This is a list I've been working on for a few years, and I'm confident enough now in its ability to compete against just about any other commander in both single and multiplayer games.
I've browsed many Scion lists across MTG Salvation and can say my list is unique. I wrote up my card list and deck strategy not only to open myself up for criticisms and discussion, but to share information with anyone else who runs or wants to run Scion as their commander. There's lots of content here and I've tried to make it as easy to read and understand as possible. This list is incredibly fun for me to pilot and the varying methods of plays it's able to make allows it to hold sustainability over time. If you have any questions, opinions, or criticisms about this list, or even Scion as a commander in general, then I highly encourage you to post your thoughts! I've run many cards in Scion over the years and I've tested many strategies in both casual and competitive play. This list has been created with competitive elements in mind, but Scion allows for all kinds of builds and strategies (He is 5 color, after all). If you're thinking of building Scion (or even anticipate competing against Scion) then I encourage you to view my list and strategies.
Thanks for reading!
Why Play Scion?
Chances are if you're looking at this list you've probably already decided why you want to build Scion, but if you're on the fence about him or just trying to find an interesting commander here's a spoiler with pros and cons.
CONS:
Building a decent land base for a 5 color commander is expensive. Building an optimal land base is horrifyingly expensive. Unless you've already amassed a respectable collection of lands, land construction will probably be a slow process and you're list will suffer for it.
Even with an optimal land base, 5 color leaves you vulnerable to land destruction and even just general bad luck.
Scion has a cmc of 5, and while it's not incredibly steep, it's still higher than that of most other competitive commanders like Zur the Enchanter and Arcum Dagsson
Many experienced players know how out of hand Scion can get. If you sit down at a multiplayer game you likely be targeted preemptively.
Scion as a whole is an expensive list to build
PROS:
5 color means you have access to every good card in Magic.
Scion has amazing combo (and even aggro) potential and can usually win the turn after you drop him
Scion has the ability to grab whatever the situation calls for (allowing for toolbox builds)
Scion has such a diverse amount of wincons that it can be difficult for your opponents to predict (and prevent) your strategy.
Scion will always see future card support because the dragon creature type will always be printed
When built correctly, Scion can remain competitive on a budget (depending entirely on your meta)
Deck History
This deck started as an Intet, the Dreamer list. I was entirely new to EDH, and I knew I liked the Dragon creature type, so I traded for an Intet my friend had and stuffed it with as many dragons as I could.
Well that didn't do so well, so I figured I just needed more dragons. Searching Gatherer, I soon discovered Scion was a card that existed. I immediately knew I had to build him, and so Intet made way for Scion. Like literally, I took Intet out of his sleeve and slipped Scion in. Luckily, I had friends to tell me that maybe 40 dragons was too many. I soon learned that a deck is good when every card has synergy with its commander.
Scion had the benefit of experiencing trial by fire. The two decks I played against most were Sharuum the Hegemon combo and Oona, Queen of the Fae combo. If I wanted to keep up, I had to run combos of my own. Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind and Curiosity became one of the first steps towards my deck being able to win. I then added things like Nature's Will and Hellkite Charger. As time passed Scion gradually became stronger. The land base moved from basics and vivids to shocks and fetches. Unfortunately, as Scion became stronger, so did the pay-wall required to make him better. Now he sits as a powerful deck, requiring things like Dual Lands, Mana Drain, and Timetwister to get stronger. My goal is to eventually fill every ideal slot, but that's gonna take some time. And while this list may turn people off due to its price tag, I speak from experience that Scion remains fun to play at almost any level.
Here's a list of cards I'm currently running that aren't on this list. After I've decided that these cards do or do not deserve a card slot, I'll remove them from this list. I generally like to run a card for at least 20 games before making a decision.
Mycosynth Lattice works wonders with the Hellkite Tyrant I run, but I've used this card for a long time before deciding it just wasn't right for this build. Throwing it down makes you a target, and giving your opponents access to all colors can help them more than you'd like. Plus, all it takes is a single Vandalblast to ensure the red player is winning this game. I just think the cons outweigh the benefits.
Savage Ventmaw is a ramp machine, and he combos nicely with Aggravated Assault. I already run an infinite combat step combo (one which I think is better fit for this deck), and I have no need for ramp after the fact that I've already resolved Scion. Remember, the point of this build is to make Scion into a one-hit KO, so filling this deck with utility dragons will get me nowhere.
Dragonlord Ojutai offers another instance of hexproof for Scion, though the "untapped" clause may be more limiting than I'd like. I think running just one hexproof dragon is enough for my purposes. If I was hard-pressed to find ways of protecting Scion, I'd include him, but right now I have better options than to include another card I don't want to draw.
Steel Hellkite - Too narrow; plain and simple. If his ability hit all players, then we'd talk.
Hoard-Smelter Dragon - I've run this in the past and have found that paying 2 to activate Scion and then paying 3R to activate Hoard-Smelter is too steep to pop a single artifact and there are probably better things I could be doing with my turn.
X Dragon - Can I one-shot a player with it? Does it have board-state-changing utility? If not, then it just isn't strong enough to make the cut.
Mana Crypt is great in a format with 40 life, but unfortunately I'm already pushing it with a full set of shocks, fetches, and several Moltensteel Dragon wincons. And trust me, Sylvan Library makes drawing 2 extra cards hard to say no to. If I include too many life takers then I'd find myself in more risky situations than I'd like. I may be more willing to run it when I can afford to switch my shock lands with dual lands.
Brainstorm/Preordain are fantastic card advantage spells, but I think I run enough hand-fixers to justify not including them. If I could fit every good card into here, I would, but I only have 99 card slots to use and every card that earns a slot must be justified for running over something else. Why should I run Brainstorm over Ponder or Sensei's Divining Top? That question needs to be asked for every card in here. You get the idea.
Three Visits - I feel very comfortable and confidant in my ramping build right now, and I can't justify cutting another card for more ramp. If you don't like some of the other ramp spells in here though, then this is a good substitute.
X ramp - See above, but also, most ramp indicates a basic land, or that the land come in tapped or into my hand. Scion needs to be fast, and I've built what I consider the most efficient ramp base I can while maintaining the cards needed to make this deck strong. I am open to hearing all suggestions though, and if you think I should switch out one piece of ramp with another, I'd be very happy to hear your argument!
Wheel of Fortune - I prefer Time Spiral over this card because it costs me nothing in mid-game, which is when you need a wheel effect the most. I don't run both because I think one wheel effect is enough for this build. It's very important to keep your opponent's hands low on answers for when you try to make your move. I also want to make an effort to build a suitable hand for comboing over the course of the game. When I've spent my resources sculpting my hand for combo, I don't want to see a another card that would just reset all of them.
X Time Spell - When I would need a time spell the most would be when I've cast Scion. By that time, I wouldn't have enough mana to cast one. You could argue Temporal Mastery for this, but that is a card I have run and decided to drop. With all the draw engines I have in this build, I'm more likely to see this card as my 2nd or 3rd draw, at which point it becomes a dead card in my hand. I probably run enough filtering effects to make it work, but honestly the effort just isn't worth it, and it's especially not worth the card slot.
Mirari's Wake/Mana Reflection - These spells cost a lot, and by the time I could comfortably cast them, I already have what I need to cast Scion. I try to run a lot of low-cost spells in here, with all the high one's being Scion targets. I honestly have no need for access to 14 mana with this build.
