For a prince...it is not necessary to have all the [virtuous] qualities, but it is very necessary to appear to have them...[It] is useful, for example, to appear merficul, trustworthy, humane, blameless, religious – and to be so – yet to be in such measure prepared in mind that if you need to be not so, you can and do change to the contrary.
True power does not come from blatant selfishness: others will never fight and die for you. Argue veiled morality, touting the greater good, and others will answer your call. They will flock to you, forsaking their past for the honor of doing your bidding. Power.
Reasons to serve the great Dragonlords:
You love solving puzzles.
You love draconian draconic flavor.
You love winning through the red zone.
You love the rush of playing the card-draw lottery.*
If you’ve ever enjoyed these or similar western RPGs then you are familiar with the loot system. For those of you who have managed to avoid this particular brand of heroin, let me give you a quick summary. The player accomplishes task (killing ten giant rats, collecting pieces of a key, deflowering a princess, etc.) and is rewarded with a chest. Within the chest is a random piece of loot, which the player then uses to accomplish even greater tasks (Killing a ancient red dragon who also happens to be a vampire/wizard, collecting pieces of a shattered castle, deflowering ALL the princesses, etc.) for which their reward is a bigger chest with better loot. Wash, rinse, and repeat until you remember that you need food to survive and your own body odour physically forces you into a shower.
The deck is tuned to provide this rush every game: through the course of the game, you draw large numbers of cards in increasing bunches, a cycle where improving your board-state gives you more cards, further improving said board-state. Every set of cards, every new hand, is another chest: what exciting loot did you get this time?
Your group isn't partial toward the Partial Paris.
You play in an extremely cut-throat group. There are stronger ways to build 5c; in being built to optimize the aforementioned addictive rush, it is a rather convoluted omniscience deck.
Deck History
I first built Scion of the Ur-Dragon in 2012 with the idea of being a dragon-reanimator deck with a super-budget mana base: all 10 ravnica karoos, and all six odyssey filters being some of the only lands to etb untapped; there was not a single land with a land-type. This was beyond awkward, with karoos and odyssey filters both providing a way to have opening hands with plenty of lands but still incapable of making any mana!
While meant to be a dragon deck, twin titans quickly emerged as the real stars: Sundering and Primeval Titans. Tutoring and abusing them was the name of the game.
Part of this abuse scheme emerged as Greater Good plus the full pile of mass reanimation spells available.
The ban hammer eventually eliminated both titans, forcing me to focus more heavily on Greater Good + reanimation and breaking my excuses defending the floundering mana base.
Even with the greater good engine running, the deck had trouble playing the cards it drew. The best it could muster was discard creatures from its hand, and then cast Living Death & Co. This also required some combination of dumping a bunch of dragons in the yard with Scion, and running a high dragon count to keep the engine running. Slow, clunky, and extremely vulnerable to Tormod's Crypt.
The first solution was Turnabout and Rude Awakening, but I quickly settled on time magic as a means of getting dragons into play, and enjoying combat steps. Omniscience was a boon.
The deck began to evolve towards its current state, with the focus on ramping explosively, drawing & dumping escalating numbers of cards to continue the cycle whilst exploiting dragons to the best of its ability. This evolution was reflected in the migration of mana sources from lands to rocks and other spells: while only one land drawn per turn is not dead, there are no such caps for ramp.
Each piece of non-gas must be analyzed skeptically. Without a high enough concentration of fuel, no chain reaction will result; the engine will stutter and die.
The necessarily low land count however creates problems if your does not allow the Partial Paris.
Far from getting sidelined, dragons' role grew increasingly central. Dragon Mage and Knollspine Dragon (often alongside his posse: Teneb and/or Moltensteel) quickly emerged as stars, with Savage Ventmaw recently joining, completing the draconic component of the draw + mana engine. The remaining dragons each play important supporting roles, and are ultimately each crucial components of the game plan.
Thus, the deck's current form: a collection of battlecruisers. Fast, explosive, powerful -- yet battlecruisers nonetheless. Fatty-ramp refined into an art.
Or, if you're a harsh critic, the ideal toward which the deck strives.
Without further adieu:
I figured I'd test these changes. Enlightened Tutor was not a card I was always happy to see early game, despite its low casting cost; it's a little awkward to tutor for Sol Ring.
I would like to find a slot for Balefire Dragon, but for now I figured it was the easiest cut to test Scourge of the Throne. Getting multiple combat steps, and thus activations of Savage Ventmaw.
With the removal of enlightened and idyllic tutors, it made sense to test the reactive Vindicate and Krosan Grip over the proactive enchantments. Playing around split second would also make Tormod's Crypt & co far weaker. If I cast Demonic Tutor with three mana up, do you crack in response -- allowing me to tutor something else -- or risk not being able to answer any of the threats in my yard?
I am undecided about abandoning the enchantment package. The additional ability to search up the big-mana enchantments or greater good later in the game can be clutch.
Swan Song is being tested as a second counter spell. Counters removal, opposing counters, and many of the bigplays, making it seem far from narrow. Treasured Find was a card I was rarely happy to see in my opening hand. Later in the game, it was often an important piece keeping the engine running, recovering whatever was most needed. Regrowth still has a spot, and Treasured Find is likely to eventually work its way back into the list.
Card Choices
Dragons
You can put multiple instances of Scion's activated ability on the stack at once. As each of these resolve, it will temporarily transform into the dragon you just tutored for, giving you the opportunity to take advantage of the activated abilities of one dragon while finishing the chain as another. On other occasions, you may want to dump many dragons into the yard at once. When doing so, be mindful of the last dragon you search for: some choices are likely to be better than others (legendary dragons).
When times are dark, there is yet another offer. When someone needs to die, simply pay 4 (two Scion activations) and the price in blood, be that 10 life -- or 28. If you find yourself doing this often, embrace the contagion and you will find yourself a better deal. Hellkite Overlord is another option, if the haste + trample combination is required.
Dragonlord Dromoka - 4GW Silence renders your spells uncounterable with few exceptions, providing safety and confidence as you plan & conduct your turns. Lifelink is gravy.
Prossh, Skyraider of Kher - 3BRG
This may look like an odd choice, given how rarely we're likely to be able to take advantage of his typical selling point: not when Scion transforming, reanimating, or cheating.
Instead, he pays his dues by providing access to a sac-outlet as long as you have 2 mana and an untransformed Scion. Whether it is eating Academy Rector, saving the team from exile, or preparing for Living Death in Greater Good's absence.
The occasional six kobolds are a nice touch. Prossh unseated fellow Kher dragon, Scourge of Kher Ridges, for this slot.
Silumgar, the Drifting Death - 4UB
Emergency hexproof. His ability other ability is weaker than Balefire Dragon's, unless you're up against a lot tokens -- especially those with flying. If you're already attacking with enough dragons to kill anything big... Dragonlord Ojutai may deserve this slot in Silumgar's place. While Ojutai loses hexproof when attacking, if they have the instantanswer, they've got you anyway as soon as you transform Scion into anything else. Ojutai draws more cards -- 1 dug whenever hitting, and 2 when saccing to Greater Good. Which you prefer will depend on your metagame and budget.
Yosei, the Morning Star - 4WW
Punishes wraths. Word of warning: as Yosei has to die, a transformed Scion must be sent to your yard, else it wont trigger. May be worth tapping the person out most likely to say "no", but this is probably strongest as a political tool*: if you do not want a wrath, it allows you to threaten and punish the caster. It is far more unpleasant and harmful to them than it is helpful to you: you're worsening your position (assuming no reanimation) relative to each opponent not Yosei-ed. You must then consider the relative likelihood of each opponent winning to gage if it is worth it. If only the one you're targeting has a realistic shot, then by all means!
I am not not sold on the effect actually being beneficial more often than harmful: use with caution.
*Might just backfire by making you look like a jerk.
Atarka, World Render - 5RG
Already discussed with Scourge of the Throne above, she tears things up.
While she doesn't let you double down on many of the powerful abilities like the Scourge, she has strengths of her own: Scourge forces you to attack the player with the highest life total first whether or not they're the most threatening, and trample. The latter is most relevant when going for commander damage.
Balefire Dragon - 5RR
Can wipe someone's board so long as they don't have a flying blocker and have < 6 (or 7) toughness; if you go so far as wanting to chain Scion with Moltensteel Dragon, you should probably opt for a solution a little more...permanent.
Sending someone's team to the yard could pose problems, should you later happen to reviveit. More so should their team features ETB triggers galore. Gets along well with Bojuka Bog.
This sometimes provides insane value, looks sweet, and feels about as dragon as you can get.
Dragon Mage - 5RR Wheel of Fortune is a strong card, just as tutoring for it with Scion is a strong play. Should you happen to get this wizard into play proper, getting to draw 7 extra cards per turn should close things out in short order.
There aren't many things much better than drawing 7 cards.
After using Scion to bin Knollspine (either in a previous turn, or as part of a chain in this turn), have Scion take on the visage of Moltensteel Dragon with enough activation left on the stack. Pay as much as you'd like before resolving the last activation, settling your commander on Teneb. Pay for his trigger, and draw a pile.
It is important to not accidentally kill the player you're attacking; watch out for commander damage in particular: you can't get more than 20 cards if Scion is your only dragon. It's a hard life.
Utvara Hellkite - 6RR
It doesn't take any explanation beyond the text box to see why a dragon deck would want Utvara Hellkite.
Creates mountains of value with haste and bidding. With Greater Good in play?
Even a single token from Scion can prove useful, helping draw cards. Tutors Vampiric Tutor & Demonic Tutor - B & 1B
Bog standard. Lim-Dûl's Vault - UB
Excellent in this deck. Typically, it is used either as a potentially costly Vampiric Tutor to find a desirable bullet, or before bigdrawnot named Time Spiral. In the latter case, it allows you to bottom each set of five that doesn't contain the set of outs your predicament calls for.
Wargate - XUGW
Offers a better rate than Reap and Sow, with substantially greater flexibility. Other common targets include everything from Academy Rector to Greater Good, and even Omniscience itself on more than one occasion.
Ramp Chrome Mox - 0
I would also play Mox Diamond if I had one. Chrome Mox has the advantage that the deck has a glut of expensive cards more than happy to imprint on the mox. The low land count may be a strike against Mox Diamond, but not much can invigorate the early turns like a 0 cost rock that taps for any color. Karoos and quick wheels mean losing lands in hand is often an inevitability: not to be missed, not to be mourned.
Sol Ring - 1
Bog standard. Same is true for Mana Crypt, if you own a copy.
Birds of Paradise - G
One mana dork that taps for any color; insane. I have not tried Noble Hierarch, but would expect it to perform well and deserve a slot if I still owned a copy.
TenSignets - 2
This deck may owe its very existence to Ravnica producing this cycle. They filterabundantcolorlessmana and that of the wrongcolor.
After the first couple turns casting them only sets you back a single mana, and puts you ahead by one every turn thereafter. With Mana Reflection they Lotus Petal the turn they're cast and Black Lotus from thereon out, except with different color-restrictions.
Coldsteel Heart - 2
A weaker rock; the coalition did it better. Nonetheless, the ability to choose the missing color has often proven clutch, allowing this piece of Phyrexian technology to infect the deck for a while longer.
Chromatic Rocks - 3 Chromatic Lantern saves time and headaches as you figure out how to actually pay for all your spells. Occasionally, it also allows you to throw excess mana at Moltensteel Dragon. Darksteel Ingot is the weakest, but they fix colors and, until something better comes along, will hold their place.
Thran Dynamo - 4
Only rarely does this deck lack thingstodo with colorless mana. The current list feature 36 other spells capable of eating at least 3 colorless mana to cast.
Frontier Siege - 3G
When drawn early, makes 4 mana per turn. Filtering is regularly available, and by the time this hits play you will only rarely fail to use mana in both main phases. GG is a convenient bite-size chunk, exactly paying for 14 cards or a Scion activation.
Later in the game, you can name "Dragons" before calling for a bloodbath.
Gilded Lotus - 5
Producing only one color at a time can occasionally be a source of frustration, and the casting cost is high enough that it rarely does much to inspire confidence in an opening seven. Nonetheless, the ability to pay for itself the turn after it is cast and jump one to 9+ mana, most of it colored, makes it a solid inclusion. Big Mana Mirari's Wake - 3GW
It fails to interact with mana rocks, and with karoos in the current list it often fails to even double your lands' contribution to total mana production. It is a far cry from a true "mana doubler". Unlike Gilded Lotus, when cast in the early game it regularly fails to repay a fraction of the cost required to cast it, making it a riskier proposition.
If greater reward does not follow greater risk, one shan't take the deal.
Does Mirari's Wake deliver? Yes. Only in atypical cases does the deck run on less than 3 lands; all the more true when Skyshroud Claim & co are free spells.
The median and modal power of dragons within the current list are both 5. Much of Greater Good's power comes in its ability to dig: taking a simplistic (albeitunrealistic) view, the typical sacrifice is a 5 for 4, netting only a single card! The +1/+1 Mirari's Wake provides is more significant than a first glance suggests.
Mana Reflection - 4GG
Exhibits A through C: signets, Thran Dynamo, and Gilded Lotus.
Casting ramp goes from a down-payment toward the future played instead of spells, to the rituals needed for dropping bombs now. Grease that makes the engine purr like a v12.
Omniscience - 7UUU
We've developed controlled nuclear fusion, and have gone full electric. Scion remains a mana-glutton, but removing mana requirements for spells from the equation turns card-drawing into a self-fueling cycle, ending the game in short order. Draw Frantic Search - 2U
Loots, filters mana, and often generates a little. Sometimes a lot. With a low land count, the habit of regularly losingourhandanyway, as well plenty of high CMC cards thatdon'tmind hitting the yard, this is a card you will almost always be happy to see.
Note that you cast this with a karoo's bounce trigger on the stack, so they will not stop you from getting 3 untaps on turn 3 (assuming you have the mana).
Wheel of Fortune - 2R
CMC 3, draw 7? These sorts of effects are central to the deck's game plan. Hopefully you should be able to quickly drop rocks and refill to get more value out of this than your opponents.
Greater Good - 2GG
Incredible draw and digging power; cornerstone and namesake of the deck.
Time Spiral - 4UU
Like Wheel of Fortune, but generally cheaper after resolving. Sometimes generates mana.
Shuffling your graveyard in can be a mixed blessing. On one hand, this may allow Scion to vent and wheel again, but on the other hand it may be a while before Twilight's Call & Co are strong cards again.
Quote from Eliezer Yudkowsky »
the mist has internal structure, internal relations; and these contain time implicitly...This landscape is not frozen like a cryonics patient suspended in liquid nitrogen. It is...timeless; time exists only within it. To talk about time, you have to talk about relations inside the configuration space.
Time
The deck always wishes for more mana and more combat steps. Time magic grants both. Time Warp - 3UU
Run as many of these as you can. While Walk the Aeons is still good, the one mana difference in cost can regularly make a lot of difference, whether it allows you to drop another rock first, or determining whether you can cast the spell at all.
The portalversions don't have to worry about Misdirection.
Walk the Aeons - 4UU
Buyback is there, but you'll hardly ever use it.
Treasured Find - BG
Almost as good as Regrowth, with just a few points docked for the B. I am currently not running this. I do think I'm likely to end up working it back into the list though.
Patriarch's Bidding - 3BB
Unless someone else is playing tribal, should generally bring back a much higher percentage of the creatures in your yard than any of your opponent's.
Twilight's Call - 4BB
This reverse-rout is less interesting than the two spells mass reanimation spells for 3BB, but it gets the job done.
Casting it for 6BB during the last end step before your turn will be a great trick on occasion. Control Pact of Negation - 3UU
Lets you commit fully toward the[/mana] [c="Mana Reflection"]big plays while still having some protection.
If the amount of mana you're producing is inflating rapidly, can look like a good deal.
Swan Song - U
I have not played with this card enough to find out just how problematic the flying token is. More often than not, one of the other opponents should be clear.
While it doesn't hit artifacts, it can deal with a large number of problematiccards.
Song of the Dryads - 2G
Handles any permanent it can target -- including opposing commanders, without sending them to the command zone. Transforming them into a hard-to-destroy land is a kicker.
Krosan Grip - 2G
Deals with problematic artifacts and enchantments, almost uncounterable, and can even save your graveyard -- or at least reduce the value they get out of it, thanks to playing around grip.
Terminus - 4WW
Generals may not get tucked, but their creatures still disappear into libraries. The possibility of tutoring for a miracle is a nice one to have.
Lands Ancient Tomb
Incredible land, Untaidake, the Cloud Keeper showing just how good R&D (rightfully) thinks it is. Despite being 5 colors, the deck offers 17 artifacts costing 2 or more, the full suite of 10 signets to filter colorless mana, and a commander with an activated ability costing 2.
Colored Mana Fivecolorlands are of course fantastic, as are ABUR duals, fetches, and to a lesser extant shocks.
My financial limitations are currently constraining my mana base.
Karoo lands
Slow, but help the deck hit land drops during the early turns in spite of the anemic land count. They also play well with Frantic Search and sometimes Time Spiral (when the deck actually hits 6 lands).
