Summary
- Tarkir: Dragonstorm offers nostalgia, new mechanics, and combos that tie in with OG Tarkir.
- Ugin, Eye of the Storms can combo with itself to wipe the board and be a game-winning card in any format.
- Ugin can easily wipe the board and lead to a win even in Standard and without its ultimate, which is very strong.
Likely a set as hyped as the Universes Beyond releases to come in 2025, Tarkir: Dragonstorm is not only a tried and true expansion in terms of setting but also gameplay, making April 11 a huge day for Magic: The Gathering fans. One could argue that Tarkir: Dragonstorm is the perfect MTG return to a plane loved by fans based on the nostalgia-inducing cards, the additional development of all five clans, the huge focus on dragons, and new mechanics that can tie in with OG Tarkir ones. With five three-mana clans, sieges allowing players to choose between two effects, and game-changing dragons, there are a lot of combos already in the set.
Magic: The Gathering‘s new Khans are also great for the new Commander sets, and some of them have amazing combos with their clan’s dragons, such as Kotig, Sibsig Champion and Teval, the Balanced Scale for Sultai. On the other hand, Felothar the Steadfast for Abzan is not only a very thematic card for the clan, but the character also wears a pauldron inspired by Khans of Tarkir’s iconic Siege Rhino. Another great callback to the plane comes from Ugin, Eye of the Storms, which is great for the lore and setting of Tarkir: Dragonstorm, and it’s also an incredibly powerful card.
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How Tarkir: Dragonstorm’s Ugin, Eye of the Storms Can Combo With Itself
Ugin, Eye of the Storms is a new Planeswalker that costs seven mana of any color, has seven Loyalty counters when it enters, the typical arrangement of three Loyalty abilities, and then an extra ability. The latter makes Ugin exile a permanent that is one or multiple colors when it enters, and then another each time the user casts a colorless spell, which is incredibly strong on its own. Then, its +2 Loyalty ability makes the user gain three life and draw a card, its 0 Loyalty adds three colorless mana to the pool, and its ultimate at -11 Loyalty searches the library for any number of colorless nonland cards and allows players to cast any of them for free until the end of turn.
It’s worth noting that there are several MTG card types that can be colorless, and face-down Creatures also count as such for purposes like Ugin’s ability.
Using its non-Loyalty ability in combination with its ultimate makes Ugin essentially an auto-win in most cases, as any colorless spell cast with its ultimate will then exile a non-colorless permanent, likely wiping the board. If that is not enough, players can even cast a second Ugin with the first’s ultimate to then exile even more permanents and use more abilities – provided the first dies with the -11 ability, as otherwise it would be removed with the Legendary Rule in Magic: The Gathering.
On top of that, MTG‘s Foundations set made Doubling Season Standard-legal, among other cards, so playing ramp with Ugin can lead to it entering the field with double the Loyalty counters thanks to Doubling Season and using its ultimate right away. This is an incredibly busted combo and one that will most likely wipe the board if used on turn seven or earlier in Standard. Even then, Ugin’s ETB effect and the on-cast effect for colorless spells can also reasonably clear the board in Standard and win the game.
How Ugin Can Break Other MTG Formats After Tarkir: Dragonstorm’s Launch
Other formats like Commander and Modern may have an even easier time setting Ugin up for a turn-3 or turn-4 debut and then win from there with a plethora of great ramp Artifacts that are either very cheap or have no mana cost at all. This effectively turns Ugin into a massive removal for any permanents, likely winning the game from there. Generally speaking, MTG Planeswalkers can have some very powerful ultimates, sometimes game-ending ones, but Ugin’s most likely means game-over for all opponents considering how it combos with itself. It’s too soon to say just how strong this card will be, but it seems like a potential staple in many decks.
Magic: The Gathering
- Original Release Date
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August 5, 1993
- Designer
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Richard Garfield
- Player Count
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2+
- Age Recommendation
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13+