The 40 Most Expensive and Must-Have Cards in Tarkir: Dragonstorm

Ugin, Eye of the Storms | Illustration by Joshua Raphael

When you’re opening Tarkir: Dragonstorm sealed product, or Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander precons, it’s important to note that even among rares and mythics, the card prices vary wildly. Each set has its staple cards, its “chase rares and chase mythics.” Due to abundance, commons and uncommons can be acquired for cheap, with rare exceptions.

Tarkir: Dragonstorm releases soon, and if you're going to your local prerelease or just planning to open a booster box or two, these are the cards to look for. Also, we’re covering the most expensive cards from Commander precons as well, and I’ll flag Commander cards in the card description.

It’s important to note that these prices were taken from TCGplayer on April 3, 2025, and they’re subject to significant changes after the set fully releases (or even within a few days). I’ll try to cover, whenever it fits, cards that are most subject to alteration in price.

#40. Jeskai Revelation – $4.80

Jeskai Revelation joins the pantheon of incredibly expensive and powerful spells you can add to EDH decks that cheat on mana costs. It does a lot, actually, and it’s hard to see a board state where this doesn’t stabilize you, giving you life, cards, tokens, and more.

#39. Dragonback Assault – $4.88

Talk about a ramp payoff that’s going to be a casual EDH staple. Dragonback Assault is a sweeper that sticks around to give you 4/4 flying dragon tokens on a landfall ability. Just dropping a fetch land after playing this card is nasty.

#38. Will of the Mardu – $6.47

Will of the Mardu is a good card when you’re winning, when you’re losing, and especially when you have your commander out. It saves your bacon when you’re being attacked, or it can set up an even bigger attack the turn after. It has the potential to become a white token staple in EDH.

#37. The Sibsig Ceremony – $6.54

The Sibsig Ceremony is a very interesting and unique card that works very well with expensive creatures that have good enters abilities or leaves/dies effects. You’ll cast a creature for less, then immediately “sacrifice” it to make a 2/2 zombie. Good card in zombie decks, and I’d expect this price to go up in the long run (especially if the card gets broken), but not that high due to the restrictive mana cost.

#36. Voice of Victory – $6.69

Voice of Victory has all the characteristics of a staple 2-drop. The text “can’t cast spells on your turn” is strong, and that shuts down interaction, counterspells, flash spells, and more. This is the type of card that retains its value and can spike depending on the meta.

#35. Neriv, Heart of the Storm – $7.55

Neriv, Heart of the Storm is a haste-matters payoff, and it works very well with the Mardu () theme of attacking and making these temporary, until end-of-turn tokens. The blitz mechanic is also a great fit. Besides all the attacking support, it’s also a 4/5 flier itself.

#34. All-Out Assault – $8.11

People love cards that grant extra combat steps. It’s one of the better ways to enabling strong attacks in EDH without risks, and it can be a finishing move. All-Out Assault improves on that by giving your creatures a permanent buff and deathtouch, so it’s useful at later turns. It fits the Mardu () theme very well, and it can be a staple card in Isshin, Two Heavens as One decks.

#33. Smile at Death – $8.20

Smile at Death looks like a staple card, at least in EDH. White and black saw a powerful push for creatures that have 2 power or less in the last few sets, so this card slots right in that archetype. Getting two creatures back from the graveyard each turn for free is very powerful, and they even get +1/+1 counters to boot. It’s excellent in WB sacrifice decks where you recover the sacrificed fodder, in decks that have +1/+1 counter synergies, or if you're just getting a couple Elvish Mystics back.

#32. Seedborn Muse – $8.50

Seedborn Muse is a green staple in Commander, and this card comes from a precon. It’s extremely useful to untap all resources you’ve used on your turn, especially if you plan on casting cards with flash or using counterspells. You can also attack “for free” and keep creatures to hold back the next turn.

#31. Dauthi Voidwalker – $8.75

Dauthi Voidwalker is a Modern reprint in a Commander precon deck. It’s a very efficient 2-drop creature with shadow, and you can cast a card for free if it was exiled with this card. It’s an efficient mixture of graveyard hate and value card all around.