Cards to Test Lightning Greaves - 2
It is hard to argue with haste, shroud, and an equip cost of 0 -- but flavor this bad [in a dragon deck] makes a valiant effort.
This was cut ages ago as the game plan forsook voltron. Since then, Scion's supporting potential has ballooned immensely, meaning the boots once again deserve a spot.
Garruk Wildspeaker - 2GG
The cheapest of the three planeswalkers I would like to test. Their common thread is that they all make mana, and get worse the harder they are to defend. Having only rarely played planeswalkers in commander, I have little idea how likely they really are to stick around. If they can stick around, they're likely to all be rather powerful.
Garruk has the same CMC as Thran Dynamo, and all it takes is one of the seven lands that tap for 2 to net the same amount of mana -- but [mostly] in color.
Tezzeret the Seeker - 3UU
There are four artifacts that would allow Tezzeret to produce more than two mana. Two of these artifacts can tutor for without dieing on the turn it enters the battlefield. Will be even stronger once I acquire Mana Crypt; can also tutor for Nihil Spellbomb and potential additions Pithing Needle & Lightning Greaves.
Teferi, Temporal Archmage - 4UU
While he features the highest CMC of the three, and a minus ability rather than a plus, his untap is also much more powerful: untaps twice the permanents, with the flexibility to target anything. It is not difficult for Teferi to nearly pay for himself the turn he is cast, and generate oodles of mana thereafter.
Tooth and Nail - 7GG Dragonstorm - 8R
I would like to test both big 9-drop sorceries with substantial constructed success: Tooth and Nail and Dragonstorm. The latter is harder to counterspell, while the former is otherwise more reliable: doesn't require you to play another spell first, can put dragons you've drawn into play, and even tutor Eternal Witness into hand in place of the drawn dragon. Dragonstorm wins points for flavor, and has the potential to be far more powerful. Yet, if you're capable of casting a 9-drop sorcery and several other spells in one turn, aren't you already winning? Dragonstorm seems as its best (or, at least, most scary) when tutoring the heavy-hitter dragons. Thankfully, these aren't Scion's first targets, so the risk of already having pulled them out of the deck isn't too great.
With a storm count of three and one dethrone trigger: + Scourge of the Throne + Atarka + Utvara Hellkite -> 148 damage and twelve 6/6 flying dragon tokens. Savage Ventmaw is likely to often be involved in casting such expensive spells, meaning it may be harder to achieve pre-combat than I would like.
How to play the deck
Post 4 link for reference.
While this deck is a blast to play, it is not always readily obvious what it does from simply looking at the cards.
It looks slow, clunky, as though it had a high curve.
I've often found explicit examples (as opposed to implicit descriptions) of strategy and game plans work better. When playing a new board-game with friends, I much prefer seeing over reading the manual!
So, a "match" on tappedout.net vs my aquatic rival who's always ready to play: Carassius auratus, the goldfish.
To keep it simple: there is a tank with a half dozen goldfish. One of the fish always combos off and wins turn 6, and I am the last player. Thus, either: a) I win before any fish sees its sixth turn, or b) the ray-fins secure another victory.
I'll play with exceedingly generous mulligan rules: Partial Paris, the first of which is free.
Best three out of five wins the match.
1 Drawn Hand
2 Poison 0
3 Life 40
4 Scion of the Ur-Dragon Exiled
5 Sol Ring Hand
6 Savage Ventmaw Hand
7 Arid Mesa Hand
8 Scalding Tarn Hand
9 Greater Good Library
10 Vindicate Library
11 Prossh, Skyraider of Kher Library
12 Skyshroud Claim Library 13 Shuffled Library
14 Shuffled Library
15 Shuffled Library
1 Azorius Chancery Hand
2 Gruul Signet Battlefield
3 Scion of the Ur-Dragon Battlefield
4 Azorius Chancery Battlefield
5 Watery Grave Hand
Game 1 Turn 3:
I draw Simic Signet. Scion is in play, and following the land drop I would have 9 mana.
This raises the question: Knollspine Dragon or Dragon Mage?
If I were to take the latter path, I'd first drop the signet, leaving me with 6 mana and a fresh 7 cards.
With the former, I would have to pay nine mana total for it to be worthwhile: chain 3 activations, dumping Knollspine Dragon, Moltensteel Dragon, and finally Teneb. The last three mana activate Teneb's trigger to revive Knollspine Dragon and draw 16 cards.
With six mana, there are only four Time Warps I could cast. As Scion is incapable of also serving as a sac-outlet the odds of winning before the fish see their fourth turn doesn't look too high. If I also whiff on good card draw, I may have to follow the former route the following turn anyway. Which suggests a turn 5 win: cutting it close!
I thus opt for the Knollspine plan, hoping to safely win on turn 4.
1 Simic Signet Hand
2 Watery Grave Battlefield
3 Knollspine Dragon Hand
4 Moltensteel Dragon Hand
5 Teneb, the Harvester Hand
6 Shuffled Library
7 Shuffled Library
8 Knollspine Dragon Battlefield
9 Moltensteel Dragon Graveyard
10 Teneb, the Harvester Graveyard
11 Arid Mesa Graveyard
12 Simic Signet Graveyard
13 Temple Garden Hand
14 Badlands Hand
15 Polluted Delta Hand
16 Bojuka Bog Hand
17 Izzet Signet Hand
18 Stomping Ground Hand
19 City of Brass Hand
20 Overgrown Tomb Hand
21 Twilight's Call Hand
22 Walk the Aeons Hand
23 Demonic Tutor Hand
24 Chromatic Lantern Hand
25 Eternal Witness Hand
26 Pact of Negation Hand
27 Breeding Pool Hand
28 Frontier Siege Hand
29 Utvara Hellkite Hand
30 Utvara Hellkite Library
31 Temple Garden Graveyard
32 Breeding Pool Graveyard
33 Overgrown Tomb Graveyard
34 Stomping Ground Graveyard
35 City of Brass Graveyard
36 Bojuka Bog Graveyard
37 Polluted Delta Graveyard
38 Izzet Signet Graveyard
39 Pact of Negation Graveyard
1 Drawn Hand
2 Poison 0
3 Life 40
4 Scion of the Ur-Dragon Exiled
5 Time Spiral Hand
6 Farseek Hand
7 Living Death Library
8 Golgari Rot Farm Library
9 Shuffled Library
10 Shuffled Library
11 Shuffled Library
12 Shuffled Library
1 Skyshroud Claim Hand
2 Phyrexian Tower Hand
3 Azorius Chancery Battlefield
4 Darksteel Ingot Exiled
5 Darksteel Ingot Graveyard
Game 2 Turn 3:
I draw Boseiju. =/ Farseek fetches Badlands to find red mana and allow for non-awkard on-upkeep Vampiric Tutor (although without the untapped land, we can't do that next turn for Omniscience.
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All Hand
2 Phyrexian Tower Battlefield
3 Golgari Signet Battlefield
4 Farseek Graveyard
5 Badlands Hand
6 Shuffled Library
7 Badlands Battlefield
For the purpose of getting us to Omniscience on the following turn, both Skyshroud Claim and Mirari's Wake would boost us by 2 mana. (With Mirari's Wake, Badlands' second mana will be wasted during the upkeep, and Phyrexian Tower will only produce mana after Omniscience enters the battlefield.
So the trade-off is the awkward feeling the enchantment's mana will give us, vs the fact it will give us 5 more mana after all our spells in hand are free. I am going with the latter: Scion is often hungry.
1 Vampiric Tutor Hand
2 Vampiric Tutor Graveyard
3 Academy Rector Hand
4 Shuffled Library
5 Academy Rector Battlefield
6 Academy Rector Exiled
7 Omniscience Hand
8 Shuffled Library
9 Omniscience Battlefield
10 Yosei, the Morning Star Battlefield
11 Skyshroud Claim Graveyard
12 Stomping Ground Hand
13 Breeding Pool Hand
14 Shuffled Library
15 Stomping Ground Battlefield
16 Breeding Pool Battlefield
17 Skyshroud Claim Library
18 Vampiric Tutor Library
19 Farseek Library
20 Darksteel Ingot Library
21 Time Spiral Exiled
22 Shuffled Library
23 Shuffled Library
24 Nihil Spellbomb Hand
25 Regrowth Hand
26 Overgrown Tomb Hand
27 Greater Good Hand
28 Chrome Mox Hand
29 Selesnya Signet Hand
30 Marsh Flats Hand
31 Greater Good Battlefield
32 Knollspine Dragon Hand
33 Boros Signet Hand
34 Temporal Trespass Hand
35 Scourge of the Throne Hand
36 City of Brass Hand
37 Gilded Lotus Hand
38 Terminus Hand
39 Terminus Library
40 Yosei, the Morning Star Graveyard
41 Marsh Flats Graveyard
42 Overgrown Tomb Graveyard
43 Chrome Mox Graveyard
44 Temporal Trespass Exiled
45 Knollspine Dragon Battlefield
46 Knollspine Dragon Graveyard
47 Terminus Hand
48 Polluted Delta Hand
49 Ancient Tomb Hand
50 Time Warp Hand
51 Golgari Rot Farm Hand
52 Silumgar, the Drifting Death Hand
53 Crux of Fate Hand
54 Dimir Signet Hand
55 Polluted Delta Graveyard
56 Ancient Tomb Graveyard
57 Golgari Rot Farm Graveyard
58 Time Warp Graveyard
59 Scourge of the Throne Battlefield
60 Scourge of the Throne Graveyard
61 Savage Ventmaw Hand
62 Watery Grave Hand
63 Teneb, the Harvester Hand
64 Thran Dynamo Hand
65 Eternal Witness Hand
66 Simic Growth Chamber Hand
67 Teneb, the Harvester Battlefield
68 Teneb, the Harvester Graveyard
69 Teneb, the Harvester Battlefield
70 Simic Growth Chamber Graveyard
71 Watery Grave Graveyard
72 Boros Signet Graveyard
73 Teneb, the Harvester Graveyard
74 Twilight's Call Hand
75 Patriarch's Bidding Hand
76 Hushwing Gryff Hand
77 Worn Powerstone Hand
78 Krosan Grip Hand
79 Gruul Turf Hand
80 Demonic Tutor Hand
81 Gruul Turf Graveyard
82 City of Brass Graveyard
83 Selesnya Signet Graveyard
[Note: I don't think it was correct to ditch Mirari's Wake. Oh well.]
1 Drawn Hand
2 Poison 0
3 Life 40
4 Scion of the Ur-Dragon Exiled
5 Boseiju, Who Shelters All Hand
6 Wheel of Fortune Hand
7 Moltensteel Dragon Hand
8 Azorius Signet Hand
9 Moltensteel Dragon Library
10 Boseiju, Who Shelters All Library
11 Mirari's Wake Library
12 Temporal Manipulation Library
13 Treasured Find Library
14 Shuffled Library
Game 3 Turn 3:
Drew Lim-Dûl's Vault -- a royal pain in the butt to use on tappedout.net.
Because I lack red mana to actually cast wheel, I can't actually follow the "Ancient Tomb + two signets this turn" plan into draw 7.
Therefore, do I get a red source, or sac-outlet so I can vault for Academy Rector?
Either way I play one signet this turn and can't get Omniscience next turn. Games one and two ended the same way, so I will try something different: Steam Vents it is. Plus, I might want to cast Scion.
(Followed by Azorius Signet.)
Game 3 Turn 4:
I draw Crux of Fate: no help at the moment.
Given that I will lose if I can't win next turn, I figure it is better to cast Scion this turn, and then ritual + tutor before wheeling.
1 Crux of Fate Hand
2 Scion of the Ur-Dragon Battlefield
Game 3 Turn 5:
I draw Breeding Pool - would have been nice last turn (so that Selesnya Signet could be in play)!
After Savage Ventmaw I will have 10 mana total. Following that with Lim-Dûl's Vault and Wheel of Fortune will leave me with five, but that seems the safest play. I need to find a set of five that contains Time Warp plus something exciting for the next turn.
They stay on top, I can wheel for RRG, leaving RGG in my pool. Cards six and seven were Gruul Turf and Sacred Foundry. I was hoping for Skyshroud Claim to play with Time Spiral. Thankfully, shuffling the yard in means I get to ventmaw again next turn, if necessary.
1 Breeding Pool Hand
2 Breeding Pool Battlefield
3 Savage Ventmaw Hand
4 Shuffled Library
5 Savage Ventmaw Graveyard
6 Lim-Dûl's Vault Battlefield
7 Frontier Siege Battlefield
8 Boros Signet Battlefield
9 Rakdos Signet Battlefield
10 Living Death Battlefield
11 Time Stretch Battlefield
12 Frontier Siege Library
13 Boros Signet Library
14 Rakdos Signet Library
15 Living Death Library
16 Time Stretch Library
17 Pact of Negation Battlefield
18 Scourge of the Throne Battlefield
19 Boseiju, Who Shelters All Battlefield
20 Simic Signet Battlefield
21 Greater Good Battlefield
22 Pact of Negation Library
23 Greater Good Library
24 Scourge of the Throne Library
25 Boseiju, Who Shelters All Library
26 Simic Signet Library
27 Mirari's Wake Battlefield
28 Thran Dynamo Battlefield
29 Selesnya Sanctuary Battlefield
30 Hushwing Gryff Battlefield
31 Utvara Hellkite Battlefield
32 Selesnya Sanctuary Library
33 Hushwing Gryff Library
34 Mirari's Wake Library
35 Thran Dynamo Library
36 Utvara Hellkite Library
37 Darksteel Ingot Battlefield
38 Twilight's Call Battlefield
39 Vampiric Tutor Battlefield
40 Stomping Ground Battlefield
41 Silumgar, the Drifting Death Battlefield
42 Darksteel Ingot Library
43 Silumgar, the Drifting Death Library
44 Stomping Ground Library
45 Twilight's Call Library
46 Vampiric Tutor Library
47 Overgrown Tomb Battlefield
48 Bojuka Bog Battlefield
49 Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund Battlefield
50 Sol Ring Battlefield
51 Temporal Trespass Battlefield
52 Bojuka Bog Library
53 Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund Library
54 Overgrown Tomb Library
55 Sol Ring Library
56 Temporal Trespass Library
57 Simic Growth Chamber Battlefield
58 Capture of Jingzhou Battlefield
59 Orzhov Signet Battlefield
60 Time Spiral Battlefield
61 Gilded Lotus Battlefield
62 Simic Growth Chamber Library
63 Capture of Jingzhou Library
64 Orzhov Signet Library
65 Time Spiral Library
66 Gilded Lotus Library
67 Wheel of Fortune Graveyard
68 Crux of Fate Graveyard
69 Merciless Eviction Graveyard
70 Selesnya Signet Graveyard
71 Gilded Lotus Hand
72 Time Spiral Hand
73 Orzhov Signet Hand
74 Capture of Jingzhou Hand
75 Simic Growth Chamber Hand
76 Gruul Turf Hand
77 Sacred Foundry Hand
78 Lim-Dûl's Vault Graveyard
79 Capture of Jingzhou Graveyard
Providing an excellent chance to improve our board position before firing off the Time Spiral. Simic Growth Chamber bounces its little brother, Gilded Lotus joins the three signets, and Scion spits out a 6/6 token. Six more power means 6 more cards off [card="Knollspine Dragon"], who is likely to enter the fray shortly.
84 Temporal Mastery Hand
85 Temporal Mastery Exiled
86 Gilded Lotus Battlefield
87 Breeding Pool Hand
88 Simic Growth Chamber Battlefield
89 Utvara Hellkite Hand
90 Utvara Hellkite Graveyard
91 Dragon Battlefield
92 Shuffled Library
Scion uses the floating mana to rend worlds.
Bash for 24, then drop Birds of Paradise, Sol Ring, and finally Knollspine Dragon for 24 cards (with a W floating*).
*I have the last amount of cards costing white, so I figured I'd tap a land for WW and use one of them along Sol Ring's 4 colorless for Knollspine.
