The card previews for Tarkir: Dragonstorm are now fully revealed, but even before that, there had been a strong sense that this revisit to the land of dragons was going to be a home run. The previous original Magic: the Gathering set (if we discount the Universes Beyond stuff) – Aetherdrift – felt disconnected because of the strong racing car theme. Top points for the creative spin, but the results didn’t resonate so well with fans. As Tarkir: Dragonstorm takes to the skies for prerelease this weekend, we look at five reasons how Tarkir is already winning the race over Aetherdrift.

Better Reprints (in both Power and Money)

Tarkir: Dragonstorm features an awesome selection of reprints, both in the main set (of mostly new cards) and the preconstructed Commander decks (of mostly reprints). Among the top contenders are Craterhoof Behemoth, Seedborn Muse, Dauthi Voidwalker, Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor. All of these are highly playable because of their high power level in the Commander format, while Craterhoof will now be eligible in Standard too.

They’re powerful on the battlefield but also in their ability to bring in money. Including the cards above, here’s a list of top 10 most valuable reprints (based on Cardkingdom) at the time of writing:

• Craterhoof Behemoth: $30
• Grand Crescendo: $18
• Ob Nixilis, the Fallen: $16
• Selvala’s Stampede: $13
• Seedborn Muse: $11
• Dauthi Voidwalker: $12
• Weathered Sentinels: $12
• Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor: $10
• Dragon Tempest: $10
• Veyran, Voice of Duality: $8

The Serialized Mox is a Beauty

Based on current trends, you can expect at least one serialized card in each new set. These are numbered cards (usually up to 500 each) and fetch a high premium on the resale market. For collectors, this would be the holy grail of the set. It was The Aetherspark that took the honor in Aetherdrift. Being the first ever Equipment Planeswalker hybrid card, it was a great choice, not to mention it is decently powerful as well.

In Tarkir: Dragonstorm, Wizards of the Coast has gone one better, having Mox Jasper be the serialized representative. Moxes are a rare breed, and five of the original are part of the Power Nine, a set of early, extremely powerful cards. They cost 0 mana, making them an easy include for many decks. The new Mox Jasper taps for one mana of any color as long as you control a Dragon, a relatively easy feat to accomplish when there are plenty of creatures with Changeling (counted as all creature types).

The serialized Mox Jasper also comes in retro frame, a nice callback to the original Moxes and will be an outstanding feature in your binder, more so than The Aetherspark we dare say.

5 Preconstructed Commander Decks Flying High in Flavor

Take a look at the full deck lists for the 5 Tarkir: Dragonstorm preconstructed decks. Not only is each focused on different 3-color clans (Sultai, Abzan, Jeskai, Mardu and Temur), they’re well stocked with good reprints (as mentioned above) and boast pretty powerful clan-leader Commanders that can be easily augmented.

New dragons are found in each of the precon decks too. or transplanted into other dragon decks. There’s Ureni of the Unwritten from Temur Roar, a 7-mana behemoth that puts another massive dragon onto the battlefield for free. Then there’s Teval, the Balanced Scale (Sultai Arisen) that harnesses land and graveyard manipulation to raise a zombie army. Neriv, Crackling Vanguard of the Mardu Surge uses token generation to drive card advantage and overwhelm the opponent. Whether you’re leading with the clan or the dragon, these Commander decks promise a lot more fun and flavor than the two generically-themed decks from Aetherdrift.

Dragons Beats Vehicles

We’ve already established there’ll be plenty of new and powerful dragons joining the nest in Tarkir: Dragonstorm. Dragons are one of the most popular creature types in Magic, definitely more so than Vehicles, which is not an efficient mechanic since you must have a way to crew them. In Tarkir, there are five key dragons featured in cards and the lore: Ureni, Betor, Teval, Shiko, and Neriv. The best part is there are two versions of each dragon, one found in the main set and the other in the preconstructed Commander decks.

In the main set, there are so many new cards that support dragons. The synergy is so great that it tips the power scale beyond what Aetherdrift did for Vehicles. Call the Spirit Dragon makes all your dragons Indestructible and even adds a number of +1/+1 counters each Upkeep. And what about Dracogenesis, the counterpart to zombies’ Rooftop Storm. With dragons generally costing more and deliver bigger impact, being able to cast any and all of them for free is massive. We’ll just end with Dragonback Assault, a strong card that clears all smaller creatures on the battlefield while creating a 4/4 dragon for you whenever you play a land. Bonkers!

End Step

Aetherdrift was a fun ride, but attention was quickly diverted when previews for Final Fantasy and Spiderman were released (which also took the hype away from Tarkir). Tarkir: Dragonstorm promises a return to what made Magic attractive in the first place, full of stunning fantasy art, beatdown dragons, and a feeling of unlimited possibilities. At the very least, it’s high time to build that dragon-tribal Commander deck!