Khans of Tarkir

Khans of Tarkir

A shield with two swords crossed in front of it
Released September 26, 2014[1]
Size 269 cards (15 mythic rare, 53 rare, 80 uncommon, 101 common, 20 basic land)
Mechanics Morph, Prowess, Delve, Outlast, Ferocious, Raid
Designers Mark Rosewater (lead), Mark L. Gottlieb, Zac Hill, Adam Lee, Shawn Main, Billy Moreno, and Ken Nagle
Developers Erik Lauer (lead), Doug Beyer, David Humpherys, Tom LaPille, Shawn Main, and Adam Prosak, with contributions from Matt Tabak
Development code Huey
Expansion code KTK
First set in the Khans of Tarkir block
Khans of Tarkir Fate Reforged[2] Dragons of Tarkir[3]
Magic 2015 Fate Reforged
Theros Block "Blood" Block[4][5]
Fate Reforged
Released January 23, 2015
Size 185 cards (10 mythic rare, 35 rare, 60 uncommon, 70 common, 10 basic land)
Mechanics Manifest, Bolster, Dash, Prowess, Delve, Ferocious
Designers Ken Nagle (lead), Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, Ethan Fleischer, David Humpherys, Mark Rosewater, and Gavin Verhey
Developers David Humpherys (lead), Ian Duke, Mark L. Gottlieb, Ben Hayes, Ryan Spain, with contributions from Matt Tabak
Development code Dewey
Expansion code FRF
Second set in the Khans of Tarkir block
Khans of Tarkir Fate Reforged[2] Dragons of Tarkir[3]
Khans of Tarkir Dragons of Tarkir
Theros Block "Blood" Block [6][7]
Dragons of Tarkir
Released March 27, 2015
Size 264 cards (15 mythic rare, 53 rare, 80 uncommon, 101 common, 15 basic land)
Mechanics Megamorph, Bolster, Dash, Exploit, Formidable, Rebound
Designers Mark L. Gottlieb (lead), Dan Emmons, Graeme Hopkins, Colin Kawakami, Mark Rosewater, and Sam Stoddard
Developers Tom LaPille and David Humpherys (leads), Tim Aten, Colin Kawakami, Erik Lauer, Ken Nagle, Sam Stoddard, and Gerry Thompson; with contributions from Matt Tabak
Development code Louie
Expansion code DTK
Third set in the Khans of Tarkir block
Khans of Tarkir Fate Reforged[2] Dragons of Tarkir[3]
Fate Reforged Modern Masters 2015 Edition
Theros Block Battle for Zendikar Block[8]

Khans of Tarkir is a Magic: The Gathering block consisting of Khans of Tarkir (September 26, 2014), Fate Reforged (January 23, 2015),[9] and Dragons of Tarkir (March 27, 2015). The block's setting is based on a mix of cultures of Central and East Asia. It is the last block to have three expansion sets.[10]

Storyline

The plane of Tarkir was once dominated by dragons, but in a massive war over a thousand years ago, humans succeeded at wiping them out. Today Tarkir is a battle-torn realm where five clans feud for supremacy. As presented in Khans of Tarkir, the five clans focus on "wedges", or sets of three colors that are rooted in two colors and one "enemy" color across from it. Each wedge is the colors of a clan of warriors that venerate a certain quality of the dragon, and an anatomical feature that represents it. The clans also make use of the "Morph" mechanic, returning from the Onslaught block, which allows creatures to be cast face-down as 2/2 creatures and turned right-side up for additional cost, and occasionally additional benefit; this magic is described as being an invention of the extinct dragons, now adapted to human needs. The clans, and their khans, are as follows:[11]

Tarkir is the birthplace of the dragon-worshipping planeswalker Sarkhan Vol, first introduced in Shards of Alara. At the beginning of the Khans set, Sarkhan returns to Tarkir and learns that the extinction of Tarkir's dragons was linked to one specific event. Some thousand years ago, there was an epic battle between two dragon planeswalkers: Nicol Bolas, one of the greatest manipulators in the multiverse, and Ugin the Spirit Dragon, who helped trap the Eldrazi on Zendikar. Sarkhan resolves to travel back in time and alter Tarkir's fate. His travels in the Tarkir of 1,280 years ago are chronicled in the set Fate Reforged. He finds a world where the five human clans do not fight each other, instead fending off constant attacks from Tarkir's many dragons; the clans still model themselves on a particular quality, which is epitomized by a Legendary Dragon creature whom each clan reveres and strives to emulate. The set focuses more on the color at the center of each wedge and its ally, with the enemy color given very little presence. The dragons who serve as the inspiration for each clan have their own watermarks, which are modified versions of the clan sigil. Additionally, Morph is missing; instead, a mechanic which is described as being Morph's precursor, "Manifest," allows players to put any card face-down as a 2/2 creature, and flip them again only if their obverse was creatures to begin with.