92 Shuffled Library
93 Hallowed Fountain Hand
94 Hallowed Fountain Battlefield
95 Time Spiral Battlefield
96 Gruul Turf Library
97 Breeding Pool Library
98 Utvara Hellkite Library
99 Walk the Aeons Library
100 Capture of Jingzhou Library
101 Lim-Dûl's Vault Library
102 Selesnya Signet Library
103 Merciless Eviction Library
104 Crux of Fate Library
105 Wheel of Fortune Library
106 Savage Ventmaw Library
107 Demonic Tutor Library
108 Shuffled Library
109 Shuffled Library
110 Shuffled Library
111 Wheel of Fortune Hand
112 Phyrexian Tower Hand
113 Pact of Negation Hand
114 Merciless Eviction Hand
115 Mana Reflection Hand
116 Simic Signet Hand
117 Skyshroud Claim Hand
118 Mana Reflection Battlefield
119 Time Spiral Exiled
120 Simic Signet Battlefield
121 Skyshroud Claim Graveyard
122 Breeding Pool Hand
123 Overgrown Tomb Hand
124 Breeding Pool Battlefield
125 Overgrown Tomb Battlefield
126 Wheel of Fortune Graveyard
127 Merciless Eviction Graveyard
128 Pact of Negation Graveyard
129 Phyrexian Tower Graveyard
130 Shuffled Library
131 Shuffled Library
132 Shuffled Library
133 Shuffled Library
134 Shuffled Library
135 Shuffled Library
136 Command Tower Hand
137 Knollspine Dragon Hand
138 Regrowth Hand
139 Sol Ring Hand
140 Birds of Paradise Hand
141 Scalding Tarn Hand
142 Eternal Witness Hand
143 Atarka, World Render Hand
144 Shuffled Library
145 Shuffled Library
146 Atarka, World Render Graveyard
147 Birds of Paradise Battlefield
148 Sol Ring Battlefield
149 Knollspine Dragon Battlefield
150 Command Tower Graveyard
151 Eternal Witness Graveyard
152 Scalding Tarn Graveyard
153 Regrowth Graveyard
154 Nature's Lore Hand
155 Walk the Aeons Hand
156 Stomping Ground Hand
157 Academy Rector Hand
158 Rakdos Signet Hand
159 Izzet Signet Hand
160 Terminus Hand
161 Coalition Relic Hand
162 Twilight's Call Hand
163 Yosei, the Morning Star Hand
164 Vampiric Tutor Hand
165 Utvara Hellkite Hand
166 Mirari's Wake Hand
167 Temporal Trespass Hand
168 Demonic Tutor Hand
169 Greater Good Hand
170 Worn Powerstone Hand
171 Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund Hand
172 Capture of Jingzhou Hand
173 Chrome Mox Hand
174 Golgari Rot Farm Hand
175 Frantic Search Hand
176 Lim-Dûl's Vault Hand
177 Silumgar, the Drifting Death Hand
Dragons: 3, Fish: 0
Although, if the fish could combo off turn 4 the record would be 2-1 in their favor.
Humans, unlike fish, can both interact and be interacted with: they will disrupt you, and you'd best disrupt them. This deck would play very differently if capped.
Goldfishing still provides a useful perspective: how direly do your opponents need to interact?
Early Game: Ramp
In an opener, mana is paramount. Throw away any cards unlikely to do much early game: dragons, cards that care about the graveyard (although you could devise worse plans than regrowthing a rampspell or fetch), etc; you will lose them anyway. Pay attention to colors: not much feels worse than keeping a hand before realizing you can't actually cast your Skyshroud's Claim, or failing to cast Scion at seven mana. Academy Rector is also something to look for: can you quickly get it into play and sacrifice it? Wargate and theblacktutors can find both a sac-outlet and the omniscience-seeking academic. Scion is also happy to eat the chancellor.
Cast all the acceleration you can, although the big mana enchantments can weight until after you stick Scion.
As your hand empties of acceleration, casting your commander or a draw-7 should become the top priority: the transition to your mid game.
Mid Game: Draw & the Hunt for Big Mana
Stick Scion. If it survives through to your next turn, and you have a Time Warp, it is often to cast and wheel, so you can untap and make use of your fresh goodies before anyone else (some cards are a bit broken).
The end game involves passing a critical point of endless self-fueling draw and mana-production. Therefore, in the mid-game the focus is on setting up a draw engine, and the mana to run it; time magic completes the feedback loop. Ritual out bigmana or cheatOmniscience onto the field. Knollspine for 15+ cards kicks off the draw engine. Greater Good + Patriarch's Bidding et al is the simplest way to keep it going, but Knollspine and Teneb + sac-outlet can also draw you 20+ cards per turn.
Late Game
Once you've set up a big mana enchantment and a draw engine, you are in the late game -- although enough rocks can get you there whether you have an enchantment or not.
You need mana to fuel your card draw engine, which in turn finds the ramp and time magic ensuring escalating mana production.
Note that both the Greater Good and Knollspine Dragon draw engines culminate in resserecting massive dragon-armies; while the latter engine can run on Teneb, you're still just as likely to want to cast any Twilight's Call variants you draw: paying the [mana]1B[/more] or so more mana than Teneb's trigger adds many more dragons == more damage == more cards. Similarly, Utvara Hellkite provides a strong incentive for getting into the red zone under the Greater Good plan.
While with Volrath's Stronghold and Eternal Witness the deck is able to ultimately "go infinite", this has never been the case in practice: opponent's life totals (and concessions) has always been the fuel to give out first. Some of the more abstract descriptions may make this build of Scion sound like a combo deck (maybe it is), but that is glossing over the fact that the game plan is all about dealing damage by tapping guys dragons sideways.
Scion of the Ur-Dragon; Teferi, Temporal Archmage; Karador, Ghost Chieftain; Prime Speaker Zegana; Maelstrom Wanderer; Sliver Overlord; Zirilan of the Claw; Volrath the Fallen; Thromok the Insatiable
Personally, I would add Pernicious Deed for artifacts and enchantments that you want gone, because it is really one of the best out there. It gets really fun when you Regrowth it or use Regrowth effects to keep the board clean. Since you have high CMC stuff, it should really help you out!
Private Mod Note
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Thanks to Rivenor for the awesome sig!
Wants Bloodbraid Elf banned in modern
:DWish granted as of January 27, 2013!:D
The average CMC of spells (ie, nonlands) is 4.1. Given the large number of mana rocks, Pernicious Deed would set me back.
Private Mod Note
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Scion of the Ur-Dragon; Teferi, Temporal Archmage; Karador, Ghost Chieftain; Prime Speaker Zegana; Maelstrom Wanderer; Sliver Overlord; Zirilan of the Claw; Volrath the Fallen; Thromok the Insatiable
While this deck is a blast to play, it is not always readily obvious what it does from simply looking at the cards.
It looks slow, clunky, as though it had a high curve.
I've often found explicit examples (as opposed to implicit descriptions) of strategy and game plans work better. When playing a new board-game with friends, I much prefer seeing over reading the manual!
So, a "match" on tappedout.net vs my aquatic rival who's always ready to play: Carassius auratus, the goldfish.
To keep it simple: there is a tank with a half dozen goldfish. One of the fish always combos off and wins turn 6, and I am the last player. Thus, either: a) I win before any fish sees its sixth turn, or b) the ray-fins secure another victory.
I'll play with exceedingly generous mulligan rules: Partial Paris, the first of which is free.
Best three out of five wins the match.
1 Drawn Hand
2 Poison 0
3 Life 40
4 Scion of the Ur-Dragon Exiled
5 Sol Ring Hand
6 Savage Ventmaw Hand
7 Arid Mesa Hand
8 Scalding Tarn Hand
9 Greater Good Library
10 Vindicate Library
11 Prossh, Skyraider of Kher Library
12 Skyshroud Claim Library 13 Shuffled Library
14 Shuffled Library
15 Shuffled Library
1 Azorius Chancery Hand
2 Gruul Signet Battlefield
3 Scion of the Ur-Dragon Battlefield
4 Azorius Chancery Battlefield
5 Watery Grave Hand
Game 1 Turn 3:
I draw Simic Signet. Scion is in play, and following the land drop I would have 9 mana.
This raises the question: Knollspine Dragon or Dragon Mage?
If I were to take the latter path, I'd first drop the signet, leaving me with 6 mana and a fresh 7 cards.
With the former, I would have to pay nine mana total for it to be worthwhile: chain 3 activations, dumping Knollspine Dragon, Moltensteel Dragon, and finally Teneb. The last three mana activate Teneb's trigger to revive Knollspine Dragon and draw 16 cards.
With six mana, there are only four Time Warps I could cast. As Scion is incapable of also serving as a sac-outlet the odds of winning before the fish see their fourth turn doesn't look too high. If I also whiff on good card draw, I may have to follow the former route the following turn anyway. Which suggests a turn 5 win: cutting it close!
I thus opt for the Knollspine plan, hoping to safely win on turn 4.
1 Simic Signet Hand
2 Watery Grave Battlefield
3 Knollspine Dragon Hand
4 Moltensteel Dragon Hand
5 Teneb, the Harvester Hand
6 Shuffled Library
7 Shuffled Library
8 Knollspine Dragon Battlefield
9 Moltensteel Dragon Graveyard
10 Teneb, the Harvester Graveyard
11 Arid Mesa Graveyard
12 Simic Signet Graveyard
13 Temple Garden Hand
14 Badlands Hand
15 Polluted Delta Hand
16 Bojuka Bog Hand
17 Izzet Signet Hand
18 Stomping Ground Hand
19 City of Brass Hand
20 Overgrown Tomb Hand
21 Twilight's Call Hand
22 Walk the Aeons Hand
23 Demonic Tutor Hand
24 Chromatic Lantern Hand
25 Eternal Witness Hand
26 Pact of Negation Hand
27 Breeding Pool Hand
28 Frontier Siege Hand
29 Utvara Hellkite Hand
30 Utvara Hellkite Library
31 Temple Garden Graveyard
32 Breeding Pool Graveyard
33 Overgrown Tomb Graveyard
34 Stomping Ground Graveyard
35 City of Brass Graveyard
36 Bojuka Bog Graveyard
37 Polluted Delta Graveyard
38 Izzet Signet Graveyard
39 Pact of Negation Graveyard
1 Drawn Hand
2 Poison 0
3 Life 40
4 Scion of the Ur-Dragon Exiled
5 Time Spiral Hand
6 Farseek Hand
7 Living Death Library
8 Golgari Rot Farm Library
9 Shuffled Library
10 Shuffled Library
11 Shuffled Library
12 Shuffled Library
1 Skyshroud Claim Hand
2 Phyrexian Tower Hand
3 Azorius Chancery Battlefield
4 Darksteel Ingot Exiled
5 Darksteel Ingot Graveyard
Game 2 Turn 3:
I draw Boseiju. =/ Farseek fetches Badlands to find red mana and allow for non-awkard on-upkeep Vampiric Tutor (although without the untapped land, we can't do that next turn for Omniscience.
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All Hand
2 Phyrexian Tower Battlefield
3 Golgari Signet Battlefield
4 Farseek Graveyard
5 Badlands Hand
6 Shuffled Library
7 Badlands Battlefield
For the purpose of getting us to Omniscience on the following turn, both Skyshroud Claim and Mirari's Wake would boost us by 2 mana. (With Mirari's Wake, Badlands' second mana will be wasted during the upkeep, and Phyrexian Tower will only produce mana after Omniscience enters the battlefield.
So the trade-off is the awkward feeling the enchantment's mana will give us, vs the fact it will give us 5 more mana after all our spells in hand are free. I am going with the latter: Scion is often hungry.
1 Vampiric Tutor Hand
2 Vampiric Tutor Graveyard
3 Academy Rector Hand
4 Shuffled Library
5 Academy Rector Battlefield
6 Academy Rector Exiled
7 Omniscience Hand
8 Shuffled Library
9 Omniscience Battlefield
10 Yosei, the Morning Star Battlefield
11 Skyshroud Claim Graveyard
12 Stomping Ground Hand
13 Breeding Pool Hand
14 Shuffled Library
15 Stomping Ground Battlefield
16 Breeding Pool Battlefield
17 Skyshroud Claim Library
18 Vampiric Tutor Library
19 Farseek Library
20 Darksteel Ingot Library
21 Time Spiral Exiled
22 Shuffled Library
23 Shuffled Library
24 Nihil Spellbomb Hand
25 Regrowth Hand
26 Overgrown Tomb Hand
27 Greater Good Hand
28 Chrome Mox Hand
29 Selesnya Signet Hand
30 Marsh Flats Hand
31 Greater Good Battlefield
32 Knollspine Dragon Hand
33 Boros Signet Hand
34 Temporal Trespass Hand
35 Scourge of the Throne Hand
36 City of Brass Hand
37 Gilded Lotus Hand
38 Terminus Hand
39 Terminus Library
40 Yosei, the Morning Star Graveyard
41 Marsh Flats Graveyard
42 Overgrown Tomb Graveyard
43 Chrome Mox Graveyard
44 Temporal Trespass Exiled
45 Knollspine Dragon Battlefield
46 Knollspine Dragon Graveyard
47 Terminus Hand
48 Polluted Delta Hand
49 Ancient Tomb Hand
50 Time Warp Hand
51 Golgari Rot Farm Hand
52 Silumgar, the Drifting Death Hand
53 Crux of Fate Hand
54 Dimir Signet Hand
55 Polluted Delta Graveyard
56 Ancient Tomb Graveyard
57 Golgari Rot Farm Graveyard
58 Time Warp Graveyard
59 Scourge of the Throne Battlefield
60 Scourge of the Throne Graveyard
61 Savage Ventmaw Hand
62 Watery Grave Hand
63 Teneb, the Harvester Hand
64 Thran Dynamo Hand
65 Eternal Witness Hand
66 Simic Growth Chamber Hand
67 Teneb, the Harvester Battlefield
68 Teneb, the Harvester Graveyard
69 Teneb, the Harvester Battlefield
70 Simic Growth Chamber Graveyard
71 Watery Grave Graveyard
72 Boros Signet Graveyard
73 Teneb, the Harvester Graveyard
74 Twilight's Call Hand
75 Patriarch's Bidding Hand
76 Hushwing Gryff Hand
77 Worn Powerstone Hand
78 Krosan Grip Hand
79 Gruul Turf Hand
80 Demonic Tutor Hand
81 Gruul Turf Graveyard
82 City of Brass Graveyard
83 Selesnya Signet Graveyard
[Note: I don't think it was correct to ditch Mirari's Wake. Oh well.]
1 Drawn Hand
2 Poison 0
3 Life 40
4 Scion of the Ur-Dragon Exiled
5 Boseiju, Who Shelters All Hand
6 Wheel of Fortune Hand
7 Moltensteel Dragon Hand
8 Azorius Signet Hand
9 Moltensteel Dragon Library
10 Boseiju, Who Shelters All Library
11 Mirari's Wake Library
12 Temporal Manipulation Library
13 Treasured Find Library
14 Shuffled Library
Game 3 Turn 3:
Drew Lim-Dul's Vault -- a royal pain in the butt to use on tappedout.net.
Because I lack red mana to actually cast wheel, I can't actually follow the "Ancient Tomb + two signets this turn" plan into draw 7.
Therefore, do I get a red source, or sac-outlet so I can vault for Academy Rector?
Either way I play one signet this turn and can't get Omniscience next turn. Games one and two ended the same way, so I will try something different: Steam Vents it is. Plus, I might want to cast Scion.
(Followed by Azorius Signet.)
Game 3 Turn 4:
I draw Crux of Fate: no help at the moment.
Given that I will lose if I can't win next turn, I figure it is better to cast Scion this turn, and then ritual + tutor before wheeling.
1 Crux of Fate Hand
2 Scion of the Ur-Dragon Battlefield
Game 3 Turn 5:
I draw Breeding Pool - would have been nice last turn (so that Selesnya Signet could be in play)!
After Savage Ventmaw I will have 10 mana total. Following that with Lim-Dul's Vault and Wheel of Fortune will leave me with five, but that seems the safest play. I need to find a set of five that contains Time Warp plus something exciting for the next turn.
They stay on top, I can wheel for RRG, leaving RGG in my pool. Cards six and seven were Gruul Turf and Sacred Foundry. I was hoping for Skyshroud Claim to play with Time Spiral. Thankfully, shuffling the yard in means I get to ventmaw again next turn, if necessary.
1 Breeding Pool Hand
2 Breeding Pool Battlefield
3 Savage Ventmaw Hand
4 Shuffled Library
5 Savage Ventmaw Graveyard
6 Lim-Dul's Vault Battlefield
7 Frontier Siege Battlefield
8 Boros Signet Battlefield
9 Rakdos Signet Battlefield
10 Living Death Battlefield
11 Time Stretch Battlefield
12 Frontier Siege Library
13 Boros Signet Library
14 Rakdos Signet Library
15 Living Death Library
16 Time Stretch Library
17 Pact of Negation Battlefield
18 Scourge of the Throne Battlefield
19 Boseiju, Who Shelters All Battlefield
20 Simic Signet Battlefield
21 Greater Good Battlefield
22 Pact of Negation Library
23 Greater Good Library
24 Scourge of the Throne Library
25 Boseiju, Who Shelters All Library
26 Simic Signet Library
27 Mirari's Wake Battlefield
28 Thran Dynamo Battlefield
29 Selesnya Sanctuary Battlefield
30 Hushwing Gryff Battlefield
31 Utvara Hellkite Battlefield
32 Selesnya Sanctuary Library
33 Hushwing Gryff Library
34 Mirari's Wake Library
35 Thran Dynamo Library
36 Utvara Hellkite Library
37 Darksteel Ingot Battlefield
38 Twilight's Call Battlefield
39 Vampiric Tutor Battlefield
40 Stomping Ground Battlefield
41 Silumgar, the Drifting Death Battlefield
42 Darksteel Ingot Library
43 Silumgar, the Drifting Death Library
44 Stomping Ground Library
45 Twilight's Call Library
46 Vampiric Tutor Library
47 Overgrown Tomb Battlefield
48 Bojuka Bog Battlefield
49 Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund Battlefield
50 Sol Ring Battlefield
51 Temporal Trespass Battlefield
52 Bojuka Bog Library
53 Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund Library
54 Overgrown Tomb Library
55 Sol Ring Library
56 Temporal Trespass Library
57 Simic Growth Chamber Battlefield
58 Capture of Jingzhou Battlefield
59 Orzhov Signet Battlefield
60 Time Spiral Battlefield
61 Gilded Lotus Battlefield
62 Simic Growth Chamber Library
63 Capture of Jingzhou Library
64 Orzhov Signet Library
65 Time Spiral Library
66 Gilded Lotus Library
67 Wheel of Fortune Graveyard
68 Crux of Fate Graveyard
69 Merciless Eviction Graveyard
70 Selesnya Signet Graveyard
71 Gilded Lotus Hand
72 Time Spiral Hand
73 Orzhov Signet Hand
74 Capture of Jingzhou Hand
75 Simic Growth Chamber Hand
76 Gruul Turf Hand
77 Sacred Foundry Hand
78 Lim-Dul's Vault Graveyard
79 Capture of Jingzhou Graveyard
Providing an excellent chance to improve our board position before firing off the Time Spiral. Simic Growth Chamber bounces its little brother, Gilded Lotus joins the three signets, and Scion spits out a 6/6 token. Six more power means 6 more cards off [card="Knollspine Dragon"], who is likely to enter the fray shortly.
