Khans of Tarkir

Khans of Tarkir

 

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Khans of Tarkir
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Logo Khans of Tarkir.png}}|250px]]
Set Information
Set symbol
Symbol description	Swords crossed on a shield
Design	Mark Rosewater (lead) Mark L. Gottlieb Zac Hill Adam Lee Shawn Main Billy Moreno and Ken Nagle
Development	Erik Lauer (lead) Doug Beyer David Humpherys Tom LaPille Shawn Main and Adam Prosak with contributions from Matt Tabak
Art direction	Jeremy Jarvis
Release date	September 26, 2014
Plane	Tarkir
Themes and mechanics	Wedge colors
Keywords/​ability words	Delve, Ferocious, Morph, Outlast, Prowess, Raid
Set size	269 cards 101 Commons, 80 Uncommons, 53 Rares, 15 Mythic Rares, 20 Basic Land
Expansion code	KTK
Development codename	Huey
Khans of Tarkir block
Khans of Tarkir Fate Reforged Dragons of Tarkir
Magic: The Gathering Chronology
Duel Decks: Speed vs. Cunning Khans of Tarkir Commander 2014

Khans of Tarkir is the 65th Magic expansion, and the first in the Khans of Tarkir block. It was released on September 26, 2014. Khans of Tarkir is a large expansion.

Set details

“

Raise your Banner

”

Khans of Tarkir is part of the Khans of Tarkir block, which is Large-Small-Large with a unique draft structure (the small set is drafted with both large sets, but the large sets are never drafted together) and a time-traveling element. The draft structure is the first thing from which Khans of Tarkir set was built.

Khans of Tarkir contains 269 cards (20 basic lands, 101 commons, 80 uncommons, 53 rares, 15 mythic rares), and includes randomly inserted premium versions of all cards. It is also the first set since Dragon's Maze to not have any Dragon creature cards. The expansion symbol depicts crossed swords on a shield, similar to the symbol of Legions.

Because of post-release changes in the block structure in 2015, Khans of Tarkir was only played in Standard for 18 months.

Storyline

Tarkir is an embattled world of ambitious warlords and powerful clans that wage eternal war for supremacy over their plane in a conflict that spans a thousand years. Tarkir is also the home plane of Sarkhan Vol. The plane was previously inhabited by dragons, all of whom were killed long before Sarkhan's time. The clans each worship one aspect of the extinct dragons.

Magic Story

Title	Author	Release Date	Setting (plane)	Featuring
The Madness of Sarkhan	Jennifer Clarke Wilkes	2014-08-27	Tarkir, Jund	Sarkhan Vol, Ugin, Nicol Bolas, Zurgo, Malactoth
Awakening the Bear	Jennifer Clarke Wilkes	2014-09-17	Tarkir	Surrak
Sorin's Revelation	Adam Lee	2014-09-24	Tarkir	Sorin Markov, Ugin, Nahiri, Rushka
Taigam's Scheming	Matt Knicl	2014-10-01	Tarkir	Taigam, Ebirri, Narset
Way of the Mantis	Matt Knicl	2014-10-08	Tarkir	Kuhnde
The Chensal Twins	Kimberly J. Kreines	2014-10-15	Tarkir	Kela and Dar Chensal, Ngabo, Lotse Taring
Enlightened	Matt Knicl	2014-10-22	Tarkir	Narset, Shintan, Taigam
The Salt Road	Jeremiah Isgur	2014-11-12	Tarkir	Riza, Backstabber, Nightrider, Ogan Shieldmender
Mercy	Sam Stoddard	2014-11-19	Tarkir	Sidisi, Jhinu
Victory	Tom LaPille	2014-11-26	Tarkir	Zurgo, Varuk, Surrak, Sarkhan Vol, Rufaz, Batar Throatslasher, Headtaker, Heartpiercer, Neckwringer
Bond and Blood	Ari Levitch	2014-12-03	Tarkir	Anafenza, Kwaro, Marrit, Oret, Gvar Barzeel, Hakrez
Journey to the Nexus	Jennifer Clarke-Wilkes	2014-12-10	Tarkir	Sarkhan Vol, Ugin, Narset, Nicol Bolas, Zurgo

