Join The Community
1. What is it?
2. Release date
3. Products
4. Mechanics
5. Story
6. Deals
A storm is brewing with MTG Tarkir: Dragonstorm. The dragon-themed Magic: The Gathering set is great news for long-time players, as it’s the first set centred around the plane of Tarkir since 2015. Crucially, it's out right now.
With heated clan feuds and plenty of dragons, MTG Tarkir: Dragonstorm is an exciting addition to one of the best card games. To help you on your trip back to Tarkir, we’ve put together a full lowdown on everything you need to know about the set. From the product lineup to mechanics and story, you’ll be totally primed to tackle our favorite dragon-dominated plane.
What is MTG Tarkir: Dragonstorm?
- The second Standard-legal set of 2025
- A return to the dragon-dominated plane of Tarkir
- Draws from the original Tarkir Block (2014-15)
While technically the third release of this year (due to the fact that MTG Innistrad Remastered is part of the Masters series of reprint sets), Dragonstorm: Tarkir is the second Standard-legal set launched in 2025. The first was MTG Aetherdrift, but following on from that racing-themed set, we're seeing a slight change of gear and a return to more classic Magic themes, aesthetics, and storylines. Dragonstorm is designed around a dramatic return to the dragon-dominated plane of Tarkir, so the storyline and cards themselves are jampacked with dragons, clan rivalry, and of course, more dragons.
The mainline set consists of Play Boosters and Collector Boosters, which can be bought as singular packs, in larger display boxes, in bundles, or as part of a prerelease box. If MTG Bloomburrow was your first experience with Magic: The Gathering, you might also be expecting a Starter Kit; but there isn't one included in this Tarkir release.
Tarkir: Dragonstorm was released with five preconstructed decks meant for playing in the Commander format. Commander decks that are linked to a larger Standard-legal set are usually a mix of cards from the main release and some cards that are only authorized for play in the Commander format, so you can expect that to be the case with Dragonstorm's precons too.
MTG Tarkir: Dragonstorm release date
The tabletop release date for MTG Tarkir: Dragonstorm was April 11, 2025. (In other words, it's out now.) In addition, MTG Arena players got to experience the set early in digital form from April 8.
If you want a better picture of how it all shook out, here's the full list of important dates on the set's release schedule.
- MTG Story: March 3-17
- Debut and previews begin: March 18
- Full card image gallery: March 28
- Prerelease events: April 4-10
- MTG Arena release date: April 8
- Tabletop release: April 11
MTG Tarkir: Dragonstorm products
- Five Commander decks
- Play Boosters & Collector Boosters
- Booster display boxes & bundles
- Five different varieties of prerelease box
As per usual with major, Standard-legal sets, MTG Tarkir: Dragonstorm features a wealth of content that allow you to play your way. Booster packs are available for adding to or making new decks you can use in Standard or Limited games, while its many pre-made Commander decks let you get straight into the action.
Here's everything you can expect.
Commander decks
The five Commander precon decks releasing as part of Dragonstorm each represent the clans from the plane of Tarkir, which in turn reflect the wedges of the MTG color pie. As they're specifically designed with the singleton format in mind, they contain 100 unique cards, including Legendary Creatures that are meant to serve as your Commander in-game. If you haven't played this format before but are planning on picking up one of these decks, check out our guide on how to play MTG Commander for a quick crash course.
Play boosters
As usual, the backbone of the MTG Tarkir: Dragonstorm set is its Play booster packs. These are available individually (though those can be a bit harder to find online) and massive boxes that contain dozens of cards.
Collector boosters
Designed for collectors and dedicated fans, the Collector booster packs follow the same format as Play - they are available individually or in a massive box. Just be aware that they're significantly more expensive.
Bundles and prerelease
If you want to bulk up your collection without spending a small fortune on booster boxes, set bundles and prerelease boxes are your best bet. While you can normally get just one prerelease box, this time there are five to represent each faction on Tarkir.