84 Temporal Mastery Hand
85 Temporal Mastery Exiled
86 Gilded Lotus Battlefield
87 Breeding Pool Hand
88 Simic Growth Chamber Battlefield
89 Utvara Hellkite Hand
90 Utvara Hellkite Graveyard
91 Dragon Battlefield
92 Shuffled Library
Scion uses the floating mana to rend worlds.
Bash for 24, then drop Birds of Paradise, Sol Ring, and finally Knollspine Dragon for 24 cards (with a W floating*).
*I have the last amount of cards costing white, so I figured I'd tap a land for WW and use one of them along Sol Ring's 4 colorless for Knollspine.
92 Shuffled Library
93 Hallowed Fountain Hand
94 Hallowed Fountain Battlefield
95 Time Spiral Battlefield
96 Gruul Turf Library
97 Breeding Pool Library
98 Utvara Hellkite Library
99 Walk the Aeons Library
100 Capture of Jingzhou Library
101 Lim-Dul's Vault Library
102 Selesnya Signet Library
103 Merciless Eviction Library
104 Crux of Fate Library
105 Wheel of Fortune Library
106 Savage Ventmaw Library
107 Demonic Tutor Library
108 Shuffled Library
109 Shuffled Library
110 Shuffled Library
111 Wheel of Fortune Hand
112 Phyrexian Tower Hand
113 Pact of Negation Hand
114 Merciless Eviction Hand
115 Mana Reflection Hand
116 Simic Signet Hand
117 Skyshroud Claim Hand
118 Mana Reflection Battlefield
119 Time Spiral Exiled
120 Simic Signet Battlefield
121 Skyshroud Claim Graveyard
122 Breeding Pool Hand
123 Overgrown Tomb Hand
124 Breeding Pool Battlefield
125 Overgrown Tomb Battlefield
126 Wheel of Fortune Graveyard
127 Merciless Eviction Graveyard
128 Pact of Negation Graveyard
129 Phyrexian Tower Graveyard
130 Shuffled Library
131 Shuffled Library
132 Shuffled Library
133 Shuffled Library
134 Shuffled Library
135 Shuffled Library
136 Command Tower Hand
137 Knollspine Dragon Hand
138 Regrowth Hand
139 Sol Ring Hand
140 Birds of Paradise Hand
141 Scalding Tarn Hand
142 Eternal Witness Hand
143 Atarka, World Render Hand
144 Shuffled Library
145 Shuffled Library
146 Atarka, World Render Graveyard
147 Birds of Paradise Battlefield
148 Sol Ring Battlefield
149 Knollspine Dragon Battlefield
150 Command Tower Graveyard
151 Eternal Witness Graveyard
152 Scalding Tarn Graveyard
153 Regrowth Graveyard
154 Nature's Lore Hand
155 Walk the Aeons Hand
156 Stomping Ground Hand
157 Academy Rector Hand
158 Rakdos Signet Hand
159 Izzet Signet Hand
160 Terminus Hand
161 Coalition Relic Hand
162 Twilight's Call Hand
163 Yosei, the Morning Star Hand
164 Vampiric Tutor Hand
165 Utvara Hellkite Hand
166 Mirari's Wake Hand
167 Temporal Trespass Hand
168 Demonic Tutor Hand
169 Greater Good Hand
170 Worn Powerstone Hand
171 Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund Hand
172 Capture of Jingzhou Hand
173 Chrome Mox Hand
174 Golgari Rot Farm Hand
175 Frantic Search Hand
176 Lim-Dul's Vault Hand
177 Silumgar, the Drifting Death Hand
Dragons: 3, Fish: 0
Although, if the fish could combo off turn 4 the record would be 2-1 in their favor.
Humans, unlike fish, can both interact and be interacted with: they will disrupt you, and you'd best disrupt them. This deck would play very differently if capped.
Goldfishing still provides a useful perspective: how direly do your opponents need to interact?
Scion of the Ur-Dragon; Teferi, Temporal Archmage; Karador, Ghost Chieftain; Prime Speaker Zegana; Maelstrom Wanderer; Sliver Overlord; Zirilan of the Claw; Volrath the Fallen; Thromok the Insatiable
(Art by JJcanvas, hosted on DeviantArt, found via google.)
Why Scion?
He is the blood of the Ur-Dragon; paragon of dragon-ness. Impervious to most magic, hungry, silencer of opposition; spitefully punishing any who dare curse him. Avaricious: reaps power at all costs, wielding powerful magic and savage rituals. Entire kingdoms and even worlds fall before him; conatus: omniscience.
He is fire. He is...death.
True power does not come from blatant selfishness: others will never fight and die for you. Argue veiled morality, touting the greater good, and others will answer your call. They will flock to you, forsaking their past for the honor of doing your bidding.
Power.
Reasons to serve the great Dragonlords:
draconiandraconic flavor.The deck is tuned to provide this rush every game: through the course of the game, you draw large numbers of cards in increasing bunches, a cycle where improving your board-state gives you more cards, further improving said board-state. Every set of cards, every new hand, is another chest: what exciting loot did you get this time?
Reasons to oppose them:
Deck History
I first built Scion of the Ur-Dragon in 2012 with the idea of being a dragon-reanimator deck with a super-budget mana base: all 10 ravnica karoos, and all six odyssey filters being some of the only lands to etb untapped; there was not a single land with a land-type. This was beyond awkward, with karoos and odyssey filters both providing a way to have opening hands with plenty of lands but still incapable of making any mana!
While meant to be a dragon deck, twin titans quickly emerged as the real stars: Sundering and Primeval Titans. Tutoring and abusing them was the name of the game.
Part of this abuse scheme emerged as Greater Good plus the full pile of mass reanimation spells available.
The ban hammer eventually eliminated both titans, forcing me to focus more heavily on Greater Good + reanimation and breaking my excuses defending the floundering mana base.
Even with the greater good engine running, the deck had trouble playing the cards it drew. The best it could muster was discard creatures from its hand, and then cast Living Death & Co. This also required some combination of dumping a bunch of dragons in the yard with Scion, and running a high dragon count to keep the engine running. Slow, clunky, and extremely vulnerable to Tormod's Crypt.
The first solution was Turnabout and Rude Awakening, but I quickly settled on time magic as a means of getting dragons into play, and enjoying combat steps. Omniscience was a boon.
The deck began to evolve towards its current state, with the focus on ramping explosively, drawing & dumping escalating numbers of cards to continue the cycle whilst exploiting dragons to the best of its ability. This evolution was reflected in the migration of mana sources from lands to rocks and other spells: while only one land drawn per turn is not dead, there are no such caps for ramp.
Each piece of non-gas must be analyzed skeptically. Without a high enough concentration of fuel, no chain reaction will result; the engine will stutter and die.
The necessarily low land count however creates problems if your does not allow the Partial Paris.
Far from getting sidelined, dragons' role grew increasingly central. Dragon Mage and Knollspine Dragon (often alongside his posse: Teneb and/or Moltensteel) quickly emerged as stars, with Savage Ventmaw recently joining, completing the draconic component of the draw + mana engine. The remaining dragons each play important supporting roles, and are ultimately each crucial components of the game plan.
Thus, the deck's current form: a collection of battlecruisers. Fast, explosive, powerful -- yet battlecruisers nonetheless. Fatty-ramp refined into an art.
Or, if you're a harsh critic, the ideal toward which the deck strives.
Without further adieu:
The deck
5 Scion of the Ur-Dragon
Lands - 28
0 Ancient Tomb
0 City of Brass
0 Command Tower
0 Arid Mesa
0 Marsh Flats
0 Polluted Delta
0 Scalding Tarn
1 Krosan Verge
0 Badlands
0 Breeding Pool
0 Godless Shrine
0 Hallowed Fountain
0 Overgrown Tomb
0 Sacred Foundry
0 Steam Vents
0 Stomping Ground
0 Temple Garden
0 Watery Grave
1 Azorius Chancery
1 Dimir Aqueduct
1 Golgari Rot Farm
1 Gruul Turf
1 Selesnya Sanctuary
1 Simic Growth Chamber
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
0 Phyrexian Tower
0 Volrath's Stronghold
Tutors - 5
1 Vampiric Tutor
2 Lim-Dûl's Vault
2 Demonic Tutor
4 Academy Rector
3x Wargate
0 Chrome Mox
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Sol Ring
2 Farseek
2 Nature's Lore
2 Azorius Signet
2 Boros Signet
2 Dimir Signet
2 Golgari Signet
2 Gruul Signet
2 Izzet Signet
2 Orzhov Signet
2 Rakdos Signet
2 Selesnya Signet
2 Simic Signet
2 Coldsteel Heart
3 Coalition Relic
3 Chromatic Lantern
3 Darksteel Ingot
3 Worn Powerstone
4 Skyshroud Claim
4 Frontier Siege
4 Thran Dynamo
5 Gilded Lotus
Big Mana - 3
5 Mirari's Wake
6 Mana Reflection
10 Omniscience
Dragons - 13
4 Moltensteel Dragon
6 Dragonlord Dromoka
6 Prossh, Skyraider of Kher
6 Savage Ventmaw
6 Scourge of the Throne
6 Silumgar, the Drifting Death
6 Teneb, the Harvester
6 Yosei, the Morning Star
7 Atarka, World Render
7 Dragon Mage
7 Knollspine Dragon
7 Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund
8 Utvara Hellkite
3 Frantic Search
3 Wheel of Fortune
4 Greater Good
6 Time Spiral
Time - 7
5 Time Warp
5 Temporal Manipulation
5 Capture of Jingzhou
6 Walk the Aeons
7 Temporal Mastery
11 Temporal Trespass
10 Time Stretch
Recovery - 2
2 Regrowth
3 Eternal Witness
Mass Reanimation - 3
5 Living Death
5 Patriarch's Bidding
6 Twilight's Call
Control - 9
5 Pact of Negation
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Swan Song
3 Hushwing Gryff
3 Song of the Dryads
3 Krosan Grip
3 Vindicate
5 Crux of Fate
6 Merciless Eviction
6 Terminus
5 Scion of the Ur-Dragon
1 Swan Song
1 Vampiric Tutor
2 Lim-Dûl's Vault
3 Frantic Search
3 Krosan Grip
5 Pact of Negation
Sorceries - 22
2 Demonic Tutor
2 Regrowth
2 Farseek
2 Nature's Lore
3 Wheel of Fortune
3 Vindicate
4 Skyshroud Claim
5 Time Warp
5 Temporal Manipulation
5 Capture of Jingzhou
5 Living Death
5 Patriarch's Bidding
5 Crux of Fate
6 Walk the Aeons
6 Twilight's Call
6 Time Spiral
6 Merciless Eviction
6 Terminus
7 Temporal Mastery
11 Temporal Trespass
10 Time Stretch
3x Wargate
1 Birds of Paradise
3 Eternal Witness
3 Hushwing Gryff
4 Academy Rector
4 Moltensteel Dragon
6 Dragonlord Dromoka
6 Prossh, Skyraider of Kher
6 Savage Ventmaw
6 Scourge of the Throne
6 Silumgar, the Drifting Death
6 Teneb, the Harvester
6 Yosei, the Morning Star
7 Atarka, World Render
7 Dragon Mage
7 Knollspine Dragon
7 Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund
8 Utvara Hellkite
Artifacts - 20
0 Chrome Mox
1 Sol Ring
1 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Azorius Signet
2 Boros Signet
2 Dimir Signet
2 Golgari Signet
2 Gruul Signet
2 Izzet Signet
2 Orzhov Signet
2 Rakdos Signet
2 Selesnya Signet
2 Simic Signet
2 Coldsteel Heart
3 Coalition Relic
3 Chromatic Lantern
3 Darksteel Ingot
3 Worn Powerstone
4 Thran Dynamo
5 Gilded Lotus
3 Song of the Dryads
4 Frontier Siege
4 Greater Good
5 Mirari's Wake
6 Mana Reflection
10 Omniscience
-Balefire Dragon
-Nevermore
-Karmic Justice
-Treasured Find
+Frantic Search
+Scourge of the Throne
+Vindicate
+Krosan Grip
+Swan Song
I figured I'd test these changes. Enlightened Tutor was not a card I was always happy to see early game, despite its low casting cost; it's a little awkward to tutor for Sol Ring.
I would like to find a slot for Balefire Dragon, but for now I figured it was the easiest cut to test Scourge of the Throne. Getting multiple combat steps, and thus activations of Savage Ventmaw.
With the removal of enlightened and idyllic tutors, it made sense to test the reactive Vindicate and Krosan Grip over the proactive enchantments. Playing around split second would also make Tormod's Crypt & co far weaker. If I cast Demonic Tutor with three mana up, do you crack in response -- allowing me to tutor something else -- or risk not being able to answer any of the threats in my yard?
I am undecided about abandoning the enchantment package. The additional ability to search up the big-mana enchantments or greater good later in the game can be clutch.
Swan Song is being tested as a second counter spell. Counters removal, opposing counters, and many of the big plays, making it seem far from narrow. Treasured Find was a card I was rarely happy to see in my opening hand. Later in the game, it was often an important piece keeping the engine running, recovering whatever was most needed. Regrowth still has a spot, and Treasured Find is likely to eventually work its way back into the list.
Card Choices
Dragons
How much life is +1 card worth?
The fair bargain looks to be 2, so long as a little mana per card sweetens the deal: Night's Whisper, Sign in Blood, Read the Bones, Greed, Erebos, God of the Dead.
Moltensteel offers the same rate on life / , but demands a flat 8B for the transaction: bin Knollspine dragon, then chain moltensteel into Teneb.
When times are dark, there is yet another offer. When someone needs to die, simply pay 4 (two Scion activations) and the price in blood, be that 10 life -- or 28. If you find yourself doing this often, embrace the contagion and you will find yourself a better deal. Hellkite Overlord is another option, if the haste + trample combination is required.
Dragonlord Dromoka - 4GW
Silence renders your spells uncounterable with few exceptions, providing safety and confidence as you plan & conduct your turns. Lifelink is gravy.
Prossh, Skyraider of Kher - 3BRG
This may look like an odd choice, given how rarely we're likely to be able to take advantage of his typical selling point: not when Scion transforming, reanimating, or cheating.
Instead, he pays his dues by providing access to a sac-outlet as long as you have 2 mana and an untransformed Scion. Whether it is eating Academy Rector, saving the team from exile, or preparing for Living Death in Greater Good's absence.
The occasional six kobolds are a nice touch.
Prossh unseated fellow Kher dragon, Scourge of Kher Ridges, for this slot.
Silumgar, the Drifting Death - 4UB
Emergency hexproof. His ability other ability is weaker than Balefire Dragon's, unless you're up against a lot tokens -- especially those with flying. If you're already attacking with enough dragons to kill anything big...
Dragonlord Ojutai may deserve this slot in Silumgar's place. While Ojutai loses hexproof when attacking, if they have the instant answer, they've got you anyway as soon as you transform Scion into anything else.
Ojutai draws more cards -- 1 dug whenever hitting, and 2 when saccing to Greater Good. Which you prefer will depend on your metagame and budget.
Scourge of the Throne - 4RR
Serves a similar role as Atarka in letting you pile on massive damage for purposes such as:
a)Drawing cards
b)Commander damage.
c)Winning.
Shocks and moltensteel ensure that you're not on the throne yourself.
The scourge has the additional advantage of letting you abuse Savage Ventmaw, Utvara Hellkite, and Silumgar. Unfortunately, it does not provide a main phase in between, so it doesn't syngerize with Dragon Mage any better than Atarka.
Yosei, the Morning Star - 4WW
Punishes wraths. Word of warning: as Yosei has to die, a transformed Scion must be sent to your yard, else it wont trigger. May be worth tapping the person out most likely to say "no", but this is probably strongest as a political tool*: if you do not want a wrath, it allows you to threaten and punish the caster. It is far more unpleasant and harmful to them than it is helpful to you: you're worsening your position (assuming no reanimation) relative to each opponent not Yosei-ed. You must then consider the relative likelihood of each opponent winning to gage if it is worth it. If only the one you're targeting has a realistic shot, then by all means!
