Hey guys. Below is my Zirilan of the Claw deck. It's semi-budget (you could prob build it for about $100 if you shop around) and semi-casual, but I've found that it holds its own. I know an all Dragon deck isn't seen as super viable, but it's a ton of fun and you'd be surprised at the utility these dragons bring. Plus, I run 1 non-Dragon, so it's technically not an all-dragon deck
Remember: If Zirilan of the Claw sticks around you pretty much won the game. Of course, this means that he usually won't stick around. You will be hard casting dragons. This is why we run so many mana rocks and are able to cycle so many cards. Not only does it tilt our opponents (ruining their finely crafted hand) but it really helps us situate ourselves.
Some people don't like Wheel of Fortune like effects. Remember, just because you can cast it, doesn't mean you have to. But it's nice to have the option.
Decklist
Copy and paste into deckstats if you want to see the details)
These 2 allow for an easier time with Zirilan. Not to mention how well Fervor works with dragons Koth of the Hammer Sundial of the Infinite Keep your dragons when cast by Zirilan
10 mana rocks may seem like a lot, but you need a plan for when (not if) your general can't do his thing. You have enough card cycling to be able to draw what you need when you ramp
I like the list. I've been thinking about converting Bladewing the Risen into Mr Z for a while, this looks similar to what I brainstormed. How many players in a typical game do you have?
I like the list. I've been thinking about converting Bladewing the Risen into Mr Z for a while, this looks similar to what I brainstormed. How many players in a typical game do you have?
Thanks. It's pretty fun to play. I plan to pick up Thundermaw Hellkite after rotation. It's already dropped in value and I'm just waiting for the right trade to come up.
My playgroup tends to favor 4-player FFA and sometimes 2-headed giant. If there's an odd number we do star. We also do quite a bit of 1v1 while we wait for others to show up.
why are you running nalathni dragon? actually why are you running so many dragons in general? A lot of those seem pretty subpar. i don't like ryusei with zirilan on the ground. nalathni is just super bad though. The dragons you really want are hoarding, dragon tyrant, hellkite tyrant, bogardan hellkite, changeling berserker, utvara hellkite, steel hellkite, balefire dragon (or some other mass-creature-damage dragon) and usually either hellkite charger or moonveil for big games where you need a lot of damage. The rest are usually unnecessary.
This is just the way I play the deck, but I really prefer to have a lot - LOT - of sac outlets. This lets you use hoarding dragon reliably, and then you can use it to get reito lantern so you can recycle dragons, and use hoarding to go get illusionist's bracers, and mana doublers, and then just swing in for 100+ damage. It can make you more reliable on artifacts, though.
Alternately, the combo route, using hoarding to get SoFaF, and then hellkite charger for the win (with 9 mana and at least 7 lands)
Thanks for the input guys. You're right, a few of the dragons are there for nostalgia/flavor. I can afford to drop a few of the cheap dragons for Belbe's Portal/Quicksilver Amulet/Urza's Incubator. Knowing how much this deck cycles, I should probably throw in a Reito Lantern too. All great suggestions.
Mana-Charged Dragon's gotta stay though. He earned his keep for me in multiplayer games. Especially in 2-headed giant. To each their own
It's mono red aggro, the deck is already reliant on artifacts. Ryusei isn't terrible. Sometimes 5 to everything is what you need to keep going.
Except that 1) he has very few sac outlets, making it very unreliable, and 2) there are other dragons that do a similar effect way more reliably and without definitely killing zirilan. Thunder dragon, for example, is pretty decent in zirilan since it doesn't kill zirilan but still wipes a lot of tokens.
Remember: If Zirilan of the Claw sticks around you pretty much won the game. Of course, this means that he usually won't stick around. You will be hard casting dragons. This is why we run so many mana rocks and are able to cycle so many cards. Not only does it tilt our opponents (ruining their finely crafted hand) but it really helps us situate ourselves.
Some people don't like Wheel of Fortune like effects. Remember, just because you can cast it, doesn't mean you have to. But it's nice to have the option.