The clans

The clans are represented through the enemy wedge colors and aspects as follows:

Name	Colors	Dragon Aspect	Mechanic	Symbol	Khan
The Abzan Houses		Endurance	Outlast	Scale of the dragon	Anafenza, the Foremost
The Jeskai Way		Cunning	Prowess	Eye of the dragon	Narset, Enlightened Master
The Sultai Brood		Ruthlessness	Delve	Fang of the dragon	Sidisi, Brood Tyrant
The Mardu Horde		Speed	Raid	Wing of the dragon	Zurgo Helmsmasher
The Temur Frontier		Savagery	Ferocious	Claw of the dragon	Surrak Dragonclaw

Notice that while the shards of Alara were centered around the color that had both allies, the wedges of Tarkir are not built around the color that has the two enemies. When the design team built the clans to match the flavor of the dragon attributes and the creative take on the clans, they found that they centered not on the enemy color but on one of the ally colors. It was said that everything worked so naturally, that they felt it was best to leave it be and not force it another way. By shifting the mana costs such that the enemy pairs were sitting next to each other in mana costs, it became a little easier to recognize that each wedge was made up of two enemy-color combinations. Small hints were placed through this set and the next towards the clans having a primary color and that the enemy color was least relevant and due to be removed. When the third set of the block was released, it became clear that the parallel of the alternate timeline clans were ally-colored. This was achieved by dropping the enemy color and appeared to be the real reason that the wedges of Khans were centered on an allied color.

The clans are recognized by the use of watermarks on the cards.

Marketing

A preview of the set's artwork was aired during Pro Tour Journey into Nyx, following the quarterfinal rounds. In it Mark Rosewater (Magic head designer) announced the return of something "that people have been asking [ Wizards ] to do for quite a while [...] after a long absence from magic" as well as the introduction of something that has been requested for a long time but had never been done before. These elements turned out to be morph and wedges, respectively, when the set was previewed at San Diego Comic-Con on Saturday, July 26, 2014. Mark Rosewater moderated a panel featuring Mark Purvis (Magic director of global brand marketing), Doug Beyer (Magic senior creative designer), and Gavin Verhey (Magic designer).

Khans of Tarkir is sold in 16-card boosters (one card being a marketing card), five intro packs, one event deck and a fat pack. The boosters feature artwork from Sidisi, Brood Tyrant, Narset, Enlightened Master, Unyielding Krumar, War-Name Aspirant and Dragon Grip. As of Khans of Tarkir, the face cards in Intro Packs will not just be premium rare cards, but alternate art premium rare cards that won't be found in booster packs.

Prerelease

The Khans of Tarkir prerelease encouraged the player to affiliate with their clan. You choose your clan for the prerelease. Each clan prerelease pack comes with a clan button and a clan sticker. The prerelease pack further contains 5 regular booster packs, 1 seeded booster pack, 1 premium promo card, 1 clan information card, 1 activity insert and 1 Spindown life counter. Khans of Tarkir will feature 40 prerelease cards — one dated and stamped prerelease card random from a pool of eight for each Clan pack. One of which will be the Khan. "Raise your banner": when a game is won, players can put their sticker on the clan banner in the store, to show off how many battles each clan has won.

