Resurgence of Khans

[Zero_Origin]

For this set, I've re-centered the identity of the new clans on the enemy color that was previously suppressed by the Dragonlords. The story begins with Ob-Nixilis (who has regained his ability to assume human form at will) informing the Clans of their former identities. This has stoked planewide rebellion against the dragons (who are now spawning much more slowly due to Ugin being sealed away in the Meditation Realm). Ob-Nixilis does this under the guise of helping resurgent Khans of Tarkir, but secretly he aims to subjugate both sides once they've been weakened by war. Meanwhile, Sarkhan and Narset join forces, seeking to prevent Ob-Nixilis from conquering Tarkir, while also striving to create a world more balanced between Khans and Dragons.

4/4/23: I've deleted version 1.0 and updated the card list to version 2.0. I may still divide this set up into two, with allied color dragonlords as the first small set. However, for the time being I will include them here:

Card List

Show

Hide

Mardu Horde

Show

Hide

Overwhelm – Whenever this creature attacks, if you control more creatures than defending player, [effect].

Zurgo Skullcrusher 2RWB – Mythic
Legendary Creature – Orc Warrior
Creatures you control have haste.
When Zurgo Skullcrusher enters the battlefield, create two 1/1 white Warrior creature tokens.
Whenever a creature you control attacks, defending player loses 1 life.
3/3

Kerai Ragesinger 2W - Rare
Legendary Creature – Human Shaman
Your opponents can't cast spells or activate abilities during your combat phase.
At the beginning of combat on your turn, you may pay . If you do, creatures you control gain menace until end of turn.
3/2

Mardu Uprising 2RWB – Rare
Sorcery
Create four 1/1 white Warrior creature tokens. They gain haste and deathtouch until end of turn.

Spoils of Conquest 1RWB – Rare
Enchantment
Whenever a creature you control attacks, choose one of the following that hasn't been chosen yet this turn –
• Create a 1/1 white Warrior creature token.
• Create a Treasure token.
• Each opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life.

Heartpiercer Strike RWB – Rare
Instant
Choose an attacking or blocking creature an opponent controls. That creature's controller sacrifices it. Heartpiercer Strike deals 3 damage to that player.

Inspiring Hordechief 3W – Rare
Creature – Human Warrior
Vigilance
Overwhelm – Whenever Inspiring Hordechief attacks, if you control more creatures than defending player, untap each other creature you control. They get +1/+1 until end of turn.
4/4

Deft Blademaster 2R – Rare
Creature – Human Warrior
Whenever Deft Blademaster deals combat damage during your turn, exile the top card of your library. Until the end of your next turn, you may play it.
Overwhelm – Whenever Deft Blademaster attacks, if you control more creatures than defending player, it gains double strike until end of turn.
2/3

Mardu Gutstretcher 2B – Rare
Creature – Orc Archer
Overwhelm – Whenever Mardu Gutstretcher attacks, if you control more creatures than defending player, destroy target creature that player controls.
2/2

Daring Roc Rider 2W – Uncommon
Creature – Human Warrior
Flying
Overwhelm – Whenever Daring Roc Rider attacks, if you control more creatures than defending player, another attacking creature gains flying until end of turn.
3/2

Mardu Wind-Conjurer 1W – Uncommon
Creature – Human Shaman
Overwhelm – Whenever Mardu Wind-Conjurer attacks, if you control more creatures than defending player, tap target creature.
2/2

Reckless Ransacker 2R – Uncommon
Creature – Ogre Berserker
Whenever Reckless Ransacker deals combat damage to player, create a treasure token.
Overwhelm – Whenever Reckless Ransacker attacks, if you control more creatures than defending player, it gains trample until end of turn.
3/3

Sadistic Hordemate 1B – Uncommon
Creature – Orc Berserker
Overwhelm – Whenever Sadistic Hordemate attacks, if you control more creatures than defending player, that player discards a card.
2/2

Vanguard of the Horde 1W – Common
Creature – Human Warrior
Overwhelm – Whenever Vanguard of the Horde attacks, if you control more creatures than defending player, it gains first strike until end of turn.
2/1

Shrieking Bandits R – Common
Creature – Goblin Scout
Overwhelm – Whenever Shrieking Bandits attacks, if you control more creatures than defending player, it gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
1/1

Bloodchin Flayer 1B – Common
Creature – Human Warrior
Overwhelm – Whenever Bloodchin Flayer attacks, if you control more creatures than defending player, it gains lifelink until end of turn.
2/2

Mardu Clanmage 2W – Uncommon
Creature – Human Shaman
R, : Target creature gains haste until end of turn.
B, : Target player loses 1 life and you gain 1 life.
2/2

Battle Celebrant 1W – Uncommon
Creature – Human Warrior
As long you control a red or black permanent, Battle Celebrant gets +1/+0 and has menace.
2/2

Arm for War RW – Rare
Enchantment
Aura and equipment spells you control cost 1 to cast.
Equip costs of equipment you control cost 1 less to activate. This cannot reduce the cost to less than 1.

Warsinger's Fury 1RW - Uncommon
Enchantment – Aura
Enchant creature
Whenever enchanted creature is dealt damage, it deals that much damage to any target.

Replenish the Horde 1WB - Uncommon
Enchantment
Whenever a nontoken creature you controls dies, create a 1/1 white Warrior creature token.

Mardu Emblem 3 – Common
Artifact
: Add w, r, or b.
1w, , Sacrifice Mardu Emblem: Draw a card.

Martial Encampment – Uncommon
Land
Martial Encampment enters the battlefield tapped.
: Add w. You gain 1 life.
: Add r or b.

Temur Frontier

Show

Hide

Reverberate [cost] (When you cast this spell, you may pay [cost]. If you do, copy it.)

