How to Upgrade the Temur Roar Precon from Tarkir: Dragonstorm

Posted on April 30, 2025

Hey! You!

Do you like dragons? I mean, do you really like dragons? Then oh boy do I have a Commander deck for you! It's one you can find in shops all across the world as a precon for the latest Magic: the Gathering expansion: Tarkir: Dragonstorm. The Temur Roar preconstructed Commander deck is stuffed to the brim with dragons, and it's every dragon fan's dream all wound up in a tight little package.

There are 29 total dragons in the deck, including the commander - Ureni of the Unwritten - and excluding the lone changeling in Taurean Mauler. If you ever wanted to put a dragon deck together but never had the funds to do so, this is an excellent way to do so on the cheap. Many of the dragons in this deck are quite affordable now but have a strong history throughout the game both in casual and competitive settings.

Before I get too lost in covering the deck, though, let's look at the list itself:

Temur Roar | Commander

Commander (1)
1 Ureni of the Unwritten

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When I say there are a ton of classics, boy do I mean it. As a long-time player, I have incredibly font memories of Dragonlord Atarka, Glorybringer, Stormbreath Dragon, and Thunderbreak Regent all tearing up their respective Standard formats. Even Keiga, the Tide Star has a storied history from nearly twenty years in the past!

Even more are bona fide casual standouts. I first picked up Commander in 2010 when some friends introduced me to it in college, and with Scars of Mirrodin being the most recent set I acquired several copies of Steel Hellkite. If you've never played with it before, consider this a lesson in just how devastating of a card it can be. Lathliss, Dragon Queen and Leyline Tyrant are other great examples of cards that didn't have a big impact during their time in Standard, but were quickly identified as Commander players. Heck, even Scourge of the Throne is here, and that card was pushing $30 prior to receiving several back-to-back reprintings over the course of a few years.

So with so many cool cards, how do we go about upgrading the deck?

Genuinely speaking, this deck is honestly pretty damn hard to do a heavy write-up on compared to most of the other precons this set has to offer. Most decks have multiple angles that can be explored. Take the two decks I've already covered in this series of upgrade articles, for example. The last one - Mardu Surge - wanted ways to make tokens, buff tokens, double tokens, sacrifice tokens, and find ways to generate value from the tokens on both entering and dying. Abzan Armor, by comparison, looked at the myriad ways you could make toughness matter - both by way of big toughness creatures as well as finding cards that generate value off of them.

Dragons are a bit more all-in by comparison. There aren't too many cards that are going to give you a ton of value for playing specifically dragons, and the ones that do are already here. Think cards like Dragon Tempest, Dragon's Hoard, the Dragonstorms from the main Tarkir: Dragonstorm set, and Dragonlord's Servant. Each one is present in this list, with only a couple tangential standouts like Roiling Dragonstorm, Dracogenesis, and Dragonspeaker Shaman being notably absent.

In fact, I think the best thing to explore when it comes to a deck like this is whether or not the ramp spells are up to snuff. After all, playing a deck that uses a lot of big dragons inevitably requires a lot of mana to take full advantage of them. Adding in a copy of the aforementioned Dragonspeaker Shaman is great for this but so too is slipping in a mana dork or two. The deck is noticeably lacking in those, and a copy of Birds of Paradise, Sylvan Caryatid, and/or Rattleclaw Shaman would go a long way. Heck, a copy of the new Sarkhan, Dragon Ascendant or even his old planeswalker Sarkhan, Fireblood would be excellent inclusion options.

I'm also quite surprised at the mana rock/ramp elements of the deck. In reality, there's quite a bit. Six mana rocks are present here and then there's three ramp spells. However, I can't help but feel like there should be a couple more than just those given how big many of the spells you're trying to utilize will cost. Even just adding a copy of Cultivate to go with the Kodama's Reach or a Rampant Growth can give you the jolt you'd need. Rampant Growth might seem odd over the likes of Nature's Lore or Three Visits, but it'll often be a better option in many instances without heavily upgrading the land base. Additionally, while the deck has plenty of mana rocks already, Dragonstorm Globe and the three "Orb of Dragonkind" cards are great options to explore as well.

