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Draft Insights: Piercing Exhale and the Dance of Timing, Tradeoffs, and Tempo
Green spells in Tarkir: Dragonstorm want you to feel the pulse of a forest alive with dragons and double-edged decisions. Piercing Exhale isn’t just another drop of green removal; it’s a carefully weighed tempo play that rewards you for paying attention to your deck’s dragon density. At a modest {1}{G} mana cost, this instant gives you the option to behold a Dragon and then unleash a precise piece of removal that scales with your aggressive or kill-oriented plans. The spell asks you to decide how much you’re willing to reveal and how much you’re willing to risk, all while giving you a powerful surveil payoff if you leaned into dragon synergy 🧙🔥💎⚔️.
What the card actually does, and why it matters in draft
On the surface, Piercing Exhale says: “Target creature you control deals damage equal to its power to target creature or planeswalker.” That is clean, efficient removal—genuine tempo on a green card. But the real twist comes with the additional cost clause: “you may behold a Dragon.” Beholding a Dragon can be done by either revealing a Dragon card from your hand or choosing a Dragon you control. If you manage to behold a Dragon, the spell’s power swings even further because you get surveil 2. In a limited environment where the top of your deck becomes part of your plan, surveil 2 is a meaningful engine that can smooth draws, guarantee you find your finishers, or threaten to spike into a key dragon payoff late game 🧙🎲.
Drafts in Tarkir: Dragonstorm often reward players who lean into dragon synergies and ways to accelerate through a stall. Piercing Exhale fits that mold by offering early-game removal that also builds card-advantage through surveil when the stars align with a Dragon in hand or on the battlefield. If you already built a green deck with several dragons, or if you’re drafting a splashy multi-color strategy that features dragon themes, this spell becomes a flexible anchor—able to tempo out the board while you sculpt your next draw into a dragon. Even when you don’t behold a dragon, you still get a solid body-aware removal spell for your mana cost, which is nothing to sneeze at in a color that often wants to pressure opponents with big creatures and faster pacing 🧙🔥.
Tradeoffs: when to behold, and when to pass
- Behold often improves your late-game plan. If you’ve already built a dragon-heavy board, surveil 2 can be the difference between a slow hand and a smooth path to your dragonfinisher. The value scales with your deck’s density of dragons and ways to cheat them into play.
- Behold also adds risk. Revealing a card from hand gives your opponent information and can tilt combat math. In some boards, you’ll be better off paying the simple {1}{G} and casting the instant without behold, particularly if you’re light on dragons or want to keep your hand secrets for a surprise follow-up.
- Targeting your own creature as the source of the damage can feel counterintuitive at first, but it’s a hallmark of many green archetypes that leverage their own board state for effect. You’re trading a small amount of inevitability for tempo disruption on your opponent’s side. When you have a beefy creature, it’s a potent way to push through damage or extinguish a problematic blocker or planeswalker with a single instant spell ⚔️.
- Surveil 2 is the snowball effect. If you behold a dragon, you’re looking at two top-card peeks. That’s enough to set up draw steps, hit your color requirements, or simply ensure you don’t miss your dragon-finisher plan. In a crowded limited environment, that extra information can be the difference between curving out and stumbling into the late game.
Tempo play: how to deploy Piercing Exhale effectively
Tempo in limited formats is a delicate dance. Piercing Exhale leans into a control-adjacent tempo role when you’re ahead on the battlefield or when you foresee a key turn coming up where you can finish through a planeswalker or a big blocker. The green component makes it easy to cast on-curve, leaving you mana for a follow-up play or another piece of interaction. The moment you behold a Dragon and surveil 2, you’re not just removing a threat—you’re fueling your next draw with the knowledge you need to deploy that dragon-based payoff. The synergy with dragons also means you’re more likely to discover a dragon in your deck or in your hand soon after, which compounds your game plan and pushes you toward a decisive tempo swing 🎨🎲.
“Behold the dragon, surveil the path, strike with nature’s raw power.”
Draft tips for maximizing Piercing Exhale in Tarkir: Dragonstorm boosters
- Prioritize dragons that have impactful presence when beheld. A dragon you control or a dragon card in hand that can be revealed will not only enable the surveil but also set up future interactions with other dragon-themed cards in your deck.
- Balance your creature density. If your green deck is full of creatures with high power, Piercing Exhale becomes a bigger weapon—your own creatures can be the damage sources that pressure an opposing board, while you surveil into the exact card you need next.
- Mind your opponent’s planeswalkers. Dealing damage to a planeswalker can be a clean, tempo-heavy path to win conditions; use Piercing Exhale smartly when your opponent leans heavy on defenses.
- Watch your reveal timing. If you’re behind on dragons, it might be wiser to cast the spell without beholding to avoid giving away too much information, while you still remove a threat and keep your plans intact.
- Pair with bounce or ETB effects that exploit surveil. If your deck includes ways to reuse surveil or recast dragons, Piercing Exhale can become a recurring engine rather than a one-off removal spell.
Lore, art, and the dragonstorm vibe
In Tarkir’s Dragonstorm landscape, dragons are the living heartbeat of the format. Piercing Exhale embodies a classic green-pivot moment: you humbly pay a small cost, behold a dragon, and then unleash a precise, surgical strike that both removes a threat and nudges your own deck toward your dragons. The art, courtesy of Jorge Jacinto, captures that moment when green magic crackles through the air—rooted in nature but exploding with mythic power 🎨. The card’s clean design and accessible mana cost make it a common pick in many drafts, a reliable tool you’ll reach for when you’re drafting into green and want reliable early-game interaction with a dragon-focused payoff lurking in your later turns.
As you continue to draft, Piercing Exhale serves as a flexible barometer: if you’re drawing into dragons, surveil becomes your navigator; if you’re fighting for tempo, the removal acts as a bridge to your bigger game plan. The synergy with Dragons makes this card a quiet star in the draft pool, especially in green-heavy clans that want to swing the board with efficient plays and a steady trickle of card selection 🧙💎⚔️.
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