Promotional cards

• Launch promo: Dragon Throne of Tarkir
• Game Day: full-art Heir of the Wilds
• Game Day (Top 8): full-art Utter End
• Buy-a-Box: Rattleclaw Mystic
• Prerelease, one of forty according to the chosen clan:

Abzan

Anafenza, the Foremost Ivorytusk Fortress Abzan Ascendancy Herald of Anafenza Siege Rhino High Sentinels of Arashin Hardened Scales Duneblast

Jeskai

Narset, Enlightened Master Sage of the Inward Eye Jeskai Ascendancy Deflecting Palm Flying Crane Technique Dragon-Style Twins Master of Pearls Thousand Winds

Sultai

Sidisi, Brood Tyrant Rakshasa Vizier Sultai Ascendancy Villainous Wealth Necropolis Fiend Kheru Lich Lord Grim Haruspex Dig Through Time

Mardu

Zurgo Helmsmasher Ankle Shanker Mardu Ascendancy Jeering Instigator Crackling Doom Bloodsoaked Champion Utter End Butcher of the Horde

Temur

Surrak Dragonclaw Avalanche Tusker Temur Ascendancy Crater's Claws Trap Essence Trail of Mystery Icy Blast Rattleclaw Mystic

Tokens, emblems and overlay cards

Morph overlay card.

The sixteenth card in the boosters can be a token, emblem, or overlay card, with an advertisement on the backside. The overlay card can be used on face-down Morph cards to remind players of their power and toughness and that it can be turned face-up for its Morph cost.

1. 3/4 Bird for Wingmate Roc
2. 1/1 Spirit with flying for Abzan Ascendancy
3. 1/1 Warrior for Herald of Anafenza, Mardu Charm, Mardu Hordechief and Take Up Arms
4. 1/1 Warrior (alternate art) for the same
5. 2/2 Vampire with flying for Sorin, Solemn Visitor
6. 2/2 Zombie for Sidisi, Brood Tyrant and Empty the Pits
7. 1/1 Goblin for Goblinslide, Hordeling Outburst, Mardu Ascendancy and Ponyback Brigade
8. 4/4 Bear for Bear's Companion
9. 1/1 Snake for Hooded Hydra and Rite of the Serpent
10. */* Spirit Warrior for Kin-Tree Invocation
11. Morph overlay card
12. Emblem for Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
13. Emblem for Sorin, Solemn Visitor

Themes and mechanics

The set centers around wedge colors. Each clan features its mechanic. In addition all clans feature morph.

• The Abzan keyword is Outlast ((cost), : Put a +1/+1 counter on this creature. Outlast only as a sorcery.). Cards may gain additional abilities when they get a +1/+1 counter.
• The Jeskai keyword is Prowess: (whenever you cast a noncreature spell, this creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn).
• The Sultai keyword is the alternative payment method Delve, first seen in Future Sight (changed, like convoke, from previous rules as a cost reduction): (Each card you exile from your graveyard while casting this spell pays for ).
• The Mardu ability word Raid and related cards are all based around a very fast, aggressive strategy for winning. Raid gives an advantageous effect if you have attacked with a creature the same turn.
• The Temur ability word is Ferocious, which gives the player an advantageous effect if they control a creature with power 4 or greater while attacking with a creature with Ferocious or casting a spell with it.

The set also features a minor warrior tribal theme.

Phooey and "Borph"

During design, an alternate version of Khans of Tarkir (nicknamed "Phooey" ) was considered. It featured a new mechanic that was very similar to morph but instead of three mana to cast the 2/2 face-down creature it cost two mana. R&D nicknamed that mechanic "borph" as in "bear morph" because Bears are slang for a vanilla 2/2 with a converted mana cost of 2. With some modifications, "borph" eventually became the effect megamorph for Dragons of Tarkir.

Cycles

Khans of Tarkir has thirteen cycles.

