If you speculate on Standard, then we're coming up on one of the biggest weekends of the year for you.

Standard cards tend to see the biggest spikes from the Pro Tour, and Pro Tour Dragons of Tarkir is right around the corner. While the last set being introduced to fill out Standard matters less than the first set in a block, this is still an exciting time.

With the Richmond Invitational happening two weeks ago and the Syracuse Open last weekend, we already have some solid data on what's good out of Dragons. Dromoka's Command and Thunderbreak Regent have already risen beyond the point of reasonable speculation, but it's a reasonable bet that the superteams on the Pro Tour know more than the SCG grinders. Not to mention that different cards become relevant as metagames naturally develop.

This is my short list of cards to watch for Pro Tour Dragons of Tarkir.

Warriors

There are a bunch of good warriors in Standard right now, with most of them being in Khans block. If there ends up being a good warrior deck, it will likely hold over through rotation. The rares for this deck are a bit risky to invest in, as they're all over a buck currently, with most of them having ~$5 ceilings, but if the deck breaks out and you have them, you could make a small chunk of change. These rares are all worth paying attention to, not only for the PT but also for the near future.

Blood-Chin Fanatic is the cheapest of the lot, though it's likely also the worst. It's hard to imagine that you wouldn't want Mardu Strike Leader and Arashin Foremost in your warrior deck, which doesn't leave much room for more three drops. Mardu Strike Leader has a way of dominating every limited game that he shows up, which leads me to believe that the constructed potential is there.

If he doesn't break out this weekend then you'll probably be able to get them even cheaper in the near future, but this card strikes me as a very likely constructed playable.

Dragonlord Silumgar

Dragonlord Ojutai has already exploded in price, which was a little surprising to me. It's definitely a strong card, but I don't think it even compares to Silumgar. A lot of players bias their deckbuilding towards hexproof threats, but a Silumgar out of the sideboard is going to be quite difficult for many decks to deal with.

Imagine that you're playing against something like Ross Merriam's Gruul Dragons deck:

Outside of Crater's Claws, this deck is really going to struggle against Silumgar. Considering that any deck running Silumgar should be quite good at keeping the Gruul deck off of ferocious, Crater's Claws is going to cost six.

Having a card that is devastating barring a six mana one-outer sounds pretty stellar to me. I think that Silumgar has good upside as a trade target at $5.

Haven of the Spirit Dragon

Speaking of dragons, this land is really powerful.

It's been showing up in quite a few lists, sometimes as two or more copies. Honestly, it's really surprising not seeing it in Merriam's list. The first copy in a deck with dragons is very close to a freeroll, and, in two color decks, it's relatively easy to support multiple copies.

I expect to see this card in play at the Pro Tour and I won't be surprised if it becomes $5+ during its lifetime in Standard.

Long term, it screams casual appeal. Dragon kid is going to love this and there is no way you don't play it in any dragon-heavy Commander deck.

Icefall Regent

Did I mention that there were dragon cards with upsides in this set?

Icefall Regent showed up a couple times on camera at the Syracuse Open this past weekend and was very impressive every time. It was also in Jeff Hoogland's Top 16 deck from the Richmond Invitational, yet the card still sits at around $1. As a five mana regular rare, there isn't a ton of upside here, but I could see it moving into the $3-5 range easily with a good showing at the Pro Tour.

Savage Knuckleblade

This is less of a card to watch for at the PT specifically, and more of a card pay attention to in general.

I could see a Temur deck doing well this weekend with Sarkhan Unbroken and a critical mass of options for the deck now in the format, but mostly I think that this card is at or near its floor.

While there are tons of interchangeable four drops in Khans block, Savage Knuckleblade is really exactly what you want on three for a Temur deck. There's a bevy of powerful cards for this clan, and this card is definitely worth picking up in the 50 cent range.

Warden of the First Tree

Speaking of cards at or near their floor, I'm expecting this one to start ticking up in value.

This card Top 8'd a GP and has seen scattered success since its printing but hasn't generated a ton of interest. When Fleecemane Lion rotates, this card likely takes its spot in most Abzan decks.

Furthermore, there's just no way it stays sub-$5 with a good PT showing this weekend.

Kolaghan's Command

This one is a higher-risk spec and a bit of a shot in the dark, but this card is excellent.

It was featured on camera in the hands of a player at 10-2 in round 13 of the Syracuse Open, and even though that player lost the match, the card itself really performed in the aggressive mirror featured.

This card is going to see more play and will increase in value at some point. I don't believe it will be this weekend, but if you start seeing it on camera, I recommend snapping up some copies.

Either way, I would aggressively trade for them and pay attention to the price as a potential card to speculate on otherwise.

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These are my picks for the DTK PT and the near future for Standard. Have any I missed? Think I picked wrong on any of them? Chime in in the comments!

Thanks for reading.

-Ryan Overturf
@RyanOverdrive on Twitter