Hello everyone. Tarkir: Dragonstorm has a lot of great legendary creatures that harken back to the original release of Khans of Tarkir. This week, I'm going to show you some decks that feature these legendary creatures, hopefully bringing you a little nostalgia. Let's get started.

Anafenza, Unyielding Lineage

In Khans of Tarkir, we were introduced to Anafenza, the Foremost, a Human Soldier. Now, we have Anafenza, Unyielding Lineage, a Spirit Soldier. Let's take a look at the deck featuring this fallen hero.

Anafenza, Unyielding Lineage | TDM Standard | MTGA-Assistant-Meta, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (26)
• 1 Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim
• 2 Anafenza, Unyielding Lineage
• 2 Leonin Vanguard
• 2 Massacre Wurm
• 2 Unstoppable Slasher
• 3 Ajani's Pridemate
• 3 Bloodthirsty Conqueror
• 3 Hinterland Sanctifier
• 4 Marauding Blight-Priest
• 4 Scrawling Crawler

• Sorceries (3)
• 3 Day of Judgment

• Enchantments (5)
• 1 Smile at Death
• 4 Authority of the Consuls

• Lands (26)
• 13 Plains
• 13 Swamp

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Anafenza, Unyielding Lineage is a 2/2 creature that can be flashed into play at any time. She has first strike, making her a powerful threat and a capable defender. She also endures 2 whenever another nontoken creature you control dies, making it possible for her to get bigger (with 2 +1/+1 counters), or for your team to go wider (creating a 2/2 Spirit creature token). More often than not, you'll want to create the Spirit creature token, because of all of the synergy between cards that cause you to gain life when creatures enter the battlefield and cards that are triggered by you gaining life.

While this deck can operate like any other 'normal' deck, it has the potential to be a powerful combo deck. Bloodthirsty Conqueror is one piece of this combo, allowing you to gain an amount of life equal to the amount of life your opponent loses. If you also happen to have Marauding Blight-Priest in play while Bloodthirsty Conqueror is on the battlefield, you'll trigger a loop that starts with your opponent losing life. You'll then gain life with Bloodthirsty Conqueror, triggering Marauding Blight-Priest to force your opponent to lose 1 life. This will trigger Bloodthirsty Conqueror again, and you'll continue the loop until your opponent is at 0 life.

Taigam, Master Opportunist

Next, I have a deck featuring Taigam. In Khans of Tarkir, he was Blue and White, but now he's only Blue. Let's take a look at the deck featuring him.

Taigam, Master Opportunist | TDM Standard | Hael, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (18)
• 2 Narset, Jeskai Waymaster
• 2 Shiko, Paragon of the Way
• 2 Warden of the Inner Sky
• 4 Flamehold Grappler
• 4 Sage of the Skies
• 4 Taigam, Master Opportunist

• Planeswalkers (2)
• 2 Elspeth, Storm Slayer

• Instants (10)
• 2 Get Lost
• 2 Protect the Negotiators
• 2 Rally the Monastery
• 4 Burst Lightning

• Artifacts (6)
• 2 Basilisk Collar
• 4 Cori-Steel Cutter

• Lands (24)
• 3 Island
• 2 Mountain
• 6 Plains
• 1 Cori Mountain Monastery
• 2 Fabled Passage
• 3 Floodfarm Verge
• 3 Sunbillow Verge
• 4 Riverpyre Verge

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Taigam, Master Opportunist truly creates opportunities for you to do powerful things. His flurry ability copies the second spell you cast each turn, and allows you to essentially recast that spell four turns later. If that spell happens to be a creature, it will have haste when it enters play, so you'll often want to cast a noncreature spell first, followed by a creature spell. This can make planning for future combats very difficult for your opponent.

This deck features a combo that I love. Basilisk Collar has been one of my favorite cards for a long time. While it is equipped to a creature, that creature gains deathtouch and lifelink. Having deathtouch can make a creature very difficult to block, especially if that creature has first strike, like Flamehold Grappler. Since Flamehold Grappler is a 3/3, your opponent will need to block it with a minimum of 3 creatures in order for it to die, since you can assign 1 point of damage to each creature blocking it, which will prove to be lethal. That can be too steep of a price to pay for some decks.

Sidisi, Regent of the Mire

The next deck I have for you features Sidisi, Regent of the Mire, who is capable of reanimating creatures from your graveyard. Let's take a look at the deck.

Sidisi, Regent of the Mire | TDM Standard | MTGA-Assistant-Meta, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (27)
• 1 Voice of Victory
• 2 Scavenging Ooze
• 2 Sidisi, Regent of the Mire
• 2 Warden of the Grove
• 4 Pawpatch Recruit
• 4 Severance Priest
• 4 Skirmish Rhino
• 4 Sunpearl Kirin
• 4 Yathan Roadwatcher

• Enchantments (8)
• 2 Revival of the Ancestors
• 3 Hollowmurk Siege
• 3 Nowhere to Run

• Artifacts (3)
• 3 Grim Bauble

• Lands (22)
• 1 Forest
• 1 Swamp
• 2 Brushland
• 2 Caves of Koilos
• 2 Llanowar Wastes
• 2 Sandsteppe Citadel
• 4 Blooming Marsh
• 4 Concealed Courtyard
• 4 Razorverge Thicket

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When Sidisi, Regent of the Mire is on the battlefield, you'll be able to tap into her necromantic powers by sacrificing one of your creatures to return a creature with a mana value equal to the sacrificed creature's mana value plus 1. By doing this, you'll be able to place quite a few +1/+1 counters on your Warden of the Grove, or create a bunch of Spirit creature tokens, whichever you'd prefer.