I am not not sold on the effect actually being beneficial more often than harmful: use with caution.
*Might just backfire by making you look like a jerk.
Atarka, World Render - 5RG
Already discussed with Scourge of the Throne above, she tears things up.
While she doesn't let you double down on many of the powerful abilities like the Scourge, she has strengths of her own: Scourge forces you to attack the player with the highest life total first whether or not they're the most threatening, and trample. The latter is most relevant when going for commander damage.
Balefire Dragon - 5RR
Can wipe someone's board so long as they don't have a flying blocker and have < 6 (or 7) toughness; if you go so far as wanting to chain Scion with Moltensteel Dragon, you should probably opt for a solution a little more...permanent.
Sending someone's team to the yard could pose problems, should you later happen to revive it. More so should their team features ETB triggers galore. Gets along well with Bojuka Bog.
This sometimes provides insane value, looks sweet, and feels about as dragon as you can get.
Dragon Mage - 5RR
Wheel of Fortune is a strong card, just as tutoring for it with Scion is a strong play. Should you happen to get this wizard into play proper, getting to draw 7 extra cards per turn should close things out in short order.
There aren't many things much better than drawing 7 cards.
Knollspine Dragon - 5RR
Drawing much more than 7 is one of them.
Good friends with Teneb, the Harvester. (Would Lion's Eye Diamond be worth it?)
Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund - 4BRG
The Opra of haste. After playing with Karrthus, Patriarch's Bidding feels lame without it. Dragonlord Kolaghan may also be worthwhile despite its lower power. While 's second ability is useless, it is not necessarily inferior: useless is a big step up from allowing a clever impersonator to mind control your board.
Utvara Hellkite - 6RR
It doesn't take any explanation beyond the text box to see why a dragon deck would want Utvara Hellkite.
Creates mountains of value with haste and bidding. With Greater Good in play?
Even a single token from Scion can prove useful, helping draw cards.
Tutors
Vampiric Tutor & Demonic Tutor - B & 1B
Bog standard.
Lim-Dûl's Vault - UB
Excellent in this deck. Typically, it is used either as a potentially costly Vampiric Tutor to find a desirable bullet, or before big draw not named Time Spiral. In the latter case, it allows you to bottom each set of five that doesn't contain the set of outs your predicament calls for.
Academy Rector - 3W
Scion is a sacrifice outlet, and an unmolested Omniscience allows the deck to win in short order. Mana Reflection is not far behind.
Wargate - XUGW
Offers a better rate than Reap and Sow, with substantially greater flexibility. Other common targets include everything from Academy Rector to Greater Good, and even Omniscience itself on more than one occasion.
Ramp
Chrome Mox - 0
I would also play Mox Diamond if I had one. Chrome Mox has the advantage that the deck has a glut of expensive cards more than happy to imprint on the mox. The low land count may be a strike against Mox Diamond, but not much can invigorate the early turns like a 0 cost rock that taps for any color. Karoos and quick wheels mean losing lands in hand is often an inevitability: not to be missed, not to be mourned.
Sol Ring - 1
Bog standard. Same is true for Mana Crypt, if you own a copy.
Birds of Paradise - G
One mana dork that taps for any color; insane. I have not tried Noble Hierarch, but would expect it to perform well and deserve a slot if I still owned a copy.
Ten Signets - 2
This deck may owe its very existence to Ravnica producing this cycle. They filter abundant colorless mana and that of the wrong color.
After the first couple turns casting them only sets you back a single mana, and puts you ahead by one every turn thereafter. With Mana Reflection they Lotus Petal the turn they're cast and Black Lotus from thereon out, except with different color-restrictions.
Coldsteel Heart - 2
A weaker rock; the coalition did it better. Nonetheless, the ability to choose the missing color has often proven clutch, allowing this piece of Phyrexian technology to infect the deck for a while longer.
Chromatic Rocks - 3
Chromatic Lantern saves time and headaches as you figure out how to actually pay for all your spells. Occasionally, it also allows you to throw excess mana at Moltensteel Dragon. Darksteel Ingot is the weakest, but they fix colors and, until something better comes along, will hold their place.
Worn Powerstone - 3
Is far worse than sol ring good enough? Yes.
Thran Dynamo - 4
Only rarely does this deck lack things to do with colorless mana. The current list feature 36 other spells capable of eating at least 3 colorless mana to cast.
Frontier Siege - 3G
When drawn early, makes 4 mana per turn. Filtering is regularly available, and by the time this hits play you will only rarely fail to use mana in both main phases. GG is a convenient bite-size chunk, exactly paying for 14 cards or a Scion activation.
Later in the game, you can name "Dragons" before calling for a bloodbath.
Gilded Lotus - 5
Producing only one color at a time can occasionally be a source of frustration, and the casting cost is high enough that it rarely does much to inspire confidence in an opening seven. Nonetheless, the ability to pay for itself the turn after it is cast and jump one to 9+ mana, most of it colored, makes it a solid inclusion.
Big Mana
Mirari's Wake - 3GW
It fails to interact with mana rocks, and with karoos in the current list it often fails to even double your lands' contribution to total mana production. It is a far cry from a true "mana doubler". Unlike Gilded Lotus, when cast in the early game it regularly fails to repay a fraction of the cost required to cast it, making it a riskier proposition.
If greater reward does not follow greater risk, one shan't take the deal.
Does Mirari's Wake deliver? Yes. Only in atypical cases does the deck run on less than 3 lands; all the more true when Skyshroud Claim & co are free spells.
The median and modal power of dragons within the current list are both 5. Much of Greater Good's power comes in its ability to dig: taking a simplistic (albeit unrealistic) view, the typical sacrifice is a 5 for 4, netting only a single card! The +1/+1 Mirari's Wake provides is more significant than a first glance suggests.
Mana Reflection - 4GG
Exhibits A through C: signets, Thran Dynamo, and Gilded Lotus.
Casting ramp goes from a down-payment toward the future played instead of spells, to the rituals needed for dropping bombs now. Grease that makes the engine purr like a v12.
Omniscience - 7UUU
We've developed controlled nuclear fusion, and have gone full electric.
Scion remains a mana-glutton, but removing mana requirements for spells from the equation turns card-drawing into a self-fueling cycle, ending the game in short order.
Draw
Frantic Search - 2U
Loots, filters mana, and often generates a little. Sometimes a lot. With a low land count, the habit of regularly losing our hand anyway, as well plenty of high CMC cards that don't mind hitting the yard, this is a card you will almost always be happy to see.
Note that you cast this with a karoo's bounce trigger on the stack, so they will not stop you from getting 3 untaps on turn 3 (assuming you have the mana).
Wheel of Fortune - 2R
CMC 3, draw 7? These sorts of effects are central to the deck's game plan. Hopefully you should be able to quickly drop rocks and refill to get more value out of this than your opponents.
Greater Good - 2GG
Incredible draw and digging power; cornerstone and namesake of the deck.
Time Spiral - 4UU
Like Wheel of Fortune, but generally cheaper after resolving. Sometimes generates mana.
Shuffling your graveyard in can be a mixed blessing. On one hand, this may allow Scion to vent and wheel again, but on the other hand it may be a while before Twilight's Call & Co are strong cards again.
Time
The deck always wishes for more mana and more combat steps. Time magic grants both.
Time Warp - 3UU
Run as many of these as you can. While Walk the Aeons is still good, the one mana difference in cost can regularly make a lot of difference, whether it allows you to drop another rock first, or determining whether you can cast the spell at all.
The portal versions don't have to worry about Misdirection.
Walk the Aeons - 4UU
Buyback is there, but you'll hardly ever use it.
Temporal Mastery - 5UU
Definitely worth using as explore. Very strong with Vampiric Tutor in the mid and late game.
Temporal Trespass - "8"UUU
Delve is great, but the triple blue cost can hurt.
Time Stretch - 8UU
If you can regularly hit 10 mana...should double Time Warp (but not double the U!) resolve, it is unlikely that you can't win before any of your opponents see another turn.
Card Recovery
Regrowth - 1G
Dumping your hand and looting can let cards like Regrowth work similar to tutors.
If you have a lot of redundancy, Regrowth will often serve you just as well as Demonic Tutor. If you don't and the card happens to be in your yard, then you need a regrowth.
Treasured Find - BG
Almost as good as Regrowth, with just a few points docked for the B. I am currently not running this. I do think I'm likely to end up working it back into the list though.
Eternal Witness - 1GG
You can hardly find a green list not running her. Volrath's Stronghold, Living Death, Twilight's Call, and Teneb more than make up for the extra G: easily the best of the lot.
Mass Reanimation
Living Death - 3BB
Can also be cast as a wrath (watch out for It That Betrays!) early game. If you have Greater Good and the choice to first cast this or one of the other cards of this category, cast the other: doing so will ensure each opponent without a sac-outlet gets a board free of creatures once Living Death resolves.
Watch out for Acidic Slime & Co.
Patriarch's Bidding - 3BB
Unless someone else is playing tribal, should generally bring back a much higher percentage of the creatures in your yard than any of your opponent's.
Twilight's Call - 4BB
This reverse-rout is less interesting than the two spells mass reanimation spells for 3BB, but it gets the job done.
Casting it for 6BB during the last end step before your turn will be a great trick on occasion.
Control
Pact of Negation - 3UU
Lets you commit fully toward the[/mana] [c="Mana Reflection"]big plays while still having some protection.
If the amount of mana you're producing is inflating rapidly, can look like a good deal.
Nihil Spellbomb - 1
Some creatures or armies can make casting Patriarch's Bidding et al look like a bad idea.
When you finding a vamp variant after a wheel, the cantrip will suddenly look like its worth a lot more than 1 card.
Swan Song - U
I have not played with this card enough to find out just how problematic the flying token is. More often than not, one of the other opponents should be clear.
While it doesn't hit artifacts, it can deal with a large number of problematic cards.
Hushwing Gryff - 2W
This deck only really cares about two of its own ETB triggers: Eternal Witness and Knollspine Dragon. Most decks have far more; a few are totally crippled by Torpor Orb. Why run the young Gryff over the older staple? The creature is far easier for me to both remove, and recur.
Song of the Dryads - 2G
Handles any permanent it can target -- including opposing commanders, without sending them to the command zone. Transforming them into a hard-to-destroy land is a kicker.
Krosan Grip - 2G
Deals with problematic artifacts and enchantments, almost uncounterable, and can even save your graveyard -- or at least reduce the value they get out of it, thanks to playing around grip.
Vindicate - 1WB
Destroy target permanent. Flexible answer.
Crux of Fate - 3BB
It will take some testing to figure out if the bonus of sparing dragons is worth sending opposing creatures to the yards.
Merciless Eviction - 4WB
Flexible, powerful, exiles.
Terminus - 4WW
Generals may not get tucked, but their creatures still disappear into libraries. The possibility of tutoring for a miracle is a nice one to have.
Lands
Ancient Tomb
Incredible land, Untaidake, the Cloud Keeper showing just how good R&D (rightfully) thinks it is. Despite being 5 colors, the deck offers 17 artifacts costing 2 or more, the full suite of 10 signets to filter colorless mana, and a commander with an activated ability costing 2.
Colored Mana
Five color lands are of course fantastic, as are ABUR duals, fetches, and to a lesser extant shocks.
My financial limitations are currently constraining my mana base.
Karoo lands
Slow, but help the deck hit land drops during the early turns in spite of the anemic land count. They also play well with Frantic Search and sometimes Time Spiral (when the deck actually hits 6 lands).
Bojuka Bog
Not everyone runs reanimate, but this deck takes care of that for them.
Boseiju, Who Shelters All
Nice insurance when dropping bombs like Living Death or Time Spiral.
Phyrexian Tower
A sacrifice outlet, and the most frequent target when Wargate gets cast for UGW. Sacrifices Academy Rector, Eternal Witness, and Yosei. Plays well with Volrath's Stronghold.
Volrath's Stronghold
Allows Scion to take on any dragon's visage once more. Brings back Eternal Witness, and thus any card sitting in the 'yard.
Cards to Test
Lightning Greaves - 2
It is hard to argue with haste, shroud, and an equip cost of 0 -- but flavor this bad [in a dragon deck] makes a valiant effort.
This was cut ages ago as the game plan forsook voltron. Since then, Scion's supporting potential has ballooned immensely, meaning the boots once again deserve a spot.
Garruk Wildspeaker - 2GG
The cheapest of the three planeswalkers I would like to test. Their common thread is that they all make mana, and get worse the harder they are to defend. Having only rarely played planeswalkers in commander, I have little idea how likely they really are to stick around. If they can stick around, they're likely to all be rather powerful.
Garruk has the same CMC as Thran Dynamo, and all it takes is one of the seven lands that tap for 2 to net the same amount of mana -- but [mostly] in color.
Tezzeret the Seeker - 3UU
There are four artifacts that would allow Tezzeret to produce more than two mana. Two of these artifacts can tutor for without dieing on the turn it enters the battlefield. Will be even stronger once I acquire Mana Crypt; can also tutor for Nihil Spellbomb and potential additions Pithing Needle & Lightning Greaves.
Teferi, Temporal Archmage - 4UU
While he features the highest CMC of the three, and a minus ability rather than a plus, his untap is also much more powerful: untaps twice the permanents, with the flexibility to target anything. It is not difficult for Teferi to nearly pay for himself the turn he is cast, and generate oodles of mana thereafter.
Tooth and Nail - 7GG
Dragonstorm - 8R
I would like to test both big 9-drop sorceries with substantial constructed success: Tooth and Nail and Dragonstorm. The latter is harder to counterspell, while the former is otherwise more reliable: doesn't require you to play another spell first, can put dragons you've drawn into play, and even tutor Eternal Witness into hand in place of the drawn dragon.
Dragonstorm wins points for flavor, and has the potential to be far more powerful. Yet, if you're capable of casting a 9-drop sorcery and several other spells in one turn, aren't you already winning?
Dragonstorm seems as its best (or, at least, most scary) when tutoring the heavy-hitter dragons. Thankfully, these aren't Scion's first targets, so the risk of already having pulled them out of the deck isn't too great.
With a storm count of three and one dethrone trigger: + Scourge of the Throne + Atarka + Utvara Hellkite -> 148 damage and twelve 6/6 flying dragon tokens.
Savage Ventmaw is likely to often be involved in casting such expensive spells, meaning it may be harder to achieve pre-combat than I would like.
How to play the deck
While this deck is a blast to play, it is not always readily obvious what it does from simply looking at the cards.
It looks slow, clunky, as though it had a high curve.
I've often found explicit examples (as opposed to implicit descriptions) of strategy and game plans work better. When playing a new board-game with friends, I much prefer seeing over reading the manual!
So, a "match" on tappedout.net vs my aquatic rival who's always ready to play: Carassius auratus, the goldfish.
To keep it simple: there is a tank with a half dozen goldfish. One of the fish always combos off and wins turn 6, and I am the last player. Thus, either: a) I win before any fish sees its sixth turn, or b) the ray-fins secure another victory.
I'll play with exceedingly generous mulligan rules: Partial Paris, the first of which is free.
Best three out of five wins the match.
I am capped at paying 20 life to Moltensteel Dragon. With only one proper dual, I bleed. Given this, I can't get too greedy.
On the other-hand, I always assume Scourge of the Throne is active against some-fish.
Game One
Game 1 Turn 0:
Opening hand: Azorius Signet, Prossh, Greater Good, Vindicate, Boros Signet, Chrome Mox, Skyshroud Claim
Justice served for the low landcount. I should obviously keep the three rocks, but what about Skyshroud Claim?
Having zero lands, I figure it is best to throw away four cards, drawing: Sol Ring, Savage Ventmaw, Arid Mesa, Scalding Tarn.
2 Poison 0
3 Life 40
4 Scion of the Ur-Dragon Exiled
5 Sol Ring Hand
6 Savage Ventmaw Hand
7 Arid Mesa Hand
8 Scalding Tarn Hand
9 Greater Good Library
10 Vindicate Library
11 Prossh, Skyraider of Kher Library
12 Skyshroud Claim Library 13 Shuffled Library
14 Shuffled Library
15 Shuffled Library
Game 1 Turn 1:
I draw Gruul Signet.
Tarn fetches Watery Grave, the dragon imprints on Chrome Mox. Sol Ring and both the Boros and Azorius signets hit play.
17 Scalding Tarn Battlefield
18 Scalding Tarn Graveyard
19 Watery Grave Hand
20 Shuffled Library
21 Shuffled Library
22 Watery Grave Battlefield
23 Sol Ring Battlefield
24 Chrome Mox Battlefield
25 Savage Ventmaw Exiled
26 Boros Signet Battlefield
27 Azorius Signet Battlefield
Game 1 Turn 2:
I draw Azorius Chancery. Sol Ring taps for Gruul Signet. Mox -> Gruul -> Boros -> Azorius + Watery Grave cast Scion.
Azorius Chancery bounces Watery Grave.
2 Gruul Signet Battlefield
3 Scion of the Ur-Dragon Battlefield
4 Azorius Chancery Battlefield
5 Watery Grave Hand
Game 1 Turn 3:
I draw Simic Signet.
Scion is in play, and following the land drop I would have 9 mana.