#30. Betor, Kin to All – $9.36

Betor, Kin to All is giant, and it doesn’t take much for it to give you a card each turn. Just having a 3/3 in play hits the 10-toughness threshold, and in a dedicated high-toughness deck, you can get many more benefits. I’d say you just need a card each turn for this card to be very good.

#29. Goldlust Triad – $9.42

Attacking with three dragons at the same time is strong, and Goldlust Triad allows you to make a lot of Treasure tokens. This Commander printing is a nice myriad card, and if you can grant haste to your creatures, it’s a big surprise for only 5 mana.

#28. Will of the Jeskai – $9.76

Will of the Jeskai is Past in Flames, with some downside and upside. The cool thing about this is that with your commander in play, it’s very nice to combine a wheel with the ability to flashback your cards.

#27. Voracious Bibliophile – $10.45

Suddenly, cards like Arc Lightning can draw you three cards? I’m interested. Voracious Bibliophile is a Commander card that’s also a curve-filler in dragon decks, and it’s perfectly fine in a spellslinger deck. Each removal or bounce spell you fire afterwards nets you a card, precisely what these decks usually want.

#26. Teval's Judgment – $10.48

Teval's Judgment is a new enchantment from TDC that grants you up to three different bonuses per turn. It rewards you for having a constant “exile cards” engine, and it goes in line with what the dragon Teval, the Balanced Scale is doing.

#25. Perennation – $10.59

It’s expensive as a 6-mana spell, but Perennation is one of the best reanimation spells I’ve seen, at least to get one creature back. Giving hexproof and indestructible to your best graveyard threat means it sticks around. It reminds me of the Standard combo involving The Eldest Reborn and Carnage Tyrant.

#24. Tempest Technique – $10.61

Yep, this is a Commander card… Tempest Technique fits enchantress decks and Voltron decks alike, and there’s usually a good intersection between those. Making a lot of Ethereal Armors with storm is bound to give you an explosive turn, and you can have many prowess triggers or card draw triggers too.

#23. Rot-Curse Rakshasa – $10.75

Rot-Curse Rakshasa is very interesting as a one-shot demon. The fact that it puts itself in the graveyard for the renew ability is very synergistic, and a 2-drop mythic that could see play in formats like Standard deserves some attention. That said, it’s the typical card that can become a bulk rare because it’s “not good enough” for Constructed.

#22. Ureni, the Song Unending – $11.01

Dragonlord Atarka saw a lot of play in its Standard era, and it still retains a good chunk of its value as a casual (Cube, EDH) staple, be it as a ramp or reanimator target. Ureni, the Song Unending is very similar, and that’s why it has a high price tag.

#21. Teval, Arbiter of Virtue – $11.10

Teval, Arbiter of Virtue has a breakable ability, and that’s to offer spells an alternative cost. You’ll either delve them and pay less mana, but you have to pay in life points to balance this out. To offset the life loss, there’s lifelink on this giant dragon – which you may very well ride into victory.

#20. Ob Nixilis, the Fallen – $11.35

Ob Nixilis, the Fallen holds its value pretty well for an old mystic, as this Commander reprint shows. The synergies to be had with landfall are plenty, and this card sees play in Commander decks that allow you to play multiple spells a turn. Suddenly you have a giant beater that deals a lot of direct damage to someone.

#19. Life from the Loam – $11.65

Life from the Loam has been reprinted many times, and it’s a staple green card in decks that care about lands and self-milling in every format. You can get back lands you’ve cycled, use cards like Strip Mine once more, and get some land-based combos like Thespian's Stage + Dark Depths.

#18. Grand Crescendo – $11.81

Grand Crescendo is a Commander reprint, and a white token staple. The ability to just push forward with a great, indestructible attack is great, and sometimes you’ll surprise your opponents big time with this spell as an instant speed trick.

#17. Teval, the Balanced Scale – $12.69

Unlike Teval, Arbiter of Virtue, Teval, the Balanced Scale is much less all-in and more balanced. At 4 mana, it’s going to be an integral part of your deck, often coming down on turns 3-4, and it provides a lot of value. It’s a very good creature for its mana value, and you can break it in so many ways, even competitively.

