Spoiler Highlight: Ugin, Eye of the Storms in Standard, Pioneer & Modern

When it was released in Fate Reforged, Ugin, the Spirit Dragon quickly became a staple in multiple formats. The highest-cost Planeswalker in recent history made up for its value with the ability to clear the board the turn it came into play and generate a constant clock and removal every turn it remained on the board.

This gave rise to several Ramp decks in Standard, and of course, the Tron variants took advantage of the Spirit Dragon like no other archetype in Modern - after all, it was the perfect follow-up to Karn Liberated on turn three. Time passed, eventually the Eldrazi of Oath of the Gatewatch, Karn, the Great Creator in War of the Spark and, now, colorless lists even give up Urza's lands.

But Tarkir: Dragonstorm could bring Tron back into the Metagame: Ugin, Eye of the Storms is at the right cost to be cast on turn three, interacts directly with the board similarly to Karn Liberated when it came into play, and guarantees ramp on the next turn for other bombs.

In other formats, the new Planeswalker could also have an impact on the Metagame as efficient colorless options expand in Standard and Pioneer, making Ugin one of the cards with the greatest potential from the new Magic expansion revealed so far.

Ugin, Eye of the Storms has a relatively high cost for a Planeswalker and seeks to “compensate” for its mana value in two ways: first, it interacts with the board the moment it is cast, ensuring that a troublesome permanent leaves the game and helping it protect itself on the next turn. Then, Ugin can generate three colorless mana that can be used to sequence another spell, and if he doesn't, he will guarantee a draw and three life. In essence, it can be read as follows:

“Exile target permanent an opponent controls that is one or more colors, draw a card, and gain three life”

These effects are a piece of a Cruel Ultimatum for the same cost, so the trade-off is not necessarily good if the opponent can interact with it quickly. On the other hand, if Ugin stays in play, he'll at least be generating card advantage every turn with a draw and three life. Add cards like Sheoldred, the Apocalypse into the equation and the game is guaranteed as long as both remain on the board.

The problem with the new version is his three other abilities: Ugin interacts heavily with colorless spells, and this may motivate decks that revolve around this subtheme to get the most out of him - after all, every colorless card cast will come with a Vanishing Verse attached to it. Furthermore, his ultimate can virtually win games if players get to it with the right colorless spells.

In Modern, with the abundance of Eldrazi and enablers, it's easy to imagine a deck running it for value, but the same can't be said today for Pioneer - despite it also having Eldrazi - and Standard, where in both cases the greatest challenge is getting to cast Ugin before even thinking about getting the most out of the other colorless spells.

Among the archetypes already established in Standard, the most likely to be able to play with the new Ugin are the Domain Ramp variants. However, this archetype is currently very focused on the interaction between Zur, Eternal Schemer and the Overlords cycle, and against Overlord of the Mistmoors at seven mana and the possibility of resorting to Atraxa, Grand Unifier for the same cost, Ugin is very unfavored, but it's not impossible to emerge as a one-of.

On the other hand, Zur and Atraxa will leave the format with rotation in Edge of Eternities and Domain Overlords as we know it today will cease to exist, so Ugin, Eye of the Storms gains more space in the post-rotation to be one of the payoffs of the Ramp lists with five colors.

Azorius Control lists may be interested in Ugin, despite having no interaction with his other abilities. The mere fact that he exiles something when he enters and generates card advantage and life gain tends to be enough for a Control list, and if necessary, spells like Mazemind Tome could enter to gain a little more interaction.

It is worth remembering that Azorius and other Control decks with white also gained the new Elspeth, Storm Slayer, whose potential to create snowballs against the opponent with Overlord of the Mistmoors is gigantic, and can hinder Ugin's entry as a seven-mana spell.

The Planeswalker also covers colorless costs masterfully, but at the moment he is on the board, it is unlikely that its controller still needs to worry about having extra mana to cast spells and activate abilities.

To get the most out of its other abilities, there are cards like Thran Spider, Solemn Simulacrum and Mazemind Tome that could be used to trigger a Vanishing Verse. The problem is that many of these cards are under-optimized in the Metagame, and using them to have a payoff for a card that requires seven mana to get the most out of it is not a good way to win games.

