Fate Reforged brought us a new cycle of legendary, ally colored dragonesses each with an ability that triggers when one or more dragons attack. Some of these abilities can get pretty crazy when you have several dragons out and swinging. But what if you don't run a deck full of dragons, what if you only have one other dragon in your deck, or none even. Which of these girls warrants a place in a deck even if you can't exploit their attack trigger to the fullest?
Off the bat, I'd name Silumgar and Atarka the most playable of the bunch in your average deck. Hexproof is always relevant and on attack Silumgar can wipe out most token armies and removes several noteworthy utility creatures and mana dorks in addition to softening the board when the time comes to block, combine that with her sizeable rear end and she's likely to stick around for a while, and makes for a good blocker you can fall back on. Atarka also has fairly relevant abilities, trample in particular makes her appealing to decks with commander's such as Stonebrow, Krosan Hero, or stick her as the head of your 99 and swing with Xenagos, God of Revels in play and one-shot people.
Ojutai, while an absolutely gorgeous card, is probably the weakest of the five, doing a bad Archon of the Triumvirate impression.
Dromoka and Kolaghan fall somewhere in the middle for me, with the former probably being the better of the remaining pair. Being able to bolster your dudes every turn when attacking is pretty nice, and in decks like Ghave, Guru of Spores is a nice source of counters to play with, but it doesn't feel near as relevant as it should. And outside of Dash, I don't think Kolaghan has that much going for her in more general builds.
Atarka is a solid general, even if you run no other dragons in her build, because she's easily a two-turn clock. Kolaghan's Dash also gives him a psuedo-Derevi impression, and he seems fine as the head of an aggro deck. Silumgar could also be silly with Xenograft/Conspiracy shenanigans.
Of course, the first two both get WAY better with dragons (and they're red) but they're okay on their own.
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Atarka is a solid general, even if you run no other dragons in her build, because she's easily a two-turn clock. Kolaghan's Dash also gives him a psuedo-Derevi impression, and he seems fine as the head of an aggro deck. Silumgar could also be silly with Xenograft/Conspiracy shenanigans.
Of course, the first two both get WAY better with dragons (and they're red) but they're okay on their own.
Note that you still are casting Kolaghan when you Dash him, so you'll still need to pay tax.
Technically not all of the dragon leaders are female, though at least 3/5 are; I believe Silumgar is specifically stated to be male in Planeswalkers' Guide to FRF.
I personally see Kolaghan as the best Commander-wise.
Atarka is a solid general, even if you run no other dragons in her build, because she's easily a two-turn clock. Kolaghan's Dash also gives him a psuedo-Derevi impression, and he seems fine as the head of an aggro deck. Silumgar could also be silly with Xenograft/Conspiracy shenanigans.
Of course, the first two both get WAY better with dragons (and they're red) but they're okay on their own.
Note that you still are casting Kolaghan when you Dash him, so you'll still need to pay tax.
While true, Dash will bounce her back to your hand, where she will be tax free. But yes, the reminder still stands.
I like the idea of Slimguar with Conspiracy and Xenograft, as mentioned many times before. And of course, Mirror Entity can be added to the two white ones for the same effect. Personally, will be adding Kolaghan to my Grenzo/Rorix the Risen/Conspiracy Dragon Tribal/Reanimator deck. And perhaps Atarka in my Surrak deck and Dramoka in my Sisay deck. But the other two? Dunno. Maybe if I ever get around to Daakon Blackblade he'll have some Dragon support...
Technically not all of the dragon leaders are female, though at least 3/5 are; I believe Silumgar is specifically stated to be male in Planeswalkers' Guide to FRF.
I personally see Kolaghan as the best Commander-wise.
Ah, so it does indeed seem so. I hadn't seen the guide prior to this and was going off of prior knowledge and speculation from spoiler season. Ojutai and Silumgar being male, with the others being female. Good to know.