Sarkhan Vol is successful at preventing Ugin's death, though Ugin is forced to retreat into a hibernative state to recuperate. Satisfied, Sarkhan travels back into the "present day." But the Tarkir he finds, as chronicled in Dragons of Tarkir, is drastically changed. The eponymous dragons, no longer extinct, have proliferated, and are now on the verge of wiping out all other life; in particular, the five god-dragons worshiped by the clans are now the leaders of those clans, with the human (or humanoid) characters who led them in the original timeline serving in other roles. In this new future, each of the clans focuses on allied pairs, with the enemy colors of the original wedges abandoned entirely; likewise, each clan retains the modified watermark of their dragonlords, first introduced in the previous set. Morph returns as "Megamorph"; the two mechanics are identical except that creatures with Megamorph gain a +1/+1 counter when flipped. Dragons also creates the peculiar structure of Tarkir Block drafts: Fate Reforged is designed to be drafted with either Dragons or Khans, but the two large sets, representing alternate timelines, are not intended to be drafted together. To that end, Dragons retains the two altered clan mechanics from FRF and replaces the three that remained.

Mechanics

Khans of Tarkir features a number of new mechanics as well as two returning mechanics (Morph and Delve):[12][13]

Fate Reforged features three new mechanics, with Prowess, Ferocious, and Delve returning from Khans of Tarkir.

Dragons of Tarkir features four new mechanics, with Bolster and Dash returning from Fate Reforged.

Differences from other blocks

According to Mark Rosewater, "There is something that people have been asking us to do for quite a while that we’re finally bringing back after a long absence in Magic, and there’s something that people have been asking us to do that we have never done that for the first time we’re doing in Khans of Tarkir", meaning the return of the keyword "morph" and creating a set themed around wedges, respectively.[5] In addition, allied "fetchlands" were reprinted, after originally being seen in Onslaught.[12][14]

In addition, Wizards of the Coast will be debuting a new two-set block system following the conclusion of Khans, making this the last one to have the traditional three-set system.[10]

Reception

In 2015 Khans of Tarkir won the Origins award as best Collectible Card Game of the Year.[15]

See also

References

  1. "Khans of Tarkir Prerelease Sealed Pool Generator". Keith Pardee.
  2. 1 2 3 "Announcing Fate Reforged". Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 "Blogatog". Mark Rosewater. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  4. "Khans of Tarkir". Magic Spoiler. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  5. 1 2 Tack, Daniel (19 May 2014). "Wizards Of The Coast Announces Khans Of Tarkir". GameStop. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  6. Casey, Matt M. (3 September 2014). "Announced: Fate Reforged Release Date for Magic: The Gathering". Clever Move, LLC. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  7. "Fate Reforged Spoiler". Magic Spoiler. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  8. Casey, Matt M. (3 November 2014). "Announced! Dragons of Tarkir Release Date, Vital Information". Clever Move, LLC. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  9. Pardee, Keith. "Fate Reforged Pre-Release Generator". www.magicdrafting.com. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  10. 1 2 Casey, Matt M. (3 November 2014). "Announced! Dragons of Tarkir Release Date, Vital Information". Clever Move, LLC. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  11. Milgore, Michael (27 July 2014). "SDCC 2014: KHANS OF TARKIR Wedges Revealed And More In Magic The Gathering Panel At San Diego Comic-Con". ThisIsInfamous.com. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  12. 1 2 Vanderwall, Joshua (31 August 2014). "Magic's Khans of Tarkir Brings Anticipated Reprint". Dafy Media, LLC.
  13. "Khans Visual Spoiler".
  14. Tack, Daniel (31 August 2014). "Magic: The Gathering's Khans Of Tarkir Unveiled At PAX Prime 2014". GameStop. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  15. "Origins Award Winners 2015". The Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design. 2015. Retrieved February 10, 2016.
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