Surrak Dragonslayer 1GUR – Mythic
Legendary Creature – Human Warrior
Flash, reach
Whenever a creature you control enters the battlefield, it gains first strike until end of turn.
You may cast creature and sorcery spells as though they had flash.
4/4

Arel, Unseen Whisperer 2U – Rare
Legendary Creature – Human Shaman
Whenever you create a creature token, scry 2. This ability triggers once each turn.
At the beginning of each combat, you may pay 1. If you do, create a token that's a copy of target creature you control. It gains trample and haste. At the beginning of your next end step, exile it.
2/3

Temur Uprising 2GUR – Rare
Sorcery
This spell can't be countered.
Scry X, where X is the greatest power among creatures you control. Then draw cards equal to the number of creatures you control.

Rites of Summoning 1GUR – Rare
Enchantment
If you would copy a spell or ability, copy it that many times plus one instead.

Manifest the Unwritten GUR – Rare
Instant
Copy target spell. (You may choose new targets for the copy. A copy of a permanent spell becomes a token.)

Glacial Image 3U – Rare
Sorcery
Create a token that's a copy of a creature on the battlefield.
Reverberate 2U (When you cast this spell, you may pay 2U. If you do, copy it. You may choose new targets for the copy).

Frontier Maulpack 3G – Rare
Creature – Bear
Trample
Frontier Maulpack gets +1/+1 for each creature named Frontier Maulpack you control.
Reverberate 2G (When you cast this spell, you may pay 2G. If you do, copy it. The copy becomes a token.)
4/4

Temur Flamestoker 2R – Rare
Creature – Efreet Shaman
When Temur Flamestoker enters the battlefield, it deals 2 damage to any target.
Reverberate 2 (When you cast this spell, you may pay 2. If you do, copy it. You may choose new targets for the copy).
3/1

Bellowing Gales 1U – Uncommon
Instant
Counter target spell unless its controller pays 2.
Reverberate 1 (When you cast this spell, you may pay 1. If you do, copy it. You may choose new targets for the copy).

Current Glider 2U – Uncommon
Creature – Elemental
Flying
Reverberate 2 (When you cast this spell, you may pay 2. If you do, copy it. The copy becomes a token.)
2/3

Woodland Whisperers 1G – Uncommon
Creature – Human Shaman
: Add one mana of any color.
Reverberate 2 (When you cast this spell, you may pay 2. If you do, copy it. The copy becomes a token.)
1/2

Cliffside Predator 2R – Uncommon
Creature – Yeti
Menace
Reverberate 2 (When you cast this spell, you may pay 2. If you do, copy it. The copy becomes a token.)
3/2

Wielder of Frost 2U – Common
Creature – Human Shaman
When Wielder of Frost enters the battlefield, choose one:
• Tap target creature.
• Put a stun counter on target creature.
Reverberate 2 (When you cast this spell, you may pay 2U. If you do, copy it. The copy becomes a token.)
2/2

Revenge of the Wilds 2G – Common
Instant
Choose one:
• Destroy target artifact.
• Destroy target enchantment.
• Destroy target creature with flying.
Reverberate 2 (When you cast this spell, you may pay 2. If you do, copy it. You may choose new targets for the copy).

Temur Battlecry R– Common
Sorcery
Choose one:
• Target creature can't block this turn.
• Until your next turn, target creature attacks if able.
Reverberate 1 (When you cast this spell, you may pay 1. If you do, copy it. You may choose new targets for the copy.)

Temur Clanmage 2U – Uncommon
Creature – Human Shaman
G, : Target creature gains trample until end of turn.
R, : Temur Clanmage deals 1 damage to any target.
2/2

Frostkin 3U – Uncommon
Creature - Elemental
As long as you control a green or red permanent, Frostkin has trample.
4/3

Eternal Peak Elder 2GU – Rare
Creature – Human Shaman
At the beginning of your upkeep, create a 1/1 blue Shaman creature token.
At the beginning of your end step, scry X, where X is the number of creatures you control that entered the battlefield this turn.
2/3

Qal-Sisma Soothsayer 1GU – Uncommon
Creature – Ainok Shaman
1, : Scry 1.
Whenever you scry, put a +1/+1 counter on Qal-Sisma Soothsayer.
2/2

Torrent of Winds UR - Uncommon
Instant
Target creature gets -2/-0 and loses flying until end of turn. Another target creature gets +2/+0 and gains flying until end of turn.

Temur Emblem 3 – Common
Artifact
: Add u, g, or r.
1u, , Sacrifice Temur Emblem: Draw a card.

Ancestral Grounds – Uncommon
Land
Ancestral Grounds enters the battlefield tapped.
: Add u. You gain 1 life.
: Add g or r.

Abzan Houses

Show

Hide

Abiding N (When this creature dies, distribute N +1/+1 counters among N target creatures you control).

Anafenza, Preeminent Ancestor 1WBG - Mythic
Legendary Creature – Spirit Soldier
Flying
Whenever another creature enters the battlefield under your control, put a +1/+1 counter on that creature.
wb, Exile target creature card from your graveyard: Create a token that's a copy of that creature, except it's a 1/1 black and white Spirit with flying in addition to its other colors, types, and abilities.
3/4

Oret, of the Old Ways 3B – Rare
Legendary Creature – Human Warrior
Whenever one or more +1/+1 counters are put on a creature you control, if it's the first time a +1/+1 counter has been put on that creature this turn, each opponent loses 1 life.
: Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control. You gain 1 life.
2/4

Abzan Uprising 2WBG - Rare
Sorcery
Return a number of creature cards with total combined mana value 5 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield. They each enter the battlefield with an additional +1/+1 counter on them.

Kin-Tree Fortification 1WBG – Rare
Enchantment
Whenever a creature you control dies, you gain life equal to its toughness.
2, Sacrifice a creature: Put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control. Activate only as a sorcery.