This raises the question: Knollspine Dragon or Dragon Mage?
If I were to take the latter path, I'd first drop the signet, leaving me with 6 mana and a fresh 7 cards.
With the former, I would have to pay nine mana total for it to be worthwhile: chain 3 activations, dumping Knollspine Dragon, Moltensteel Dragon, and finally Teneb. The last three mana activate Teneb's trigger to revive Knollspine Dragon and draw 16 cards.
With six mana, there are only four Time Warps I could cast. As Scion is incapable of also serving as a sac-outlet the odds of winning before the fish see their fourth turn doesn't look too high. If I also whiff on good card draw, I may have to follow the former route the following turn anyway. Which suggests a turn 5 win: cutting it close!
I thus opt for the Knollspine plan, hoping to safely win on turn 4.
The first seven cards included 6 lands and a Simic Signet. The remaining 9 were more exciting; the hand I keep through the turn's end:
Twilight's Call, Walk the Aeons, Demonic Tutor, Eternal Witness, Frontier Siege, Chromatic Lantern, Badlands.
2 Watery Grave Battlefield
3 Knollspine Dragon Hand
4 Moltensteel Dragon Hand
5 Teneb, the Harvester Hand
6 Shuffled Library
7 Shuffled Library
8 Knollspine Dragon Battlefield
9 Moltensteel Dragon Graveyard
10 Teneb, the Harvester Graveyard
11 Arid Mesa Graveyard
12 Simic Signet Graveyard
13 Temple Garden Hand
14 Badlands Hand
15 Polluted Delta Hand
16 Bojuka Bog Hand
17 Izzet Signet Hand
18 Stomping Ground Hand
19 City of Brass Hand
20 Overgrown Tomb Hand
21 Twilight's Call Hand
22 Walk the Aeons Hand
23 Demonic Tutor Hand
24 Chromatic Lantern Hand
25 Eternal Witness Hand
26 Pact of Negation Hand
27 Breeding Pool Hand
28 Frontier Siege Hand
29 Utvara Hellkite Hand
30 Utvara Hellkite Library
31 Temple Garden Graveyard
32 Breeding Pool Graveyard
33 Overgrown Tomb Graveyard
34 Stomping Ground Graveyard
35 City of Brass Graveyard
36 Bojuka Bog Graveyard
37 Polluted Delta Graveyard
38 Izzet Signet Graveyard
39 Pact of Negation Graveyard
Game 1 Turn 4:
Topdeck Utvara Hellkite. Play Badlands, making 10 mana total.
Cast Demonic Tutor (8 left) for and then cast Academy Rector (4 left).
Use the remaining mana to activate Scion twice. The first temporarily makes him Prossh, eating the rector for Omniscience, before the second resolves making Scion a 6/5 Dragon Mage.
Might as well choose "Dragons" on Frontier Siege.
Cast Walk the Aeons, Eternal Witness -> Demonic Tutor -> Greater Good.
Sacrifice Knollspine Dragon for the Greater Good. I drew Time Stretch, Wheel of Fortune, and Vampiric Tutor.
Given Greater Good, Omniscience, Twilight's Call, and Eternal Witness I'm free to draw the deck, put all the dragons onto the table, and enjoy as many combat steps as I would like.
2 Badlands Battlefield
3 Demonic Tutor Graveyard
4 Academy Rector Hand
5 Academy Rector Exiled
6 Omniscience Hand
7 Shuffled Library
8 Shuffled Library
9 Omniscience Battlefield
10 Prossh, Skyraider of Kher Hand
11 Prossh, Skyraider of Kher Graveyard
12 Dragon Mage Hand
13 Shuffled Library
14 Dragon Mage Graveyard
15 Frontier Siege Battlefield
16 Eternal Witness Battlefield
17 Demonic Tutor Hand
18 Demonic Tutor Graveyard
19 Demonic Tutor Hand
20 Walk the Aeons Graveyard
21 Demonic Tutor Graveyard
22 Greater Good Hand
23 Shuffled Library
24 Shuffled Library
25 Greater Good Battlefield
26 Knollspine Dragon Graveyard
27 Crux of Fate Hand
28 Steam Vents Hand
29 Time Stretch Hand
30 Wheel of Fortune Hand
31 Vampiric Tutor Hand
32 Krosan Grip Hand
33 Rakdos Signet Hand
34 Krosan Grip Graveyard
35 Rakdos Signet Graveyard
36 Steam Vents Graveyard
Game Two
Game 2 Turn 0:
I rip Azorius Chancery, Phyrexian Tower, Mirari's Wake, Golgari Rot Farm, Darksteel Ingot, Living Death, Golgari Signet.
Without a second land that comes into play untapped, this hand looks like it may be slow. I ditch the rot farm and Living Death, receiving Time Spiral and Farseek.
2 Poison 0
3 Life 40
4 Scion of the Ur-Dragon Exiled
5 Time Spiral Hand
6 Farseek Hand
7 Living Death Library
8 Golgari Rot Farm Library
9 Shuffled Library
10 Shuffled Library
11 Shuffled Library
12 Shuffled Library
Game 2 Turn 1:
I draw Vampiric Tutor, play Phyrexian Tower, and pass.
Current game plan looks to be: vamp tutor for Academy Rector, and sac to the tower for Omniscience. Mirari's Wake + Time Spiral should ensure that my general can enter the battlefield that same turn.
The mana is looking slow, however!
14 Phyrexian Tower Battlefield
Game 2 Turn 2:
I draw Skyshroud Claim. That doesn't help.
Play Azorius Chancery bouncing the tower, and end of turn discard Darksteel Ingot.
Turn, signet into Farseek will produce five mana. Thus on turn four, we'd either get Omniscience (if we drew a land that enters untapped on turn 3), or cast Mirari's Wake/Skyshroud Claim. Not much use foreseen for the Darksteel Signet.
2 Phyrexian Tower Hand
3 Azorius Chancery Battlefield
4 Darksteel Ingot Exiled
5 Darksteel Ingot Graveyard
Game 2 Turn 3:
I draw Boseiju. =/
Farseek fetches Badlands to find red mana and allow for non-awkard on-upkeep Vampiric Tutor (although without the untapped land, we can't do that next turn for Omniscience.
2 Phyrexian Tower Battlefield
3 Golgari Signet Battlefield
4 Farseek Graveyard
5 Badlands Hand
6 Shuffled Library
7 Badlands Battlefield
Game 2 Turn 4:
I draw Yosei.
For the purpose of getting us to Omniscience on the following turn, both Skyshroud Claim and Mirari's Wake would boost us by 2 mana. (With Mirari's Wake, Badlands' second mana will be wasted during the upkeep, and Phyrexian Tower will only produce mana after Omniscience enters the battlefield.
So the trade-off is the awkward feeling the enchantment's mana will give us, vs the fact it will give us 5 more mana after all our spells in hand are free. I am going with the latter: Scion is often hungry.
Mirari's Wake, Boseiju, pass.
2 Mirari's Wake Battlefield
3 Boseiju, Who Shelters All Battlefield
Game 2 Turn 5:
Vampiric Tutor for Academy Rector during the upkeep. Cast (leaving a UW floating by paying 2 with Boseiju) and then sac for Omniscience and BBB.
Cast Yosei and Skyshroud Claim, finding Stomping Ground and Breeding Pool untapped.
Tapping both leaves U W BBB RR GG in the mana pool when Time Spiral resolves, untapping the six lands.
Goodies drawn include Greater Good and Regrowth.
Casting Greater Good and sacrificing Yosei (for six cards) produces Temporal Tresspass, Knollspine Dragon, and Scourge of the Throne.
The mission now is to get an army of dragons: find Living Death, Twilight's Call, or Patriarch's Bidding.
Lining up an extra turn and trading Knollspine for 8 cards finds Time Warp and Silumgar.
Trading the scourge for six more finds Teneb, Savage Ventmaw, and Eternal Witness. Trading Teneb finally gives us what we were looking for: Twilight's Call, Patriarch's Bidding, and Demonic Tutor.
That is enough to say we didn't fizzle.
2 Vampiric Tutor Graveyard
3 Academy Rector Hand
4 Shuffled Library
5 Academy Rector Battlefield
6 Academy Rector Exiled
7 Omniscience Hand
8 Shuffled Library
9 Omniscience Battlefield
10 Yosei, the Morning Star Battlefield
11 Skyshroud Claim Graveyard
12 Stomping Ground Hand
13 Breeding Pool Hand
14 Shuffled Library
15 Stomping Ground Battlefield
16 Breeding Pool Battlefield
17 Skyshroud Claim Library
18 Vampiric Tutor Library
19 Farseek Library
20 Darksteel Ingot Library
21 Time Spiral Exiled
22 Shuffled Library
23 Shuffled Library
24 Nihil Spellbomb Hand
25 Regrowth Hand
26 Overgrown Tomb Hand
27 Greater Good Hand
28 Chrome Mox Hand
29 Selesnya Signet Hand
30 Marsh Flats Hand
31 Greater Good Battlefield
32 Knollspine Dragon Hand
33 Boros Signet Hand
34 Temporal Trespass Hand
35 Scourge of the Throne Hand
36 City of Brass Hand
37 Gilded Lotus Hand
38 Terminus Hand
39 Terminus Library
40 Yosei, the Morning Star Graveyard
41 Marsh Flats Graveyard
42 Overgrown Tomb Graveyard
43 Chrome Mox Graveyard
44 Temporal Trespass Exiled
45 Knollspine Dragon Battlefield
46 Knollspine Dragon Graveyard
47 Terminus Hand
48 Polluted Delta Hand
49 Ancient Tomb Hand
50 Time Warp Hand
51 Golgari Rot Farm Hand
52 Silumgar, the Drifting Death Hand
53 Crux of Fate Hand
54 Dimir Signet Hand
55 Polluted Delta Graveyard
56 Ancient Tomb Graveyard
57 Golgari Rot Farm Graveyard
58 Time Warp Graveyard
59 Scourge of the Throne Battlefield
60 Scourge of the Throne Graveyard
61 Savage Ventmaw Hand
62 Watery Grave Hand
63 Teneb, the Harvester Hand
64 Thran Dynamo Hand
65 Eternal Witness Hand
66 Simic Growth Chamber Hand
67 Teneb, the Harvester Battlefield
68 Teneb, the Harvester Graveyard
69 Teneb, the Harvester Battlefield
70 Simic Growth Chamber Graveyard
71 Watery Grave Graveyard
72 Boros Signet Graveyard
73 Teneb, the Harvester Graveyard
74 Twilight's Call Hand
75 Patriarch's Bidding Hand
76 Hushwing Gryff Hand
77 Worn Powerstone Hand
78 Krosan Grip Hand
79 Gruul Turf Hand
80 Demonic Tutor Hand
81 Gruul Turf Graveyard
82 City of Brass Graveyard
83 Selesnya Signet Graveyard
Game Three
Game 3 Turn 0:
I open with Watery Grave, Simic Signet, Treasured Find, Temple Garden, Demonic Tutor, Temporal Manipulation, and Mirari's Wake.
Light on ramp, trade the Treasured Find and the two five drops for...Boseiju, Wheel of Fortune, and Moltensteel Dragon.
Trade the cipt land and dragon for Azorius Signet.
[Note: I don't think it was correct to ditch Mirari's Wake. Oh well.]
2 Poison 0
3 Life 40
4 Scion of the Ur-Dragon Exiled
5 Boseiju, Who Shelters All Hand
6 Wheel of Fortune Hand
7 Moltensteel Dragon Hand
8 Azorius Signet Hand
9 Moltensteel Dragon Library
10 Boseiju, Who Shelters All Library
11 Mirari's Wake Library
12 Temporal Manipulation Library
13 Treasured Find Library
14 Shuffled Library
Game 3 Turn 1:
Draw Golgari Signet and play Watery Grave tapped.
My plan right now is to ramp into wheel. Might even tutor for Ancient Tomb.
16 Watery Grave Battlefield
Game 3 Turn 2:
Drew Merciless Eviction. Play Temple Garden and Golgari Signet, pass.
2 Temple Garden Battlefield
3 Golgari Signet Battlefield
Game 3 Turn 3:
Drew Lim-Dûl's Vault -- a royal pain in the butt to use on tappedout.net.
Because I lack red mana to actually cast wheel, I can't actually follow the "Ancient Tomb + two signets this turn" plan into draw 7.
Therefore, do I get a red source, or sac-outlet so I can vault for Academy Rector?
Either way I play one signet this turn and can't get Omniscience next turn. Games one and two ended the same way, so I will try something different: Steam Vents it is. Plus, I might want to cast Scion.
(Followed by Azorius Signet.)
2 Demonic Tutor Battlefield
3 Steam Vents Hand
4 Demonic Tutor Graveyard
5 Shuffled Library
6 Steam Vents Battlefield
7 Azorius Signet Battlefield
Game 3 Turn 4:
I draw Crux of Fate: no help at the moment.
Given that I will lose if I can't win next turn, I figure it is better to cast Scion this turn, and then ritual + tutor before wheeling.
2 Scion of the Ur-Dragon Battlefield
Game 3 Turn 5:
I draw Breeding Pool - would have been nice last turn (so that Selesnya Signet could be in play)!
After Savage Ventmaw I will have 10 mana total. Following that with Lim-Dûl's Vault and Wheel of Fortune will leave me with five, but that seems the safest play. I need to find a set of five that contains Time Warp plus something exciting for the next turn.
I have to be careful to tap Temple Garden and Golgari Signet to activate Scion, lest I don't have UUUB I will need.
Post-combat I have RRRGGG in my pool, while Breeding Pool and Azorious Signet remain untapped:
The five cards I see are:
1. Frontier Siege, Boros Signet, Rakdos Signet, Living Death, Time Stretch
2. Pact of Negation, Scourge of the Throne, Boseiju, Simic Signet, Greater Good
3. Mirari's Wake, Thran Dynamo, Selesnya Sanctuary, Hushwing Gryff, Utvara Hellkite
4. Darksteel Ingot, Twilight's Call, Vampiric Tutor, Stomping Ground, Silumgar
5. Overgrown Tomb, Bojuka Bog, Karrthus, Sol Ring, Temporal Tresspass.
I'm missing the third blue mana for the tresspass, and won't count on another blue signet showing up in the two additional cards I would draw. It would have worked out, as capture would've been the last card:
6. Simic Growth Chamber, Capture of Jingzhou, Orzhov Signet, Time Spiral, Gilded Lotus
Well, that is probably about as good as it is going to get.
They stay on top, I can wheel for RRG, leaving RGG in my pool. Cards six and seven were Gruul Turf and Sacred Foundry. I was hoping for Skyshroud Claim to play with Time Spiral. Thankfully, shuffling the yard in means I get to ventmaw again next turn, if necessary.
2 Breeding Pool Battlefield
3 Savage Ventmaw Hand
4 Shuffled Library
5 Savage Ventmaw Graveyard
6 Lim-Dûl's Vault Battlefield
7 Frontier Siege Battlefield
8 Boros Signet Battlefield
9 Rakdos Signet Battlefield
10 Living Death Battlefield
11 Time Stretch Battlefield
12 Frontier Siege Library
13 Boros Signet Library
14 Rakdos Signet Library
15 Living Death Library
16 Time Stretch Library
17 Pact of Negation Battlefield
18 Scourge of the Throne Battlefield
19 Boseiju, Who Shelters All Battlefield
20 Simic Signet Battlefield
21 Greater Good Battlefield
22 Pact of Negation Library
23 Greater Good Library
24 Scourge of the Throne Library
25 Boseiju, Who Shelters All Library
26 Simic Signet Library
27 Mirari's Wake Battlefield
28 Thran Dynamo Battlefield
29 Selesnya Sanctuary Battlefield
30 Hushwing Gryff Battlefield
31 Utvara Hellkite Battlefield
32 Selesnya Sanctuary Library
33 Hushwing Gryff Library
34 Mirari's Wake Library
35 Thran Dynamo Library
36 Utvara Hellkite Library
37 Darksteel Ingot Battlefield
38 Twilight's Call Battlefield
39 Vampiric Tutor Battlefield
40 Stomping Ground Battlefield
41 Silumgar, the Drifting Death Battlefield
42 Darksteel Ingot Library
43 Silumgar, the Drifting Death Library
44 Stomping Ground Library
45 Twilight's Call Library
46 Vampiric Tutor Library
47 Overgrown Tomb Battlefield
48 Bojuka Bog Battlefield
49 Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund Battlefield
50 Sol Ring Battlefield
51 Temporal Trespass Battlefield
52 Bojuka Bog Library
53 Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund Library
54 Overgrown Tomb Library
55 Sol Ring Library
56 Temporal Trespass Library
57 Simic Growth Chamber Battlefield
58 Capture of Jingzhou Battlefield
59 Orzhov Signet Battlefield
60 Time Spiral Battlefield
61 Gilded Lotus Battlefield
62 Simic Growth Chamber Library
63 Capture of Jingzhou Library
64 Orzhov Signet Library
65 Time Spiral Library
66 Gilded Lotus Library
67 Wheel of Fortune Graveyard
68 Crux of Fate Graveyard
69 Merciless Eviction Graveyard
70 Selesnya Signet Graveyard
71 Gilded Lotus Hand
72 Time Spiral Hand
73 Orzhov Signet Hand
74 Capture of Jingzhou Hand
75 Simic Growth Chamber Hand
76 Gruul Turf Hand
77 Sacred Foundry Hand
78 Lim-Dûl's Vault Graveyard
79 Capture of Jingzhou Graveyard
Game 3 Turn 6 (1 extra):
I draw Walk the Aeons, which precedes to serve as a free Explore: I drop Orzhov Signet and Sacred Foundry before taking my second extra turn.