The Signets - I run enough artifact ramp to suit my purposes, and anymore would leave me vulnerable to artifact hate and board wipes.
Conspiracy - It's a fun card. People tend to use it to target Eldrazi, but the I think the real application is with Phage the Untouchable. This combo feels slow and clunky to me, and only having one target for this effect makes it not worth running. I'd just be creating more junk useful for only one thing. I believe it is also to important to keep your threats in your hand. By laying down permanent combo pieces, you're setting yourself up as a target.
X Counterspell - Pact of Negation, Stifle and Silence offer everything I need. I don't like running too much control, and quite frankly this deck just doesn't need it. Scion is built to produce more threats than they have answers. However, Mana Drain probably deserves a slot, and I'll update this as soon as I can buy one and test it in competitive play.
Gilded Lotus - Too slow, and only produces one color. I'd rather have a rock that ramps me early game than a rock that can only help me mid-late game.
I didn't see my awesome card idea! - Please leave a comment telling me why I should run that awesome card! I've spent a long time on this list, so chances are I've thought about it or tried it, but I appreciate all feedback! Thank You!
Before I get into the goals and operation of this deck, I'd like to mention my personal opinions on:
In a deck of 99 cards, tutors are a very powerful tool for steering the game in the direction you want it to go.
Scion is powerful because he is a reusable tutor for 2 anytime. That being said, while I think tutors are a necessary utility for this deck, I choose to only run 4 (5 if you consider Entomb). Seeing just 1 tutor each game ensures my deck has reliable wincons, but not consistent wincons. Having access to all colors means access to all the tutors, but I believe an EDH deck should be as powerful as it is fun. Filling this deck with 10+ tutors could definitely increasing its win percentage, but at the cost of losing the "random" factor that makes EDH enjoyable. If you value consistency and winning over all else, then Hermit Druid Combo will be more up your alley.
I love multiplayer. It's what EDH was made for. A power struggle between 4 players allows for the insane interactions and plays EDH is well known for. Multiplayer is fun, but it's not without its flaws. Politics can create frustration and even offense between friends. Scion is a political nightmare. You don't just casually cast Scion. By casting your commander you are making a public statement of "At least one of you is losing on my next turn." Of course, you could make more mild plays by turning Scion into something like Balefire Dragon to clear the board of tokens, but why would you when you could just attack that same player with a Tainted Striked Draco? Taking out a single player early on can easily create ill-will towards your deck. Now obviously your commander isn't Scion, Carer of Feelings, but in my experience I find people hate Scion less when you kill the whole table, rather than singling out the weakest player. I recommend that if you are going to launch an alpha strike on one player, that you either a) Do so to your strongest (judge by board-state, not deck) opponent, or b) Have a plan in motion to end the game by your next turn or 2. Doing so can not only help other players enjoy the game more, but will also help prevent some of the turn 2 auto-hate that's sure to come with running a powerful commander.
Scion is a fantastic commander for a reanimation build. That's not what this deck is. I have no problems with reanimation as an archetype, and I encourage you to build what you like. For me, reanimation is a slow and predictable strategy that allows so much room for disruption (I say this as a Scion player, and not as, say, a Karador or Mimeoplasm player). I feel like Scion reanimation has been done a hundred times, and it's just not what I wanted to build. I do run reanimation spells, but 2 of which are combo pieces, and the other, Reanimate, is just an efficient card that will most often be used to grab an opponent's creature. I welcome all suggestions and criticisms, but cards like Living Death and Patriarch's Bidding just aren't for me.
Goals
This deck has 4 goals.
Ramp
Cast Scion
Keep Scion Alive Until Your Next Turn
Win
Pretty straight-forward there, but every goal needs a plan. Here's the basic run-down of how to operate this deck and use its cards:
Step 1: THE RAMP
Ramping is done in two ways: Through Mana Rocks and Land Fetching
Land Fetching:
One of the major downsides to running 5 color is the complex and expensive land base required to ensure your game runs smoothly. Tap lands are a good budget option for getting your colors, but having your lands come in tapped will effectively put you a turn behind everyone else. Shocklands are an ideal replacement for those lands because not only can you choose to have them come in untapped when you need them and tapped when you don't, but their land subtypes (Forest, Mountain, etc) allow for you to take advantage of your land tutors that mention any of those subtypes. Using the spells Farseek, Nature's Lore, or Skyshroud Claim will let you grab just about any Shock you need, with Lore and Claim allowing you to put them in untapped if needed. Not only does this extend to spells, but to the Fetch Lands as well, which I also recommend running.
While Exploration doesn't tutor cards, it creates fantastic tempo in Early-Game, and gives you nearly an unbeatable advantage if cast on turn 1. It can even be useful in the Mid-Game if you resolve a Time Spiral or a Scroll Rack.
Weathered Wayfarer helps make sure you'll not only have lands to play, but because he does not specify a basic land, you can use him to grab something like Command Tower or Exotic Orchard
Crucible of Worlds is a killer addition in here if you run all the fetch lands. If you don't run at least 5 fetches, I wouldn't recommend it. This plus Strip Mine can ruin someone, and if you have Exploration out on the field with at least 2 Fetch Lands in your grave, you'll be playing 2 lands every turn for the rest of the game.
Crop Rotation might not seem like ramp because you're paying a land to get a land, but being able to switch out that dopey Forest for a Cavern of Souls is what makes this card good. You can even ramp with it if you decide to grab Ancient Tomb. Having Crucible of Worlds in play only makes this card better. Oh, and this plus Flagstones of Trokair, hilarious.
Sylvan Scrying has the downside of requiring the land to go to your hand, but it holds the advantage of letting you grab any land you want. Being able to fetch Cavern of Souls is a huge help when playing against control decks.
Mana Rocks:
Putting out rocks will not only get you to WUBGR faster, but also help in setting up for one of the wincons, which I'll later discuss. It's also important to remember that Glimmervoid requires you to have at least one artifact out.
Mox Diamond sacrifices card advantage for mana ramp, but being able to accelerate your available mana makes this card worth it. Plus, it holds strong synergy with Crucible of Worlds and Deathrite Shaman. Mox Opal is probably not worth running in here, because experience has shown me that getting and holding on to 3 artifacts isn't so easy, but if you decide to go more artifact-heavy then it might be right for you.
Commander's Sphere gives you mana when you need it in the early game, and card advantage when you need it in the late game.
Darksteel Ingot is gonna stick around when things start getting wiped, so it's a strong addition.
Chromatic Lantern is just all-around good for any 5 color deck, though it usually sees hate.
Coalition Relic works really well against tap-down effects controlled by your opponents.
Mana Vault is a fantastic card to run, especially with untap effects. This deck doesn't run any untap shenanigans, but ramping yourself up by an extra 3 will let you cast your heavy spells turns faster. Sure, you may never have time to untap it, but 1 damage per turn in a format with 40 life is easy to take.
As you get close to being able to cast Scion, you should be setting the stage for his arrival. Make no mistake, Scion will not go on ignored across the table.
If you try to race your way to casting Scion and drop him turn 4 with no lands left untapped, chances are you're gonna see him die before you can even say "pass turn"
It's very important you get a feel for what your opponents can do and decide on how you want to shape the board-state.