Cycle name
Reveal Morphers	Watcher of the Roost	Dragon's Eye Savants	Ruthless Ripper	Horde Ambusher	Temur Charger
	Five uncommon creatures with morph that can be turned face up by revealing a card of the same color and have a turned-face-up ability. Each are the primary color of their clan.
Enemy-colored commons	Mardu Hateblade Firehoof Cavalry	Scaldkin Embodiment of Spring	Kheru Dreadmaw Unyielding Krumar	Leaping Master Bloodfire Mentor	Smoke Teller Archers' Parapet
	Ten common cards that have an ability that requires an enemy color.
Cycle name
Allied color fetch lands	Flooded Strand	Polluted Delta	Bloodstained Mire	Wooded Foothills	Windswept Heath
	Five rare lands that can be sacrificed along with a payment of 1 life to search for a land with one of two basic land types. Reprinted from Onslaught.
Cycle name
Enemy-colored rares	Utter End	Mindswipe	Rakshasa Deathdealer	Deflecting Palm	Sagu Mauler
	Five rare enemy-colored cards, each with simple yet strong effects or abilities. Each uses the secondary and tertiary colors of the clans.
Enemy-colored uncommons double-cycle	Chief of the Scale Chief of the Edge	Master the Way Winterflame	Death Frenzy Kin-Tree Invocation	Ride Down Highspire Mantis	Icefeather Aven Secret Plans
	Five pairs of enemy-colored cards, each flavored one apiece per clan of these colors. The top row uses the primary and tertiary colors, while the bottom uses the secondary and tertiary colors.
Cycle name
Khans	Anafenza, the Foremost	Narset, Enlightened Master	Sidisi, Brood Tyrant	Zurgo Helmsmasher	Surrak Dragonclaw
	Five mythic rare legendary creatures that have a cost that includes MNO, where MNO are wedge colors.
Ascendancies	Abzan Ascendancy	Jeskai Ascendancy	Sultai Ascendancy	Mardu Ascendancy	Temur Ascendancy
	Five rare enchantments costing MNO.
Rare wedge-colored creatures	Ivorytusk Fortress	Sage of the Inward Eye	Rakshasa Vizier	Ankle Shanker	Avalanche Tusker
	Five rare creatures that cost 2MNO, where MNO are wedge colors, and have a repeatable triggered ability.
Common wedge-colored morphers	Abzan Guide	Efreet Weaponmaster	Abomination of Gudul	Ponyback Brigade	Snowhorn Rider
	Five common creatures that cost 3MNO and has a morph cost of 2MNO, where MNO are wedge colors.
Wedgelands	Sandsteppe Citadel	Mystic Monastery	Opulent Palace	Nomad Outpost	Frontier Bivouac
	Five uncommon triple lands that come into play tapped and can be tapped for one of three colors of mana. These are a wedge version of Shards of Alara's triple lands.
Charms	Abzan Charm	Jeskai Charm	Sultai Charm	Mardu Charm	Temur Charm
	Five uncommon instants that cost MNO and have three modes, the first of which is a removal effect in the primary clan color.
Uncommon wedge-colored creatures	Armament Corps	Warden of the Eye	Sultai Soothsayer	Mardu Roughrider	Bear's Companion
	Five uncommon creatures that cost 2MNO, where MNO are wedge colors. All but one of them have enter-the-battlefield abilities.
Banners	Abzan Banner	Jeskai Banner	Sultai Banner	Mardu Banner	Temur Banner
	These five common artifacts costing reproduce the Dragon's Maze cycle of cluestones, producing any of three enemy colors of mana and sacrifice for them to draw a card.

Cycle name
Life-gain Taplands	Tranquil Cove	Dismal Backwater	Bloodfell Caves	Rugged Highlands	Blossoming Sands	Scoured Barrens	Swiftwater Cliffs	Jungle Hollow	Wind-Scarred Crag	Thornwood Falls
	Ten multi-color common lands that enter the battlefield tapped, gain the controller one life, and can tap for 2 different colors of mana. The allied color ones are functional reprints of the Refuge cycle in Zendikar.

Pairs

Khans of Tarkir has one matched pair.

Matched Pairs		Description
Chief of the Edge ()	Chief of the Scale ()	Warriors which cost . They have mirrored stats (3/2 vs. 2/3) and bonuses (+1/+0 vs. +0/+1) that they grant to other warriors you control.