Sandshaper's Scorn WBG – Rare
Instant
Exile target nonland permanent an opponent controls. If that permanent was a creature card, its controller creates a 1/1 black Spirit creature token with flying. If it was a noncreature card, they gain 2 life.

Tormented Spirit Speaker 2B – Rare
Creature – Human Shaman
Whenever one or more +1/+1 counters are put on Tormented Spirit Speaker, create a 1/1 black Spirit creature token with flying. This ability triggers only once each turn.
Abiding 2 (When this creature dies, distribute two +1/+1 counters among one or two target creatures you control).
3/2

Fortress Sentinel 3W – Rare
Creature – Aven Soldier
Flying
Whenever one or more +1/+1 counters are put on Fortress Sentinel, put a +1/+1 counter on another target creature you control. This ability triggers only once each turn.
Abiding 2 (When this creature dies, distribute two +1/+1 counters among one or two target creatures you control).
3/4

Salt-Road Suppliers 3G – Rare
Creature – Human Scout
Whenever one or more +1/+1 counters are put on Salt-Road Suppliers, draw a card. This ability triggers only once each turn.
Abiding 3 (When this creature dies, distribute three +1/+1 counters among one, two, or three target creatures you control).
3/3

Mer-Ek Intimidator 2B – Uncommon
Creature – Orc Warrior
Mer-Ek Intimidator has menace as long as it has a +1/+1 counter on it.
Abiding 2 (When this creature dies, distribute two +1/+1 counters among one or two target creatures you control).
2/2

Kin-Tree Avenger 1B – Uncommon
Creature – Human Assassin
Kin-Tree Avenger has deathtouch as long as it has a +1/+1 counter on it.
Abiding 1 (When this creature dies, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control).
1/2

Arashin Elite 2W – Uncommon
Creature – Human Soldier
Arashin Elite has first strike as long as it has a +1/+1 counter on it.
Abiding 2 (When this creature dies, distribute two +1/+1 counters among one or two target creatures you control).
2/2

Abzan War-Beast 4G – Uncommon
Creature – Rhino
Abzan War-Beast has vigilance as long as it has a +1/+1 counter on it.
Abiding 2 (When this creature dies, distribute two +1/+1 counters among one or two target creatures you control).
4/4

Bloodline Tracker 1B – Common
Creature – Human Shaman
Bloodline Tracker has lifelink as long as it has a +1/+1 counter on it.
Abiding 1 (When this creature dies, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control).
2/1

Wanderer of the Wastes W – Common
Creature – Human Soldier
Abiding 1 (When this creature dies, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control).
1/1

Oasis Guardian 1G - Common
Creature – Hound Scout
Defender
Abiding 1 (When this creature dies, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control).
0/3

Abzan Clanmage 2B – Uncommon
Creature – Human Warrior
W, : Target creature gains lifelink until end of turn.
G, : Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control.
2/2

Watchful Krumar 3B – Uncommon
Creature – Orc Warrior
As long as you control a white or green permanent, Watchful Krumar gets +0/+1 and has vigilance.
3/3

Voice of the Ancients 1WB - Rare
Creature – Human Shaman
Whenever a creature token enters the battlefield under your control, you gain 1 life.
Whenever a creature token you control dies, each opponent loses 1 life.
2/3

Ancestor's Aid 1WB – Uncommon
Instant
Create two 1/1 black Spirit creature tokens with flying, then you gain 1 life for each creature token you control.

Strength of the Fallen 2BG – Uncommon
Sorcery
Distribute X +1/+1 counters among any number of target creatures you control, where X is the number of creature cards in your graveyard.

Abzan Emblem 3 – Common
Artifact
: Add b, w, or g.
1b, , Sacrifice Abzan Emblem: Draw a card.

Foreboding Fortress – Uncommon
Land
Foreboding Fortess enters the battlefield tapped.
: Add b. You gain 1 life.
: Add w or g.

Jeskai Way

Show

Hide

Mastery N (When this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability you control, if it hasn't attained mastery, put N +1/+1 counters on it and it attains mastery).

Chanyi, Lotus-Eye Visionary 1URW – Mythic
Legendary Creature – Djinn Monk
Flying, first strike
Noncreature spells you control can't be countered.
Whenever you cast a noncreature spell that targets a creature you control, copy it. You may choose new targets for the copy. A copy of a permanent becomes a token.
3/3

Kuyai, Bloodfire Mentor 2R - Rare
Legendary Creature – Efreet Monk
Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, create a 1/1 red Monk creature token with Mastery 1.
: Target creature you control gains flying until end of turn.
3/2

Jeskai Uprising 2URW – Rare
Sorcery
Until end of turn you may cast a number of noncreature spells with total combined mana value 5 or less from your graveyard without paying their mana costs. If a spell cast this way would be put into your graveyard, exile it instead. Exile Jeskai Uprising.

Way of the Mystic 1URW – Rare
Enchantment
Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, put a realization counter on Way of the Mystic.
Once each turn, you may pay 0 rather than pay the mana cost for a noncreature spell you cast with converted mana cost X or less, where X is the number of realization counters on Way of the Mystic.

Silencing Strike URW – Rare
Instant
Silencing Strike deals 3 damage to any target, and you gain 3 life. Counter all activated and triggered abilities controlled by that player or permanents controller.

