Sultai Brood

One of the five Clans of Tarkir, the Sultai Brood (/sʌltaɪ/ SUL-teye) admires the ancient dragons' aspect of ruthlessness. The fang of the dragon is its symbol. Their color wedge is black (focus color), green and blue. 
==Description==
The Sultai Brood is a decadent and merciless clan that lurks in ancient palaces in the steaming jungles of Tarkir. After striking a deal with the demonic Rakshasa, they employ necromancy to fuel their schemes of dominating the other clans. The clan rules from Kheru Temple, deep in the jungles.Wizards of the Coast. (2014.) Khans of Tarkir infopage Shu Yun regarded them as the protectors of the other Clans from the horrors that lurked within the jungles and swamplands.
1,280 years in the past, the clan was still ruled by humans but due to the actions of their khan at the time, it fell from grace and was quickly taken over by the Naga and Rakshasa. In the old timeline, humans were second-class citizens to the Naga, who ruled them by claiming ancestry from the dragons. Only the human's access to green ancestral magic kept them from being culturally dominated. Humans in general worshipped the power of the lands and many were secretly attempting to contact their ancestors, who lived in a time when humans ruled the Sultai.
===New Timeline===
In the new timeline created by Sarkhan Vol saving Ugin, Tasigur was manipulated by the Rakshasa and Naga into a series of events that eventually led him to offend them, causing their defection. Without means to control the clan's zombies and defenseless from attacks by dragons, Tasigur was forced to make a deal with Silumgar's brood, leading them to attack the khan meeting that took place several years later. Following this, Tasigur survived and the Nagas returned, but the Sultai were utterly enslaved by the dragons, ending their identity as an independent Clan. The Rakshasa tenuously hold a position in the Brood, as powerful allies but dangerous rivals.
The remaining living humans and Naga were reorganized into a new Clan, where dragons ruled. Humans were generally given high positions and the nagas were marginalized, their prior claims of ancestry now worthless. Tasigur's deal keeps the humans in the upper class, and with the power of the dragons to invoke they dismissed their ancestral magic.
==Mechanics==
Sultai cards feature delve, a mechanic that allows them to manipulate resources. Originally featured in Future Sight, it enables players to exile cards from the graveyard to reduce the cost of spells. Upon the change of timeline, their new mechanic is exploit, letting players sacrifice expendable creatures for powerful enter-the-battlefield abilities.
==Khans==
===Both timelines===
* Tasigur, a human khan of the past. After betraying the other khans to the dragons, Tasigur was rewarded for this by becoming Silumgar's personal slave, his trophy of war. His preserved corpse is later seen as part of Silumgar's necklace.
===Old timeline===
* The naga Sidisi considered herself the queen of the Sultai and aimed to gather all the clans under her banner. In the new timeline, however, she is reduced to one of Silumgar's undead underlings.
==Other members==
* Taigam, the human known as Sidisi's Hand, the personal enforcer of the Sultai khan. He is the former student of Narset, khan of the Jeskai
* Ikra Shidiqi, a naga advisor to Tasigur who became Silumgar's dragonspeaker.
* Khudal, a rakshasa ally of Tasigur.
* Feyomsi, a rakshasa sorcerer and necromancer that personally taught Sidisi. He governed the necropolis of Ukud.
* Ebirri, a rakshasa with whom Taigam made a pact.
==Creature types==
* Humans
* Naga
* Rakshasa & Sidikur (Demons) 
* Vampires
* Zombies
* Snakes
* Crocodiles
* Apes
* Horrors
===Classes===
* Assassins
* Shamans
===Relationship with the dragons===
The Sultai admired the brood of Silumgar, who were native to the swamplands. Since their sibsig slaves were unaffected by poison, the Sultai specialized in brewing poisons and toxins strong enough to kill even a dragon. Using the environment to their advantage, nets and thorny barriers were used to bring the dragons down to the ground. Then, combatants equipped with spears and crossbow bolts that dripped with venom would engage the beast. Human and naga dragon slayers used stealth to approach within firing range and then retreated into hiding until the poison from their weapons takes effect.
==Trivia==
*The culture of the Sultai Brood is loosely based on the Khmer Empire. The working name for the Sultai was "The Sultanate" and the developing mechanic was "oppress". It is likely that Sultai is etymologically derived from sultanate. The flavor may have had, at one point, more Indonesian and Malayan influences as a Muslim nation than the Cambodian stylings of the Buddhist-Hindu Khmer Empire.
*The Sultai Brood was conceptualized by Brady Dommermuth's Creative team in excess of the four factions requested by Mark Rosewater, leading to a change in how the factions were distributed among colors.
==References==