Reprinted cards

• Act of Treason, first printed in Magic 2010, last seen in Duel Decks: Speed vs. Cunning.
• Arc Lightning, first printed in Urza's Saga, last seen in Planechase.
• Bloodstained Mire, first printed in Onslaught.
• Cancel, first printed in Time Spiral, last seen in Magic 2015.
• Crippling Chill, first printed in Avacyn Restored.
• Despise, first printed in New Phyrexia.
• Erase, first printed in Urza's Legacy, last seen in Magic 2013.
• Flooded Strand, first printed in Onslaught.
• Incremental Growth, first printed in Lorwyn, last seen in Modern Masters.
• Naturalize, first printed in Onslaught, last seen in Magic 2015.
• Polluted Delta, first printed in Onslaught.
• Seek the Horizon, first printed in Saviors of Kamigawa, last seen in Return to Ravnica.
• Shatter, first printed in Alpha, last seen in Scars of Mirrodin.
• Smite the Monstrous, first printed in Innistrad, last seen in Duel Decks: Heroes vs. Monsters.
• Trumpet Blast, first printed in Urza's Destiny, last seen in Conspiracy.
• Windstorm, first printed in Magic 2010, last seen in Magic 2014 and for the first time in an expert-level expansion.
• Windswept Heath, first printed in Onslaught.
• Wooded Foothills, first printed in Onslaught.

Functional reprints

• Alabaster Kirin is a functional reprint of Armored Griffin.
• Bloodfell Caves is a functional reprint of Akoum Refuge.
• Blossoming Sands is a functional reprint of Graypelt Refuge.
• Dismal Backwater is a functional reprint of Jwar Isle Refuge.
• Dutiful Return is a functional reprint of March of the Returned.
• Kill Shot is a functional reprint of Rebuke.
• Summit Prowler is a functional reprint of Lowland Giant, Ogre Resister, Shatterskull Giant and Borderland Minotaur, save for creature types.
• Rugged Highlands is a functional reprint of Kazandu Refuge.
• Throttle is a functional reprint of Lash of the Whip.
• Tranquil Cove is a functional reprint of Sejiri Refuge.

Notable cards

• The cycle of three-color lands (e.g. Nomad Outpost) was useful fixing for a three-color Standard format and in color-intensive decks like Niv-Mizzet Reborn focused decks in Pioneer until the triome lands were printed.
• Hardened Scales is an innocuous but powerful card that became the focus of the eponymous deck in Modern mainly due to the interaction with Arcbound Ravager, giving the pilot the ability to put twice as much power as their total artifacts on any given artifact creature. It developed as an evolution of earlier Affinity decks when Mox Opal was banned.
• Utter End was a staple removal spell in Standard control decks due to its versatility and ability to answer any permanent.
• Clever Impersonator has been played in numerous combo decks in Pioneer where it combines well with cards such as Quintorius Kand, Fires of Invention, and Gyruda, Doom of Depths.
• Deflecting Palm is a staple sideboard card in burn decks in Modern against the mirror and green creature decks.
• Stubborn Denial sees significant play in Modern as a disruptive piece with Death Shadow, a creature that can have four power while only costing one mana.
• Disdainful Stroke is a simple yet useful sideboard counterspell that has been played in Standard since it was printed and has often returned in various Standard sets since then.
• Crackling Doom was a strong value removal card in Standard at the time and saw some play in Modern Mardu Pyromancer decks.
• Jeskai Ascendancy is the face of an eponymous Pioneer combo deck that uses it to untap their mana creatures repeatedly until are large enough to win the game.
• Abzan Charm, Duneblast, Anafenza, the Foremost, Wingmate Roc and particularly Siege Rhino made up the core of an Abzan deck that dominated Standard.
• Rattleclaw Mystic provided explosive ramp for Temur-colored aggro and ramp decks in Standard. It was intended to be one mana a la Noble Hierarch, but proved to be usable more as an Elvish Mystic rather than a Temur card, so it needed to be tamped down.
• Narset, Enlightened Master and Sidisi, Brood Tyrant are among the most popular commanders in their respective color identities in the casual Commander format.
• Mantis Rider was heavily played in Jeskai aggro decks in Standard as a strong creature with lots of keywords and translated well into Modern Humans decks thanks to its creature type.
• Savage Knuckleblade was notoriously hyped before the release of the set but went on to little competitive success, largely due to failing to face off against Siege Rhino in most contexts.

