Courser and the $9 Sarkhan, Soul Aflame both recently spiked because of Tarkir: Dragonstorm, so those should settle back down. And Nogi is from a very obscure Game Nights product, so this first-time reprint should also tank the price a little. But there’s still great reprints throughout, like Temur Ascendancy, Selvala's Stampede, and Dragon Tempest.

Verdict

Excellent, honestly. The value’s there, tied to powerful cards. The theme is literally just dragons, which we’ve seen before, but of all the Commander deck themes you can recycle over and over again, dragons is one that’s not getting old any time soon. Both face commanders look strong, and I expect this version of Eshki to lead plenty of decks moving forward. Temur Roar is just a very well-rounded deck that isn’t trying to juggle two disparate themes at once. Play big dumb dragons and smash. And Temur () means you have blue for just a touch of card draw.

Magic: The Gathering Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Deck - Temur Roar

• A NEW AGE OF TARKIR—Return to Tarkir for an epic battle between dragons and clans; discover which clan fits your playstyle with distinct three-color gameplay, and add draconic power to your collection
• HARNESS THE FURY OF THE DRAGONS—Join the Temur clan to ramp mana and summon dragons with this Green-Blue-Red Commander deck
• 2 FOIL BORDERLESS COMMANDERS—Command your army with Ureni, spirit dragon of wisdom, or Eshki, leader of the Temur clan; every Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Deck includes 2 Traditional Foil Legendary Creature cards featuring gorgeous Borderless art
• BATTLE ALONGSIDE YOUR CLAN—The Temur are a semi-nomadic people who thrive in the northern mountain terrain by living in concert with their environment. They are expert hunters, gatherers, and herders, working alongside their formidable animal companions.
• INTRODUCES 10 COMMANDER CARDS—Each deck introduces 10 never-before-seen Commander cards to Magic: The Gathering

$63.57

Buy on Amazon

The Best Tarkir: Dragonstorm Deck

For Value

Temur Roar beats out the competition here, though all of the decks besides Jeskai Striker put up reasonable numbers. A lot of Temur Roar’s value is tied to cards that aren’t likely to maintain those prices, but I also expect the new-to-Magic cards in that deck to be some of the more desirable as well.

For Competitive EDH

With the usual disclaimer that none of these precons are really built with cEDH in mind, I’d say Sultai Arisen has the most new cards with potential for competitive success. The “leaves the graveyard” cards like Teval, the Balanced Scale and Teval's Judgment feel powerful, even if their use case caps out at Bracket 4 material. The face commander, Kotis, Sibsig Champion, also has potential as an infinite-sized beater with the right recursive loops in motion.

For Fun

This depends so much on your personality and how you line up with a clan-based set like this. For me, the Abzan Armor precon is absolutely the most fun I’d have playing with these decks. It’s the strategy you’re least likely to see repeated in any other Commander precon, and the whole walls/defender theme plays out in a unique way. It’s also just fun to attack people with a Wall of Omens.

Honestly, I think there’s fun to be had here with all of these decks, so pick the color trio you like best and just roll with it.

Commanding Conclusion

Dragonback Assault | Illustration by Ryan Pancoast

I’m just very pleased to be able to review these decks. Tarkir’s beloved by myself and many others. Tarkir: Dragonstorm is a revisit of one of Magic’s best planes, and simultaneously what feels like a return to form for Magic after a year of pretty silly sets. I have nothing against Aetherdrift or Outlaws of Thunder Junction, but Tarkir is the most Magic-feeling set since Bloomburrow, with way more of an excitement factor.

Even though some of these precons are floundering for a core identity, the wonderful part about these clan-based or guild-based sets is that you just get to pick what works best for your playstyle and personality. You can pick up the Sultai deck because you’re a Sultai player, and you’ll have a good time. Seriously, check out these precons, check out the main set, and give Wizards a reason to really invest into more sets like this. If you’ve got a preferred clan, or if one of these decks is speaking to you, let me know in the comments below or over in the Draftsim Discord.

Thank you for making Draftsim your #1 stop for all things Magic!

Now excuse me while I go rest in cryogenic slumber before Final Fantasy gets here….