#16. Shiko, Paragon of the Way – $12.70

Shiko, Paragon of the Way is a nice value dragon to cast at 5 mana, giving you a 3-mana card you have in your graveyard for free. That’s great value, and this card can be a staple control card in formats like Standard and a worthful addition to Jeskai decks in general, not only dragon-based ones.

#15. Dragonlord Dromoka – $12.79

Dragonlord Dromoka is another interesting reprint from the Commander precons. A big, massive, uncounterable lifelinking dragon is a huge insurance policy for your team and an annoyance for your opponents.

#14. Colossal Grave-Reaver –- $12.92

Colossal Grave-Reaver is a Commander card that’s a massive reanimator spell. Just casting this will probably give you something back from your graveyard, and if you already have a mill engine going or dredge cards in your graveyard, the hell gates are open. Suddenly each creature you have in your library becomes a Narcomoeba of sorts.

#13. Taigam, Master Opportunist – $13.05

There’s a lot of upside to be had on a simple 2/2 creature for 2 mana. It’s very strong to cast Taigam, Master Opportunist, then follow it up with something like a Shock and a Preordain, and this card should see plenty of play in blue-based tempo decks. You just need to be proactive, as counterspells won’t be that good.

#12. Stormscale Scion – $14.65

Stormscale Scion is similar to Dragonstorm on a creature. In the end, you’ll get a bunch of dragons, and they all support each other via the +1/+1 lord bonus. It’s weird that this card exists in a Standard-legal set. But with a few cantrips and rituals, you should be getting some dragons. Besides, a dragon that gives +1/+1 to other dragons would probably see play in dragon decks as is.

#11. Mistrise Village – $14.93

Mistrise Village is an almost strictly better Island, and you get uncounterability on a spell, not only for certain creatures like Cavern of Souls. That has applications in many competitive formats, especially in formats like Legacy and Vintage that can be dominated by blue counterspell decks. It’s also good in blue control against blue control, when you need to force a threat. The card should see plenty of play in cEDH too.

#10. Steward of the Harvest – $15.24

This card is crazy. Steward of the Harvest makes it so that a creature can be a fetch land, or become a flying manland, or even be a defensive Maze of Ith. Imagine every creature from your opponent is a Strip Mine. And god forbid they have many tokens around.

#9. Afterlife from the Loam – $16.05

Afterlife from the Loam allows you to reanimate one creature from each graveyard, including yours. It’s got delve, so you can expect to fire this for 4-5 mana on average. This Commander card works better in zombie decks, but it isn’t restricted to them. Imagine not only getting the best creatures in graveyards, but also benefiting from the zombie typal buffs.

#8. Hellkite Courser – $16.44

Hellkite Courser is a Commander reprint that excels when you have expensive commanders in the command zone, especially those that you need to cast, wait for a turn, attack, and get value. Its obvious application is in dragon Commander decks, but it works for any type of creature.

#7. Phyrexian Reclamation – $16.56

This version of Phyrexian Reclamation is fetching up a pretty penny, at least for now, while its other versions are in the $4-5 range. It’s a black staple in decks that use the graveyard, ensuring that cards you mill aren’t wasted, and you can use your grave as a toolbox. There's no way this card remains high on this list for more than a few days.

#6. Craterhoof Behemoth – $19.96

The ‘hoof is back. Craterhoof Behemoth’s always been a $25-30+ card, and it’s a staple and finisher in many formats. The best place to run this card is along some mana dorks, so you’re getting the mana and the bodies.

#5. Call the Spirit Dragons – $24.51

Many EDH dragon decks are already 5-color: Tiamat, The Ur-Dragon, even something like Morophon, the Boundless, and this card looks like a staple in these decks going forward. You’re protecting your dragons, pumping them, and with five dragons you can just win the game. I think that Call the Spirit Dragons is only going up in value.

