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Five clans, three colors each
What this set is
Khans of Tarkir is set on a plane ruled by five warring clans, each a wedge: three colors built around an enemy pair. Abzan, Jeskai, Sultai, Mardu and Temur each have a mechanic of their own, and the set's mana (tri-lands, gain lands and the five allied fetchlands, reprinted from Onslaught) is built to cast three-color decks.
Morph returned and was the most common mechanic in the set: you can cast a morph card face down as a 2/2 for three and turn it face up later for its morph cost. Prowess, from the Jeskai clan, became an evergreen keyword afterwards.
Treasure Cruise and Dig Through Time, both delve spells, were strong enough to be banned in Modern and Legacy. Hardened Scales is also from here.
Themes
Every mechanic in Khans of Tarkir
Outlast (Abzan)
Pay the cost and tap the creature to put a +1/+1 counter on it, at sorcery speed. Several Abzan cards reward creatures with counters.
Prowess (Jeskai)
Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, this creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn. Became evergreen after this set.
Delve (Sultai)
Each card you exile from your graveyard while casting the spell pays for {1}. From Future Sight, and powerful enough here that two delve cards were later banned in Modern.
Raid (Mardu)
An ability word: a bonus if you attacked this turn. Mardu wants to attack first and cast spells after.
Ferocious (Temur)
An ability word: a bonus if you control a creature with power 4 or greater.
Morph
Cast the card face down as a 2/2 for {3}, then turn it face up any time you could pay its morph cost. Back from Onslaught on thirty-five cards.
Where You Can Play It
Format legality
Khans of Tarkir shipped under a single code and is legal in Pioneer, Modern and the eternal formats, with bans in three of them.
Not Standard-legal; Standard only ever holds the last few years of sets. Khans of Tarkir cards are playable in Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, Vintage and Commander, with exceptions: the five fetchlands are banned in Pioneer, and Treasure Cruise and Dig Through Time are banned in Modern and Legacy and restricted in Vintage. Commons from any set are Pauper-legal; that isn't listed per set here.
Limited
The draft format
A three-color format. Each clan is a wedge, the mana supports three colors, and morph makes every pack's face-down creatures a guessing game.
Abzan
Outlast midrange
Durable creatures that grow with +1/+1 counters.
Jeskai
Prowess tempo
Noncreature spells that pump prowess creatures.
Sultai
Delve control
Self-mill to fuel cheap delve spells.
Mardu
Raid aggro
Attack early and cash in raid bonuses.
Temur
Ferocious big creatures
Power 4 creatures switch on ferocious spells.
Commanders
The most played commanders from Khans of Tarkir
The legends this set is best known for. Tap one for its printings and what it costs.
Boosters, precons and singles from Khans of Tarkir are on TCGplayer.
FAQ
Common questions
What are the five clans of Khans of Tarkir?
Abzan (white-black-green), Jeskai (blue-red-white), Sultai (black-green-blue), Mardu (red-white-black) and Temur (green-blue-red). Each is a wedge: three colors built around an enemy pair.
Are the Khans of Tarkir fetchlands legal in Pioneer?
No. Bloodstained Mire, Flooded Strand, Polluted Delta, Windswept Heath and Wooded Foothills are banned in Pioneer. They are legal in Modern, Legacy, Vintage and Commander.
Why is Treasure Cruise banned?
Delve let it cost a single blue mana in decks that fill the graveyard quickly. It is banned in Modern and Legacy and restricted in Vintage.
All card names, art, and mechanics belong to Wizards of the Coast. Khans of Tarkir released on Sep 26, 2014; details reflect the set as published. Sources: Wizards of the Coast set pages and release notes, Draftsim, Untapped.gg.
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