Revival of the Ancestors offers you a terrific way to finish off your opponent. It builds an army by creating three 1/1 Spirit creature tokens when it comes into play. Next turn, you'll get three +1/+1 counters to distribute onto your creatures. Finally, when you reach its last chapter, creatures you control will gain trample and lifelink for the turn. If you're not able to defeat your opponent with the trample damage, the life you gain should keep you alive long enough to finish the job.

Sarkhan, Dragon Ascendant

The next deck I have for you features Sarkhan, Dragon Ascendant alongside a lot of other Dragons. Let's check it out.

Sarkhan, Dragon Ascendant | TDM Standard | SlothMtg, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (19)
• 2 Kolaghan Warmonger
• 3 Bonehoard Dracosaur
• 3 Magmatic Hellkite
• 3 Scavenger Regent
• 4 Decadent Dragon
• 4 Sarkhan, Dragon Ascendant

• Instants (7)
• 3 Caustic Exhale
• 4 Go for the Throat

• Sorceries (3)
• 3 Duress

• Enchantments (1)
• 1 Breaching Dragonstorm

• Battles (4)
• 4 Invasion of Tarkir // Defiant Thundermaw

• Lands (26)
• 4 Swamp
• 6 Mountain
• 1 Maelstrom of the Spirit Dragon
• 2 Cavern of Souls
• 2 Shivan Devastator
• 3 Soulstone Sanctuary
• 4 Blazemire Verge
• 4 Sulfurous Springs

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Sarkhan, Dragon Ascendant gains a +1/+1 counter and becomes a Dragon creature with flying for the turn on any turn where you have a Dragon enter play under your control. Since all of the Dragons in this deck also have flying, you'll be able to reign fire down on your opponent from above. To help ensure that you can get a Dragon in play each turn, there is a copy of Breaching Dragonstorm in this deck. This enchantment allows you to cast the first nonland card from the top of your deck that has a mana value of 8 or less. Plus, you'll be able to replay Breaching Dragonstorm throughout the game.

I mentioned that there are a lot of Dragons in this deck, but the only non-Dragon creature needs to be discussed. Kolaghan Warmonger is an Ogre Warrior that has haste. Whenever it attacks, you'll be able to look at the top six cards of your library and put a Dragon you find there into your hand. This can help keep the pressure on your opponent, plus it provides a consistent way of turning Sarkhan, Dragon Ascendant into a Dragon, again and again.

Surrak, Elusive Hunter

The final legendary creature I have a deck for this week is Surrak, Elusive Hunter. Let's take a look at this stompy deck.

Surrak, Elusive Hunter | TDM Standard | PobrePlaninauta, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (23)
• 1 Scrapshooter
• 2 Keen-Eyed Curator
• 2 Polukranos Reborn
• 2 Spinner of Souls
• 2 Surrak, Elusive Hunter
• 3 Flourishing Bloom-Kin
• 3 Vaultborn Tyrant
• 4 Bristlebud Farmer
• 4 Llanowar Elves

• Planeswalkers (2)
• 2 Nissa, Ascended Animist

• Sorceries (4)
• 4 Bushwhack

• Enchantments (2)
• 2 Hunter's Talent

• Artifacts (7)
• 3 Herd Heirloom
• 4 Lumbering Worldwagon

• Lands (22)
• 20 Forest
• 2 Blast Zone

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Surrak, Elusive Hunter cannot be countered, so he's guaranteed to come into play. He also has an ability that offers you a benefit whenever a creature you control becomes targeted by a spell or ability your opponent controls. When this happens, you'll get to draw a card. While this isn't some sort of protection, it does offer you card advantage. While the card you draw won't counter the spell or ability your opponent is employing, it will often offer a replacement if your creature gets destroyed.

One card you may be hoping to draw is Herd Heirloom. This artifact has two activated abilities you can use. The first is a mana ability that you can use when casting a creature spell. A bit of mana ramp is never a bad thing. The other ability provides trample to a creature you control with power 4 or more, plus you'll get to draw a card whenever that creature deals combat damage to a player. Much like mana ramp, card advantage also isn't a bad thing.

Wrapping Up

Each set that comes out is usually loaded with a dozen or so legendary creatures. These creatures will often be a good starting point when building a deck, as they usually have a very unique ability.

What do you think of these decks? Feel free to share this article with your friends anywhere on social media. And be sure to join me here again next week as I continue my search for innovative decks in Standard. I'll see you then!

- Mike Likes