#4. Dracogenesis – $29.42

Dracogenesis strikes me as a fun, casual card to build around, and dragon decks are very popular, especially in EDH. The fact that you can cast Tiamat with this in play and put five dragons on the table is very interesting and splashy, but in competitive MTG, this spells “win more.” Either way, this card can create loops when you cast a dragon again and again for free, but you’re either cheating Dracogenesis into play or dumping 8 mana into it – Omniscience is already a thing, by the way.

#3. Elspeth, Storm Slayer – $43.06

If Anointed Procession is a $60+ EDH white staple, I don’t see why Elspeth, Storm Slayer can’t be. Granted, it’s harder to interact with enchantments, but at least with Elspeth, you get to make tokens or interact. It has the buildings of a staple planeswalker card between its synergies, damage, and removal, so the hype is real on this one.

#2. Mox Jasper – $60.14

Mox Jasper has the pedigree of moxen, 0-mana value accelerants, and as such, the price is through the roof. Although dragons are expensive, this one shines with changelings, especially the cheap ones like Changeling Outcast, or really cheap dragons like Slumbering Dragon. That said, I see cards like Mox Amber much more usable in terms of Commander, so for me, the price is weird on this one.

#1. Ugin, Eye of the Storms – $77.66

Ugin, Eye of the Storms is the highlight of this set in terms of price. Planeswalkers are usually very hyped when a new set comes out, and this one is even colorless, so it becomes a staple in EDH decks that ramp hard or want the game to go long. The fact that you can cast this card, exile something, draw a card, and gain life are all very desirable characteristics on a planeswalker card. If you open one of these and don’t intend on using it right away, you can likely sell it for high and get another one later for half the price.

Promos, Alternate Art, and More

MTG sets these days always have alternate borders, borderless art, and alternate frames, alongside foil or special foil treatments. The list you’ve seen so far shows the regular version of the card, so if you open a “special version” of Ugin, Eye of the Storms, then you’ve truly hit the jackpot. Here’s the main different art treatments that we can find in Tarkir: Dragonstorm.

Serialized Retro Frame Mox Jasper

Serialized cards are incredibly rare, as there are usually 500 copies of said card. There’s no telling how much a card like this can fetch on the secondary market. This set only offers Mox Jasper, the set’s Headliner, in a serialized version.

Ghostfire and Halo Ghostfire Across 10 Different Cards

Cards that are already valuable like Ugin, Eye of Storms and Elspeth, Storm Slayer can be found in this Ghostfire frame, with tons of blue and green. Just one of these can be worth at least $200+.

Fetch Lands with Dragonscale Foil

This set contains five fetch land reprints, and you can get them with Dragonscale Foil in Tarkir: Dragonstorm Collector boosters. Be on the lookout for these five specific lands, because their ordinary versions already sell for a ton. Imagine the Dragonscale Foil printing! 

• Marsh Flats
• Verdant Catacombs
• Scalding Tarn
• Misty Rainforest
• Arid Mesa

Draconic Frame Cards

There are 9 mythic rares, 5 rares, 15 uncommons, and 6 commons with the showcase draconic frame. Of course, rares and mythics with the draconic frame cards are much more valuable than their uncommon and common counterparts. Some of the valuable cards available in this frame are Dracogenesis and Call the Spirit Dragons.

Borderless Clan Art

While there are typical borderless cards in Collector boosters as well, TDM also features “Borderless clan” cards, using a black backdrop and clan symbols in the frame itself. There are 50 of these total, 14 mythic rares and 36 rares.

Wrap Up

Elspeth, Storm Slayer | Illustration by Ekaterina Burmak

Well, we sure covered a lot of the spiciest cards in Tarkir: Dragonstorm and its Commander counterpart. Remember that prices are subject to significant changes after the set fully releases, either because more product is open, or because the hype dried on some cards, while some newfound gems broke some MTG format. This collection offers high value through its offerings, and note that I’m covering only 40 cards, but there are many more cards worth their weight in value and some hidden gems we’ve not discovered yet.

Which cards are you most excited to open? Let me know in the comments section below, or leave us a message at Draftsim Twitter/X.

Stay safe guys, and best of luck in pulling your next rares and mythics.