Ojutai, Soul of Winter is a flying frost titan and a pretty good win con for spell based UW control most of the other options are also pretty bad. Medomai the ageless and Isperia (either) are your other options for large flying generals. I can't seem to find a UW spell base control deck so perhaps they don't exist people would rather abuse their blink generals or tax people out of the game in UW. The other U or W legendary dragons are also very good in a control deck
Silumgar, the Drifting Death: As a Commander, he's got an amazing combination of evasion, hexproof, and high toughness, which all adds up to make him a fairly durable base for equipment/aura shenanigans. And even without other dragons/attack steps, he can generally keep the skies clear of tokens. UB's high number of quality clones/reanimators also gives you the chance to grab opposing dragons without tying up your high-end slots. In the 99, he's a solid option for The Mimeoplasm to build off of, and provides Phenax, God of Deception a solid high-toughness creature. Xenograft and Conspiracy are also both in Silumgar's identity, so...
Atarka, World Render: Evasion, Trample, and Double Strike makes her an amazing base creature as well, though being more expensive and frailer than Silumgar definitely hurts. Luckily, her identity puts her in the best position to get combat pumps, haste, and extra combat steps, so even if she's not supporting other dragons, she can be a dangerous threat. I fear her damage output when Xenagos, God of Revels is in the mix.
Ojutai, Soul of Winter: Probably the weakest of the gang without any tribal support, though is about as well-equipped as Silumgar at finding ways around that. As part of a UW tokens deck, you can make good use of Xenograft/Mirror Entity to set up an alpha strike. Unlike Silumgar though, Ojutai has the option to target opponents you aren't actively attacking, which could go a long way when you want to start taking control of a multiplayer game.
Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury: Like Ojutai and Silumgar, it's not impossible to conceive of a scenario in which you could build up a token army and Conspiracy them into dragons. That said, Coat of Arms exists, and is much easier to work with for such a scenario. As part of the 99, it's a 5/5 hasty flier that gets to hide in your hand and eat mana each turn. As a Commander, it does all that while avoiding Commander taxes to an extent, making for a reasonably effective attacker (Hero's Blade works fairly well here as well).
Dromoka, the Eternal: Probably the most efficiently costed dragon of the gang, though it comes at the cost of having the least number of bells and whistles. As a Commander, Dromoka comes down early, and can easily threaten a 3-turn clock if you can bolster once, or attach any kind of equipment/aura. As a source of +1/+1 counters, she's fairly slow, though she plays nicely with Spike Weaver and friends. Like Ojutai though, Dromoka can be part of a dangerous token combo with Mirror Entity. As an 'Eternal' dragon, it would have been nice to see some kind of regeneration effect or something though...
Overall, I think the dragons are reasonable enough to earn spots in the 99 of any non-competitive deck, and have plenty of potential to see play as Commanders heedless of any concerns regarding the off-color dragon populations. In order of playability, I'm guessing it's something along the lines of: Atarka >= Silumgar > Kolaghan > Dromoka >= Ojutai.
Silumgar, the Drifting Death
Atarka, World Render
Ojutai, Soul of Winter
Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury
Dromoka, the Eternal
Off the bat, I'd name Silumgar and Atarka the most playable of the bunch in your average deck. Hexproof is always relevant and on attack Silumgar can wipe out most token armies and removes several noteworthy utility creatures and mana dorks in addition to softening the board when the time comes to block, combine that with her sizeable rear end and she's likely to stick around for a while, and makes for a good blocker you can fall back on. Atarka also has fairly relevant abilities, trample in particular makes her appealing to decks with commander's such as Stonebrow, Krosan Hero, or stick her as the head of your 99 and swing with Xenagos, God of Revels in play and one-shot people.
Ojutai, while an absolutely gorgeous card, is probably the weakest of the five, doing a bad Archon of the Triumvirate impression.
Dromoka and Kolaghan fall somewhere in the middle for me, with the former probably being the better of the remaining pair. Being able to bolster your dudes every turn when attacking is pretty nice, and in decks like Ghave, Guru of Spores is a nice source of counters to play with, but it doesn't feel near as relevant as it should. And outside of Dash, I don't think Kolaghan has that much going for her in more general builds.
UBBreya's Toybox (Competitive, Combo)WR
RGodzilla, King of the MonstersG
-Retired Decks-
UBLazav, Dimir Mastermind (Competitive, UB Voltron/Control)UB
"Knowledge is such a burden. Release it. Release all your fears to me."
—Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
Of course, the first two both get WAY better with dragons (and they're red) but they're okay on their own.
Currently Piloting:
EDH
BGGlissa, The Traitor - Recursion (Primer)
WBRKaalia of The Vast
URGRiku of Two Reflections
WUBSydri, Galvanic Genius
UBRamirez DePietro
GWKrond, The Dawn-Clad
GWUDerevi, Empyrial Tactician
RGOmnath, Locus of Rage
Modern
UG Infect
BRGKresh the BloodbraidedBRG, A box of lands and ideas.
Modern:
RG Titanshift. A deck made of cards too stupid for EDH.
Retired: Lots. More than I feel you should suffer through or I should type out.
Note that you still are casting Kolaghan when you Dash him, so you'll still need to pay tax.
GX Tron XG
UR Phoenix RU
GG Freyalise High Tide GG
UR Parun Counterspells RU
BB Yawgmoth Token Storm BB
WB Pestilence BW
I personally see Kolaghan as the best Commander-wise.
EDH: GWCaptain Sisay
While true, Dash will bounce her back to your hand, where she will be tax free. But yes, the reminder still stands.
I like the idea of Slimguar with Conspiracy and Xenograft, as mentioned many times before. And of course, Mirror Entity can be added to the two white ones for the same effect. Personally, will be adding Kolaghan to my Grenzo/Rorix the Risen/Conspiracy Dragon Tribal/Reanimator deck. And perhaps Atarka in my Surrak deck and Dramoka in my Sisay deck. But the other two? Dunno. Maybe if I ever get around to Daakon Blackblade he'll have some Dragon support...
Ah, so it does indeed seem so. I hadn't seen the guide prior to this and was going off of prior knowledge and speculation from spoiler season. Ojutai and Silumgar being male, with the others being female. Good to know.
UBBreya's Toybox (Competitive, Combo)WR
RGodzilla, King of the MonstersG
-Retired Decks-
UBLazav, Dimir Mastermind (Competitive, UB Voltron/Control)UB
"Knowledge is such a burden. Release it. Release all your fears to me."
—Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
Atarka, World Render: Evasion, Trample, and Double Strike makes her an amazing base creature as well, though being more expensive and frailer than Silumgar definitely hurts. Luckily, her identity puts her in the best position to get combat pumps, haste, and extra combat steps, so even if she's not supporting other dragons, she can be a dangerous threat. I fear her damage output when Xenagos, God of Revels is in the mix.
Ojutai, Soul of Winter: Probably the weakest of the gang without any tribal support, though is about as well-equipped as Silumgar at finding ways around that. As part of a UW tokens deck, you can make good use of Xenograft/Mirror Entity to set up an alpha strike. Unlike Silumgar though, Ojutai has the option to target opponents you aren't actively attacking, which could go a long way when you want to start taking control of a multiplayer game.
Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury: Like Ojutai and Silumgar, it's not impossible to conceive of a scenario in which you could build up a token army and Conspiracy them into dragons. That said, Coat of Arms exists, and is much easier to work with for such a scenario. As part of the 99, it's a 5/5 hasty flier that gets to hide in your hand and eat mana each turn. As a Commander, it does all that while avoiding Commander taxes to an extent, making for a reasonably effective attacker (Hero's Blade works fairly well here as well).
Dromoka, the Eternal: Probably the most efficiently costed dragon of the gang, though it comes at the cost of having the least number of bells and whistles. As a Commander, Dromoka comes down early, and can easily threaten a 3-turn clock if you can bolster once, or attach any kind of equipment/aura. As a source of +1/+1 counters, she's fairly slow, though she plays nicely with Spike Weaver and friends. Like Ojutai though, Dromoka can be part of a dangerous token combo with Mirror Entity. As an 'Eternal' dragon, it would have been nice to see some kind of regeneration effect or something though...
Overall, I think the dragons are reasonable enough to earn spots in the 99 of any non-competitive deck, and have plenty of potential to see play as Commanders heedless of any concerns regarding the off-color dragon populations. In order of playability, I'm guessing it's something along the lines of: Atarka >= Silumgar > Kolaghan > Dromoka >= Ojutai.
RRR - Bosh's School of Hard(cover) Knocks