Despite these restrictions, Ugin, Eye of the Storms can fit as a one-of or sideboard piece in any archetype that aims to go for a late-game of attrition, and if he stays on the board, any opponent's path to victory becomes much more difficult, especially if they need to establish a clock to win.

In Pioneer, things get more fun for Ugin.

The dragon also gains new best friends in spells with Devoid.

Add to the mix some cards that can help find Eldrazi or speed up mana for colorless spells.

There’s definitely something to be done with Ugin, Eye of the Storms in Pioneer, and the Pain Lands mana base supports the colorless mana needs for an “Eldrazi Midrange” or “Eldrazi Ramp” in the format.

The biggest challenge is finding reasons to play him instead of just going the Mono Green Devotion route, which is the best ramp in the format right now and doesn't play well with the current archetype setup after the banning of Karn, the Great Creator.

A purely colorless deck sounds like an impossible quest on Pioneer without the support of Modern staples like Eldrazi Temple or Malevolent Rumble. At the same time, it would be necessary to use mana dorks like Llanowar Elves and Elvish Mystic that could ramp while Smuggler’s Copter would make them not useless as the game goes on, but for what reasons would these lists go to seven mana and cast Ugin, Eye of the Storms instead of focusing on getting to five mana with Reality Smasher or four mana with Thought-Knot Seer and dedicating more slots to interactions?

A few years ago, there was a more traditional ramp list in Pioneer focused on accumulating lands on the board to cast Dragonlord Atarka followed by Ugin, the Spirit Dragon. These archetypes have been left in the past as Transmogrify lists have become the primary means of getting bombs into play for a low cost, and unfortunately, it doesn't seem like the new Ugin has enough to make this archetype reborn, but it does provide a steady source of card advantage and can be complemented by another excellent payoff from Tarkir: Dragonstorm - Ureni, the Song Unending.

Modern is where the new Ugin's potential can be fully realized, and it doesn't necessarily have to be through Urza's lands, although he is better than Karn Liberated in Tron.

Consider both on the third turn: Karn Liberated, if unanswered, will enter the battlefield and exile an opponent's permanent. On the next turn, it will exile a card from their hand if it is not destroyed.

For the same cost, Ugin, Eye of the Storms will exile a permanent on cast. If it is not countered, it will grant extra mana to play another colorless spell and exile another permanent, or increase its loyalty while holding the opponent's clock and offering an extra draw. On the next turn, even if its controller misses a land drop, Ugin guarantees the casting of Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger or even Emrakul, the Promised End if there are enough cards in the graveyard and/or if the turn's land is a second copy of Urza's Tower.

At this point, the game should be secured, and if it isn't, the opponent needs to actively interact with Ugin because if he uses his finisher, there will be a dozen colorless spells and Eldrazi waiting to be played for free.

Given all these benefits, it is likely to replace Karn Liberated and Ugin, the Spirit Dragon in the Tron slots and work alongside Karn, the Great Creator and the Eldrazi package. It is also another card that can be exiled to Ugin's Labyrinth for the land to generate two mana.

In the more traditional Eldrazi lists, which have been performing better recently, Ugin, Eye of the Storms can find space because it also interacts with Karn, the Great Creator and the creatures on the list, but it faces the challenge of being worth the slots when its cost isn't reduced by Eldrazi Temple, and he doesn't filter the top like Devourer of Destiny.

It's likely slot would be sharing spots with World Breaker, but the possibility of interacting with lands using Eldrazi is one of the best answers against specific matchups, in addition to Breaker putting considerable pressure on the board, while Ugin is a value card that proposes to extend games - a considerable risk when there are many Combo decks in the current Metagame.

Ugin, Eye of the Storms carries as much potential as some Eldrazi and cards like Karn Liberated or Ugin, the Spirit Dragon had in the past. Its high cost is prohibitive for Standard and extracting the most out of it requires some deckbuilding concessions, but the fact that it exiles a non-land permanent when cast and is a constant source of card advantage makes it a good payoff for Ramp lists, especially post-rotation.

In Modern, it will probably be the new staple for Tron and will replace previous versions of it and Karn Liberated in lists that run them. Today, many Tron and Eldrazi Ramp lists tend to play plenty of colorless spells but focus on a more proactive plan that pressures the opponent rather than extending the game, and Ugin takes the opposite direction: he controls the board and generates value with every cast, which can virtually win games, but creates situations where a combo can end the game despite his presence on the board.

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