MTG Tarkir: Dragonstorm mechanics
- The set puts the Storm in Dragonstorm
- Sarkhan Vol is predictably keen to Behold a Dragon
- Each wedge of the MTG color wheel gets a proper shout-out
The card gallery for MTG Dragonstorm: Tarkir isn't anywhere near complete just yet but we have gotten a nice little preview of some of the creatures and non-creature spells that'll fly our way come release. By the looks of it, the set will be a healthy mix of old reliable mechanics and fresh inclusions that work to replicate the play styles of each of Tarkir's five clans. However, there are two mechanics that really take center stage at the moment: Storm and Behold.
- Storm – You may have heard of the Storm Scale, which MTG Lead Mark Rosewater uses to rank the likelihood of a given mechanic's return to Standard. I imagine it's called that in part because the name sounds cool but also because Storm is one of those mechanics which Rosewater has deemed very, very unlikely to make a comeback. Storm allows you to create a token copy of a given spell for each spell cast before it on a turn. I'm sure you can imagine the kind of chaos you could weave with that, especially in a super spell-slinging deck. That said, you really can't make a return to Tarkir and call it Dragonstorm without going all in on the Storm mechanic. As a result, early previews have already shown a handful of cards that feature the mechanic but really, the most iconic of these is the cheekily-named Stormscale Scion.
- Behold – This new mechanic requires you to choose a creature (from the battlefield or failing that, revealed from your hand) and just … look at it. Simply acknowledging a card's existence doesn't do too much on its own of course; but it looks like it will provide some nice triggered abilities, as in the case of Sarkhan, Dragon Ascendant. Sarkhan's enter-the-battlefield effect allows you to behold a Dragon and provided you've done so, you create a Treasure token. Most importantly of all though, the Behold mechanic provides you with the opportunity to dramatically bellow "BEHOLD, A DRAGON" at your opponent every time it comes into play.
MTG Tarkir: Dragonstorm story
- Revisits the dragon-infested plane of Tarkir
- Dragons are tearing into multiversal Omenpaths
- Clans that represent the MTG colors rise to stop them
Tarkir is one of the most beloved Magic: The Gathering planes, and since its appearance in the Tarkir Block around a decade ago, its lore has had an enduring impact on the face of the game – especially in the way that we discuss color identity. That's because alongside Ravnica and Alara, the land of Tarkir features clans that embody the values and characteristics of each MTG color combo across WBURG (White, Black, Blue, Red, and Green). These wedge-themed clans are The Azban (WBG), The Jeskai (URW), The Sultai (BGU), The Mardu (RWB), and The Temur (GUR).
Interestingly, each of these broods are inspired by a number of historical and cultural groups across Asia including the Persian Empire and the Shaolin Monks. However, there is a pretty notable fantasy twist on how they function; these clans initially adapted to living alongside the fearsome dragons that also called Tarkir home. As the plane's dragons were born from a dragonstorm – a meteorological event carefully manipulated by Ugin's wings – when Ugin was forced into hibernation (though technically he was also killed, it uhh … depends on the timeline), their numbers surged out of control. This led to extremely powerful dragonlords cruelly quashing the five clans and dominating the humanoid inhabitants of the plane. Their reign was ended by a rebellion and the clans formed anew; but still many dragons across Tarkir remained wild and hostile.
As the story for Dragonstorm: Tarkir begins, we're faced with the pretty pressing existential threat of Tarkir dragons' wings tearing into the fabric of the Omenpaths. These planar portals have been an essential part of the last couple of MTG sets, as they provide links across the Multiverse that even non-Planeswalkers can access. From the information we have, it's unclear whether the destructive force of these dragons will lead to them spreading to other planes, disrupting the balance of the Omenpaths, or even demolishing them entirely. What we do know is that the five resurgent clans – alongside famed dragon stan, Sarkhan Vol and the now-awake-but-presumably-still-rather-sleepy Ugin – will be working to undo this catastrophe.
If you want to read more about the extensive in-game history of Tarkir, including some really cool worldbuilding about how each clan's culture operates, the Planeswalker's Guide to Tarkir: Dragonstorm has you covered.
MTG Tarkir: Dragonstorm deals
To help you score some savings on the Tarkir: Dragonstorm set, we've put together some of the best MTG deals we can find on everything from Play Boosters to Commander precons. With the help of our price-checking software, we scour the web for the lowest prices out there for all the products across the release, so you can enjoy your adventures in Tarkir for less.
For recommendations on what to play next, be sure to check out the best board games and the best tabletop RPGs.
