I recently wrote about the new Narset of the Ancient Way in my last “New Perspectives” article, which you can find here. For this week’s article, we’ll be looking back at another wedge-colored planeswalker from good old Tarkir: Sarkhan Unbroken. There are only so many three-color combinations available in Oathbreaker, at the moment, and I’m very excited to finally go over some of the ways to play Temur in this format! As always for this series, I’ll be looking at three specific decklists I’ve brewed up (and no, I did not build Dragon Tribal for this article).
The Oathbreaker:
Let’s begin by taking a look at the individual abilities on Sarkhan Unbroken.
Although it may not be blatantly powerful, this +1 ability is very solid. Having the default option of using your Oathbreaker to “just” draw an extra card on each of your turns is a very strong effect, even if it doesn’t impact the board directly. The little bit of mana ramp/fixing stapled onto the ability can also be very helpful, particularly for a three-color deck. It’s also convenient that you choose what color of mana to add after you draw the extra card, just in case that extra card impacts how you want to spend your mana.
Now this ability is very on-brand for Sarkhan. It’s always nice to have an Oathbreaker that can put extra bodies on the battlefield, and a 4/4 flyer is bigger creature than most Oathbreakers can create immediately. This ability is obviously even more powerful in dragon tribal strategies, but I can’t think of a deck archetype off the top of my head that would mind having an extra 4/4 flyer in play.
This final ability is just hilarious to me. “Hey, I heard you like dragons, so here are a bunch more dragons to go with your dragons so you can win the game with more dragons!” Seriously though, this type of effect is clearly very, very powerful to have in a dragon tribal deck. Unfortunately, it’s not nearly as powerful in any other kind of deck, though there are certainly a fair share of regularly playable dragons in Oathbreaker that one could search for with this ability; Glorybringer, Stormbreath Dragon, and Thundermaw Hellkite are a just handful I can think of off the top of my head.
This version of Sarkhan is clearly geared towards dragon tribal strategies, but if you’ve followed this series for a little while then you probably know I usually like to go off the beaten path for some of these decklists. There are plenty of Temur dragon tribal lists out there, so I’ve decided to take a stab at utilizing Sarkhan’s abilities in some other archetypes.
Build #1: Temur Elementals
Decklist: Sarkhan’s Elementals
Elementals is probably one of the most well-known tribes to show up in Temur colors, particularly with all of the incidental elemental support that’s shown up in the last year. Sarkhan himself isn’t especially well-suited to an elemental tribal strategy, but his abilities certainly don’t hurt. Extra cards and mana are always helpful, and being able to randomly make a 4/4 dragon is still a strong effect, even outside of a dragon tribal deck. This deck’s Signature Spell, on the other hand, is much more fitting for an elementals deck: Sylvan Awakening. Creating a horde of 2/2s may not sound that powerful, but don’t forget that this spicy sorcery grants us a bunch of 2/2s that are indestructible, not to mention the fact that we get to keep them around until our next turn. Between all of the elemental support and land ramp this deck runs, we’ll have no trouble with turning Sylvan Awakening into a very viable win condition.
- Elemental Support: Flamekin Harbinger and Smokebraider are the perfect early-game creatures for a three-color tribal strategy like this, the former for its tutor-effect and the latter for its mana ramp/fixing. Similar to elemental decks in other formats, Risen Reef is a staple for this strategy, and the incidental land-ramp pairs paricularly well with our Signature Spell. Creeping Trailblazer and Overgrowth Elemental are both ways to grow our elementals a little, and Creeping Trailblazer will become even more threatening after we cast our Signature Spell. Omnath, Locus of the Roil is another very threatening elemental to pair with Sylvan Awakening because of its enter-the-battlefield trigger, and it also works well with all of our means of land ramp. Once we’ve built up a threatening board presence, we can help clear the way for our attackers with the -3 ability on Chandra, Awakened Inferno and trample on through thanks to Thicket Crasher.
