Khans of Tarkir, Mardu and Jeskai Khans

Its time to finish up the Khans of Tarkir review, so I am going to be reviewing the Mardu and the Jeskai Khans. I know I haven't done a lot of posts recently, so I am going to try and pump out as many blog posts for the holiday season. Onto the review!

Image courtesy of  Wizards of the Coast

Our first khan is Zurgo Helmsmasher, the khan of the Mardu clan. Zurgo is a 7/2 Orc Warrior that casts for 2 colorless, one red, one white, and one black. His abilities are haste, has to attack each turn, industructible if it is your turn, and whenever a creature dealt damage by Zurgo dies, put a +1/+1 counter on Zurgo.

Zurgo is probably one of my favorite khans. When this bad boy hits the table, you know that shit is going down. If you don't have an answer for him, he is going to be a huge problem for the rest of the game.

Zurgo Helmsmaher has a lot of upsides. Seven power is huge and since he has haste you can send him into battle right as he hits the board, putting on massive pressure. Another upside is that he benefits from your opponent chump blocking. Once they chump block Zurgo, he just gets bigger. The best part is that he has indestructible on your turn! You can send him into any board state expecting him to get bigger or get in a ton of damage.

Although Zurgo is is really good card, he does have some downsides. His major downside is that he only has indestructible on your turn. Since he has low toughness, he is easily killed by most removal. Zurgo also has to attack each turn, so you don't even have the choice to block with him.

If you haven't already noticed, Zurgo Helmsmasher is very good. He can fit in a lot of different strategies, but goes best in agro decks. As long as you have ways to protect Zurgo until he gets bigger, he can be a game finishing card.

Our second Khan is Narset, Enlightened Master, the khan of the Jeskai clan. Narset is a 3/2 Human Monk that cast for 3 colorless, a blue, a red, and a white. She has first strike, hexproof, and whenever Narset attacks, exile the top four cards of your library. Until end of turn, you may cast noncreature cards exiled this way without paying their mana costs.

I'm definitely not the biggest fan of Narset, but she is still pretty good. Anyone with first strike is very good, especially in this format. Hexproof is also nice just to make sure she can't be targeted by those pesky kill shots. Her last ability... is very circumstantial and involves a  lot of luck. Narset has to be in a tempo deck, else she is not at all worth to play. Also, you could brick and end up exiling a bunch of creatures or lands and not getting any spells!

Narset, Enlighten Master is a card that has to be put into the right deck. If you find the right home for Narset she will lead you to victory!

That's all I have to say about the Khans of Tarkir set, now we have to wait... FOR FATE REFORGED!!! I'll see you guys next time for some more reviews on Magic.

Khans of Takir: Sultai Khan

Image Courtesy of  reddit.com

It's time for another Khan Review! Lets see who do we have here... oh... its Sidisi... Well. I'm just going to skip this review, so, see you next time!

But seriously though, I don't like Sidisi, Brood Tyrant. She's just so... eh. I just don't like her, like at all.

Sidisi is a 3/3 for one, a black, a green, a blue, and her abilities are, "When Sidisi, Brood Tyrant enters the battlefield or attacks, put the top three cards of your library into your graveyard." and, "Whenever one or more creature cards are put into your graveyard from your library, put a 2/2 black Zombie creature token onto the battlefield.

If you haven't already noticed, Sidisi is aimed towards delve decks and decks that use their graveyard. This is why I think she is bad, well bad in general. Unless she is put into a delve/graveyard deck, she's absolutely useless. If milling all of your great cards isn't enough, a 3/3 for four is not that good especially if you relate it to the Abzan or Temer Khan.

Although she is very bad in most decks, if she is put into a delve deck, she is amazing. If you can get out cards like Dead Drop for a very low mana cost, it can be a game winning blow. Sidisi definitely helps with all of those different delve cards and gets you 2/2 zombies along the way. Sidisi is the best way to mill your self to cast those delve cards.

Sidisi brings a lot of new deck types to the table of standard. There have been a lot of different strategies to mill yourself of all your cards then cast everything in your hand for free. Sidisi is a key card to use in any of these types of decks. She would also be an amazing commander to use in a graveyard related deck. The only problem with Sidisi is that she is absolutly horrible in limited. Unless you get the right pulls and make the right deck, she is not going to be a card you include in your deck.

Sidisi, Brood Tyrant is a very specific card. She only works well with a specific type of deck. This is why she is not the greatest Khan. If you can find a home for Sidisi in your pile of dead cards, I hope that she leads you to victory. I hope you enjoyed the read, and check in next time to hear about more card reviews.

Khans of Tarkir Set Review

Image Courtesy of  Magic Spoiler

Was Khans of Tarkir a good set? Did it turn out how everyone thought it would be? I'm here to answer all your questions about Khans of Tarkir.

Does Khans of Tarkir have good cards? Well the community has very mixed feelings. Some people think that it is just an awesome set with awesome cards, pretty simple. Others think that its a pile of trash with a bunch of fetch lands shoved in, which could be the case. In my eyes, I think that its a fairly decent set. Sure it may not have the best cards overall but it has a few really good cards. The planeswalkers are amazing, the fetches are good, cards such as Bloodsoaked Champion, Utter End, and Hooded Hydra are really good. It really does have some decent rares. Some of the rares aren't very good, unless you're playing limited. A lot of rares are only aimed toward their respective clan, making them horrible unless they are played with the tactics of their clan. Another problem is a lot of rares are three colors which is hard to draft and to make constructed decks with. Khans is definitely not a World Wake, but it still has some good cards.