Decklist
Copy and paste into deckstats if you want to see the details)
1 Zirilan of the Claw
//Dragons
1 Dragon Mage
1 Ryusei, the Falling Star
1 Dragon Tyrant
1 Bogardan Hellkite
1 Scourge of Valkas
1 Hellkite Tyrant
1 Archwing Dragon
1 Balefire Dragon
1 Dragon Whelp
1 Flameblast Dragon
1 Fledgling Dragon
1 Furnace Whelp
1 Hellkite Charger
1 Hoarding Dragon
1 Kilnmouth Dragon
1 Knollspine Dragon
1 Mana-Charged Dragon
1 Moltensteel Dragon
1 Moonveil Dragon
1 Nalathni Dragon
1 Scourge of Kher Ridges
1 Thunder Dragon
1 Utvara Hellkite
1 Steel Hellkite
1 Shivan Dragon
1 Dragonspeaker Shaman
//Spells
1 Chaos Warp
1 Starstorm
1 Faithless Looting
1 Wild Guess
1 Reforge the Soul
1 Shattered Perception
1 Incendiary Command
1 Winds of Change
1 Wheel of Fate
1 Relentless Assault
1 Comet Storm
1 Red Sun's Zenith
1 Blasphemous Act
1 Fireball
//Enchantments
1 Stranglehold
1 Price of Glory
1 Aggravated Assault
1 Smoke
1 Curse of Bloodletting
1 Electropotence
1 Fervor
1 Gratuitous Violence
1 Pandemonium
1 Where Ancients Tread
1 Koth of the Hammer
//Artifacts
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Fire Diamond
1 Mind Stone
1 Everflowing Chalice
1 Serum Powder
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Star Compass
1 Worn Powerstone
1 Coldsteel Heart
1 Sundial of the Infinite
//Lands
32 Mountain
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Homeward path
1 High Market
1 Kher Keep
Breakdown of non-dragon cards:
Hate Cards
Stranglehold
Price of Glory Greatest hate card that no one really talks about. Seriously. Click the link and see for yourself.
Smoke
Removal
Red card "advantage"
Double Dragon
Because a Dragon by itself is never enough of an advantage. When you get in for damage, it's going to count.
Misc
These 2 allow for an easier time with Zirilan. Not to mention how well Fervor works with dragons
Koth of the Hammer
Sundial of the Infinite Keep your dragons when cast by Zirilan
Ramp
10 mana rocks may seem like a lot, but you need a plan for when (not if) your general can't do his thing. You have enough card cycling to be able to draw what you need when you ramp
Dragons!
Dragon Mage - Card advantage
Knollspine Dragon - Card advantage
Dragon Tyrant - Massive Damage
Bogardan Hellkite - Damage/Board wipe
Scourge of Valkas - Hilarious with Utvara Hellkite
Balefire Dragon - Board wipe
Scourge of Kher Ridges - Targeted removal
Kilnmouth - Damage
Hellkite Charger - Double damage
Flameblast Dragon - Targed removal
Thunder Dragon - Board wipe
Stell Hellkite - Removal
Hoarding Dragon - Tutor
Dragon Whelp - Sometimes you need cheap creatures
Fledgling Dragon - Sometimes you need cheap creatures
Furnace Whelp - sometimes you need cheap creatures
Mana-Charged Dragon - politicking
Moltensteel Dragon - Unexpected 1-shots
Moonveil Dragon - Creature buff
Nalathni Dragon - Nostalgia
Shivan Dragon - Nostalgia
Utvara Hellkite - Bonus dragon!
I like the list. I've been thinking about converting Bladewing the Risen into Mr Z for a while, this looks similar to what I brainstormed. How many players in a typical game do you have?
amazingly epic sig courtesy of DarkNightCavalier at Heroes of the Planes.
Thanks. It's pretty fun to play. I plan to pick up Thundermaw Hellkite after rotation. It's already dropped in value and I'm just waiting for the right trade to come up.
My playgroup tends to favor 4-player FFA and sometimes 2-headed giant. If there's an odd number we do star. We also do quite a bit of 1v1 while we wait for others to show up.
This is just the way I play the deck, but I really prefer to have a lot - LOT - of sac outlets. This lets you use hoarding dragon reliably, and then you can use it to get reito lantern so you can recycle dragons, and use hoarding to go get illusionist's bracers, and mana doublers, and then just swing in for 100+ damage. It can make you more reliable on artifacts, though.
Alternately, the combo route, using hoarding to get SoFaF, and then hellkite charger for the win (with 9 mana and at least 7 lands)
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
Your 'cheap creatures' aren't going to do much. Ideally, they all cost 3 anyway. Mana-Charged Dragon never did much for me. He was an easy cut. Belbe's Portal and Quicksilver Amulet help with this. As does Urza's Incubator and Dragonspeaker Shaman.
Mana-Charged Dragon's gotta stay though. He earned his keep for me in multiplayer games. Especially in 2-headed giant. To each their own
Except that 1) he has very few sac outlets, making it very unreliable, and 2) there are other dragons that do a similar effect way more reliably and without definitely killing zirilan. Thunder dragon, for example, is pretty decent in zirilan since it doesn't kill zirilan but still wipes a lot of tokens.
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6