Before considering to cast your commander, you should first:
Set Up Protection:
Obviously you're not going to just be dropping your lands and passing until you can cast Scion. You'll be building your walls and making your opponents burn through their removal before bringing down the hammer. Some things you should hope to be seeing are:
Mother of Runes for just one white is great for shielding your creatures (Scion) from targeted removal as well as letting them get through blockers.
Spellskite is reusable, a blocker, and at the very least removes an answer from your opponent's hand. For just 2 this is a powerful card to run.
Lightning Greaves equips for 0, gives haste, and shrouds your commander. It is my opinion that these benefits heavily out weigh the disadvantage brought by not being able to target your own commander. If you need to stick that Curiosity on to win, then you'll know not to equip it. If shroud does turn you off of this card, then Swiftfoot Boots may be a suitable replacement.
Armageddon will ruin your day. If you know one's coming, you're gonna want a Boros Charm. While you'll probably use it for its Double Strike clause more often, it can still save your ass.
Pact of Negation and Silence will prevent disruption at a critical point. If you go all out to pump up Scion with Moltensteel Dragon and they cast Fog, it's gg for you if you don't have a counter. Stifle will prevent a large portion of combos you may see your opponents trying to achieve.
On the flip side, if you notice the Blue player sitting across from you has left 2 islands untapped every turn since you've gotten your colors, you're gonna need counter protection. Savage Summoning offers that, Flash, and an extra +1/+1, all for a single G. Casting that on the End Step before your turn will often win you the game if you have what you need.
Cavern of Souls can't be countered and doesn't allow Scion to be countered. If you have one, run it.
These cards are nice for helping keep Scion in play, but Scion is perfectly capable of protecting himself; as long as you have at least 2 open to use. These guys are the reason it's important to keep mana open after casting your commander:
Silumgar, the Drifting Death is the cheapest solution to spot removal. Not only will it hold off the first targeting spell, but it will also keep them at bay for the rest of the turn. Silumgar does so much for Scion that if your opponents know you run him, then they typically won't even waste time trying to cast the removal.
Quicksilver Dragon offers a second option to protect Scion, but I no longer run him because the extra U isn't always easy to hold open. Quicksilver is still a great card choice for Scion, but I've just found better things to run.
If you manage to keep at least 4 open mana with Scion on the field, then you have access to the regeneration option of Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon for when the board is overdue for a wipe.
These aren't Scion's only options for saving his skin, but they are the most common. You should memorize all the dragons you run, not only to save time when activating his ability, but to know what you need to get around any obstacle.
Sculpt a Hand:
A counter spell does you no good if it's not in your hand. On the other side of the coin, a Worldgorger Dragon is probably the last thing you'll ever want to draw. You need a way to get relevant spells into your hand while keeping Scion's options open by keeping dragons in the library. To do this, you'll be looking towards:
Sylvan Library will allow you to dictate how quickly you want to fill your hand, and can even (somewhat) filter back in that Dragon Tyrant you didn't want to see. You can quickly kill yourself with this card if you don't play smart, but here is a good example of risk being outweighed by reward. Please draw responsibly.
Scroll Rack gives you the option to get an entirely new hand. Sure, you'll be drawing those cards again later, but when you're in desperate need of an answer to an immediate threat you start caring about the now. Add any shuffling ability (SCION) into the equation and suddenly you have a free mulligan machine.
Time Spiral is nuts. For real. As long as you have access to 4UU you just got a free spell that completely filled your tank. Not only do you have a hand full of neat new spells, but now you have the mana to cast them! Well how 'bout that.
Fact or Fiction may be a little higher on the curve than some would like, but considering it usually nets you 3 cards, 3U is pretty cheap. Also, instant speed is pretty nice.
Sensei's Divining Top pretty much lets you consistently plan your next 3 turns. When you need to get something into your hand immediately, you can do so anytime. This card only becomes more powerful when combined with any other draw engine you have. With a cost of just 1 there's a reason pretty much any EDH deck that can afford it runs this card.
Survival of the Fittest lets you switch out that Draco you didn't need for something more useful and relevant to the situation, like Eternal Witness or Snapcaster Mage. When you have a need for a creature, this card will enable you to use them.
While Thassa, God of the Sea may never be a creature here, she's still an indestructible permanent that filters the top of your library every turn and slaps unblockable on Scion. Her cheap cmc of 3 on top of all that justifies her a slot.
Path to Exile is a No-Questions-Asked creature removal spell for the low low cost of W. What's that you say? Exile an Avacyn, Angel of Hope for just one white is too good? Meet its brother, Swords to Plowshares. Sure, the Omnath player might snicker when you just upped him 64 life by hitting his Primordial Hydra, but in a format where 21 is the magic number, Scion doesn't care about anyone's life total but your own.
Vindicate lets you choose any permanent, be it land, creature, planeswalker, or whatever. As with Path, this card also has a counterpart worth running - Maelstrom Pulse. It won't hit lands, but it will pop everyone's Sol Ring at the same time.
Deathrite Shaman is your go-to solution against graveyard plays. If you play EDH long enough, you'll learn the hard way how much a Crucible of Worlds and Strip Mine combo hurts. Even when you're not up against grave-threats, your own Fetch Lands will be feeding him when you need the mana.
Another graveyard removal option in here is Shred Memory. It only hits 4 cards (you typically only need to remove one anyway), but the Transmute clause on it means that it isn't a dead card against an opponent who never touches their graveyard.
Shattering Spree provides a much cheaper solution to artifacts, and one your opponents won't see coming. If you have enough R you can clear the board of rocks.
But sometimes spot-removal isn't going to cut it. When you need to provide a clean slate and clear a path for Scion, you'll want:
All is Dust is pretty expensive with that 7 cost, but when the board is filled to the brim with permanents and indestructibles, it can be a life saver. If you need to cast it while Scion is in play, you can turn him into a Draco to keep him around.
Cyclonic Rift is fantastic. A true one-sided wipe that even has utility as spot removal. It may not destroy, but your opponents are gonna have a major set back trying to recover their board-state. This major shift in tempo will give you crazy advantage.
Balefire Dragon, aside from having my favorite flavor text, is an army-destroyer. As a reusable board-wipe, Balefire is worth the card slot.
Hellkite Tyrant will win you the game if you connect with anyone controlling at least 5 artifacts. Even having just a few extra signets makes a huge difference. Some people run this and Mycosynth Lattice, but I find that Lattice helps my opponents more than I'd like, and if you cast Lattice, people are gonna see your next turn coming a mile away. I stopped running it, but if the idea of controlling all of your opponent's permanents gives you some kinda sick pleasure, feel free to try it.
Step 3: DEATH BY DRAGONS
Sometime between turns 5-7 you should have successfully resolved Scion and kept him alive until the turn made it back around to you. Good Job!
What you do next depends entirely on the board state and what cards you have in hand. This deck is constructed so that you should always see at least one of your wincons. These wincons are:
Bear Umbra
Bear Umbra at first glance seems like it would fall into the ramp/protection categories, but thanks to Hellkite Charger we can throw it on Scion to exploit the attack triggers to take unlimited combat steps. Scion attacks, so both the hellkite trigger and umbra trigger go on the stack, and we choose to untap, then pay. Rinse and repeat. Even if Scion becomes blocked, the triggers can still be used as long as he's not destroyed. If you've played your cards right, you should have created an opening on each opponent's field so you can get through for damage.
