"Surrak Dragonclaw:The Teachings of Surrak"

"Surrak Dragonclaw:The Teachings of Surrak"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr. 

Since the beginning of Magic one of the most annoying things that could ever happen is when you try so hard to cast a high mana casting creature that you feel would shift the balance of the game in your favor , only to be countered by a measly 1 or 2 mana costing Counter.

Your hopes go into the graveyard and your Control Opponent smiles that smug smile as you try and recover from your disappointment.Of course creatures back then were always being countered but Magic has adjusted since then by printing cards that go against this. Mostly in the color of green we begin to see creatures that cannot be countered. I wrote about Mistform Hydra and how it is a menace for control players everywhere but long before it saw action in standard there was Thrun , The Last Troll who cannot be countered as well.There were cards like Gaea's Herald that allowed creatures to pass through uncountered. All creatures.

This is all well and good for these creatures but since they lack hexproof they could easily be dealt with and though may cause concern they still relatively die but what if there was a way to make all your creatures Uncounterable? All of them! This comes in the form of the awesome Temur Khan , Surrak.Unlike the Herald , Surrak makes sure that you are the only one reaping the benefits of this uncounterability. With more targets your opponents would have to choose which of your creatures they want to kill. The choices may become really hard especially if you have a Desolation Twin already on the board. Take one of the Twins out and you still have another 10/10 monster to deal with.

Now back to Surrak Dragonclaw, not only does he have Flash , He himself is uncounterable. So you could cast him at any point where you could cast an instant( like when your opponent thinks that cost is clear and he thinks that his 5/5 creature will be able to deal damage to you) and there is basically no way your opponent could have an answer for him while you are casting him. When he lands on the battlefield he is a 6/6 giant and he extends this uncounterability to all your creatures. Oh and as an after thought he gives all other creatures you have trample too. He just assumes that you will have big creatures on your side like a simple Eldrazi Devastator.

I honestly find the Temur as a weird mix of Colors because you have access Burn/Counter/Massive creatures in play but I have found Surrak Dragonclaw  to be one of the best cards in Khans.
So what happens when Surrak Dragonclaw resolves? Creatures with comes into play abilities ,Resolve. Creatures that you otherwise would not have on the field because of all the policing players in EDH , Resolve! Watch as control players scratch their heads when you simply plop Surrak down on the battlefield. Don't get to cocky though since Blue mages could still bounce him back to your hand.

So what does Surrak Dragonclaw teach you? He teaches your creatures to evade Counter magic. He All of them. So you may be able to land armies on the battlefield with impunity , you may have  a bigger army than everyone else and this maybe a key to your victory. However once they land they are still vulnerable to removal spells. Decks that have the Temur colors are no push overs in counter spells  department as well though and this means that you could control those opponent counter spells as well.

Keep in mind that if Surrak was trapped in the Matrix he would be so strong that he would break the Matrix's hold on him by simply swinging his weapon. Like that Athlete who broke free of the Matrix by being fast. Surrak would break free by being strong. He might even be able to challege Chuck Norris in the toughness department. Not the Atarka follower one though. That guy needs more redemption when we next visit Tarkir.

Surrak reminds me of another person with the a similar name.Surak. The Vulcan ambassador from Star Trek.Spocks father was also a very stern and efficient man. Surrak Dragonclaw is also stern and efficient.If Surak chose to he could easily kill bears with his bare hands but with that Vulcan logic he restrains himself. Surrak Dragonclaw doesn't have that restraint , he already smashed a lot of bear faces and he has the Bear Fashion to show for it too. Hands down I like this violent Surrak more. I think I will follow his teachings more.