Ghostfire Mystic 2R – Rare
Creature – Efreet Monk
Your opponents can't gain life.
If a creature or planeswalker dealt damage by Ghostfire Mystic would die, exile it instead.
Mastery 1 (When this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability you control, if it hasn't attained mastery, put a +1/+1 counter on it and it attains mastery).
When Ghostfire Mystic attains mastery, it deals 3 damage to any target.
3/2

Mistfire Sage 2U – Rare
Creature – Aven Scout
Flying
Mastery 2 (When this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability you control, if it hasn't attained mastery, put two +1/+1 counters on it and it attains mastery).
Whenever Mistfire Sage deals combat damage to a player, if it has attained mastery, draw a card.
2/2

Stronghold Guardian 3W – Rare
Creature – Human Monk
Vigilance
Whenever Stronghold Guardian blocks a creature, it gets +0/+2 until end of turn for each creature it's blocking.
Mastery 2 (When this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability you control, if it hasn't attained mastery, put two +1/+1 counters on it and it attains mastery).
So long as Stronghold Guardian has attained mastery, it can block any number of creatures.
3/4

Adept of Flames 1R – Uncommon
Creature – Human Monk
Mastery 1 (When this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability you control, if it hasn't attained mastery, put a +1/+1 counter on it and it attains mastery).
So long as Adept of Flames has attained mastery, it has menace.
2/2

Exuberant Warrior 2R – Uncommon
Creature – Efreet Warrior
Haste
Mastery 2 (When this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability you control, if it hasn't attained mastery, put two +1/+1 counters on it and it attains mastery).
2/2

Student of the Hidden Path U – Uncommon
Creature – Human Monk
Student of the Hidden Path can't be blocked.
Mastery 1 (When this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability you control, if it hasn't attained mastery, put a +1/+1 counter on it and it attains mastery).
So long as Student of the Hidden Path has attained mastery, it has ward 1.
1/1

Swiftblade Enforcer 1W – Uncommon
Creature – Human Warrior
First strike
Mastery 1 (When this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability you control, if it hasn't attained mastery, put a +1/+1 counter on it and it attains mastery).
So long as Swiftblade Enforcer has attained mastery, it has double strike.
1/2

Humble Artisan 1R – Common
Creature – Human Artificer
Mastery 1 (When this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability you control, if it hasn't attained mastery, put a +1/+1 counter on it and it attains mastery).
When Humble Artisan attains mastery, you may discard a card. If you do, draw a card.
2/1

Monastery Scholar 1U – Common
Creature – Human Wizard
Mastery 1 (When this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability you control, if it hasn't attained mastery, put a +1/+1 counter on it and it attains mastery).
When Monastery Scholar attains mastery, draw a card then discard a card.
1/2

Initiate of Pearls W – Common
Creature – Human Monk
Mastery 1 (When this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability you control, if it hasn't attained mastery, put a +1/+1 counter on it and it attains mastery).
So long as Initiate of Pearls has attained Mastery, it has lifelink.
1/1

Jeskai Clanmage 2R – Uncommon
Creature - Human Monk
U, : Target creature gains flying until end of turn.
W, : You gain 2 life.
2/2

Nimbus Rider 2R – Uncommon
Creature – Efreet Monk
As long as you control a blue or white permanent, Nimbus Rider has flying.
3/2

Explosive Epiphany 3UR – Rare
Sorcery
Target creature you control deals damage equal to its power to target creature or planeswalker an opponent controls. You draw a number of cards equal to the damage dealt this way.

Striking-Tiger Technique UR – Uncommon
Instant
Untap target creature you control. It gains double strike until end of turn.

Forgemaster's Inspiration WR – Uncommon
Sorcery
Search your library for an aura or equipment card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle. Create a treasure token.

Jeskai Emblem 3 – Common
Artifact
: Add r, u, or w.
1r, , Sacrifice Jeskai Emblem: Draw a card.

Forbidden Sanctuary – Uncommon
Land
Forbidden Sanctuary enters the battlefield tapped.
: Add r. You gain 1 life.
: Add u or w.

Sultai Brood

Show

Hide

Treachery – If a creature card was put into your graveyard from anywhere this turn, [effect].

Sidisi, Naga Ascendant BGU - Mythic
Legendary Creature – Zombie Naga
Trample, ward 1
If you would draw a card, instead look at the top three cards of your library. Put one of them into your hand and the rest into your graveyard.
Whenever one or more creature cards are put into your graveyard from anywhere, put a +1/+1 counter on Sidisi, Naga Ascendant.
1/1

Eburri, Scheming Vizier 3G – Rare
Legendary Creature – Cat Demon
You may look at the top card of your library at any time.
You may play lands and cast creature spells from the top of your library.
: Mill a card.
3/4

Sultai Uprising 2BGU – Rare
Sorcery
Mill four cards. Until end of turn, creatures you control gain trample and get +X/+X, where X is the number of creature cards in your graveyard.

Fill the Coffers 1BGU – Rare
Enchantment
At the beginning of your upkeep, draw a card then discard a card. If a creature card is discarded this way, create a 2/2 black Zombie creature token. If a land card is discarded this way, create a treasure token. If a noncreature, nonland card is discarded this way, scry 2.

Conjure from the Depths BGU – Rare
Instant
Mill three cards, then choose a card in your graveyard. You may play it this turn. If that card would be put into your graveyard this turn, exile it instead.

Undergrowth Hydra 3G – Rare
Creature – Hydra
Trample
Undergrowth Hydra enters the battlefield with three +1/+1 counters.
Treachery – At the beginning of your end step, if a creature card was put into your graveyard from anywhere this turn, put two +1/+1 counters on Undergrowth Hydra.
0/0

Endless Sibsig 2B - Rare
Creature – Zombie
Treachery – At the beginning of your end step, if a creature card was put into your graveyard from anywhere this turn, create a token that's a copy of Endless Sibsig.
2/2

Glimpse the Forbidden 3UU – Rare
Sorcery
Draw four cards.
Treachery – If a creature card was put into your graveyard from anywhere this turn, scry 3 then draw four cards instead.

Reclaim the Ruins 1G – Uncommon
Sorcery
Draw a card. You may play an additional land this turn.
Treachery – If a creature card was put into your graveyard from anywhere this turn, you may play up to one land card from your graveyard this turn.

