Sarkhan, Soul Aflame – March of the Machine
Date Reviewed: April 3, 2025
Ratings:
Constructed: 3.25
Casual: 4.75
Limited: N/A
Multiplayer: 3.75
Commander [EDH]: 4.00
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
Sarkhan, Soul Aflame is almost like two cards in one: the third Dragonspeaker Shaman variant for a deck that really wants to stock up, and a card for dragon-based combo and synergy decks. As it happens, the former also helps the latter, and as such, this card’s biggest weakness might be that it basically screams “remove me now” no matter when you cast it. While the copy ability arguably demands attack triggers to get maximum advantage, it’s easy to underestimate the value of simply granting your dragons a version of haste by another name. I suspect the only reason we don’t hear about him more in Commander is because March of the Machine: Aftermath is a slightly obscure set, because he has some characteristics that are often built around there.
Constructed: 3
Casual: 4.5
Limited: N/A
Multiplayer: 4
Commander [EDH]: 4
Sarkhan has always had a special affinity for those who swoop, and his first post-desparking card, from the Aftermath, leans hard into enabling the expensive tribe to swoop with impunity. Sarkhan, Soul Aflame is a great way to double up on Dragons by copying them for a turn and making them cheaper, and it allows you to make the most out of some of their powerful effects on the turn they drop. In particular, a lot of dangerous Dragons hover at about five mana, and enabling them to be one turn faster and one turn more lethal is a great place to be. He does rely on keeping the dragons coming and swooping, but that’s not too big of an issue, and a set full of them offers more time to shine.
Constructed: 3.5
Casual: 5
Limited: N/A (was not in a draftable product, but his score would vary wildly based on the set he was part of)
Multiplayer: 3.5
Commander [EDH]: 4
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