Did you know that the codename of TDM was “Ultimate”? So the set to sit alongside it should be called “Frisbee” because that’s the name of the sport, the theme of all the codenames for Standard sets since original Eldraine to whatever ends the metronome arc. Or well, maybe a better name would be Stormnexus Ritual, you heard that somewhere in the actual set.

So, what do we want to make? Not one of those Aftermath boosters I hope. But instead, a derivative of DTK knowing 10 years of hindsight. Probably best illustrated in the set skeleton, frankly that’s why I do this article at all.

• Mythic: TDM used its new mythic slots for 5 wedge cards. So over here we also use the new mythic slots for 5 allied pair cards. And here’s a fun fact, KTK and DTK have the same monocolor mythic distribution, so let’s copy TDM’s seven monocolored mythics too, now we really have to ask the question of what the last 5C card and two colorless cards are. Actually, going from Khans to Dragons mean turning the colorless cards into a wedge one so why not this time too?
• Rare: TDM don’t have the fetches anymore and have one less colorless cards, so that’s 47 cards remaining, in exchange, it got 8 monocolored cards and one land cycle, the weird number is to patch up the color imbalance at mythic. Now this is the hard part in DTK, what cycles aren’t monocolored outside of the allied pairs? Do you just get rid of the land and fill the 8 monocolored cards in, to end up with color imbalance if anything? Turns out, DTK did fill in the color imbalance in the exact way TDM does, so do we just re-add the colorless cards in?
• Uncommon: TDM got rid of the actual colorless cards for the monuments, then it used its bigger uncommon count for 5 tri-brid wedge cards, a cycle of off color omen dragons (I still don’t remember they’re Stormbroods lol) and two monocolored cycles. Thing is DTK already has a cycle of mana fixers, what it really lack down there are the dual colored cards. So let’s say the 5 colorless cards gone for 2 new allied pair cycles, another cycle of off color omen dragons and two monocolored cycles.
• Common: TDM had to trim down the off color enemy pair cards to get down to 91 cards, the 10 extra are the gainlands that got their own slot, and then you look at DTK and it’s… literally the normal distribution of commons. That was certainly one of the things that made DTK struggle as much as it did.
• Basic lands: Get rid of 5 basic lands, and then reference the rest. Which one?

The correct solution really is that Hexhaven theory going around. Let me catch you up, apparently Jace and Vraska is trying to return the Multiverse back to Planar Chaos where timelines of differing events collide. One of which could be the old Phyrexians winning, another could be Arcavios being home to five allied pair snarls, which is important for our theory. Honestly I’m too down for that, after all it’s what Tarkir the legend it is, structure, connections!

Mythics

So, we’ll need 7 monocolored cards, 10 allied pair cards, .

• The first grid to fill is one of the two white cards. Both wedge sets went for one Mardu card, while Dragons went for Ojutai. It really sucks for Abzan but I guess the choice is right here. Khans had a 5 mana 3/4, Dragons had a 4 mana 4/4, Dragonstorm had a 5 mana enchantment. So the mana value seems to be 4 for this new enchantment.
• The second grid to fill is the black card, always Sultai or Silumgar. Khans had a 4 + 2*X spell to create Zombies, Dragons cut the X for just a 4/3 creature, Dragonstorm cut the cost to just 2 for a creature but it goes to 5/5 because drawbacks. I guess you can read that as halving the cost, so is it time for a 2 + X spell to create decayed Zombies?
• The third grid, let’s do it double, so the fourth also come in. It’s red, it wants a creature and something that likes Dragons. Sucks I can’t just say it all revolves around Dragons since Khans had a … Phoenix. Well let’s make a new Phoenix. What cost should it be? So far, we got 2, 4, 6. Whether you can make it 3 mana and 5 mana modal or 8 mana, how would that be possible? Then onto the thing that likes Dragons, so far we got a planeswalker, a sorcery and an enchantment. Artifact seems like a good move next, and thing is let’s say for this time you can’t make 4/4 tokens. Clan reps wise, Dragons had the only one being Atarka, so keep that in mind for your choice.
• The fifth grid, something for Temur or Atarka. Khans had a sorcery, the other two creatures, the mana values scale from 3, 6 to 8 while devotions scale from 1, 2 to 3. Let’s say a way to think about it is halving the mana value and getting 1 devotion off of the wedge set card while moving the type, so a 4 mana 2 devotion sorcery.
• The sixth grid, now it’s damn hard. The two wedge sets had Jeskai creatures, Dragons goes for a morph creature, the mana values scale from 2, 3, 5 to 7 while devotions scale from 1, 3, 1 to 2. The cheaper creatures also have stats equal to their actual mana value instead of losing 1 point of power like the “modal” Khans monster. What’s the solution, a 4 to 6 mana modual using 2 or 3 devotions losing 1 point of power and just aren’t tied to any clans.
• Now we got the last card, it has to be white. Original Tarkir had two blue cards that make clones in different types and two green cards that are morphs. All of these cards had 2 devotions, blue ones have square mana values, green ones morph up for 5 mana while otherwise costing 2 devotions.