81 Sacred Foundry Battlefield
82 Orzhov Signet Battlefield
83 Walk the Aeons Graveyard
Game 3 Turn 7 (2 extra):
It's a miracle: Temporal Mastery.
Providing an excellent chance to improve our board position before firing off the Time Spiral.
Simic Growth Chamber bounces its little brother, Gilded Lotus joins the three signets, and Scion spits out a 6/6 token. Six more power means 6 more cards off [card="Knollspine Dragon"], who is likely to enter the fray shortly.
85 Temporal Mastery Exiled
86 Gilded Lotus Battlefield
87 Breeding Pool Hand
88 Simic Growth Chamber Battlefield
89 Utvara Hellkite Hand
90 Utvara Hellkite Graveyard
91 Dragon Battlefield
92 Shuffled Library
Game 3 Turn 8 (3rd extra):
Draw Hallowed Fountain. Play it and leave a U floating with 6 untapped lands after Time Spiral.
New hand: Wheel of Fortune, Phyrexian Tower, Pact of Negation, Merciless Eviction, Mana Reflection, Simic Signet, Skyshroud Claim.
The lotus and growth chamber bring Mana Reflection into play -- resulting in the potential to access 20 mana: 5 lands * 2 + 3 signets in play * 3 + 1 signet in hand * 1.
Drop the signet in hand and Skyshroud Claim, cast wheel.
With UG floating:
New hand: Command Tower, Knollspine Dragon, Regrowth, Sol Ring, Birds of Paradise, Scalding Tarn, Eternal Witness
Scion uses the floating mana to rend worlds.
Bash for 24, then drop Birds of Paradise, Sol Ring, and finally Knollspine Dragon for 24 cards (with a W floating*).
*I have the last amount of cards costing white, so I figured I'd tap a land for WW and use one of them along Sol Ring's 4 colorless for Knollspine.
Short list of the good stuff:
2 Signets (Rakdos and Orzhov), Chrome Mox, Academy Rector, and Greater Good.
No Omniscience, but with 3 untapped lands (two blue) and the floating W plus the above rocks (and Mana Reflection) makes 11.
Other cards include Frantic Search, several Time Warps, demonic and vampiric tutors, Twilight's Call, Mirari's Wake, and four dragons.
Simply cast Greater Good and Academy Rector -> Omniscience -> win.
93 Hallowed Fountain Hand
94 Hallowed Fountain Battlefield
95 Time Spiral Battlefield
96 Gruul Turf Library
97 Breeding Pool Library
98 Utvara Hellkite Library
99 Walk the Aeons Library
100 Capture of Jingzhou Library
101 Lim-Dûl's Vault Library
102 Selesnya Signet Library
103 Merciless Eviction Library
104 Crux of Fate Library
105 Wheel of Fortune Library
106 Savage Ventmaw Library
107 Demonic Tutor Library
108 Shuffled Library
109 Shuffled Library
110 Shuffled Library
111 Wheel of Fortune Hand
112 Phyrexian Tower Hand
113 Pact of Negation Hand
114 Merciless Eviction Hand
115 Mana Reflection Hand
116 Simic Signet Hand
117 Skyshroud Claim Hand
118 Mana Reflection Battlefield
119 Time Spiral Exiled
120 Simic Signet Battlefield
121 Skyshroud Claim Graveyard
122 Breeding Pool Hand
123 Overgrown Tomb Hand
124 Breeding Pool Battlefield
125 Overgrown Tomb Battlefield
126 Wheel of Fortune Graveyard
127 Merciless Eviction Graveyard
128 Pact of Negation Graveyard
129 Phyrexian Tower Graveyard
130 Shuffled Library
131 Shuffled Library
132 Shuffled Library
133 Shuffled Library
134 Shuffled Library
135 Shuffled Library
136 Command Tower Hand
137 Knollspine Dragon Hand
138 Regrowth Hand
139 Sol Ring Hand
140 Birds of Paradise Hand
141 Scalding Tarn Hand
142 Eternal Witness Hand
143 Atarka, World Render Hand
144 Shuffled Library
145 Shuffled Library
146 Atarka, World Render Graveyard
147 Birds of Paradise Battlefield
148 Sol Ring Battlefield
149 Knollspine Dragon Battlefield
150 Command Tower Graveyard
151 Eternal Witness Graveyard
152 Scalding Tarn Graveyard
153 Regrowth Graveyard
154 Nature's Lore Hand
155 Walk the Aeons Hand
156 Stomping Ground Hand
157 Academy Rector Hand
158 Rakdos Signet Hand
159 Izzet Signet Hand
160 Terminus Hand
161 Coalition Relic Hand
162 Twilight's Call Hand
163 Yosei, the Morning Star Hand
164 Vampiric Tutor Hand
165 Utvara Hellkite Hand
166 Mirari's Wake Hand
167 Temporal Trespass Hand
168 Demonic Tutor Hand
169 Greater Good Hand
170 Worn Powerstone Hand
171 Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund Hand
172 Capture of Jingzhou Hand
173 Chrome Mox Hand
174 Golgari Rot Farm Hand
175 Frantic Search Hand
176 Lim-Dûl's Vault Hand
177 Silumgar, the Drifting Death Hand
Dragons: 3, Fish: 0
Although, if the fish could combo off turn 4 the record would be 2-1 in their favor.
Humans, unlike fish, can both interact and be interacted with: they will disrupt you, and you'd best disrupt them. This deck would play very differently if capped.
Goldfishing still provides a useful perspective: how direly do your opponents need to interact?
In an opener, mana is paramount. Throw away any cards unlikely to do much early game: dragons, cards that care about the graveyard (although you could devise worse plans than regrowthing a ramp spell or fetch), etc; you will lose them anyway. Pay attention to colors: not much feels worse than keeping a hand before realizing you can't actually cast your Skyshroud's Claim, or failing to cast Scion at seven mana.
Academy Rector is also something to look for: can you quickly get it into play and sacrifice it? Wargate and the black tutors can find both a sac-outlet and the omniscience-seeking academic. Scion is also happy to eat the chancellor.
Cast all the acceleration you can, although the big mana enchantments can weight until after you stick Scion.
As your hand empties of acceleration, casting your commander or a draw-7 should become the top priority: the transition to your mid game.
Mid Game: Draw & the Hunt for Big Mana
Stick Scion. If it survives through to your next turn, and you have a Time Warp, it is often to cast and wheel, so you can untap and make use of your fresh goodies before anyone else (some cards are a bit broken).
The end game involves passing a critical point of endless self-fueling draw and mana-production. Therefore, in the mid-game the focus is on setting up a draw engine, and the mana to run it; time magic completes the feedback loop.
Ritual out big mana or cheat Omniscience onto the field. Knollspine for 15+ cards kicks off the draw engine. Greater Good + Patriarch's Bidding et al is the simplest way to keep it going, but Knollspine and Teneb + sac-outlet can also draw you 20+ cards per turn.
Late Game
Once you've set up a big mana enchantment and a draw engine, you are in the late game -- although enough rocks can get you there whether you have an enchantment or not.
You need mana to fuel your card draw engine, which in turn finds the ramp and time magic ensuring escalating mana production.
Note that both the Greater Good and Knollspine Dragon draw engines culminate in resserecting massive dragon-armies; while the latter engine can run on Teneb, you're still just as likely to want to cast any Twilight's Call variants you draw: paying the [mana]1B[/more] or so more mana than Teneb's trigger adds many more dragons == more damage == more cards. Similarly, Utvara Hellkite provides a strong incentive for getting into the red zone under the Greater Good plan.
While with Volrath's Stronghold and Eternal Witness the deck is able to ultimately "go infinite", this has never been the case in practice: opponent's life totals (and concessions) has always been the fuel to give out first. Some of the more abstract descriptions may make this build of Scion sound like a combo deck (maybe it is), but that is glossing over the fact that the game plan is all about dealing damage by tapping
guysdragons sideways.Thanks to Rivenor for the awesome sig!
Wants Bloodbraid Elf banned in modern
:DWish granted as of January 27, 2013!:D
It looks slow, clunky, as though it had a high curve.
I've often found explicit examples (as opposed to implicit descriptions) of strategy and game plans work better. When playing a new board-game with friends, I much prefer seeing over reading the manual!
So, a "match" on tappedout.net vs my aquatic rival who's always ready to play: Carassius auratus, the goldfish.
To keep it simple: there is a tank with a half dozen goldfish. One of the fish always combos off and wins turn 6, and I am the last player. Thus, either: a) I win before any fish sees its sixth turn, or b) the ray-fins secure another victory.
I'll play with exceedingly generous mulligan rules: Partial Paris, the first of which is free.
Best three out of five wins the match.
I am capped at paying 20 life to Moltensteel Dragon. With only one proper dual, I bleed. Given this, I can't get too greedy.
On the other-hand, I always assume Scourge of the Throne is active against some-fish.
Game One
Game 1 Turn 0:
Opening hand: Azorius Signet, Prossh, Greater Good, Vindicate, Boros Signet, Chrome Mox, Skyshroud Claim
Justice served for the low landcount. I should obviously keep the three rocks, but what about Skyshroud Claim?
Having zero lands, I figure it is best to throw away four cards, drawing: Sol Ring, Savage Ventmaw, Arid Mesa, Scalding Tarn.
2 Poison 0
3 Life 40
4 Scion of the Ur-Dragon Exiled
5 Sol Ring Hand
6 Savage Ventmaw Hand
7 Arid Mesa Hand
8 Scalding Tarn Hand
9 Greater Good Library
10 Vindicate Library
11 Prossh, Skyraider of Kher Library
12 Skyshroud Claim Library 13 Shuffled Library
14 Shuffled Library
15 Shuffled Library
Game 1 Turn 1:
I draw Gruul Signet.
Tarn fetches Watery Grave, the dragon imprints on Chrome Mox. Sol Ring and both the Boros and Azorius signets hit play.
17 Scalding Tarn Battlefield
18 Scalding Tarn Graveyard
19 Watery Grave Hand
20 Shuffled Library
21 Shuffled Library
22 Watery Grave Battlefield
23 Sol Ring Battlefield
24 Chrome Mox Battlefield
25 Savage Ventmaw Exiled
26 Boros Signet Battlefield
27 Azorius Signet Battlefield
Game 1 Turn 2:
I draw Azorius Chancery. Sol Ring taps for Gruul Signet. Mox -> Gruul -> Boros -> Azorius + Watery Grave cast Scion.
Azorius Chancery bounces Watery Grave.
2 Gruul Signet Battlefield
3 Scion of the Ur-Dragon Battlefield
4 Azorius Chancery Battlefield
5 Watery Grave Hand
Game 1 Turn 3:
I draw Simic Signet.
Scion is in play, and following the land drop I would have 9 mana.
This raises the question: Knollspine Dragon or Dragon Mage?
If I were to take the latter path, I'd first drop the signet, leaving me with 6 mana and a fresh 7 cards.
With the former, I would have to pay nine mana total for it to be worthwhile: chain 3 activations, dumping Knollspine Dragon, Moltensteel Dragon, and finally Teneb. The last three mana activate Teneb's trigger to revive Knollspine Dragon and draw 16 cards.
With six mana, there are only four Time Warps I could cast. As Scion is incapable of also serving as a sac-outlet the odds of winning before the fish see their fourth turn doesn't look too high. If I also whiff on good card draw, I may have to follow the former route the following turn anyway. Which suggests a turn 5 win: cutting it close!
I thus opt for the Knollspine plan, hoping to safely win on turn 4.
The first seven cards included 6 lands and a Simic Signet. The remaining 9 were more exciting; the hand I keep through the turn's end:
Twilight's Call, Walk the Aeons, Demonic Tutor, Eternal Witness, Frontier Siege, Chromatic Lantern, Badlands.
2 Watery Grave Battlefield
3 Knollspine Dragon Hand
4 Moltensteel Dragon Hand
5 Teneb, the Harvester Hand
6 Shuffled Library
7 Shuffled Library
8 Knollspine Dragon Battlefield
9 Moltensteel Dragon Graveyard
10 Teneb, the Harvester Graveyard
11 Arid Mesa Graveyard
12 Simic Signet Graveyard
13 Temple Garden Hand
14 Badlands Hand
15 Polluted Delta Hand
16 Bojuka Bog Hand
17 Izzet Signet Hand
18 Stomping Ground Hand
19 City of Brass Hand
20 Overgrown Tomb Hand
21 Twilight's Call Hand
22 Walk the Aeons Hand
23 Demonic Tutor Hand
24 Chromatic Lantern Hand
25 Eternal Witness Hand
26 Pact of Negation Hand
27 Breeding Pool Hand
28 Frontier Siege Hand
29 Utvara Hellkite Hand
30 Utvara Hellkite Library
31 Temple Garden Graveyard
32 Breeding Pool Graveyard
33 Overgrown Tomb Graveyard
34 Stomping Ground Graveyard
35 City of Brass Graveyard
36 Bojuka Bog Graveyard
37 Polluted Delta Graveyard
38 Izzet Signet Graveyard
39 Pact of Negation Graveyard
Game 1 Turn 4:
Topdeck Utvara Hellkite. Play Badlands, making 10 mana total.
Cast Demonic Tutor (8 left) for and then cast Academy Rector (4 left).
Use the remaining mana to activate Scion twice. The first temporarily makes him Prossh, eating the rector for Omniscience, before the second resolves making Scion a 6/5 Dragon Mage.
Might as well choose "Dragons" on Frontier Siege.
Cast Walk the Aeons, Eternal Witness -> Demonic Tutor -> Greater Good.
Sacrifice Knollspine Dragon for the Greater Good. I drew Time Stretch, Wheel of Fortune, and Vampiric Tutor.
Given Greater Good, Omniscience, Twilight's Call, and Eternal Witness I'm free to draw the deck, put all the dragons onto the table, and enjoy as many combat steps as I would like.
2 Badlands Battlefield
3 Demonic Tutor Graveyard
4 Academy Rector Hand
5 Academy Rector Exiled
6 Omniscience Hand
7 Shuffled Library
8 Shuffled Library
9 Omniscience Battlefield
10 Prossh, Skyraider of Kher Hand
11 Prossh, Skyraider of Kher Graveyard
12 Dragon Mage Hand
13 Shuffled Library
14 Dragon Mage Graveyard
15 Frontier Siege Battlefield
16 Eternal Witness Battlefield
17 Demonic Tutor Hand
18 Demonic Tutor Graveyard
19 Demonic Tutor Hand
20 Walk the Aeons Graveyard
21 Demonic Tutor Graveyard
22 Greater Good Hand
23 Shuffled Library
24 Shuffled Library
25 Greater Good Battlefield
26 Knollspine Dragon Graveyard
27 Crux of Fate Hand
28 Steam Vents Hand
29 Time Stretch Hand
30 Wheel of Fortune Hand
31 Vampiric Tutor Hand
32 Krosan Grip Hand
33 Rakdos Signet Hand
34 Krosan Grip Graveyard
35 Rakdos Signet Graveyard
36 Steam Vents Graveyard
Game Two
Game 2 Turn 0:
I rip Azorius Chancery, Phyrexian Tower, Mirari's Wake, Golgari Rot Farm, Darksteel Ingot, Living Death, Golgari Signet.
Without a second land that comes into play untapped, this hand looks like it may be slow. I ditch the rot farm and Living Death, receiving Time Spiral and Farseek.
2 Poison 0
3 Life 40
4 Scion of the Ur-Dragon Exiled
5 Time Spiral Hand
6 Farseek Hand
7 Living Death Library
8 Golgari Rot Farm Library
9 Shuffled Library
10 Shuffled Library
11 Shuffled Library
12 Shuffled Library
Game 2 Turn 1:
I draw Vampiric Tutor, play Phyrexian Tower, and pass.
Current game plan looks to be: vamp tutor for Academy Rector, and sac to the tower for Omniscience. Mirari's Wake + Time Spiral should ensure that my general can enter the battlefield that same turn.
The mana is looking slow, however!
14 Phyrexian Tower Battlefield
Game 2 Turn 2:
I draw Skyshroud Claim. That doesn't help.
Play Azorius Chancery bouncing the tower, and end of turn discard Darksteel Ingot.
Turn, signet into Farseek will produce five mana. Thus on turn four, we'd either get Omniscience (if we drew a land that enters untapped on turn 3), or cast Mirari's Wake/Skyshroud Claim. Not much use foreseen for the Darksteel Signet.
2 Phyrexian Tower Hand
3 Azorius Chancery Battlefield
4 Darksteel Ingot Exiled
5 Darksteel Ingot Graveyard
Game 2 Turn 3:
I draw Boseiju. =/
Farseek fetches Badlands to find red mana and allow for non-awkard on-upkeep Vampiric Tutor (although without the untapped land, we can't do that next turn for Omniscience.