Other options for this combo include Sword of Feast and Famine and Nature's Will, both of which I've ran, and neither I'd recommend for this combo (although Sword is good on its own). The reason for this is that the Hellkite trigger is an Attack trigger, while Sword and Will trigger on damage. This will still work, but now instead of needing a maximum of 6 mana to kick this combo in one turn, you instead require at least 9, 2 to activate Scion, and then 7 as you attack, and this is assuming Sword is already equipped or Will is already in play. Umbra never needs to leave your hand before you're ready to execute, and it doesn't require the damage trigger. Sword usually gets hated off the board in a turn or two, and throwing down Nature's Will the turn before
will scream to everybody what you're about to do.
Trust me, Bear Umbra is better for this combo.
Curiosity
This is probably the one of the most known and most run combos in EDH. First, you stick Curiosity on Scion, then turn him into Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind and tap him to deal as much damage as you have cards in your library. The may trigger on Curiosity also ensures we won't be forced to mill ourselves out if we're low on cards. Requiring a grand total of 2U to kick this combo off makes this an easy one to go for. You could also include the similar Ophidian Eye in this list. The extra 2 needed to cast it may be a turn off, but you never know when you'd need that Flash. Besides, the extra cost is pretty much negligible when it wins you the game.
Tainted Strike
Tainted Strike will let you kill anyone you can connect to. Draco is pictured here, but you can pretty much turn Scion into any dragon with fire-breathing. This is a strategy probably best saved for 1v1, as you're only going to be able to hit one player with it. Snapcaster Mage can be used to recycle it, sure, but if you're playing combo in multiplayer you probably don't want to go for a "one at a time" approach to your opponents. But sometimes it can't be helped, and 2 opponents is usually better than 3.
Animate Dead
This is a famous Scion combo, and one that takes a lot of time to explain. The gist of it is, Scion tutors Worldgorger Dragon into the graveyard with his ability. Though Scion is a copy of Worldgorger, he doesn't enter the battlefield, so Wordgorger's ability doesn't trigger. You then use Animate Dead or Necromancy to grab Worldgorger out of the graveyard. This triggers his ability, which removes the enchantment on him, which kills him to trigger his other ability. What happens is a constant loop where all of your permanents flash in and out of the battlefield for as many times as you target Worldgorger with Animate Dead or Necromancy. As your lands and mana rocks come in and out of the battlefield, you tap them each time, but only if they enter the battlefield untapped. This is why it is important to have mana rocks. If you only have Shocks on the battlefield, this will not work. This combo generates infinite mana, which you will use with Scion to deal infinite damage with Shivan Hellkite or even Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius if you decide to run him. You can do this combo without Scion if you make use of Entomb, but if you don't have another grave target you'll put yourself in an infinite loop and lose.
Academy Rector
This combo is slightly clunky because it requires Academy Rector to already be on the field when you activate Scion, but he's a strong addition to the deck by himself, so he makes Prossh, Skyraider of Kher a worthy addition. This is less a combo than it is a tutor for a combo, but here's the run down of how this works. With Scion and Academy Rector both on the field, you activate Scion twice. The first activation is to grab any of the above combo dragons, then you respond to that activation by activating him a second time to grab Prossh. With Scion as a copy of Prossh, you sacrifice Academy Rector to Prossh's ability, then use rector to grab an enchantment that combos with the first dragon Scion fetched. Say you went for Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind before grabbing Prossh, you then would tutor Curiosity to the field an attach it to Prossh, who then becomes Niv-Mizzet. Activate Niv-Mizzet and win. As far as I know, this is an original idea I've come up with for Scion. The strength in this lies in the fact that whatever combo piece you grab can't be countered, and with both Scion and Rector on the field, this requires a total of 4 to set off. No colors required.
The Beat Down
So maybe you haven't seen any tutors or wincons all game, or maybe you're like me and prefer to win a game differently each time. If you remember nothing else about Scion, remember this:Scion's ability can stack on itself. I wish Scion's ability had the clause "becomes a copy of that card and gains this ability," but it doesn't. So when you change Scion into Hellkite Tyrant and your opponent casts Doom Blade, then it's too late to do anything. However, until Scion's ability resolves, you can activate it as many times as you'd like. Scion will only remain a copy of each dragon past the first for an instance before resolving to the first activation, but that instance is enough time to use instant abilities. The most used example of this is activating Scion to fetch Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon, and in response activating it again to grab Moltensteel Dragon. While Scion briefly remains a copy of Moltensteel, you dump 12 life into Moltensteel's Phyrexian Fire-breathing, so when Skithiryx resolves you now have a 10/4 with flying and infect. Other options to follow after Moltensteel include Dragon Tyrant, Draco, or even Balefire Dragon. By sequencing your activations like this, you can combine each dragon's abilities together. Hell, if you're playing 1v1 you could go all-in and turn Scion into Moltensteel and pay 34 life to hit for 21 commander damage. Scion allows you to get creative with how you want to do combat. Knowing all of your dragons by heart allows you to make timely decisions on how to tackle any problem.
Conclusion
So yeah, that's pretty much all you need to know about piloting my take on Scion. There were a lot of cards that didn't make the cut that I would have liked to use, and I'd like to give a big thanks to my good friend ajacobik for helping me trim the fat and play testing this deck for a couple years now. If you're thinking about building Sharuum the Hegemon EDH you should check out his list. He knows a thing or two. I realize some of the cards in here are pretty expensive, but you can find good budget alternatives for most of them. As long as you have all the wincons in here and can access all your colors, you'll be able to wreck face. I welcome all suggestions and criticisms, and I can offer feedback if you're wanting to try something different in Scion. I've run a lot of different cards in here for the time I've had it.
ajacobik, sword is definitely the stronger card overall, however (as OP explained) Bear Umbra triggers on the attack (rather than combat damage on a player), meaning all it takes is a single flying chump blocker to stop the equipment from wiping the table. The aura, on the otherhand, needs 7 power of flying blockers before they're stopped.
Quote from Do_No_Harm »
Scion is a political nightmare. You don't just casually cast Scion. By casting your commander you are making a public statement of "At least one of you is losing on my next turn." Of course, you could make more mild plays by turning Scion into something like Balefire Dragon to clear the board of tokens, but why would you when you could just attack that same player with a Tainted Striked Draco?
We have taken extremely different approaches to Scion!
I answered "what is better than killing a player?" with:
I have found that these advantages put me further ahead in p(win game) than simply killing one player, unless one opponent was much more threatening than the others. As you've said, this sort of approach also makes politics easier.
Your approach however is probably more competitive than mine: you have more room for defense to keep Scion around until your next turn, and then a less convoluted process from there to actually winning. I just a simple man who wants to attack a bunch with a bunch dragons.
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
Eternal, I've looked over you list and can definitely see we've taken different approaches. Your take on Scion is definitely less cut-throat than mine, and it looks like a blast to pilot!
You go for a lot of the big cost spells, and to support that, I see you run cards like Mirari's Wake and Mana Reflection. My deck focuses on a more land-central approach to ramping, but yours definitely looks like it gets most of its steam from signets and other artifacts. This is very vulnerable to wipes, as I'm sure you've experienced first-hand. If you're going to stick to your guns with artifact-central ramp, I recommend you run Darksteel Forge. Normally, a card like this would be really expensive to cast, but seeing as you're going for bomb spells like Time Stretch and Omniscience, you'll have no problem finding room for it.