Serpent Strike G – Uncommon
Instant
Target creature you control gets +2/+2 and trample until end of turn.
Treachery – If a creature card was put into your graveyard from anywhere this turn, that creature also gains deathtouch until end of turn.

Pit Offering 1B – Uncommon
Sorcery
Each opponent sacrifices a creature
Treachery – If a creature card was put into your graveyard from anywhere this turn, you gain life equal to the highest toughness among creatures sacrificed this way.

Banishment Ritual 1U – Uncommon
Instant
Return target nonland permanent to its owner's hand.
Treachery – If a creature card was put into your graveyard from anywhere this turn, you may put that permanent on top of its owner's library instead.

Gudul Sharpshooters 2G – Common
Creature – Naga Archer
Reach
Treachery – Gudul Sharpshooters enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it if a creature card was put into your graveyard from anywhere this turn.
2/3

Kheru Fangkeeper 1G – Common
Creature – Human Shaman
Treachery – When Kheru Fangkeeper enters the battlefield, if a creature card was put into your graveyard from anywhere this turn, create a 1/1 green Naga creature token with deathtouch.
1/2

Dross Harvester 1B – Common
Creature - Zombie
Treachery – When Dross Harvester enters the battlefield, if a creature card was put into your graveyard from anywhere this turn, return target creature card from your graveyard to your hand.
2/1

Intoxicating Vapors 1U - Common
Instant
Tap up to two target creatures.
Treachery – If a creature card was put into your graveyard from anywhere this turn, those creatures don't untap during their controller's next untap step.

Sultai Clanmage 2G – Uncommon
Creature – Naga Shaman
B, : Target creature gains menace until end of turn.
U, : Draw a card, then discard a card.
2/2

Qarsi Mindflayer 2G – Uncommon
Creature – Human Shaman
Whenever Qarsi Mindflayer attacks, if you control a black or blue permanent, target player mills three cards.
3/3

Vizier of Venoms 1BG – Rare
Creature – Naga Shaman
Ward – Sacrifice a permanent.
The first time one or more nontoken creature cards are put into your graveyard from anywhere each turn, create a 1/1 green Naga creature token with deathtouch.
2/3

Shed the First Skin 3BG - Uncommon
Sorcery
As an additional cost to cast this spell, sacrifice a creature.
Add X mana in any combination of colors to your mana pool, where X is the sacrificed creature's toughness.
Return another target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield.

Sagu Survivalist GU – Uncommon
Creature – Human Scout
When Sagu Survivalist enters the battlefield scry 2, then reveal the top card of your library. If it's a land card, put into play tapped. Otherwise, put it into your hand, and put a +1/+1 counter on Sagu Survivalist.
1/1

Sultai Emblem 3 – Common
Artifact
: Add g, b, or u.
1g, , Sacrifice Sultai Emblem: Draw a card.

Lavish Temple – Uncommon
Land
Lavish Temple enters the battlefield tapped.
: Add g. You gain 1 life.
: Add b or u.

Draft Archetypes

Show

Hide

BW: Tokens
GB: Graveyard
UG: Scry
RU: Instants and Sorceries
RW: Auras and Equipment

Dragonlords

Show

Hide

Kolaghan, Capricious Marauder 3BR - Mythic
Legendary Creature – Elder Dragon
Flying, haste
Creatures attack each combat if able.
Whenever one or more creatures deal damage to you or a planeswalker you control, destroy one of them at random.
5/4

Atarka, Ravenous Predator 5RG – Mythic
Legendary Creature – Elder Dragon
Flying, trample
Creatures you control with power 4 or greater have haste.
Whenever a creature you control deals combat damage to a player, put a +1/+1 counter on it.
7/6

Dromoka, Unyielding Exemplar 4GW - Mythic
Legendary Creature – Elder Dragon
Flying, vigilance
Whenever Dromoka, Unyielding Exemplar attacks or blocks, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control.
Each other creature you control with a +1/+1 counter on it has vigilance.
4/5

Ojutai, Venerable Teacher 4WU – Mythic
Legendary Creature – Elder Dragon
Flying, ward 2
You may cast noncreature spells as though they had flash.
Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, gain 2 life, then tap or untap target creature.
5/6

Silumgar, Avaricious Oppressor 4BU - Mythic
Legendary Creature – Elder Dragon
Flying, deathtouch
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may sacrifice another creature. If you do, each player mills four cards. Return a creature card from a graveyard to the battlefield under your control.
4/6

Draft Archetypes

Show

Hide

: Attacking
: Power
: +1/+1 Counters
: Noncreature Spells
: Sacrifice

[NUMBERS]

I wasn't active for most of the Tarkir sets so I can't speak too much to flavor.

The overall idea behind these mechanics seems sensible, though a part of me wishes there was a little more unity between them, I don't think that's necessarily practical.

I'm interested in seeing more!

[slimytrout]

Ooh, I really like the idea of having the clans rotate focus for this new world, so they're exactly opposed to the dragon factions they're fighting.

However, I don't think that a set could really fit 6 mechanics, especially not 6 reasonably complex mechanics -- 5 is already pushing it, so they usually have at least one be pretty simple (a la surveil or convoke). And I don't think that they'd have one of the clan mechanics be tribal while the others aren't. So I think a more likely breakdown would be 5 clan mechanics vs. dragon tribal.

As for the substance of the mechanics themselves, I like the Temur mechanic but think it would actually go better in Sultai - they're the clan that cares most about the graveyard. Here are my suggestions for tweaks:

Abzan: As I said, I don't think they'd do an asymmetric tribal like this, where one clan cares about a tribe but none of the rest do. Faction sets are more likely to have some minor tribal element that's unconnected to the overall structure, like the BW warriors in Khans.

