The dragon’s Ire more fierce than fire ~ The heirs of Durin.

I used to dream of dragons when I was a kid. You know; those big hulking flying lizards that spew fire on the world. Even as a little kid I wanted to watch it burn, my imagination often wandered into the realm were dragons existed. I was in awe every time I thought how large such a magnificent creature had to be.

Well everyone hide your peasants and build your houses out of cobble (not that it will save you) because this is an introduction to Dragons.

Before I begin my introduction I want you to know what a dragon is. You have no idea how often this goes wrong. Since the middle ages dragons are often pictured as a lizard-like body with 6 limbs: 2 wings, 2 arms and 2 legs. If it doesn’t have arms it’s a wyvern. A wyvern is NOT a dragon. In Asia dragons are often shown as more of a serpent with arms and legs. These creatures fly even without wings.

A first look at dragons

I opened up gatherer and searched for the type dragon. Drool dripped from my mouth as delicious 5/5s, 6/6s and 7/7s stared at me from the page and I had not even gone into detail about what their effects might be. Almost all of them had flying, some had trample, some had haste and some had all of those things. Sounds pretty logical, a dragon should be able to fly and trample over all your little creatures.

Lords:

There aren’t any dragons that give +1/+1 to all other dragons you control and why should there be? All these creatures are huge on their own. But there should be a king of some sorts right?

Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund

All hail the king of dragons. First things first, it’s a 7/7 with flying and haste. That alone is huge, but when it enters the battlefield you gain control of all dragons? Good, THEY SHOULD BE YOURS. If that wasn’t enough other dragons you control have HASTE. Every dragon I spawn from now on? Will beat your face the moment they enter the battlefield. This card is the closest thing to a dragon lord.

Now every king needs a queen, right?

Utvara Hellkite

You are probably here because you like dragons. Well I like dragons too! I want more of them and Utvara is just the right girl to sweep me off my feet and burn me alive. She can lead my army any day. With every combat she’ll give me blockers and not just any blockers: I get freaking 6/6 DRAGONS and they FLY. This girl is truly worth the name mother of dragons.

Scion of the Ur-Dragon

This dragon shouts (or in his case spits fire) to be built around. It has the potential to be any dragon, for a turn though. It is a great addition to most tribal dragon decks. However with 5 different colours in its cost it can be very hard to cast.

Bladewing the Risen

I don’t know if I want to put him under support or lord. He has a temporary spammable anthem (for 2 mana) He is great in reanimation decks with a lot of dragons. But he is only a 4/4 for 7 mana. However he does pull a dragon out of the graveyard when he enters the battlefield. This card has alot of potential that I really want to abuse.

Support:

Dragonspeaker Shaman

This guy is cheeky, making dragons cheaper wherever he goes. Suddenly a lot of things can be easily cast. He does however feel inconsistent. If you make your deck revolve around him and you are unable to draw into him, then wat?

Crucible of Fire

This card feels so win more to me that is simply isn’t funny. Yes I like my dragons big, but they are often big enough as it is. You only have 20 life it won’t matter that much if your dragon is 7 or 10. I’ll destroy you anyways. With little dragons or a card like Dragon Broodmother however it can be killing.

Dragonmaster Outcast

Here is a one drop that I would include in a tribal dragon deck and it’s a human. (yeah that breaks the idea of a tribe). But giving me dragons every turn as long as I have six lands? That’s too good to be true. He technically isn’t support and it is a bit of fringe card because do you get to play six lands? If you do this guy is great fun.

Sarkhan Vol

This is a flavourful choice for a dragon deck (think of him like a friend obsessed with dragons, just like yourself). His +1 gives your creatures haste and makes them bigger. His -2 steals a creature (I mean you want to fight on the side of the dragons don’t you?) and his ultimate puts another dragon on the battlefield.

Sarkhan the Mad

This planeswalker just annihilates your opponent late game. Got a few dragons on the board, just put this guy on the field and -4. Don’t forget to laugh maniacally when you slaughter your foe.

Nicol Bolas

I have to add this card because he’s a dragon and a planeswalker. That alone gives him the right to be in this introduction. I have nothing to say about him besides the fact that he is stylish.

Playstyle:

I have no intention of going into depth with this introduction. I am leaving the deckbuilding up to you guys. It should be your deck not mine. I just want to show some possibilities.

All this greatness comes at a steep price, the real dragons range from 5 to 9 mana. How am I supposed to cast these beasts? I cannot rely on consistently dropping 9 lands in a row and if I could I would be dead by the time my first dragon had arrived. I could Ramp into them, cast Rampant Growth, Kodama’s Reach and such but I feel that there are better ways to do this.

I sat behind my pc satisfying my inner timmy. I knew that I had to be a johnny to cheat these into play. (If you do not know what I mean by this, Mark Rosewater made a demographic about every type of magic player, here is the link.) Two options came to mind.

With the help of an Elf and an Amulet I could pull it off.

My other option was through the power of reanimation .

I pictured myself on a battlefield lost and with very few allies left, most of them had been killed in the thick of battle. Was I safe hiding behind a magical amulet hoping to do my bidding? Or was death not the end for my army of dragons? Not a particularly hard choice. I chose to become a necromancer. The ground ripped apart so that my dragons could rise again. I stood by as my zombified dragons sheared past me and filled the sky with fire. Nothing could stop me, besides a well-timed Counterspell.

But seriously what doesn’t get stopped by a Counterspell.