Tarkir: Dragonstorm cards from the main set have been available on MTG Arena for roughly two weeks, and we’ve gotten a good glimpse at the strongest designs. For fans of Alchemy, though, there are still more goodies to look forward to.
Yesterday, the first Alchemy Tarkir: Dragonstorm spoiler was revealed, and it’s pretty exciting. A huge legendary Elephant that floods the board with bodies just for hitting your land drops… what more could you want?
Well, today, two more spoilers were revealed. They may not be quite as flashy, but one in particular has some serious potential as a token build-around. If you have a deck with some Mobilize or Flurry synergies, these cards could be worthy inclusions.
Thunderbond Vanguard
The first card up is Thunderbond Vanguard. Thunderbond Vanguard resembles Crusader of Odric, growing larger the more creatures you control. In go-wide decks with lots of token production, Thunderbond Vanguard can be the biggest threat on the battlefield.
What separates Thunderbond Vanguard from other cards, though, is its other ability. The goal with this card is to play efficient ways to generate tokens alongside it. Each copy of Thunderbond Vanguard feeds off each other, so it won’t take long before you have a massive board presence.
In an Alchemy setting, there are a few different strategies that come to mind as best equipped to maximize Thunderbond Vanguard. The first, as we hinted at earlier, is a Mobilize shell. Stadium Headliner and Voice of Victory are elite plays to make before casting Thunderbond Vanguard.
Then, when you attack, you’ll be able to push a lot of damage at once since each token will be quite large. What’s nice about this line of play as this even if your opponent has an answer for Thunderbond Vanguard during their turn, you still got a big advantage through your attack.
Another style of deck that could make great use of Thunderbond Vanguard are Convoke shells. It pairs perfectly with Hop to It in a Buxton, Decorated Host shell. If you want to go all the way down the Rabbit hole (no pun intended) and play a dedicated Hare Apparent deck, Thunderbond Vanguard gives you an amusing way to add a lot of power to the board.
Meanwhile, in Brawl, Thunderbond Vanguard should be a slam dunk. Anim Pakal, Thousandth Moon is a very popular Brawl legend, and flooding the board with copies of Thunderbond Vanguard instead of 1/1 Gnomes sounds awesome. There’s a lot of competition for three-drops in Alchemy, but Thunderbond Vanguard should be able to find a home somewhere on Arena.
Dragonblood Twins
The other spoiler, Dragonblood Twins, is a little less exciting. As a 2/2 with Double Team, it does have the potential to generate some value if you can get an attack in. Alongside other cheap cantrips and burn spells, attacking with this creature as a 4/4 flier isn’t too difficult. Eventually, the goal is to get both of these cards out and start attacking for eight in the air.
While that sounds enticing, there are two issues that limit the card’s competitive appeal. First, this creature doesn’t have Haste. With two toughness, it dies to Ribald Shanty, Burst Lightning, and other efficient removal spells. Unless you actually get an attack in, Dragonblood Twin won’t pull its weight.
The other problem lies with the card’s elite competition amongst red two-drops. In Alchemy, both Slickshot Show-Off and Emberheart Challenger are stronger assertive options that also work well with a flurry of spells.
It’s still a decent two-drop for aggressive mono-red or Izzet Spellslinger decks in Brawl, at least. Perhaps a deck with Haste enablers like Wild Ride will pop up to better abuse Dragonblood Twin, but I’m skeptical.
A Missed Opportunity?
One major talking point that often occurs during Alchemy spoiler season is whether some of the designs could’ve appeared in paper. Some play patterns, such as Conjuring a card into your hand, don’t realistically function in a paper setting. As such, Dragonblood Twins really has no shot of becoming a paper design.
Thunderbond Vanguard, on the other hand, feels like a sweet card to see in a tabletop setting. Nothing about the card screams “digital only.” Sure, you have to track that your creature tokens are copies of Thunderbond Vanguard. Still, similar effects have been printed in paper in the past on cards such as Essence of the Wild.
Given how well the creature works with both Mobilize creatures and Gleeful Demolition, I personally would’ve loved to see this card in action in paper. Thunderbond Vanguard is unlikely to be the only Alchemy Tarkir: Dragonstorm spoiler with a similar vibe, so make sure to be on the lookout for any other spoilers that make their way out of the woodworks in the coming days.