Temur: They don't really care about things in the graveyard -- much more likely to have a creature-focused mechanic. I know that you're switching from a Green-centered Temur to a Blue-centered, but I still think that you want to have some cross-set synergies within the clan.

Jeskai: So, only one faction gets double-faced cards? I like the idea of some sort of ascension, but I think it would be better done via +1/+1 counters, plus maybe abilities that come with those counters.

Sultai: Along the same lines, I don't think that they'd use -1/-1 counters on Tarkir. The transition from a world having +1/+1 counters to -1/-1 counters tends to be accompanied by a radical environmental shift, as we've seen in Lorwyn/Shadowmoor and Mirrodin/New Phyrexia. Simply having the clans fight back doesn't feel like enough to justify this. So I'd prefer to see "Commune" here, since it synergizes with delve.

Mardu: I don't think they'd use the word "edict" for this, since a) it's already been associated with black sacrifice effects and b) it doesn't feel like a very Mardu thing, since they don't tend to have much of a government other than a king/dragonlord. As for the effect, it's generally best to have the effect occur when the creature itself attacks (a la battalion or battle cry), since otherwise there's a weird tension where your beatdown deck has creatures that don't actually want to be attacking.

Dragons: I think the connection between the dragons is better as just dragon tribal, since it's otherwise going to be hard to fit everything in the set.

Hope this is helpful!

[Zero_Origin]

I don't think that a set could really fit 6 mechanics, especially not 6 reasonably complex mechanics -- 5 is already pushing it, so they usually have at least one be pretty simple (a la surveil or convoke). And I don't think that they'd have one of the clan mechanics be tribal while the others aren't. So I think a more likely breakdown would be 5 clan mechanics vs. dragon tribal.

Agreed. I'm thinking that oppress wouldn't work well as a mechanic anyways. Instead I'm now envisioning a cycle of dragons that still hose the enemy color, just without a keyword tagged on. Edited the original post to reflect this.

As for your comments on the clan mechanics:

1) I wouldn't think of "Kindred" as spirit tribal. Instead, a more accurate comparison would be ferocious from the original Khans block. Kindred abilities only care about having one spirit on the battlefield at a time, just as ferocious only cared about having one 4 power creature. Both mechanics pump your spells and creatures if you meet the condition.

2) I have flavor reasons for giving (U/G) self mill and graveyard focus to the Temur clan (read the section on Temur Clan Values: Sleeping Ancestors, and Whispering, if you want to see my inspiration for this: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/a ... 2014-09-10). That said, you are right mechanically and color pie wise: it does still make more sense to give that focus to Sultai. So I might make that swap soon. I'm thinking of alternate versions of mechanics for both tribes that I'll post at some point.

3) For the Jesakai, yes I think it's fitting for them to be the only tribe with double faced cards, given that what their transformation is trying to convey is pre-enlightenment/post-enlightenment, which isn't a factor for other clans. That said, for a couple of reasons I'm thinking of changing the condition for their transformation. Instead of each creature having a unique condition, I'm thinking of making it so that all creatures with "Realize" say: Whenever you cast your second instant or sorcery spell this turn, transform [this creature]. For one, this better justifies it as a singular mechanic for this clan. The focus on instants and sorceries also fits the primary R/U identity of Jeskai this time around.

4) Regarding -1/-1 counters, I wanted to include them because it seems like the best way to represent poison in mtg gameplay. The planeswalker's guides had a lot of mentions of how the Naga use venom as one of their primary magics, but this wasn't reflected in any of the cards from the first Khan's set. Given that Sultai are primarily G/B this time around, I thought it would be a good fit now.

5) Flavor wise, I think "Edict" works because it's the white part of Mardu that was lost when Kolagan took over. If you read the Clan Values section for them on the Planeswalkers Guide (same link as above) you'll see that they had some edicts that they lived by in the original timeline. Given that Mardu is centered in White (W/R) this time around, I wanted them to have some focus on "rules of battle." Mechanically, you might be right about requiring the creature to attack for the "edict" to go into effect. I'll need to think that one over some more.

Thanks a lot for the feedback!

[Zero_Origin]

The overall idea behind these mechanics seems sensible, though a part of me wishes there was a little more unity between them, I don't think that's necessarily practical.

I'm interested in seeing more!

I'm interested in what you mean by "more unity" between the mechanics.

I do have some more examples for some of the mechanics, but not for every clan yet. I may hold off on making anymore individual cards until the mechanics are more finalized. At this point they are definitely rough drafts and subject to change. In the meantime, I've updated the original post with more examples and the rough draft of the Khan's for each clan.

[slimytrout]

The new iterations all seem great! Sultai, Jeskai, and Mardu in particular all do a great job of synergizing with the previous mechanics of that clan. The only note I have is that the Temur mechanic likely does not actually work within the rules, even though it's very cool. Because it has a different effect every time, Resonate would have to be an ability word (like Raid or Ferocious), so it would be written like this:

Resonate - Whenever ~ or another creature with Resonate enters the battlefield, something happens.

However, you're not actually allowed to reference ability words the same way you're allowed to reference keywords. So the rules can care about whether a card has haste, for example, but not whether it has Adamant. The only way around this (that I can think of) would be do have Resonate just be a do-nothing keyword, and then put the abilities on a second line, which isn't a terribly satisfying solution.

[Zero_Origin]

However, you're not actually allowed to reference ability words the same way you're allowed to reference keywords. So the rules can care about whether a card has haste, for example, but not whether it has Adamant. The only way around this (that I can think of) would be do have Resonate just be a do-nothing keyword, and then put the abilities on a second line, which isn't a terribly satisfying solution.

Not being able to reference ability words is an unfortunate complication, because I'm really wanting resonate to work out. Out of curiosity, where has WotC stated this before, and did they provide a rational for why this is the case?