Delve spells

A "returning" mechanic from Future Sight, the colorless mana scaling proved difficult to grasp and balance when it became a main set mechanic, leading to half the cards printed in this set ranging from power players to format breakers.

• Become Immense is a perfect card for various aggro decks by being a huge amount of burst damage for cheap, being used with Temur Battle Rage in Standard. It is occasionally also used in Modern decks that can cast it easily, particularly Infect decks that can kill in a single swing with the buff.
• Murderous Cut is a deceptively strong removal spell that has seen play in Standard, Modern, and Legacy.
• Hooting Mandrills has seen play in formats like Pioneer and Legacy where it can be played for only a few mana and then combined with spells like Neoform to fetch out a powerful seven mana creature.
• Empty the Pits required significant reworking to prevent it from becoming a fast combo deck in a slow format.
• Dig Through Time and Treasure Cruise are two very powerful spells banned from almost every format they could be legal. Because in Modern and Legacy the graveyard can be filled very early thanks to fetch lands and low-cost spells and because of their delve ability, both the spells could regularly be cast at their cheapest. Dig Through Time helps combo and control decks to get the cards they need. Treasure Cruise most of the time was an Ancestral Recall and, in Modern and Pauper, all the metagame was shifted towards blue to play it for as long as it was legal.

Other banned and restricted cards

• Monastery Swiftspear became an immediate staple of burn and red aggro decks in every format, as it can deal significantly more damage than most one-drop creatures. It was eventually banned in Pauper in 2023 to reduce the speed of red-based decks.
• The reprinted Onslaught fetch lands were printed to balance out the mana in Modern. It caused problems in Standard with the Battle lands, forcing tournaments to add more time to the round-the-clock. The stress their power had on formats and future designs led to them being banned for the next nonrotating format Pioneer.

Preconstructed decks

Intro packs

Khans of Tarkir has five tricolored intro packs:

Intro pack name	Colors Included					Foil rare
Abzan Siege	W		B		G	Ivorytusk Fortress
Jeskai Monks	W	U		R		Sage of the Inward Eye
Sultai Schemers		U	B		G	Rakshasa Vizier
Mardu Raiders	W		B	R		Ankle Shanker
Temur Avalanche		U		R	G	Avalanche Tusker

Event deck

Khans of Tarkir has one event deck.

Event deck name	Colors Included
Conquering Hordes	W		B

MTG Arena

On December 12, 2023, the set was imported into MTG Arena as the complete card file, in contrast to the Remastered blocks of Amonkhet, Kaladesh or Shadows over Innistrad. This is part of the "road to Pioneer".

Creature type update

The Rakshasa received errata to no longer being Cats. They were original because the non-Hindu perception was largely based on the Dungeons & Dragons' portrayal of them. However, authentic Rakshasa were shapeshifters that could take any form, so labeling them Cat Demons was not particularly accurate.

A change from Naga to Snake, which was announced at the same time, wasn't seem implemented yet.

Cards with new art

White

• Mardu Hateblade

Blue

• Kheru Spellsnatcher

Black

• Dutiful Return
• Empty the Pits
• Grim Haruspex
• Murderous Cut
• Rakshasa's Secret
• Rite of the Serpent
• Shambling Attendants
• Swarm of Bloodflies

Red

• Act of Treason
• Arc Lightning
• Crater's Claws
• Mardu Blazebringer

Multicolor

• Rakshasa Deathdealer
• Rakshasa Vizier
• Secret Plans
• Sidisi, Brood Tyrant
• Snowhorn Rider
• Sultai Ascendancy
• Villainous Wealth

Artifact

• Cranial Archive

Land

• Mystic Monastery
• Nomad Outpost

Trivia

• The original planned name for the set was Warlords of Khanar. It was rejected on legal grounds.

External links

• Mark Rosewater (June 19, 2023). "Lessons Learned, Part 4". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.