So now let's turn our attention to the big, scaly, winged elephant in the room and talk about the dragons. There's a lot to love about this deck's inclusion of dragons. Many of them are classically powerful and several do a great job at tapping into the nostalgia of veteran players. I personally have extremely fond memories of playing copies of the aforementioned Glorybringer, Stormbreath Dragon, and Thunderbreak Regent in Standards past. The problem is, though, many of these aren't as good as they were in those settings and are less potent in a multiplayer setting.

For example, Thunderbreak Regent's never really a bad thing to have around, but only hitting for three life is a somewhat paltry price to pay in a format of 40 life to each of four players. Similarly, Stormbreath Dragon can punish players who get too greedy with their hand sizes thanks to the monstrosity ability, but it's only a one-time deal and that aside it's just a glorified beatstick. Cards like Opportunistic Dragon, Rapacious Dragon, Verix Bladewing, and Stormshriek Feral are all solid entry level options, but in reality they're going to feel really underwhelming in most situations.

What I'm getting at here is that while many of these options are fine, you could probably do better with some very simple upgrades. Heck, with the number of dragons across Magic's nearly 32 year history, there's truly no shortage of options at your disposal. Odds are good that if you're a dedicated Commander player, you probably have some in your collection you can pull out with some simple rummaging around. Still, I managed to find several excellent options on just a cursory glance so let's look at some of them.

The first thing I wanted to call out is just how heavily Mono-Red the deck's creature base feels. It's honestly somewhat startling just how few creatures are in the deck that aren't solely Red. Adding some more Blue or Green cards can go a long way here - even if they still have Red in them - just to make it feel more like a Temur deck as opposed to a Mono-Red one. Bloomvine Regent and Marang River Regent are great for this, and the former even helps with the deck's mana ramp a bit as well. Korlessa, Scale Singer also stands out, as while it's not your traditional flying beater of a dragon, it keeps you on theme and makes it easier to play out your other dragons.

Looking at the wider pool of multicolor options with Red in them shows some pretty glaring holes too. I could see a precon trying to avoid the powerhouse that is Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm, but why isn't Intet, the Dreamer here? To avoid possible confusion with it being an alternate commander, maybe? Either way, it's a perfect fit for a deck like this and is quite cheap to get your hands on a copy. It's also quite easy to get your hands on copies of Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind and Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius which are both good even if you're not leaning on the card draw/spell-slinging strategies those cards prefer to feature in a deck with them in it.

I also feel like Savage Ventmaw should've been a slam dunk for this deck given how it enables you to play more dragons later on. Perhaps it's because it was recently reprinted in Commander, but honestly it's somewhat hard to say. Either way, it's also quite affordable and should be high up on your early acquisitions list. I'm also quite a fan of Dragonborn Champion and Lozhan, Dragons' Legacy for their ability to give you value for simply playing more dragons. The one I really enjoy, however, is Firkraag, Cunning Instigator which can really turn any Commander game on its head thanks to the repeatable goad it gives you access to.

But hey, why stop with the non-Red cards? Despite the deck's heavy leaning on Mono-Red options, there's still a number of great options left out here. Ganax, Astral Hunter is an extremely easy swap for Rapacious Dragon, offering a better version of the ability with slightly better stats. Hellkite Charger can also generate you tons of extra combat phases to cause even more dragon-centric triggers and more damage to be dished out. Most notably, though, are cards you can find in packs you can buy from your LGS now: Terror of the Peaks, Stormscale Scion, and Twinflame Tyrant. All are excellent choices if you can get your hands on them.

Also, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the big heaters among modern day dragons: the three Ancient Dragons from Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate. Ancient Silver Dragon, Ancient Copper Dragon, and Ancient Bronze Dragon are monstrous for their power and their d20 rolling abilities. However, all three of these can get quite pricey, so don't feel like you should be obligated to pick them up. You don't truly need them to have a good time, so if you can't get them, don't sweat it. Pick up some of the other cool options mentioned here and go to town!

All in all, this is a great deck to pick up and play with right out of the box that's no doubt going to appeal strongly to your average casual player. With some very minor and affordable adjustments, you can make it a truly exceptional dragon deck to take with you to your next Commander night. Just be sure to have some burn heal handy for your opponents when they get burnt to a crisp!

Paige Smith

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