Tarkir Dragonstorm spoiler season doesn’t start for a few weeks, but the story for Magic’s next in-universe set has already begun. A few chapters are available online, and the latest one reveals the appearance of a character that few people expected.
Of course, we’ll unavoidably spoil a few details because we are talking about the MTG story. If you want to read the story for yourself and not have details spoiled, consider this your spoiler warning.
An Unexpected Planeswalker
A lot of characters associated with past Tarkir sets are reappearing in Tarkir: Dragonstorm. Narset and Sarkhan’s appearances are not particularly shocking. Elspeth seems to be the protagonist of this particular story, which is a bit unusual, but weirder still is the sudden appearance of Ajani.
The last time we saw Ajani was at the end of the Phyrexian War. He had been turned into a sleeper agent for the Phyrexians off-screen, and slaughtered Jaya in the events of Dominaria United. Up to this point, Planeswalkers had been immune to Phyrexian Oil, so the compleation of one was shocking, to say the least.
Eventually, after the war ended, Ajani was healed by Karn, Chandra and the gang, but in exchange for his life, a Spark had to be transferred to him. As a result, Ajani is one of the few characters that remains a Planeswalker after the events of the Phyrexian War.
What is Ajani doing on Tarkir? Well, he appears to be wallowing in self-pity. After wreaking havoc on the Multiverse as Elesh Norn’s henchman, he cannot forgive himself for the damage caused. He has since settled on the border of the Abzan, helping at their borders in exchange for solitude. After learning of Ajani’s pain, the Abzan no longer stood aside and are trying to help Ajani actively, despite him turning them away. Nur, an Abzan referred to as the Wandering Warden, is the sole character who Ajani seems to enjoy.
That is all we’ve really seen of Ajani as of Chapter 3, where he was introduced into the story of Tarkir: Dragonstorm. The action of the story is still centered around Narset and Elspeth.
Two Planeswalkers?
So, we now have Ajani and Elspeth making appearances in Tarkir: Dragonstorm. Elspeth is here trying to bring balance to the Multiverse – something at risk due to the ever-increasing intensity of these Dragonstorms. The other won’t forgive himself for past sins.
Will both of these characters appear as Planeswalkers in the main set? Mark Rosewater did recently announce that the single-Planeswalker rule could be lifted for MTG sets, so there is a chance. Neither character has had cards spoiled for the set as of yet, and no Planeswalkers have been spoiled so far.
That said, the quote from Rosewater suggests that the change is in discussion, and not confirmed, so it is unlikely that the rule will be lifted for Tarkir: Dragonstorm.
That still leaves one way for two Planeswalkers to appear in the set: if something similar to Outlaws at Thunder Junction occurs. Two Planeswalkers ended up in that set due to The Big Score being turned into a bonus sheet. After the spectacular failure of March of the Machine: Aftermath, Aftermath-style sets with extremely small print runs that aren’t draftable were discontinued. The Big Score was initially one of these, but it was turned into a Bonus Sheet for Outlaws at Thunder Junction.
Jace, Reawakened was supposed to appear in The Big Score, while Oko, the Ringleader was the intended Planeswalker for the set. Combining these sets created a larger set with two Planeswalkers in it. Grand Abolisher, a Mythic Rare reprint originally intended to appear in the main set, was moved to The Big Score in exchange for Jace.
There’s also a lot of questions about other potential Planeswalkers that could appear in this set. Ugin somehow seems involved in all of this, but how they are involved is not yet clear. Is Nicol Bolas truly dead (something that was mentioned in the story), or is he causing Dragonstorms from the Meditation Realm?
The good news is that all of this should be answered before spoiler season begins. All you need to do is keep reading the Tarkir: Dragonstorm story as it is released.