I also see you're running Savage Ventmaw. I've mulled over this card, and decided I didn't really need it. If I have Scion on the field, I'm pretty much done ramping. I can see you make use of it to cast your larger spells, so it does fit much more nicely in your build. I heavily recommend you run Aggravated Assault to compliment this choice. With Ventmaw and Assault on the field, you'll be able to take infinite combat steps, or, depending on the situation, generate infinite mana.
I also suggest you find a suitable substitute for Swan Song. Experience has shown me how frustrating it can be to give my opponent a flying blocker.
How is Lim-Dûl's Vault working for you? I never had patience for that card.
ajacobik, I will be updating the thread with more info soon. Concerning Sword of Feast and Famine, that's probably going to be an addition when I find something else to cut. Sword's utility with early game dorks such as Birds of Paradise offers incredible ramp potential. I'd like to do a little more play testing, and if every time I draw Bear Umbra and think "Man, I wish this was a sword," then I'll definitely make the switch. Otherwise, I'll be looking for something else to drop (Balefire Dragon?)
While Regrowth is cheaper than Eternal Witness, I think E-wit has the advantage of being tutor-able with Survival of the Fittest, Cheat-able with Sneak Attack, and hilarious with Worldgorger Dragon. I have found Sword of Feast and Famine to be somewhat lackluster, though. Replacing sword would give me a good excuse to play test Dragon Tempest. Bloom Tender would be great for more casual lists, but in here I'm done ramping once Scion has hit the field. I would seriously consider it if most my permanents didn't end up being mana rocks, however.
some ideas i ran thsi general as a dedicated WGD general here are some things i did : if you use borgarden hellkite and the dragonlord that does the same thing and bladewing you can now use any reanimate spell to trigger your WGD loop so you can up your reanimate/ tutor density and use a cards like seedborn muse and PoK to instantly set up instant gg as soon as can you drop your general at 5 mana with any tutor / reanimate. the doublestrike dragon is similar to skittles and makes for some easy aggro board kills with living death.
some ideas i ran thsi general as a dedicated WGD general here are some things i did : if you use borgarden hellkite and the dragonlord that does the same thing and bladewing you can now use any reanimate spell to trigger your WGD loop so you can up your reanimate/ tutor density and use a cards like seedborn muse and PoK to instantly set up instant gg as soon as can you drop your general at 5 mana with any tutor / reanimate. the doublestrike dragon is similar to skittles and makes for some easy aggro board kills with living death.
I've thought a lot about a Bladewing the Risen combo, but I've long decided that it just isn't efficient enough. If I were to set it up, it would definitely be done by tutoring Dragon Tempest (Shred Memory transmute works great for this), casting Scion and activating him as a copy of Bladewing, then using something like Reanimate to grab Bladewing from the grave and abuse the legend rule to stack Tempest's trigger, Bladewing's trigger, and the legend sacrifice trigger (not in that order). This require's a lot of set up, and because Bladewing isn't a card I would run in here by its own value, I just wouldn't do it.
As far as Seedborn Muse and Prophet of Kruphix go, a 5cmc card slot for them is tough to justify. Seedborn I'd never run, but Prophet I've considered because of her flash clause. However, my strategy is to accelerate in the early game, and Prophet is a mid-game drop. By mid-game I shouldn't be looking to drop Prophet, I should be trying to drop Scion. Even though she might allow me to drop Scion the following opponent's turn (she doesn't untap mana rocks), it would just be another card I hate drawing into early game, and considering Scion's chances of winning are decided by his early game acceleration, she just doesn't cut it.
I meant the dragon lord that gives all dragons double strike. I don't know that full reanimator is what you want to do just a consideration when I ran scion I ran a mass tutor build with high reanimate density and reanimator support like frantic search. most games ideally on would use a creature specific tutor to grab PoK drop it flash in scion then dump a full WGD combo into my yard and win off any reanimation spell or black tutor left in the hand. I used the doublestrike dragon in my back up kill slot where you have skittle because if I met instant removal on the molten scion back up kill I could take the line tutor> living death and threaten to instant kill again and even if they interruption for the WGD loop again or if it was exiled. Then the double strike dragon still left me with a lethal attack to kill the table with. I don't know how much of this is relevant to how you built it here just dropping some suggestions from my experience.
I meant the dragon lord that gives all dragons double strike. I don't know that full reanimator is what you want to do just a consideration when I ran scion I ran a mass tutor build with high reanimate density and reanimator support like frantic search. most games ideally on would use a creature specific tutor to grab PoK drop it flash in scion then dump a full WGD combo into my yard and win off any reanimation spell or black tutor left in the hand. I used the doublestrike dragon in my back up kill slot where you have skittle because if I met instant removal on the molten scion back up kill I could take the line tutor> living death and threaten to instant kill again and even if they interruption for the WGD loop again or if it was exiled. Then the double strike dragon still left me with a lethal attack to kill the table with. I don't know how much of this is relevant to how you built it here just dropping some suggestions from my experience.
Ok, that makes more sense seeing it explained that way. Your build sounds like a powerful strategy, but reanimation isn't what this build really goes for. Worldgorger Dragon combo is certainly one of this list's more powerful wincons, but under the condition my graveyard gets exiled I still have several strategies to choose from. This deck really tries to go tall, rather than wide, so a Living Death army wouldn't do well here.
It's like you said though, it really depends on what kind of Scion build you wanna go for. In my experience, relying on a single type of strategy like reanimator, no matter how powerful, leaves you vulnerable to neutering (Rest in Peace).
The problem with Intuition is that if Worldgorger is in the pile, they can just send it to your hand. Obviously survival fixes this, but survival is kinda good by itself, lol. Intuition piles of Necromancy, Animate Dead, and recursion would be cool for sure though, so it may be a good choice.
My big worry is that Worldgorger is the go-to combo for the deck. As seen the other night, Stifle hurts pretty bad. And by pretty bad, I mean holy ***** it hurts.
Is it possible to also stop the combo by removing Worldgorger in response to the exile trigger hitting the stack? It would get rid of necromancy before it gets exiled and put the "return everything" trigger on top of the exile trigger.
My big worry is that Worldgorger is the go-to combo for the deck. As seen the other night, Stifle hurts pretty bad. And by pretty bad, I mean holy ***** it hurts.
Is it possible to also stop the combo by removing Worldgorger in response to the exile trigger hitting the stack? It would get rid of necromancy before it gets exiled and put the "return everything" trigger on top of the exile trigger.
It's possible to respond to WGD's exile trigger with something like Path to Exile so that his second trigger doesn't see your permanents leave play. WGD combo has been my go-to for lots of games, but I can usually go for a different strategy just as easily. I typically get Animate Dead because Scion doesn't need to be in play for it to go off, but if I can predict a Stifle or a Path, then playing around traps like that isn't usually too hard as long as I don't put all my chips on the table.
I do think that as the amount of spot removal in the meta goes up, the guess becomes even more of a risk. It is definitely the riskiest combo in the deck.
I am not saying take it out, lol. I just worry that you go for it a bit too often.
I've really enjoyed your build of this so thank you for sharing.
A few questions if you could spare a minute.
1) How would your land base change if you had access to dual lands? For me, I've run full shocks, fetches, and duals, Strip Mine, Cavern of Souls, and Command Tower.
