WotC Check out Magic: the Gathering's Tiamat

We've known for a while that WotC is releasing D&D-themed Magic: the Gathering cards, as a set called Adventures in the Forgotten Realms. Artist Chis Rahn has shared his Tiamat.

"Been looking forward to sharing this one for what seems like forever! Tiamat, for Mtg's D&D: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms set. This was one of those assignments that I felt incredibly lucky to get. I hope you enjoy it half as much as I enjoyed painting it!"

The MtG set comes out on July 23rd, 2021. The collector's sets have a beholder on the front. ICv2 has more information on the various set configurations. Bell of Lost Souls has some card images.

 

[Sunsword]

Tiamat seems weak to be honest. Loving the art though.

I think only Eldrazi are bigger in power & toughness. She will see a lot of play in Commander with her ability.

 

[Dausuul]

Tiamat is definitely aimed for EDH/Commander, I don't think she's particularly playable in Limited or other Constructed formats. You can't even cheat her into play and get that tutor effect. But she'll be great in Commander. The 2017 Commander set included a 5-Colour Dragon Deck, she's perfect as an alternate commander or slotted into that deck.

Agreed. No way she sees play in Legacy or Modern, and it would be a very weird Standard environment where she was useful.

But in Commander... ahh, now there she is going to be an unholy terror. Best dragon tribal commander I've seen--better than Ur-Dragon by a significant margin IMO. You just need a way to cheat out the dragons she fetches to your hand. Kaalia of the Vast, Elvish Piper, and Food Chain can all get one dragon into play instantly. Sneak Attack can dump all five onto the battlefield and win the game right there (granted, this costs 12 mana if you want to do it the turn you cast Tiamat). No doubt there are others I haven't thought of.

 

[Parmandur]

My weird theory is that some of these EDH decks might be mono-colored. They haven't done mono-colored decks since 2014, maybe they have some new tech for them?

Could be, though I think there are probably good reasons they tend to not do mono Commander precons (D variety, market research, etc.).

 

[Azaar]

A 7/7 body isn’t worth anything if it just immediately eats a removal spell. For a creature to be worth playing competitively, it needs to either make an immediate impact, protect itself, or be aggressively under-costed for its size. Now, her tutor effect is undoubtedly splashy, but how good it really is will depend on what options you have to search for.

Given that Power Word Kill targets a non-angel, non-demon, non-devil, non-dragon, I expect we will see a lot more of those creature types at lower cost and rarity than usual, to keep it from being too flexible in limited. So, I expect Tiamat to have some good targets for sure. Whether or not that’ll be enough to make an impact in standard or historic though, I have no idea because I don’t know what those metagames are like. She’s definitely much too slow for modern or legacy because you have to actually cast her to get the tutor effect.

Let’s be real though, she was made for Commander. And there, she will be very good.

Yeah... Tiamat as Commander, with some Sarkhan planeswalkers in the mix for further Dragon-tutoring insanity...

Dammit, I'm gonna have to build a Tiamat EDH deck now. Dang it, Charlaquin!

 

[darjr]

Offers for that second Magic Tiamat ends at 10pm tonight!

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Actually, having given it some speculative consideration, I'm thinking these could be Shards like Alara, and not Wedges like Tarkir. They released a complete group of wedge Commander decks for Commander 2020 in Ikoria just a year ago, so it might be time for some Shard love, and it fits the themes better:

- Aura of Protection: if you look at the Meta for Aura themed decks in Commander, they lean towards Bant (Green/White/Blue, centered in White)

- Draconic Rage: five color is a real possiblity here, but if we assume this is going to be the Cult of the Dragon and the Chromatics misbehaving, then Jund is a great fit (Red centered with Green and Black).

- Dungeons: A Black-ventered Grixis deck, with Blue and Red components, would make sense.

- Planar Portals: some sort of control deck, I reckon, so maybe Esper, but then again maybe Naya if it is an Aggro deck.

I'm curious to see what we end up with.

The problem is shard decks are not very compatible with Strixhaven's enemy colours, but Wedge is.

A Mardu Planar Portals works well with Silverquill and Lorehold.

Temur Draconic Rage works well with Prismari and Quandrix

Sultai works well with Witherbloom and Quadrix

Jeskai Aura of Courage works well with Lorehold and Prismari

Abzan Dungeon of Death works well with Silverquill and Witherbloom.

I could be wrong here and I'm fine if its enemy colours, Wedge, Mono, or Shards as long as its fun and cool.

 

[Parmandur]

The problem is shard decks are not very compatible with Strixhaven's enemy colours, but Wedge is.

A Mardu Planar Portals works well with Silverquill and Lorehold.

Temur Draconic Rage works well with Prismari and Quandrix

Sultai works well with Witherbloom and Quadrix

Jeskai Aura of Courage works well with Lorehold and Prismari

Abzan Dungeon of Death works well with Silverquill and Witherbloom.

I could be wrong here and I'm fine if its enemy colours, Wedge, Mono, or Shards as long as its fun and cool.

I mean, they have mixed and matched Wedges for Commander batches in the past, and repeated Black/Green Commander decks between Kaldheim and Strixhaven, so the true answer is they will make whatever they feel is cool. A bunch of Shard or Wedge decks would be indifferent to what they did in Strixhaven, because any combination can play against each other.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

I mean, they have mixed and matched Wedges for Commander batches in the past, and repeated Black/Green Commander decks between Kaldheim and Strixhaven, so the true answer is they will make whatever they feel is cool. A bunch of Shard or Wedge decks would be indifferent to what they did in Strixhaven, because any combination can play against each other.

I only suggest higher compatiblity with Strixhaven colours pairs because of how they linked the two sets together, although they could and probably were talking about power levels/value of the cards, but I'm not 100% on that, it coupd be colour interactions.

 

[Parmandur]

I only suggest higher compatiblity with Strixhaven colours pairs because of how they linked the two sets together, although they could and probably were talking about power levels/value of the cards, but I'm not 100% on that, it coupd be colour interactions.

They specified in the article that it is power level: the Zendikar and Kaldheim decks were beginner oriented, while the Strixhaven decks are higher level. They said the Forgotten Realms decks would be of a similar level, so balanced for play, not thematically balanced.

 

[Birmy]

I was thinking of dipping my toe into Magic with this set (my experience with it is extremely limited), but man, this thread so far is very "Inside Baseball" and pretty intimidating. I hope WotC's marketing is prepared for a potential spike in novice players coming in from the D&D side.