- Land Synergies: On top of hitting all of its regular land drops, this deck really likes its land ramp. Parcelbeast is the perfect elemental for this job, and it’s coincidentally another way we can buff up one of our smaller creatures. Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath doesn’t have the creature type we’re looking for, but his enter the battlefield trigger is strong enough to consider him an “honorary elemental” in this case. We’re also running a number of fetchlands that will give us extra landfall triggers, and we can recur these fetchlands with Life from the Loam and Wrenn and Six. We can even use Titania, Protector of Argoth to turn our fetchlands into extra elementals! Our top-end payoffs include a few classic landfall creatures in Avenger of Zendikar and Omnath, Locus of Rage, as well as the friendly green giant, Multani, Yavimaya’s Avatar.
- Other Elementals: We’re also running a number of generically strong elementals that don’t necessarily share any particular synergies with the rest of the list. Animar, Soul of Elements can get to be pretty large in this list since almost 50% of the cards in the deck are creatures. As far as other incidental means of mana ramp, we’re also running Thryx, the Sudden Storm and Cavalier of Thorns. We can also turn any of our smaller creatures into a substantial threat by mutating onto them with Illuna, Apex of Wishes. Woodland Wanderer will usually be no smaller than a 5/5 in this deck, and it’s vigilance and trample make it effective on both offense and defense. If we need any more help pushing through damage, Tectonic Giant can deal damage directly to each of our opponents, and Phase Dolphin can sneak one of our other creatures past opposing creatures; or we can ignore our opponents in combat entirely by preventing any damage to our own creatures with the help of Vigor.
Build #2: Temur Ramp
Decklist: Sarkhan’s Ultimatum
The elemental tribal list had some amount of mana ramp incorporated into it, but this next deck is going all-in on the ramp game plan. Sarkhan’s +1 ability, while generically strong, is also very well-suited to this kind of strategy, and fortunately for us, Ikoria recently provided us with the perfect payoff. Genesis Ultimatum is just the kind of big, flashy spell this type of deck is looking for. There are only five non-permanent cards in the 58 of this list, so we’ll be cheating five permanents into play with our Signature Spell more often than not. After we reach five mana and resolve our Oathbreaker, we should have no trouble reaching seven mana on our next turn between our next land drop and use of Sarkhan’s +1 ability.
- Mana Ramp: It’s not uncommon for most green decks to have some kind of early mana acceleration, but this list is running more than most. At the one-drop slot we’re running classic mana dorks like Arbor Elf and Birds of Paradise, as well as the small-but-bulky Arboreal Grazer. We have access to even more ramp at the two-drop slot with creatures such as Sakura-Tribe Elder, Sylvan Caryatid, Leafkin Druid, and Whisperer of the Wilds. On top of that, we’re also running Farseek and Nature’s Lore, a pair of land-ramp spells that will be even more helpful thanks to the newly-printed Ketria Triome.
- Middle of the Curve: Sarkhan himself makes a fine mid-curve threat, but we’ll also want some other cards to help us build up towards our Signature Spell. Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma doubles as ramp and a threat, and we can use the attack trigger on Ilharg, the Raze-Boar to cheat on mana-costs all together. If any opposing Oathbreakers start to get out of control, we do have access to forms of planeswalker removal in Sawtusk Demolisher and Vivien, Arkbow Ranger. This kind of the removal will also allow us to dedicate our larger attackers, such as Quartzwood Crasher and Stormbreath Dragon, to pressuring our opponents’ life totals instead of their Oathbreakers. In terms of protecting our own life total, Thragtusk gives us a solid buffer, and we can use the front half of Arlinn Kord to make one of our threats into a vigilant threat.
- Top-End Payoffs: This ramp deck wouldn’t be complete without some especially-large threats to cheat into play with our Signature Spell. Inferno Titan‘s triggers will help knock our opponents down to size, and Primeval Titan will help our ramp strategy snowball out of control (and yes, we do have Field of the Dead in this list). We’re also running Etali, Primal Storm, a threat that becomes much more powerful in a multiplayer format like Oathbreaker. Dragonlord Atarka and Pelakka Wurm are two other creatures that will immediately give us value when they enter play, and they’ll quickly finish our opponents off if left on the board. I’ve also decided to use this list to try out the newly-printed Yidaro, Wandering Monster. This big turtle friend will prove useful both early in the game as a redraw and late in the game as a hasty finisher.