2) No Sneak Attack or Survival of the Fittest available to me now. Are there alternate cards you would suggest? In their place I'm currently using Sarkhan Unbroken and Stormbreath Dragon.
3) Blade of Selves from the new commander decks seems like an instant add. I think for me I'll look to replace the Sarkhan Unbroken with it, but if you are looking to add it, what would you swap out?
I've really enjoyed your build of this so thank you for sharing.
A few questions if you could spare a minute.
1) How would your land base change if you had access to dual lands? For me, I've run full shocks, fetches, and duals, Strip Mine, Cavern of Souls, and Command Tower.
2) No Sneak Attack or Survival of the Fittest available to me now. Are there alternate cards you would suggest? In their place I'm currently using Sarkhan Unbroken and Stormbreath Dragon.
3) Blade of Selves from the new commander decks seems like an instant add. I think for me I'll look to replace the Sarkhan Unbroken with it, but if you are looking to add it, what would you swap out?
I haven't updated my list in a while, but I now have most of the duals, along with some other cards. When I put in the dual lands I actually replaced their corresponding shocks. My reasoning for not running both duals and shocks is that running all the fetches ensures I always have the colors I need. I really wanted to save land slots for utility lands, like Cavern of Souls, Strip Mine, and Ancient Tomb. Apart from those, I've included lands like Reflecting Pool, City of Brass, and Mana Confluence. Having lands that tap for anything acts as an insurance policy when you just aren't drawing into fetches. That's what's worked for me, anyway.
Stormbreath Dragon is currently in my list and I love it. Apart from protecting Scion against the usual Path to Exile, it also serves as an early-mid game beater (or blocker). Sarkhan Unbroken is a card I've always wanted to try but just never got around to. Looking at it now I think it might be a little slow for my list. Blade of Selves I would just say no to. It can't work with Scion because of the Legend rule (unless he becomes a copy of something first, I guess), and beats isn't really how this list wins in multiplayer. If Scion is playing in pods then the main wincons I'm looking at are gonna be Curiosity, Animate Dead, or Bear Umbra. Of course I have won some pods with straight combat damage, but that's usually when other players have been taking each other out. It just seems like a dull choice to me, but that's just my opinion. You could actually have some pretty sic interactions with it if you run a lot of ETB effects like Eternal Witness or Snapcaster Mage. But you'll definitely need more than those two to justify it.
As far as Sneak Attack and Survival of the Fittest go, I really can't say unless I see your list. I wouldn't say they're auto includes for every Scion list, so you might actually have better card options. If you post your deck list here I'd love to talk about it with you.
Any updates lately? Are any of the cards from the new set playable?
Very large amount of changes. I haven't kept up with updating this thread because I suck at time management, but anyone wanting to see the current list can go here. I will eventually get this thread updated, but besides the new inclusion of Hermit Druid the strategy pretty much remains the same.
I wouldn't add any of the new cards to this list except definitely Hedron Alignment. Still holding out for a Darksteel Dragon.
List may change a bit more after I acclimate to the new mulligan rule, but so far color fixing hasn't been much of an issue in the first 4 games I've played without paris.
Scion of the Ur-Dragon
Death By Dragons
Introduction
This is a list I've been working on for a few years, and I'm confident enough now in its ability to compete against just about any other commander in both single and multiplayer games.
I've browsed many Scion lists across MTG Salvation and can say my list is unique. I wrote up my card list and deck strategy not only to open myself up for criticisms and discussion, but to share information with anyone else who runs or wants to run Scion as their commander. There's lots of content here and I've tried to make it as easy to read and understand as possible. This list is incredibly fun for me to pilot and the varying methods of plays it's able to make allows it to hold sustainability over time. If you have any questions, opinions, or criticisms about this list, or even Scion as a commander in general, then I highly encourage you to post your thoughts! I've run many cards in Scion over the years and I've tested many strategies in both casual and competitive play. This list has been created with competitive elements in mind, but Scion allows for all kinds of builds and strategies (He is 5 color, after all). If you're thinking of building Scion (or even anticipate competing against Scion) then I encourage you to view my list and strategies.
Thanks for reading!
CONS:
PROS:
Now here's the list!
Disclaimer: I do not actually run the card Death by Dragons
5 Scion of the Ur-dragon
The Mana Rocks:
3 Chromatic Lantern
0 Mox Diamond
3 Darksteel Ingot
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
1 Coalition Relic
3 Commander's Sphere
The Ramp:
2 Farseek
2 Nature's Lore
4 Skyshroud Claim
1 Weathered Wayfarer
1 Exploration
3 Crucible of Worlds
1 Crop Rotation
2 Sylvan Scrying
The Tutors:
2 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Entomb
The Threat Removal:
3 Vindicate
3 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Path to Exile
1 Shattering Spree
1 Swords to Plowshares
The Insurance Policies:
1 Mother of Runes
6 Silumgar, the Drifting Death
0 Pact of Negation
1 Savage Summoning
2 Boros Charm
2 Lightning Greaves
1 Silence
1 Stifle
3 Eternal Witness
1 Reanimate
1 Deathrite Shaman
2 Snapcaster Mage
2 Shred Memory
2 Spellskite
4 Academy Rector
4 Sneak Attack
3 Thassa, God of the Sea
3 Sword of Feast and Famine
The Board-State Police:
7 All is Dust
7 Cyclonic Rift
7 Balefire Dragon
6 Hellkite Tyrant
The Hand Fixers:
6 Time Spiral
2 Scroll Rack
2 Sylvan Library
1 Sensei's Divining Top
2 Survival of the Fittest
4 Fact or Fiction
The Win Buttons:
6 Moltensteel Dragon
5 Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
1 Tainted Strike
3 Necromancy
2 Animate Dead
7 Worldgorger Dragon
7 Shivan Hellkite
6 Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
1 Curiosity
6 Hellkite Charger
4 Bear Umbra
9 Draco
6 Prossh, Skyraider of Kher
0 Blood Crypt
0 Bloodstained Mire
0 Breeding Pool
0 Cavern of Souls
0 City of Brass
0 Command Tower
0 Arid Mesa
0 Exotic Orchard
0 Flooded Strand
0 Forbidden Orchard
0 Marsh Flats
0 Glimmervoid
0 Godless Shrine
0 Misty Rainforest
0 Hallowed Fountain
0 Ancient Tomb
0 Scalding Tarn
0 Mana Confluence
0 Mountain
0 Grove of the Burnwillows
0 Overgrown Tomb
0 Strip Mine
0 Polluted Delta
0 Reflecting Pool
0 Sacred Foundry
0 Steam Vents
0 Stomping Ground
0 Verdant Catacombs
0 Temple Garden
0 Watery Grave
0 Windswept Heath
0 Wooded Foothills
0 Flagstones of Trokair
This deck started as an Intet, the Dreamer list. I was entirely new to EDH, and I knew I liked the Dragon creature type, so I traded for an Intet my friend had and stuffed it with as many dragons as I could.
Well that didn't do so well, so I figured I just needed more dragons. Searching Gatherer, I soon discovered Scion was a card that existed. I immediately knew I had to build him, and so Intet made way for Scion. Like literally, I took Intet out of his sleeve and slipped Scion in. Luckily, I had friends to tell me that maybe 40 dragons was too many. I soon learned that a deck is good when every card has synergy with its commander.