[slimytrout]

Here's a page that at least indicates why they can't be referenced: https://mtg.gamepedia.com/Ability_word, although it doesn't fully explain it. The crucial part is that they "have no special rules meaning and no individual entries in the Comprehensive Rules" -- they're basically just flavor text, so the card has to work exactly the same if it has the ability word printed on it and if it doesn't. With things like Adamant, that's just fine because the text that comes after the ability word tells you exactly how the card works, but it wouldn't work for something like Resonate because cards would function differently if they have Resonate printed on them or not.

(If anyone has a better source than that, feel free to chime in. I feel like MaRo has said it at some point, but I couldn't find it.)

[Zero_Origin]

11/2 Update:

Abzan:

Still toying with a version of

Martyr: ([Cost], Sacrifice this creature. Put X +1/+1 counters on target creature. (Martyr only as sorcery).)
Vs.
Endure: (When this creature dies, [effect for X +1/+1 counters it had on it].)

But I'm going with Martyr so far, while often including (when this creature dies effects) on uncommons and up.

Temur:

The only workaround I can think of for Resonate is something like the following:

Reverberate: Whenever this creature, or another creature with power 4 or greater enters the battlefield under your control [effect].

Jeskai:

So, I'm finally giving up on the idea of DFC. Instead:

Mastery: When you cast your second non-creature spell this turn, if this creature hasn't attained mastery, put a +1/+1 counter on it. It attains mastery and gains [keyword or ability].

[Zero_Origin]

7/2/20 Update:

I'm open to feedback regarding the Endure mechanic for Abzan, and the Resound mechanic for Temur.

[RattingRots]

I haven't looked through all the cards but I'll just comment on the mechanics:

I think Martyr is great - really takes abzan in an interesting direction without feeling out of place, and also allows for some synergy with graveyard mechanics in sultai.

I also like Aspire, don't have a whole lot to say about it but it seems pretty clean. It could get out of hand if you're not careful about balancing.

I like Mastery, only thing I would watch for is that it might put drafting on rails.

Resurface isn't the most exciting mechanic, but it's fine and allows you to have your ETB effects theme.

The obvious comparison to Resurface is dredge. I think for limited the way you're doing it is fine, but in constructed some of these might actually be better than dredge cards. Vizier of Visions getting to mill 4 for 1 mana is insane - at least dredge forces you to have some draw effect to keep the chain going, at the rate of something like Vizier, all you need is cards like that and any discard outlet. If you end up keeping Resurface, I would be really careful about making sure the mana/mill ratio isn't skewed to the point that you can just easily mill your entire deck.

[Zero_Origin]

Resurface isn't the most exciting mechanic, but it's fine and allows you to have your ETB effects theme.

The obvious comparison to Resurface is dredge. I think for limited the way you're doing it is fine, but in constructed some of these might actually be better than dredge cards. Vizier of Visions getting to mill 4 for 1 mana is insane - at least dredge forces you to have some draw effect to keep the chain going, at the rate of something like Vizier, all you need is cards like that and any discard outlet. If you end up keeping Resurface, I would be really careful about making sure the mana/mill ratio isn't skewed to the point that you can just easily mill your entire deck.

Yeah, Reverberate is fairly straightforward and feels a little clunky even in terms of how the mechanic is worded. That's why I redesigned a number of the Temur cards around the new Resonate mechanic. The latter feels more interesting given the different modes the cards have, but feels tough to balance so far. I'm curious about your opinion between the two mechanics.

You have a good point about Resurface potentially being able to mill too quickly (though how much of a problem that is depends on how easily a deck in a given format could abuse a large graveyard). As you said, it's hard to know what the right mill to mana ratio here; but Vizier's 4 to 1 is definitely too strong. Currently I'm working on the second possible mechanic for Sultai: Scheme, and am liking how it feels so far. It's also a little tricky to balance, but not so much as Resurface is.

[RattingRots]

Personally if I did a variant on Resonate, I would probably just change it to "copy it if you control a creature with power 4 or greater" so it can't get quite as out of hand. I don't have a strong preference between that and Reverberate. Even with my nerfed version of Resonate it's still going to be flashy and more different than Reverberate, but also will give you less flexibility with how you design your set. I think you have 4 mechanics right now which really give you options to go deep down some pretty novel and synergistic paths so it wouldn't be the end of the world to pick a safer mechanic for one of the clans although it would be pretty great to have fairly unique mechanics.

I'd definitely factor in how you want to structure the colors and draft achetypes. I could be wrong but it seems like you want both 3-color and 2-color archetypes to be possible, with the enemy archetypes to find a common theme between two clans? If so it probably depends if it makes more sense to have the UR archetype to be based on copying spells or on ETB effects. One thing to maybe watch for is that Resonate's current wording makes it ridiculously easy to trigger mastery, and it might take the fun out of pulling off Jeskai the hard way by actually playing two different spells.

EDIT: Thought about it a bit and I've come down a bit on the potential Resonate/Mastery synergy. I think since you do need 3 pieces to make it work it wouldn't necessarily be much better than triggering mastery the normal way.

[Zero_Origin]

@RattingRots

Putting a ceiling on Resonate makes sense, but limiting it to one additional copy makes it feel too similar to the Ferocious mechanic from the original Khan's block. It also prevents cards with three modes from having all three potentially used off of the same cast. Maybe the ceiling could be set as such:

Resonate (When [this spell] resolves, copy it if you control a creature with power 4 or greater, then copy it again if you control two creatures with power 4 or greater. You may choose new modes and new targets each time.)

I really want to do the Temur clan justice here, but it's been more difficult to find a mechanic for them than any of the others. Another possibility I've been considering is:

Forsee - [Cost], reveal [this card] from your hand, [effect]. (Activate this ability only if you control a creature with power 4 or greater, and only once each turn.)