Temur Superfriends
Decklist: Sarkhan Savors the Moment
Planeswalkers are my favorite card type in MTG, and I just couldn’t resist the opportunity to try a superfriends build with Sarkhan. Proliferate is typically the go-to strategy to pair with planeswalkers, and while this list does have a tiny bit of proliferation in it, I’ve decided to try something a little different. Extra turns spells are another great way to take advantage of a board full of planeswalkers, and Savor the Moment is the cheapest Time Walk effect we have access to in Oathbreaker. I built a similar deck with Aminatou, the Fateshifter in the past, but where that list was mostly focused on blinking its own planeswalkers, this deck is closer to an all-in combo build. Between Sarkhan and our other mana-producing planeswalkers, we’ll have little to no trouble taking several turns in a row with our Signature Spell. This kind of finish will require some set up, obviously, but as it turns out, I think Temur is actually the perfect three-color combination for the job.
- Combo Pieces: This deck is running a number of ways to help circumvent the downside to Savor the Moment. Chandra, Torch of Defiance gives us a bit more mana to work with, and other planeswalkers like Garruk Wildspeaker, Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner, and Nissa, Worldwaker can untap our lands for us. These untap effects become even more powerful when we have Utopia Sprawl on one of these lands to lend a little extra mana. Even still, the two most powerful enablers for our strategy are definitely Wilderness Reclamation and Fires of Invention. With one or both of these busted enchantments in play, it will be pretty easy for us to take 3 or more turns in a row. (Note: With Fires of Invention in play, you still need to pay the commander tax for your Signature Spell.)
- Planeswalker Support: The mana fixing from both Interplanar Beacon and Oath of Nissa is sure to come in handy, especially since we’re a three-color deck. Heart of Kiran is another superfriends staple that will be helpful both in defending our planeswalkers and pressuring our opponents’. We’re only running one card with proliferate, but Evolution Sage can net us plenty of extra loyalty counters, and it pairs particularly well with Bioessence Hydra. To top it all off, we’re also playing Sarkhan’s future self, Sarkhan the Masterless, as a quick and easy way to close out games during our extra turns.
- Other Planeswalkers: Our list of superfriends doesn’t end there. Nissa, Voice of Zendikar and Saheeli, Sublime Artificer can both hit the board early and provide us with plenty of chump blockers, and they both work very well with Oko, Thief of Crowns. We can also use Arlinn Kord to help fill out our board state, and I especially enjoy how well her +1 ability synergizes with Glorybringer‘s exert ability. As far as ways to keep our hand full, Narset, Parter of Veils will both help us dig for our combo pieces and put a cap on our opponents’ card draw. Will Kenrith is another means of card advantage for us, and his -2 ability will even lower the cost of Signature Spell a little bit!
Shared Cards
Here’s a quick overview of what notable cards each of the lists share with each other.
- Elementals & Ramp: Lightning Bolt, Wrenn and Six, Leafkin Druid, Illuna, Apex of Wishes, and Thryx, the Sudden Storm
- Ramp & Superfriends: Arbor Elf, Courser of Kruphix, Sylvan Caryatid, Arlinn Kord, and Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner
- Elementals, Ramp & Superfriends: Farseek, Brainstorm, Once Upon a Time, Arboreal Grazer, Birds of Paradise, and Sakura-Tribe Elder
Sar-KHAN, Not Sar-KHAN’T
In this series, I’ve already gone over every other three-color combination that’s currently available for Oathbreaker, so I’m glad I finally got the chance to write about some Temur builds. It’s also always fun to build different types of decks around a planeswalker that’s commonly restricted to a single archetype. Despite his sweet abilities, Sarkhan Unbroken didn’t actually see very much play when he was legal in Standard, but he fortunately hasn’t faced similar difficulties in Oathbreaker!
Have you tried building around Sarkhan Unbroken in Oathbreaker? Are there any others way you do/would want to play Temur in Oathbreaker? Make sure to share your thoughts and brews with me in the comments or on Twitter!
About the author: My name is Alex Enders. I am a college student that’s been playing MTG for almost eight years, though I only recently began experimenting with writing content. My personal formats of choice are Oathbreaker, EDH, and draft. My other interests include music, education, and most things nerdy. You can find me on Twitter (@AAAEnders) or email me at aenders2112@gmail.com