Avenger of the Fallen Promises Big Plays in Tarkir: Dragonstorm

Tarkir: Dragonstorm spoilers are coming out in full force, and it's incredible just how many awesome build-arounds we've seen thus far.

Tarkir: Dragonstorm spoilers are coming out in full force, and it’s incredible just how many awesome build-arounds we’ve seen thus far. From a combo enabling legendary enchantment that discounts all your creatures to a reverse Collected Company for noncreature permanents, there are tons of tools that should have brewers foaming at the mouth.

Today, we want to highlight another Tarkir: Dragonstorm card that has incredible potential if you put in the work. For just three mana, this creature can completely take over the game, threatening to deal an enormous amount of damage at once. Commander and Standard enthusiasts alike should be excited for the printing of Avenger of the Fallen. The key is knowing how to abuse its attack trigger.

Avenger of the Fallen is a really cool card. As a 2/4 with Deathtouch for three mana and a trigger when it attacks, it immediately draws a comparison to Preacher of the Schism. However, these cards play out very differently.

Unlike Preacher, the tokens that Avenger provides don’t stick around, so attacking versus aggro decks is a bit of a liability. Thankfully, Avenger makes up for this by having a much, much higher ceiling. In any deck with lots of creatures and self-mill action, a single attack with Avenger can net you a boatload of attacking tokens. Even without lots of self-mill effects, Avenger naturally becomes more threatening as creatures trade-off.

This is what makes Avenger so appealing in Commander. There are a number of different legends that synergize super well with the token synergy this card provides. Take Chatterfang, Squirrel General, for example. For each Warrior token you create when Avenger attacks, you get that many 1/1 Squirrels on top of that. The Warriors may go away at end of turn, but the Squirrels will stay. Thalisse, Reverent Medium provides a very similar reward.

Avenger also looks like a great addition to an Isshin, Two Heavens as One deck. Getting double the number of attackers is hugely valuable. Throw in an effect like Impact Tremors or Mirkwood Bats, and you’re golden.

What makes Mirkwood Bats so scary alongside Avenger is that you both get triggers when you create the tokens and when the tokens are sacrificed at your end step. The fact that your Warrior tokens are sacrificed and not exiled makes Avenger even more abusable in Commander than you might expect.

Obviously, this opens up the door for cards like Blood Artist and Mayhem Devil to do some serious damage. But why stop there? Throw in Grave Pact and your opponents will have a very difficult time keeping their board intact. Add Black Market into the mix, and you’ll have a surplus of mana to work with every turn.

Numerous Commanders benefit from lots of tokens getting sacrificed at once, too. Meren of Clan Nel Toth is a perfect home for Avenger. You’re already incentivized to fill your graveyard with creatures to maximize Meren, which will fuel Avenger. From there, a single Avenger attack can create a bunch of tokens, which in turn will net you a ton of experience counters when they die. You’ll have the luxury of reanimating even the biggest creatures from your graveyard in short order. Similarly, Avenger can help Carmen, Cruel Skymarcher rack up +1/+1 counters, and can make your whole squad immense alongside Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest.

Notably, because your Warrior tokens don’t get sacrificed until your end step, you’re free to sacrifice them to Ashnod’s Altar or Phyrexian Altar during your second main phase and get a big mana burst. The world is your oyster, as long as you have a decent supply of creatures in your graveyard.

While Avenger seems at its best in an EDH setting, there’s still room for exploration with it in Standard. Currently, the Golgari self-mill decks may be able to slot Avenger in naturally. These decks feature lots of ways to get creatures into your graveyard, including Overlord of the Balemurk and Molt Tender.

As a four-toughness creature with Deathtouch, Avenger staves off early pressure quite well. It doesn’t die to Nowhere to Run or Cut Down, which is nice. While it doesn’t provide the same value that Preacher of the Schism gives, Avenger threatens to end the game quickly. A couple of attacks can break a board stall wide open.

There are also a handful of ways to abuse the sacrifice clause in Standard. We’ve seen Orzhov Aristocrats pop up from time to time. These decks play tons of creatures. Both Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim and Vengeful Bloodwitch reward you for generating and sacrificing tokens. You can also grow Bartolome del Presidio by sacrificing the tokens before they vanish.

It’s unclear if these decks will adopt Avenger right out of the gates. After all, Golgari self