As far as draft archetypes go, I'll focus more on those again when I have all five mechanics finalized. That said, I'm envisioning 3 color archetypes primarily, but would like 2 colors to be possible as well, yes. And as you say, the enemy multicolor cards are especially important as two clans overlap in that territory. Copying spells would be a good idea for UR, thematically but doesn't synergize with Mastery as well as you'd think. Both Resonate and any form of copying spells shouldn't trigger Mastery, because Mastery cares about you casting the spell, and copies aren't cast.

Edit: I've modified Resonate to cap out at one creature with power four or greater, and am mostly happy with the mechanic at this point. Contrary to what I said before, being able to choose between different modes makes Resonate feel different enough from Ferocious. However, finding the right CMC so that cards aren't too underpowered without the copy or too overpowered with it is a still a little tricky.

[RattingRots]

Yeah, I think it's a problem with Temur in general (as well as Naya). The 4 power theme works on a pretty narrow aspect of the game and limits the number of ways you can make that theme work. All you can really do after ferocious is make future designs more restrictive. I think putting it on "choice" cards as well as just forcing the player to balance creatures and spells for the payoffs to work takes it in a somewhat interesting direction. I also like that both sides to it give it more of a blue feel, which I think Temur's mechanics didn't really have.

On the Mastery/Resonate rules interaction: I'm not a rules expert but I had thought the wording of copying after the spell resolves was intended to make it work with mastery.

[Zero_Origin]

@RattingRots Indeed. As much as I enjoy the power matters theme, it's very limiting to design around. So I decided to drop it and instead focus on ETB's for the new version of the Forsee mechanic. It demands a balance between creatures and spells, so I think it still feels like a good fit for Temur.

What do you think of Forsee vs. the other Temur mechanics? And whats your preference between Resurface (which I've corrected thanks to your feedback) and Scheme?

[RattingRots]

If it were me I would try to make Forsee work since it takes Temur in a new direction, but I think there are some potential issues. I don't think anything about it is a dealbreaker, but just some things I would watch for. If you can get it to work that would be great.

One thing to consider is that it fits Temur's creature theme, but it would encourage small cheap creatures instead of big ones so you have as much mana to activate forsee effects as possible. I think this can work (wotc reinvented Rakdos in Return to Ravnica for example) but if your goal is to really remain true to the feel of Temur from KTK, it's probably going to feel out of place.

Another thing (card specific) is that cards like Biting Winds that encourage you to use the Forsee effect and cast them in the same turn with the same type of mana have an issue in a multicolor set that if you're playing 3+ colors it might be tougher to guarantee that you have two of any specific land color. (Personally I think for that particular card, I would make it cost red mana to cast and blue to activate the forsee). I also don't think I would solve this problem by changing every card to have non-mana costs for the forsee because it's tough to make them not just turn into essentially colorless cards.


For Scheme I personally prefer graveyard payoffs that don't care how the card got there, because it gives graveyard synergies is really modular quality where there is a wide variety of ways to take advantage of it. This might be a personal preference, so I don't know if it's the most useful to you - certainly this mechanic would work similarly to mechanics like Madness that work in a similar vein so I think you can make it work.

[Zero_Origin]

I'm liking the concept of Forsee as well, and definitely trying to make it work. Unfortunately though, I wasn't liking the version based on ETB's though. Since it requires you to cast a creature or have a flicker effect every turn in order to keep it active, it would be really hard to use a Forsee effect and follow it up by casting the card on the same turn, which many of the cards are meant to do. So I'm experimenting with the power 4 version again, which feels better on paper so far. Although you may not always get a chance to use a Forsee effect the turn you drop a fatty, for as long as that creature sticks you have free reign to use as many effects as you have lands for the following turns. This both allows for more variability in the costs for the effects and more chances of following up with casting the actual card.

On that note, you have a good point about double mana of the same type. That's something I've been mindful of when it comes to the casting costs for cards I've been making, but it slipped my mind while making this mechanic. This is already made somewhat easier by the change I mentioned above. Beyond that, so far I've changed the activation effect to colorless for most of the Forsee cards meant to be followed up on the same turn (at least the ones that are on the lower end of the mana curve when it's more likely to be an issue). That said, I get what you mean about allowing them to be used as colorless "spells." That's still a little bit of a problem. While I like your multicolor idea, I intend for these spells to be monocolor effects only. It would feel strange for Temur to have a bunch of mono color cards with off color effects and costs (making them feel multicolor) while the cards for the other clans are decidedly single color.

And as far as graveyard strategies go, to be honest, Scheme is more of a backup plan if Resurface ends up being too busted and tough to balance. For instance, I'm still worried about the fact that Resurface can bring back any card of the same type rather than being limited to recurring itself. I'm wondering if it will create gameplay that is too repetitive by being able to recur other cards that don't even have the Resurface mechanic multiple times a game. At least the fact that the Resurface cards cost mana and self exile is a nerf compared to the power of Dredge, but getting to select any card of a specific type is still potent. By comparison, Scheme is a safer self-mill design. However, like you said, it does suffer from not operating from the graveyard and from not being very modular.

[Zero_Origin]

I'm finally coming back to this project after an extended break from it. I've begun brainstorming a revamped version of the set with new draft archetypes and altered mechanics. The reason for this change is that my first version of the set placed too much emphasis on making sure the Wedges and their respective Dragonlord's draft themes played well together, but I paid much less attention to the synergy between the enemy colored draft themes. Around the time I stopped working on the set, I realized that the lack of enemy colored synergy was a shortcoming that would need to be fixed, but at the time I wasn't willing to make the shift since it would require retooling most of the mechanics and cards I had already created. However, I'm more excited to think about what these changes would look like now.