Scion had the benefit of experiencing trial by fire. The two decks I played against most were Sharuum the Hegemon combo and Oona, Queen of the Fae combo. If I wanted to keep up, I had to run combos of my own. Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind and Curiosity became one of the first steps towards my deck being able to win. I then added things like Nature's Will and Hellkite Charger. As time passed Scion gradually became stronger. The land base moved from basics and vivids to shocks and fetches. Unfortunately, as Scion became stronger, so did the pay-wall required to make him better. Now he sits as a powerful deck, requiring things like Dual Lands, Mana Drain, and Timetwister to get stronger. My goal is to eventually fill every ideal slot, but that's gonna take some time. And while this list may turn people off due to its price tag, I speak from experience that Scion remains fun to play at almost any level.
Currently Playtesting
Here's a list of cards I'm currently running that aren't on this list. After I've decided that these cards do or do not deserve a card slot, I'll remove them from this list. I generally like to run a card for at least 20 games before making a decision.
Apostle's Blessing
Dragon Tempest
Crystal Quarry
Stormbreath Dragon
Nature's Claim
Why Don't You Run X?
Mycosynth Lattice works wonders with the Hellkite Tyrant I run, but I've used this card for a long time before deciding it just wasn't right for this build. Throwing it down makes you a target, and giving your opponents access to all colors can help them more than you'd like. Plus, all it takes is a single Vandalblast to ensure the red player is winning this game. I just think the cons outweigh the benefits.
Savage Ventmaw is a ramp machine, and he combos nicely with Aggravated Assault. I already run an infinite combat step combo (one which I think is better fit for this deck), and I have no need for ramp after the fact that I've already resolved Scion. Remember, the point of this build is to make Scion into a one-hit KO, so filling this deck with utility dragons will get me nowhere.
Dragonlord Ojutai offers another instance of hexproof for Scion, though the "untapped" clause may be more limiting than I'd like. I think running just one hexproof dragon is enough for my purposes. If I was hard-pressed to find ways of protecting Scion, I'd include him, but right now I have better options than to include another card I don't want to draw.
Steel Hellkite - Too narrow; plain and simple. If his ability hit all players, then we'd talk.
Hoard-Smelter Dragon - I've run this in the past and have found that paying 2 to activate Scion and then paying 3R to activate Hoard-Smelter is too steep to pop a single artifact and there are probably better things I could be doing with my turn.
X Dragon - Can I one-shot a player with it? Does it have board-state-changing utility? If not, then it just isn't strong enough to make the cut.
Mana Crypt is great in a format with 40 life, but unfortunately I'm already pushing it with a full set of shocks, fetches, and several Moltensteel Dragon wincons. And trust me, Sylvan Library makes drawing 2 extra cards hard to say no to. If I include too many life takers then I'd find myself in more risky situations than I'd like. I may be more willing to run it when I can afford to switch my shock lands with dual lands.
Brainstorm/Preordain are fantastic card advantage spells, but I think I run enough hand-fixers to justify not including them. If I could fit every good card into here, I would, but I only have 99 card slots to use and every card that earns a slot must be justified for running over something else. Why should I run Brainstorm over Ponder or Sensei's Divining Top? That question needs to be asked for every card in here. You get the idea.
Three Visits - I feel very comfortable and confidant in my ramping build right now, and I can't justify cutting another card for more ramp. If you don't like some of the other ramp spells in here though, then this is a good substitute.
X ramp - See above, but also, most ramp indicates a basic land, or that the land come in tapped or into my hand. Scion needs to be fast, and I've built what I consider the most efficient ramp base I can while maintaining the cards needed to make this deck strong. I am open to hearing all suggestions though, and if you think I should switch out one piece of ramp with another, I'd be very happy to hear your argument!
Wheel of Fortune - I prefer Time Spiral over this card because it costs me nothing in mid-game, which is when you need a wheel effect the most. I don't run both because I think one wheel effect is enough for this build. It's very important to keep your opponent's hands low on answers for when you try to make your move. I also want to make an effort to build a suitable hand for comboing over the course of the game. When I've spent my resources sculpting my hand for combo, I don't want to see a another card that would just reset all of them.
X Time Spell - When I would need a time spell the most would be when I've cast Scion. By that time, I wouldn't have enough mana to cast one. You could argue Temporal Mastery for this, but that is a card I have run and decided to drop. With all the draw engines I have in this build, I'm more likely to see this card as my 2nd or 3rd draw, at which point it becomes a dead card in my hand. I probably run enough filtering effects to make it work, but honestly the effort just isn't worth it, and it's especially not worth the card slot.
Mirari's Wake/Mana Reflection - These spells cost a lot, and by the time I could comfortably cast them, I already have what I need to cast Scion. I try to run a lot of low-cost spells in here, with all the high one's being Scion targets. I honestly have no need for access to 14 mana with this build.
The Signets - I run enough artifact ramp to suit my purposes, and anymore would leave me vulnerable to artifact hate and board wipes.
Conspiracy - It's a fun card. People tend to use it to target Eldrazi, but the I think the real application is with Phage the Untouchable. This combo feels slow and clunky to me, and only having one target for this effect makes it not worth running. I'd just be creating more junk useful for only one thing. I believe it is also to important to keep your threats in your hand. By laying down permanent combo pieces, you're setting yourself up as a target.
X Counterspell - Pact of Negation, Stifle and Silence offer everything I need. I don't like running too much control, and quite frankly this deck just doesn't need it. Scion is built to produce more threats than they have answers. However, Mana Drain probably deserves a slot, and I'll update this as soon as I can buy one and test it in competitive play.
Gilded Lotus - Too slow, and only produces one color. I'd rather have a rock that ramps me early game than a rock that can only help me mid-late game.
X Tutor - See the spoiler below.
X Dual Land - See the spoiler below
X Reanimation Spell - See the spoiler below
I didn't see my awesome card idea! - Please leave a comment telling me why I should run that awesome card! I've spent a long time on this list, so chances are I've thought about it or tried it, but I appreciate all feedback! Thank You!
Before I get into the goals and operation of this deck, I'd like to mention my personal opinions on:
Ramping is done in two ways: Through Mana Rocks and Land Fetching
As you get close to being able to cast Scion, you should be setting the stage for his arrival.
Make no mistake, Scion will not go on ignored across the table.
If you try to race your way to casting Scion and drop him turn 4 with no lands left untapped, chances are you're gonna see him die before you can even say "pass turn"
It's very important you get a feel for what your opponents can do and decide on how you want to shape the board-state.
Before considering to cast your commander, you should first:
Sometime between turns 5-7 you should have successfully resolved Scion and kept him alive until the turn made it back around to you. Good Job!
What you do next depends entirely on the board state and what cards you have in hand. This deck is constructed so that you should always see at least one of your wincons. These wincons are:
We have taken extremely different approaches to Scion!
I answered "what is better than killing a player?" with:
Your approach however is probably more competitive than mine: you have more room for defense to keep Scion around until your next turn, and then a less convoluted process from there to actually winning. I just a simple man who wants to attack a bunch with a bunch dragons.
Killing is definitely better than Balefire Dragon, though.
I like the idea of Mother of Runes.
