Dragons of Tarkir spoilers are pouring in, so now is the time to get a handle on new cards by analyzing their Standard applications.

We can use this information to earn an edge on early tournament competition, gauge future financial potential, and even explore the competitive and financial impact on other cards in the format.

Ojutai Exemplars

Among the most impressive cards spoiled so far is Ojutai Exemplars.

The ability to gain lifelink puts it into a special class of creatures and makes this much more than a simple aggressive creature.

It’s amazing in racing situations, and it’s a potent threat from a controlling deck against aggressive opponents. The ability to Flicker itself out of play means it can gain immunity from removal spells, so it’s particularly valuable in this attrition-oriented Standard format filled with removal spells. This creature will be most effective in a deck heavy with spells, which brings a few potential archetypes to mind.

Ojutai Exemplars strikes me as a particularly potent card in a UW control deck, most likely out of the sideboard. It’s a perfect control card because these decks play a high spell count and can reliably trigger its ability.

It will be excellent in a number of situations, best of all against aggressive decks like Mono-Red, that will succumb to the lifelink, but also against control decks like UB that rely on targeted removal spells. I imagine the card will be best out of the sideboard of control because opponents are very likely to cut all of their dedicated creature removal spells, leaving them with just meager access to a few flexible cards like Hero's Downfall and Stoke the Flames, which Ojutai Exemplars has the tools to overcome.

Ojutai Exemplars also has applications in aggressive white decks, including RW, Jeskai, and Mardu. As a four drop, it’s relatively expensive, putting it at or near the top of curves in these archetypes.

I am not a fan of the card in Abzan, where it competes with Siege Rhino and has few spells triggering it. It competes with Butcher of the Horde in Mardu, but it could very well be a better option in a more controlling version.

Ojutai Exemplars would seem best in Jeskai and RW, which don’t have archetype-defining 4-mana threats. Both of these archetypes are aggressively oriented but designed to be able to operate in the control role over a long game with cards like Outpost Siege, Soulfire Grand Master, and Treasure Cruise.

Ojutai Exemplars could very well serve as a mid-game card that stabilizes after the early turns against aggro, or as a robust threat that exhausts removal spells against midrange and control.

Also consider that, with the tap ability, it’s also capable of ending a ground stalemate--a situation which these decks sometimes find themselves in.

It has nice synergy with Goblin Rabblemaster, where tapping a blocker could lead to an extra Goblin token staying alive, potentially repeatedly over a few turns, which would quickly snowball out of control for the opponent.

I expect Ojutai Exemplars will see sideboard play in these archetypes, but it could very well earn some maindeck slots.

Ojutai Exemplars is best when its controller can cast instant spells at a profit, which makes it ideal with the next card I want to review today, Anticipate.

Anticipate

Anticipate is a 25% less powerful Impulse, which was a card selection staple in its day and a great pick in cube drafts the world over.

Seeing three cards rather than four is significant, but it doesn't mean Anticipate is not playable. It’s a functional card selection card that will nearly always offer some sort of relevant option.

Since an average random selection of three cards in most decks will encompass at least one land and one non-land card, the card selection is meaningful in the early game whether digging for mana or for action. In late-game scenarios, it will be a great topdeck.

Anticipate is a mana investment and tempo loss, so it’s best in decks that can in some way ignore or overcome this cost. Control is a clear choice, since these decks play lots of tempo-positive removal spells and counterspells and can even ignore tempo in instances where it has access to a board sweeper.

The reactive nature of these decks also mean they place great value on the instant-speed nature of the card. I would be surprised if UB control did not include some number, and it has applications in any other control like UW, Esper, and even Sultai--though it may compete with Satyr Wayfinder for space in that deck .

Anticipate is best of all in combo decks that ignore tempo by going over the top of the opponent. Lee Shi Tian plays four Tormenting Voice in his Jeskai Ascendancy combo deck. And while the cards are not directly comparable, I can’t imagine it doesn’t want access to Anticipate as well, either as a supplement or direct replacement.

Anticipate also stands out for its interaction with Soulfire Grand Master. This combination offers a way generate quality card advantage with the goal of burying the opponent, as opposed to the most common current application of Soulfire Grand Master, which is simply to recycle burn spells. Anticipate significantly increases the playability of Soulfire Grand Master in blue decks.

Thunderbreak Regent

Back to the topic of four mana threats, Thunderbreak Regent has a lot going for it.

The card it reminds me most of is actually Eidolon of the Great Revel, which shares the ability of damaging the opponent even if they are able to immediately destroy it. This is incredible value in any highly aggressive deck living by the “Philosophy of Fire”--meaning its only goal is to deal twenty damage and win the game, which is why the Eidolon has seen play in Burn decks from Standard to Legacy.

Most lines of play will involve Thunderbreak Regent meeting a targeted removal spell and dealing three damage to the opponent, a winning proposition for a red aggro deck. If Thunderbreak Regent is not immediately destroyed, it's an evasive creature and a huge threat that will end the game in short order.

I don’t want to call Thunderbreak Regent the red Siege Rhino, but with its three damage clause, it  does share some similarity. There is a reason Siege Rhino is played in every Abzan deck in Standard and Modern, while Polukranos, World Eater, with bigger stats and upside, is not played in Standard Abzan and hasn’t seen the light of day in Modern. The reason is the value.

Thunderbreak Regent is poor against board sweepers that don’t target, much like Eidolon of the Great Revel can be trumped by expensive spells, but Standard is defined by targeted removal in essentially every deck in the format, in most cases a lot of it.

It has some competition with Ashcloud Phoenix, but they are fundamentally different and meant for different styles of deck. Also consider that the value of Ashcloud Phoenix is mitigated by cards like Chained to the Rocks and Abzan Charm, which fall flat against the ability of Thunderbreak Regent.

I expect Thunderbreak Regent will top the curve of many aggressive red decks in Standard, including variants of Mono-Red and even GR Monsters.

It is important to point out just how good Thunderbreak Regent is at acting as a Ferocious enabler for Flamewake Phoenix. It also adds two devotion to red, so it helps improve the Red Devotion deck that was hyped with Fate Reforged but made little impact on the format.

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There are many more spoilers to come, so stay tuned to the QS coverage page and the forums for discussion on the new cards!

-Adam