Is Khans of Tarkir fun to play? Oh yeah it is. I went to the pre-release of Khans of Tarkir and man was it a blast. I chose the Abzan clan and went 3-2. I got a seeded pack with cards that were aimed towards the tactics of the Abzan clan. It was a really fun experience and I would do it every weekend if I could! It's really fun to make a deck around the different clans, but it's still possible to make decks that aren't aimed towards one clan. Khans of Tarkir is a super fun set to play in both limited and constructed.

Is Khans of Tarkir good for Standard? Well, yes and no. Khans of Tarkir has brought out a lot of different deck types for people to test and play around with. Some people have made very successful decks using cards mostly from Khans of Tarkir. Although these cards add different deck types, a lot of the cards can only be used for their respective clan. They are definitely still playable in different types of decks, but they might not be used to their full potential. Khans definitely forces people to be creative with how they use the cards in their decks.

Does Khans of Tarkir impact modern and commander (EDH)? It's a huge impact on these formats. First off, the Khans can be used as commanders which is totally awesome. Second, Khans adds Fetch lands which is pretty much saying that they care for all of those modern players. Fetch lands are so important for modern decks, so bringing them back really helps them keep their wallets filled with cash. Last but not least, there are a lot of cards that were made to be used for both commander and modern such as Ugin's Nexus. This shows that Wizards really does care about modern and commander formats.

Khans of Tarkir is a fun set that has some pretty decent cards. I hope you are all enjoying Khans! Thanks for reading!

Khans of Tarkir: Temur Khan

image courtesy of  Mythic Spoilers

Khans of Tarkir is finally out! After long days of looking at spoilers it's finally here! Today I am going to be talking about another awesome Khan: Surrak Dragonclaw. Surrak Dragonclaw is the khan of the Temur clan. Surrak Dragonclaw is a 6/6 legendary creature for 2, a green, a blue, and a red. His abilities are "Flash,"  "Surrak Dragonclaw can't be countered," "Creatures you control can't be countered," and "Other creatures you control have trample." This card is amazing, its just so good that everyone should play it.  He is a bear punching machine thats all about throwing your fatties at your opponent's face. I honestly can't name a single reason why this card would be bad. It is an especially amazing card in a Temur deck. With a Temur deck your going to be running a lot of fatties, and giving them trample is vitally important if your going to be throwing them into the Mardu horde. If you have ever been against a blue deck you know the feeling of your best creatures being countered by stupid cancels. That's where Surrak comes into play. With him on the battlefield, you can cast your big creatures with ease. Surrak can also be a great combat trick! With flash you can play him out when your opponent is attacking with one of their little goblins and squash it like a bug. Even if you don't like his abilities, a 6/6 for five mana is amazing. He is a great way to make sure all of your ferocious abilities trigger. Even though Surrark Dragonclaw is a bomb, he does have some downsides. Surrak is three colors, which could mess up your mana balance. The main reason is that Surrak Dragonclaw gives trample to OTHER creatures, which is kinda sad but I still wouldn't want to send him into an oncoming killshot. Even though Surrak Dragonclaw has some very small downfalls, He is still an awesome card that will be played for years to come.

Well that's the Khan of the ferocious Temur clan. I'll be talking about one of the other Khans next time, thanks for reading!

Khans of Tarkir: Abzan Khan

Image courtesy of mtgslavation

Khans of Tarkir is almost here and we will be reviewing the Khans of each clan in a 5 part series.

There is 5 clans in Khans of Tarkir,
the Azban (White, Black, Green)
the Sultai (Black, Green, Blue)
the Mardu (Red, White, Black)
the Temur (Green, Red, Blue)
and the Jeskai (Blue, Red, White)
Each clan has there own Khan, a legendary creature that represents their clan's strategy

Anafenza, the Foremost is the khan of the Abzan clan. She is a 4/4 that costs a white, a black, and a green. Her abilities are, "Whenever Anafenza, the Foremost attacks, put a +1/+1 counter on another target tapped creature you control." and, "If a creature card would be put into an opponent's graveyard from anywhere, exile it instead."
I think that Anafenza, the Foremost is just simply good. Her first ability is nice since you get to activate outlast , but you can only put it on ONE of your creatures and they have to be tapped! She also has to attack to apply the +1/+1 counter, putting her at a risk. The ability really shines in an outlast deck, but other than that its not that helpful. Her second ability counters all Sultai players, which is very situational, and doesn't help against any other clan. Her mana cost is what makes her good. A 4/4 body for 3 is always good even if it is three colors. (Because of all the mana fixing in the set.) Even if they a use a removal spell, you only casted her for three mana.
Anafenza, the Foremost is a good Khan that fits very well in outlast decks. She is very playable in draft, sealed, and maybe in standard.

That is all I have to say about Anafenza, the Foremost. I will talk about another Khan next time, thanks for reading!

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