You go for a lot of the big cost spells, and to support that, I see you run cards like Mirari's Wake and Mana Reflection. My deck focuses on a more land-central approach to ramping, but yours definitely looks like it gets most of its steam from signets and other artifacts. This is very vulnerable to wipes, as I'm sure you've experienced first-hand. If you're going to stick to your guns with artifact-central ramp, I recommend you run Darksteel Forge. Normally, a card like this would be really expensive to cast, but seeing as you're going for bomb spells like Time Stretch and Omniscience, you'll have no problem finding room for it.
I also see you're running Savage Ventmaw. I've mulled over this card, and decided I didn't really need it. If I have Scion on the field, I'm pretty much done ramping. I can see you make use of it to cast your larger spells, so it does fit much more nicely in your build. I heavily recommend you run Aggravated Assault to compliment this choice. With Ventmaw and Assault on the field, you'll be able to take infinite combat steps, or, depending on the situation, generate infinite mana.
I also suggest you find a suitable substitute for Swan Song. Experience has shown me how frustrating it can be to give my opponent a flying blocker.
How is Lim-Dûl's Vault working for you? I never had patience for that card.
some ideas i ran thsi general as a dedicated WGD general here are some things i did : if you use borgarden hellkite and the dragonlord that does the same thing and bladewing you can now use any reanimate spell to trigger your WGD loop so you can up your reanimate/ tutor density and use a cards like seedborn muse and PoK to instantly set up instant gg as soon as can you drop your general at 5 mana with any tutor / reanimate. the doublestrike dragon is similar to skittles and makes for some easy aggro board kills with living death.
Damia http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=410191
DDFT Legacyhttp://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=505247
Domain Zoo http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?p=10212429#post10212429
I've thought a lot about a Bladewing the Risen combo, but I've long decided that it just isn't efficient enough. If I were to set it up, it would definitely be done by tutoring Dragon Tempest (Shred Memory transmute works great for this), casting Scion and activating him as a copy of Bladewing, then using something like Reanimate to grab Bladewing from the grave and abuse the legend rule to stack Tempest's trigger, Bladewing's trigger, and the legend sacrifice trigger (not in that order). This require's a lot of set up, and because Bladewing isn't a card I would run in here by its own value, I just wouldn't do it.
As far as Seedborn Muse and Prophet of Kruphix go, a 5cmc card slot for them is tough to justify. Seedborn I'd never run, but Prophet I've considered because of her flash clause. However, my strategy is to accelerate in the early game, and Prophet is a mid-game drop. By mid-game I shouldn't be looking to drop Prophet, I should be trying to drop Scion. Even though she might allow me to drop Scion the following opponent's turn (she doesn't untap mana rocks), it would just be another card I hate drawing into early game, and considering Scion's chances of winning are decided by his early game acceleration, she just doesn't cut it.
Dragon Tyrant is a fantastic card to run in almost any Scion build. I've cut it because this list rarely aggros anymore, and when it does it's with Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon pumped with Moltensteel Dragon. Living Death has no place in this list. Worldgorger Dragon with Bogardan Hellkite or Scourge of Valkas wins, sure, but casting either of those isn't worth it considering Dragon Tempest wins the same way but for 1R. I've considered a Rite of Replication combo with Scourge of Valkas, but the kicker cost is too heavy.
Damia http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=410191
DDFT Legacyhttp://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=505247
Domain Zoo http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?p=10212429#post10212429
Ok, that makes more sense seeing it explained that way. Your build sounds like a powerful strategy, but reanimation isn't what this build really goes for. Worldgorger Dragon combo is certainly one of this list's more powerful wincons, but under the condition my graveyard gets exiled I still have several strategies to choose from. This deck really tries to go tall, rather than wide, so a Living Death army wouldn't do well here.
It's like you said though, it really depends on what kind of Scion build you wanna go for. In my experience, relying on a single type of strategy like reanimator, no matter how powerful, leaves you vulnerable to neutering (Rest in Peace).
Thanks for your suggestions!
My big worry is that Worldgorger is the go-to combo for the deck. As seen the other night, Stifle hurts pretty bad. And by pretty bad, I mean holy ***** it hurts.
Is it possible to also stop the combo by removing Worldgorger in response to the exile trigger hitting the stack? It would get rid of necromancy before it gets exiled and put the "return everything" trigger on top of the exile trigger.
It's possible to respond to WGD's exile trigger with something like Path to Exile so that his second trigger doesn't see your permanents leave play. WGD combo has been my go-to for lots of games, but I can usually go for a different strategy just as easily. I typically get Animate Dead because Scion doesn't need to be in play for it to go off, but if I can predict a Stifle or a Path, then playing around traps like that isn't usually too hard as long as I don't put all my chips on the table.
I don't think I could find much use for Intuition
I am not saying take it out, lol. I just worry that you go for it a bit too often.
A few questions if you could spare a minute.
1) How would your land base change if you had access to dual lands? For me, I've run full shocks, fetches, and duals, Strip Mine, Cavern of Souls, and Command Tower.
2) No Sneak Attack or Survival of the Fittest available to me now. Are there alternate cards you would suggest? In their place I'm currently using Sarkhan Unbroken and Stormbreath Dragon.
3) Blade of Selves from the new commander decks seems like an instant add. I think for me I'll look to replace the Sarkhan Unbroken with it, but if you are looking to add it, what would you swap out?
I haven't updated my list in a while, but I now have most of the duals, along with some other cards. When I put in the dual lands I actually replaced their corresponding shocks. My reasoning for not running both duals and shocks is that running all the fetches ensures I always have the colors I need. I really wanted to save land slots for utility lands, like Cavern of Souls, Strip Mine, and Ancient Tomb. Apart from those, I've included lands like Reflecting Pool, City of Brass, and Mana Confluence. Having lands that tap for anything acts as an insurance policy when you just aren't drawing into fetches. That's what's worked for me, anyway.
Stormbreath Dragon is currently in my list and I love it. Apart from protecting Scion against the usual Path to Exile, it also serves as an early-mid game beater (or blocker). Sarkhan Unbroken is a card I've always wanted to try but just never got around to. Looking at it now I think it might be a little slow for my list. Blade of Selves I would just say no to. It can't work with Scion because of the Legend rule (unless he becomes a copy of something first, I guess), and beats isn't really how this list wins in multiplayer. If Scion is playing in pods then the main wincons I'm looking at are gonna be Curiosity, Animate Dead, or Bear Umbra. Of course I have won some pods with straight combat damage, but that's usually when other players have been taking each other out. It just seems like a dull choice to me, but that's just my opinion. You could actually have some pretty sic interactions with it if you run a lot of ETB effects like Eternal Witness or Snapcaster Mage. But you'll definitely need more than those two to justify it.
As far as Sneak Attack and Survival of the Fittest go, I really can't say unless I see your list. I wouldn't say they're auto includes for every Scion list, so you might actually have better card options. If you post your deck list here I'd love to talk about it with you.
Very large amount of changes. I haven't kept up with updating this thread because I suck at time management, but anyone wanting to see the current list can go here. I will eventually get this thread updated, but besides the new inclusion of Hermit Druid the strategy pretty much remains the same.
I wouldn't add any of the new cards to this list except definitely Hedron Alignment. Still holding out for a Darksteel Dragon.
List may change a bit more after I acclimate to the new mulligan rule, but so far color fixing hasn't been much of an issue in the first 4 games I've played without paris.