Summary
We all knew it was coming, but Wizards of the Coast has given us our first real look at the much-anticipated return toMagic: The Gathering’splane of Tarkir.
What was once simply known as Codename: Ultimate is now Tarkir Dragonstorm, the second major release of 2025 that combines things players loved from both the Khans of Tarkir and Dragons of Tarkir sets.
Tarkir Dragonstorm will return to the plane we last saw in Dragons of Tarkir way back in 2015. A world inspired by a variety of East Asian cultures, the Tarkir block is is largely considered one of the golden eras for the game, with five three-colour clans and splashy Dragons all making one of the best limited formats ever.
However, one of the big problems with the original Tarkir was that its story saw the plane’s past rewritten, wiping out the three-colour clans and replacing them with two-colour ones led by ferocious Dragons. While they are a big draw of Tarkir, the loss of those clans in the new timeline was seen as a negative against the block’s third set, Dragons of Tarkir.
Fortunately, Tarkir Dragonstorm will be bringing back the three-colour clans. Story-wise, the people living under the thumb of the Dragon lords have grown tired of their rule, and rediscovered the clans of the past.
This means we’ll be seeing the return of theAbzan,Mardu,Sultai,Temur, andJeskai, while also getting the huge Dragons like Dromka, Ojutai, Atarka, Silumgar, and Kolaghan.
A Possible Connection To Bloomburrow?
Though we’ve not seen any cards from this set, the art revealed for it raises a lot of interesting questions. One shows a group of mages potentially summoning Dragons from a storm, a few of which look suspiciously like the Calamity Beasts from Bloomburrow.
This would be an interesting follow-up to one card in Bloomburrow, Dragonhawk, Fate’s Tempest, which had a Kolaghan Dragon from Tarkir reinterpreted as a bird while visiting the plane.
Elsewhere, we see more traditionally Tarkir-like art, full of elephants, fancy armor, and lots of war. When the set wasfirst teased in 2023, Mark Rosewater said the set was combining the best of what people liked from both Khans of Tarkir and Dragons of Tarkir, and it shows.
Tarkir Dragonstorm will be a major release that is legal in all formats. As it’s also the second tentpole release of the year followingAetherdrift, we can expect it to launch with the full lineup of Play and Collector boosters, bundles, and Commander decks.
In fact, Tarkir seems like the perfect candidate for the year’s major Commander release, with a deck for each clan, although plans in that regard have yet to be revealed by Wizards.
Tarkir Dragonstorm launches on July 10, 2025.
Magic: The Gathering
Created by Richard Garfield in 1993, Magic: The Gathering (MTG) has become one of the biggest tabletop collectible card games in the world. Taking on the role of a Planeswalker, players build decks of cards and do battle with other players. In excess of 100 additional sets have added new cards to the library, while the brand has expanded into video games, comics, and more.