2 Phyrexian Tower Battlefield
3 Golgari Signet Battlefield
4 Farseek Graveyard
5 Badlands Hand
6 Shuffled Library
7 Badlands Battlefield
Game 2 Turn 4:
I draw Yosei.
For the purpose of getting us to Omniscience on the following turn, both Skyshroud Claim and Mirari's Wake would boost us by 2 mana. (With Mirari's Wake, Badlands' second mana will be wasted during the upkeep, and Phyrexian Tower will only produce mana after Omniscience enters the battlefield.
So the trade-off is the awkward feeling the enchantment's mana will give us, vs the fact it will give us 5 more mana after all our spells in hand are free. I am going with the latter: Scion is often hungry.
Mirari's Wake, Boseiju, pass.
2 Mirari's Wake Battlefield
3 Boseiju, Who Shelters All Battlefield
Game 2 Turn 5:
Vampiric Tutor for Academy Rector during the upkeep. Cast (leaving a UW floating by paying 2 with Boseiju) and then sac for Omniscience and BBB.
Cast Yosei and Skyshroud Claim, finding Stomping Ground and Breeding Pool untapped.
Tapping both leaves U W BBB RR GG in the mana pool when Time Spiral resolves, untapping the six lands.
Goodies drawn include Greater Good and Regrowth.
Casting Greater Good and sacrificing Yosei (for six cards) produces Temporal Tresspass, Knollspine Dragon, and Scourge of the Throne.
The mission now is to get an army of dragons: find Living Death, Twilight's Call, or Patriarch's Bidding.
Lining up an extra turn and trading Knollspine for 8 cards finds Time Warp and Silumgar.
Trading the scourge for six more finds Teneb, Savage Ventmaw, and Eternal Witness. Trading Teneb finally gives us what we were looking for: Twilight's Call, Patriarch's Bidding, and Demonic Tutor.
That is enough to say we didn't fizzle.
2 Vampiric Tutor Graveyard
3 Academy Rector Hand
4 Shuffled Library
5 Academy Rector Battlefield
6 Academy Rector Exiled
7 Omniscience Hand
8 Shuffled Library
9 Omniscience Battlefield
10 Yosei, the Morning Star Battlefield
11 Skyshroud Claim Graveyard
12 Stomping Ground Hand
13 Breeding Pool Hand
14 Shuffled Library
15 Stomping Ground Battlefield
16 Breeding Pool Battlefield
17 Skyshroud Claim Library
18 Vampiric Tutor Library
19 Farseek Library
20 Darksteel Ingot Library
21 Time Spiral Exiled
22 Shuffled Library
23 Shuffled Library
24 Nihil Spellbomb Hand
25 Regrowth Hand
26 Overgrown Tomb Hand
27 Greater Good Hand
28 Chrome Mox Hand
29 Selesnya Signet Hand
30 Marsh Flats Hand
31 Greater Good Battlefield
32 Knollspine Dragon Hand
33 Boros Signet Hand
34 Temporal Trespass Hand
35 Scourge of the Throne Hand
36 City of Brass Hand
37 Gilded Lotus Hand
38 Terminus Hand
39 Terminus Library
40 Yosei, the Morning Star Graveyard
41 Marsh Flats Graveyard
42 Overgrown Tomb Graveyard
43 Chrome Mox Graveyard
44 Temporal Trespass Exiled
45 Knollspine Dragon Battlefield
46 Knollspine Dragon Graveyard
47 Terminus Hand
48 Polluted Delta Hand
49 Ancient Tomb Hand
50 Time Warp Hand
51 Golgari Rot Farm Hand
52 Silumgar, the Drifting Death Hand
53 Crux of Fate Hand
54 Dimir Signet Hand
55 Polluted Delta Graveyard
56 Ancient Tomb Graveyard
57 Golgari Rot Farm Graveyard
58 Time Warp Graveyard
59 Scourge of the Throne Battlefield
60 Scourge of the Throne Graveyard
61 Savage Ventmaw Hand
62 Watery Grave Hand
63 Teneb, the Harvester Hand
64 Thran Dynamo Hand
65 Eternal Witness Hand
66 Simic Growth Chamber Hand
67 Teneb, the Harvester Battlefield
68 Teneb, the Harvester Graveyard
69 Teneb, the Harvester Battlefield
70 Simic Growth Chamber Graveyard
71 Watery Grave Graveyard
72 Boros Signet Graveyard
73 Teneb, the Harvester Graveyard
74 Twilight's Call Hand
75 Patriarch's Bidding Hand
76 Hushwing Gryff Hand
77 Worn Powerstone Hand
78 Krosan Grip Hand
79 Gruul Turf Hand
80 Demonic Tutor Hand
81 Gruul Turf Graveyard
82 City of Brass Graveyard
83 Selesnya Signet Graveyard
Game Three
Game 3 Turn 0:
I open with Watery Grave, Simic Signet, Treasured Find, Temple Garden, Demonic Tutor, Temporal Manipulation, and Mirari's Wake.
Light on ramp, trade the Treasured Find and the two five drops for...Boseiju, Wheel of Fortune, and Moltensteel Dragon.
Trade the cipt land and dragon for Azorius Signet.
[Note: I don't think it was correct to ditch Mirari's Wake. Oh well.]
2 Poison 0
3 Life 40
4 Scion of the Ur-Dragon Exiled
5 Boseiju, Who Shelters All Hand
6 Wheel of Fortune Hand
7 Moltensteel Dragon Hand
8 Azorius Signet Hand
9 Moltensteel Dragon Library
10 Boseiju, Who Shelters All Library
11 Mirari's Wake Library
12 Temporal Manipulation Library
13 Treasured Find Library
14 Shuffled Library
Game 3 Turn 1:
Draw Golgari Signet and play Watery Grave tapped.
My plan right now is to ramp into wheel. Might even tutor for Ancient Tomb.
16 Watery Grave Battlefield
Game 3 Turn 2:
Drew Merciless Eviction. Play Temple Garden and Golgari Signet, pass.
2 Temple Garden Battlefield
3 Golgari Signet Battlefield
Game 3 Turn 3:
Drew Lim-Dul's Vault -- a royal pain in the butt to use on tappedout.net.
Because I lack red mana to actually cast wheel, I can't actually follow the "Ancient Tomb + two signets this turn" plan into draw 7.
Therefore, do I get a red source, or sac-outlet so I can vault for Academy Rector?
Either way I play one signet this turn and can't get Omniscience next turn. Games one and two ended the same way, so I will try something different: Steam Vents it is. Plus, I might want to cast Scion.
(Followed by Azorius Signet.)
2 Demonic Tutor Battlefield
3 Steam Vents Hand
4 Demonic Tutor Graveyard
5 Shuffled Library
6 Steam Vents Battlefield
7 Azorius Signet Battlefield
Game 3 Turn 4:
I draw Crux of Fate: no help at the moment.
Given that I will lose if I can't win next turn, I figure it is better to cast Scion this turn, and then ritual + tutor before wheeling.
2 Scion of the Ur-Dragon Battlefield
Game 3 Turn 5:
I draw Breeding Pool - would have been nice last turn (so that Selesnya Signet could be in play)!
After Savage Ventmaw I will have 10 mana total. Following that with Lim-Dul's Vault and Wheel of Fortune will leave me with five, but that seems the safest play. I need to find a set of five that contains Time Warp plus something exciting for the next turn.
I have to be careful to tap Temple Garden and Golgari Signet to activate Scion, lest I don't have UUUB I will need.
Post-combat I have RRRGGG in my pool, while Breeding Pool and Azorious Signet remain untapped:
The five cards I see are:
1. Frontier Siege, Boros Signet, Rakdos Signet, Living Death, Time Stretch
2. Pact of Negation, Scourge of the Throne, Boseiju, Simic Signet, Greater Good
3. Mirari's Wake, Thran Dynamo, Selesnya Sanctuary, Hushwing Gryff, Utvara Hellkite
4. Darksteel Ingot, Twilight's Call, Vampiric Tutor, Stomping Ground, Silumgar
5. Overgrown Tomb, Bojuka Bog, Karrthus, Sol Ring, Temporal Tresspass.
I'm missing the third blue mana for the tresspass, and won't count on another blue signet showing up in the two additional cards I would draw. It would have worked out, as capture would've been the last card:
6. Simic Growth Chamber, Capture of Jingzhou, Orzhov Signet, Time Spiral, Gilded Lotus
Well, that is probably about as good as it is going to get.
They stay on top, I can wheel for RRG, leaving RGG in my pool. Cards six and seven were Gruul Turf and Sacred Foundry. I was hoping for Skyshroud Claim to play with Time Spiral. Thankfully, shuffling the yard in means I get to ventmaw again next turn, if necessary.
2 Breeding Pool Battlefield
3 Savage Ventmaw Hand
4 Shuffled Library
5 Savage Ventmaw Graveyard
6 Lim-Dul's Vault Battlefield
7 Frontier Siege Battlefield
8 Boros Signet Battlefield
9 Rakdos Signet Battlefield
10 Living Death Battlefield
11 Time Stretch Battlefield
12 Frontier Siege Library
13 Boros Signet Library
14 Rakdos Signet Library
15 Living Death Library
16 Time Stretch Library
17 Pact of Negation Battlefield
18 Scourge of the Throne Battlefield
19 Boseiju, Who Shelters All Battlefield
20 Simic Signet Battlefield
21 Greater Good Battlefield
22 Pact of Negation Library
23 Greater Good Library
24 Scourge of the Throne Library
25 Boseiju, Who Shelters All Library
26 Simic Signet Library
27 Mirari's Wake Battlefield
28 Thran Dynamo Battlefield
29 Selesnya Sanctuary Battlefield
30 Hushwing Gryff Battlefield
31 Utvara Hellkite Battlefield
32 Selesnya Sanctuary Library
33 Hushwing Gryff Library
34 Mirari's Wake Library
35 Thran Dynamo Library
36 Utvara Hellkite Library
37 Darksteel Ingot Battlefield
38 Twilight's Call Battlefield
39 Vampiric Tutor Battlefield
40 Stomping Ground Battlefield
41 Silumgar, the Drifting Death Battlefield
42 Darksteel Ingot Library
43 Silumgar, the Drifting Death Library
44 Stomping Ground Library
45 Twilight's Call Library
46 Vampiric Tutor Library
47 Overgrown Tomb Battlefield
48 Bojuka Bog Battlefield
49 Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund Battlefield
50 Sol Ring Battlefield
51 Temporal Trespass Battlefield
52 Bojuka Bog Library
53 Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund Library
54 Overgrown Tomb Library
55 Sol Ring Library
56 Temporal Trespass Library
57 Simic Growth Chamber Battlefield
58 Capture of Jingzhou Battlefield
59 Orzhov Signet Battlefield
60 Time Spiral Battlefield
61 Gilded Lotus Battlefield
62 Simic Growth Chamber Library
63 Capture of Jingzhou Library
64 Orzhov Signet Library
65 Time Spiral Library
66 Gilded Lotus Library
67 Wheel of Fortune Graveyard
68 Crux of Fate Graveyard
69 Merciless Eviction Graveyard
70 Selesnya Signet Graveyard
71 Gilded Lotus Hand
72 Time Spiral Hand
73 Orzhov Signet Hand
74 Capture of Jingzhou Hand
75 Simic Growth Chamber Hand
76 Gruul Turf Hand
77 Sacred Foundry Hand
78 Lim-Dul's Vault Graveyard
79 Capture of Jingzhou Graveyard
Game 3 Turn 6 (1 extra):
I draw Walk the Aeons, which precedes to serve as a free Explore: I drop Orzhov Signet and Sacred Foundry before taking my second extra turn.
81 Sacred Foundry Battlefield
82 Orzhov Signet Battlefield
83 Walk the Aeons Graveyard
Game 3 Turn 7 (2 extra):
It's a miracle: Temporal Mastery.
Providing an excellent chance to improve our board position before firing off the Time Spiral.
Simic Growth Chamber bounces its little brother, Gilded Lotus joins the three signets, and Scion spits out a 6/6 token. Six more power means 6 more cards off [card="Knollspine Dragon"], who is likely to enter the fray shortly.
85 Temporal Mastery Exiled
86 Gilded Lotus Battlefield
87 Breeding Pool Hand
88 Simic Growth Chamber Battlefield
89 Utvara Hellkite Hand
90 Utvara Hellkite Graveyard
91 Dragon Battlefield
92 Shuffled Library
Game 3 Turn 8 (3rd extra):
Draw Hallowed Fountain. Play it and leave a U floating with 6 untapped lands after Time Spiral.
New hand: Wheel of Fortune, Phyrexian Tower, Pact of Negation, Merciless Eviction, Mana Reflection, Simic Signet, Skyshroud Claim.
The lotus and growth chamber bring Mana Reflection into play -- resulting in the potential to access 20 mana: 5 lands * 2 + 3 signets in play * 3 + 1 signet in hand * 1.
Drop the signet in hand and Skyshroud Claim, cast wheel.
With UG floating:
New hand: Command Tower, Knollspine Dragon, Regrowth, Sol Ring, Birds of Paradise, Scalding Tarn, Eternal Witness
Scion uses the floating mana to rend worlds.
Bash for 24, then drop Birds of Paradise, Sol Ring, and finally Knollspine Dragon for 24 cards (with a W floating*).
*I have the last amount of cards costing white, so I figured I'd tap a land for WW and use one of them along Sol Ring's 4 colorless for Knollspine.
Short list of the good stuff:
2 Signets (Rakdos and Orzhov), Chrome Mox, Academy Rector, and Greater Good.
No Omniscience, but with 3 untapped lands (two blue) and the floating W plus the above rocks (and Mana Reflection) makes 11.
Other cards include Frantic Search, several Time Warps, demonic and vampiric tutors, Twilight's Call, Mirari's Wake, and four dragons.
Simply cast Greater Good and Academy Rector -> Omniscience -> win.
93 Hallowed Fountain Hand
94 Hallowed Fountain Battlefield
95 Time Spiral Battlefield
96 Gruul Turf Library
97 Breeding Pool Library
98 Utvara Hellkite Library
99 Walk the Aeons Library
100 Capture of Jingzhou Library
101 Lim-Dul's Vault Library
102 Selesnya Signet Library
103 Merciless Eviction Library
104 Crux of Fate Library
105 Wheel of Fortune Library
106 Savage Ventmaw Library
107 Demonic Tutor Library
108 Shuffled Library
109 Shuffled Library
110 Shuffled Library
111 Wheel of Fortune Hand
112 Phyrexian Tower Hand
113 Pact of Negation Hand
114 Merciless Eviction Hand
115 Mana Reflection Hand
116 Simic Signet Hand
117 Skyshroud Claim Hand
118 Mana Reflection Battlefield
119 Time Spiral Exiled
120 Simic Signet Battlefield
121 Skyshroud Claim Graveyard
122 Breeding Pool Hand
123 Overgrown Tomb Hand
124 Breeding Pool Battlefield
125 Overgrown Tomb Battlefield
126 Wheel of Fortune Graveyard
127 Merciless Eviction Graveyard
128 Pact of Negation Graveyard
129 Phyrexian Tower Graveyard
130 Shuffled Library
131 Shuffled Library
132 Shuffled Library
133 Shuffled Library
134 Shuffled Library
135 Shuffled Library
136 Command Tower Hand
137 Knollspine Dragon Hand
138 Regrowth Hand
139 Sol Ring Hand
140 Birds of Paradise Hand
141 Scalding Tarn Hand
142 Eternal Witness Hand
143 Atarka, World Render Hand
144 Shuffled Library
145 Shuffled Library
146 Atarka, World Render Graveyard
147 Birds of Paradise Battlefield
148 Sol Ring Battlefield
149 Knollspine Dragon Battlefield
150 Command Tower Graveyard
151 Eternal Witness Graveyard
152 Scalding Tarn Graveyard
153 Regrowth Graveyard
154 Nature's Lore Hand
155 Walk the Aeons Hand
156 Stomping Ground Hand
157 Academy Rector Hand
158 Rakdos Signet Hand
159 Izzet Signet Hand
160 Terminus Hand
161 Coalition Relic Hand
162 Twilight's Call Hand
163 Yosei, the Morning Star Hand
164 Vampiric Tutor Hand
165 Utvara Hellkite Hand
166 Mirari's Wake Hand
167 Temporal Trespass Hand
168 Demonic Tutor Hand
169 Greater Good Hand
170 Worn Powerstone Hand
171 Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund Hand
172 Capture of Jingzhou Hand
173 Chrome Mox Hand
174 Golgari Rot Farm Hand
175 Frantic Search Hand
176 Lim-Dul's Vault Hand
177 Silumgar, the Drifting Death Hand
Dragons: 3, Fish: 0
Although, if the fish could combo off turn 4 the record would be 2-1 in their favor.
Humans, unlike fish, can both interact and be interacted with: they will disrupt you, and you'd best disrupt them. This deck would play very differently if capped.
Goldfishing still provides a useful perspective: how direly do your opponents need to interact?