Best of the Pre-khans

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Posted on March 14, 2015, 3:49 p.m. by 2gherkins

Of the Dragons of Tarkir cycle of anafenza, sidisi, surrak, zurgo, which do you think is the best:

Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit

Sidisi, Undead Vizier

Surrak, the Hunt Caller

Zurgo Bellstriker

What do you think?

saldagmac says... #2

My vote goes to sidisi, because tutuoring is fantastic, and she's a 4/6 with deathtouch for 5, which is quite good. It's a great ability on a very solid body. I think Anafenza might be the runner up, imo, just because she can create more power fairly quickly. If only her ability didn't say nontoken :/

March 14, 2015 3:53 p.m.

Arvail says... #3

Sidisi faces competition from Liliana Vess in standard despite being a rather ok card. She'd make a decent commander for casual play if you find ways to add some Conjurer's Closet type effects. Anafenza seems like a great way to gain value simply by playing creature spells. My vote goes to Anafenza both for draft and standard.

March 14, 2015 3:55 p.m.

2gherkins says... #4

@saldagmac

I agree with you so much! If only Anafenza didn't say "nontoken". Sidisi is awesome for commander and standard. She can block Siege Rhino, kill Siege Rhino, kill Anafenza, the Foremost, Courser of Kruphix, you name it she kills it.

Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit might make standard weenie a thing - doubtful though. Zurgo and surrak both have undeniable synergy with Hero's Blade, however.

March 14, 2015 3:59 p.m.

beckhr says... #5

I love Anafenza, I really can't see many people not taking her on Pick 1. But truly, the debate is between Anafenza and Sidisi with a few votes for Zurgo. Anafenza and Sidisi are both so good, you might be able to make a deck with both of them. BW weenies with some good cheap death-trigger guys and a small suite of 1-of answers?

March 14, 2015 4 p.m.

ZooGambler says... #6

Anafenza by far. I love that card. I already made the deck, just waiting for Tappedout to update so I can make the deck on here.

March 14, 2015 4 p.m.

RYNO_Ross says... #7

Either Anafenza or Sidisi. The former can put bulk on my creatures, and would be nuts in a deck with cheap creatures. For the later, 4/6 deathtouch with a tutor? Yes please! While Zurgo's drawback is not that penalizing, his abilities are underwhelming for a former Khan. Even with the demotion, he's still the bellstriker. Give him an ability like giving your creatures dash, at least! Surrak is not bad, but I expected more from the bear-punching anti-counter legend. I'm still mad that Taigam doesn't have his own creature card.

March 14, 2015 4 p.m.

Surrak for days. You know why?


Surrak, the Hero Caller Playtest

Standard* canterlotguardian

SCORE: 0 | 0 COMMENTS | 4 VIEWS

March 14, 2015 4:02 p.m.

square711 says... #9

All of them are unexpectedly solid. Even Zurgo isn't too bad for a one-drop.

My vote goes for Sidisi because a) given how terribly expensive Standard/Modern-legal tutors tend to be, 5CMC for a tutor and a 4/6 deathtouch body is crazy value, and b) you don't have to reveal the card. To me at least, this is a huge, huge deal. Also, Heartless Summoning makes her a T3 Infernal Tutor on a 3/5 body, and I love me some Heartless Summoning.

Second place is a tie between Anafenza and Surrak. Surrak gets points for having a cool ability AND making it usable himself, but Anafenza is just so, SO abuseable in the right shell. Plus, her art + flavor text are awesome.

March 14, 2015 4:07 p.m.

square711 says... #10

March 14, 2015 4:11 p.m.

2gherkins says... #11

Oh my! So many people have commented on this thread already!

canterlotguardian I had the same Idea. 8 damage turn three? WHAT? That is fantastic.

TheDevicer Didn't think about sidisi's competition with liliana. I think sidisi is better mainly because of her 4/6 body with deathtouch.

beckhr BW weenies standard! yes please. Sidisi can curve it all out. That sounds great.

ZooGambler I'll view the deck as soon as it's made. Sounds good.

RYNO_Ross I agree with you the most. Nice summary.

March 14, 2015 4:12 p.m.

2gherkins says... #12

@square711

"All of them are unexpectedly solid. Even Zurgo isn't too bad for a one-drop."

You literally couldn't have said it better. And not having to reveal is huge, because in commander getting the Sanguine Bond/Exquisite Blood combo without your opponent knowing can scare them to death. Didn't really think about Heartless Summoning, but that definitely works.

March 14, 2015 4:15 p.m.

APPLE01DOJ says... #13

I like Sidisi. Exploit makes me want to run Dictate of Erebos with and against him. Lol

March 14, 2015 4:16 p.m.

2gherkins says... #14

APPLE01DOJ that is hysterical. And by hysterical, I mean like after you play the combo, everybody hates you.

March 14, 2015 4:18 p.m.

2gherkins says... #15

square711 If you managed to play any one mana creature turn one like Pharika's Chosen, she stays on the battlefield.

March 14, 2015 4:21 p.m.

Er... well.... Narset isn't listed. Let's be honest, she's where it's at.

March 14, 2015 4:33 p.m.

The_Raven says... #17

I don't think, anything in DTK was really good..... Oh... Wait.... Sharkan was good. It makes Temur good.

Zurgo is kind of OK.... It's a better Rakdos Cackler, which is good!

I don't really like the rest of the cards. I was disappointing...

March 14, 2015 4:46 p.m.

2gherkins says... #18

fluffybunnypants by all means narset is the best. But this thread is to discuss the creatures only.

NorthernRaven Really? I am super-hyped for DTK, I thinkthe set looks great.

March 14, 2015 5:12 p.m.

@ 2gherkins

Fair enough. I wasn't sure if you omitted her for another reason as it's not clear in the OP, so I just went with it.

In that case. Anafenza is Legacy playable, so I'll go with her.

March 14, 2015 5:22 p.m.

xcn says... #20

As much as I love Surrak, and plan on using him, I think Anafenza's low cost and high impact if you keep rolling out non-token creatures makes her the strongest in limited and 60 card constructed, at least.

Sidisi is frightening in Commander for sure though.

March 14, 2015 5:33 p.m.

MagicalHacker says... #21

I play primarily commander, and the only one able to be at the helm of a strong commander deck is Sidisi imo. Surrak could also be like a nerf'd Xenagos, but who knows.

March 14, 2015 5:49 p.m.

Sidisi is probably the most powerful here, but I'm going to go with Zurgo. Cause I just love the flavor.

March 14, 2015 6:05 p.m.

This discussion has been closed