Welcome back! Last week we looked at some of the best commons of Dragons of Tarkir. Today we will look at the uncommons that may have some impact on your budget decks for your your favorite format.

I really didn’t care for most of the uncommons of the set. Many of them seemed very focused and had more of a chance to brew a deck around as opposed to just planting them in your current deck like the commons did. Not that being specialized is a bad thing, I enjoy building decks as much as the next brewer. Let’s see what is in store for the uncommon slot of your Dragons of Tarkir packs…

Ainok Survivalist

As most of you know already, I love a good utility creature. This is one of those creatures. Nearly every deck today has either artifacts or enchantments. This is a great creature for a beginner’s deck that typically has cards to cover any opponent’s decks they may be up against without using a sideboard.

Ambuscade Shaman

This creature is similar to Primal Forcemage. Normally a creature like this isn’t great but consider this…there are many creatures with the Dash ability in this block and there are many more creatures with haste out there. Ambuscade Shaman boosts those creatures into wrecking balls bent on doing some major damage.

Dance of the Skywise

This is an interesting spell and it has many uses. Need an evasive creature? Need a larger blocker? Need a flying blocker? Need a creature to survive combat damage? Need your creature to deal more damage in combat? Maybe I have been a victim of too many surprise Plumeveil blocks but this card has some unique uses.

Death Wind

When I played Ravnica block I truly started appreciating the power of giving creatures -X-X with the spell Last Gasp. When creatures are targeted by spells like this, they cannot be regenerated and also have their power reduced during combat, giving your creatures time to deal damage and survive the damage exchange. Death Wind makes a reprint return in Dragons of Tarkir and it’s still just as useful as ever.

Foul-Tongue Invocation

I looked at this spell and asked myself, “Would I play Diabolic Edict if it was one mana more?” Then I immediately thought back to all the times a Boggles deck punched my face in and said “Probably.” Granted, there are other ways to kill creatures but if you they have Shroud or Hexproof, this spell is an option for you. If you happen to be playing with dragons, even better.

Gudul Lurker

This is one sneaky salamander. I have one gripe about this little guy and that stems from having to play it for three mana then to pay another one mana to get a 2/2. I am a sucker for unblockable creatures so this lizard makes the list.

Sarkhan’s Triumph

I can see this spell being crammed into Commander decks everywhere. For just three mana you can tutor a Dragon into your hand. This is a very useful card when a dragon is exactly what the doctor calls for.

Savage Ventmaw

Somewhere out there, someone will break this card. I don’t trust it. Whenever free mana is left on the table players find ways to take advantage of it. The higher casting cost makes me feel a little bit better but I’ll be waiting for some wacky brew to come along involving this Dragon.

Stormrider Rig

This artifact has some writing on it but all I see is, “Free Equip”. Down the road as we approach the soon to come expansion, Battle of Zendikar, there is a race called the Kor and they love being equipped and many of them gain additional benefits for having equipment on them. I see this card being useful in the future.

That’s my list for the week of the best uncommons of Dragons of Tarkir. Come back next Monday when I share a deck for those of you that enjoy slapping your opponents with seafood.

Aiokii has never been a big fan of dragons. They tend to be expensive and overrated. He is also preparing his inbox with hate mail. Contact him at https://twitter.com/TheAiokii or Facebook https://www.facebook.com/thepaperchampionblog or message or post in the comments below. Check out http://www.reddit.com/r/budgetdecks/, your even more Magic: The Gathering on a budget discussion.