Like some cube enthusiasts, I like to keep up with the latest expansions and products of Magic: the Gathering and skim through various reviews, made by a broad range of individuals, and base my decision off their opinions of which cards are worth running. Often times I’m happy to agree with them. However, at random times, I find myself flipping through my cube and thinking to myself, “Why do I run this card?”.

What is cooler than a spirit dragon? Dragons have been all-time fan favorites since the beginning of MTG. At the time Eternal Dragon was printed, a white dragon was unheard of. Even when I first started playing Magic, I was amazed by this card due to its flavor alone (Flavor is a weakness of mine). Eternal Dragon, like its name suggests, has been “eternally” included in some cube lists for ages now and I have to ask why.

I’m not going to lie to any of you, when I started to build my first cube I was very happy to windmill slam him into my list because, outside of an EDH or two, I never had the chance to play him. Sadly though, when I stated to cube, Eternal had suffered the fate of being outclassed by newer cards. Before you jump me or tell me I am wrong, please hear me out.

Eternal Dragon, in my eyes, is a slow engine to search your deck for “plains” cards. When I witnessed him in play, he generally was cycled once then forgotten about. On occasion he would be reanimated as a last resort for a body with evasion. I’m not saying those are bad plays because reanimater does like creatures that yard themselves and what deck doesn’t like to be searched or thinned for card advantage and better draws. It has been some time since Eternal has been in my cube since my cube is just 200 cards. Even at a larger cube, I don’t really see myself including this fella into the mix.

A card I would compare him to would be Genesis which was another one of my favorites when I first began to cube. Sadly, as some of you may know, I have been on the fence with Genesis as well. So what do they have in common?

Eternal and Genesis both have graveyard interactions which, in my opinion, are too slow for the average powered cube today; at their casting cost, their bodies aren’t worth the investment unless you have excessive mana to waste, which isn’t common; and their upkeep costs are a bit high for a powered cube.

I could see both Eternal and Genesis being bombs in a slower speed and much larger cube environment (like a 720 cube) to this day but sadly, they wouldn’t make in into 450 list in my world.

I know that there are several of groups that love Eternal Dragon and Genesis, and I mean no harm on what I have said. They are still some of my favorites even though they aren’t in my cube but enough about me and my views. What are your opinions on Eternal Dragon?

Disclaimer: The purpose of this blog is create individual thoughts and opinions of why you, fellow cubers, run the cards you run and to ask yourself why you run them. PLEASE keep an open mind to every opinion that is shared in this blog and PLEASE be kind to each other.

Thanks for your time! –Hanzelgravey

P.S. Shoot me a message If you have a recommendation on a cube card you would like me to analyze in a future post.