While Dragonlord Kolaghan has been getting a bit of love lately I think that old school Kolaghan is vastly overlooked and that's a shame. The FTF cycle of Dragonlords all had some kind of benefit when you swing with Dragons but while most were kind of slow, Kolaghan is anything but. The ability to Dash her lets you swing for 12 out of nowhere if you had an unresponded Thunderbreak Regent or Stormbreath Dragon the turn before. Dash also gives you some insurance against sweepers and if you have her Dragonlord version on the field she has haste no matter what you do. Even outside of a dedicated dragons strategy like RB, Grixis or Jund Dragons I could easily see her being thrown into a tokens strategy since whenever a dragon attacks "creatures you control" get +1/0.
TLDR; I think FTF Kolaghan is often overlooked which is a shame because she's a card with big blowout potentials.
I don't think the shards are really viable nor where you want to be in general. Kolaghan does have some powerful synergies with Token strategies or just lower aggressive curves in general, other dragons such as Thunderbreak or no.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Brilliant ideas are stupid ideas that worked - Patrick Chapin
I don't think the shards are really viable nor where you want to be in general. Kolaghan does have some powerful synergies with Token strategies or just lower aggressive curves in general, other dragons such as Thunderbreak or no.
I generally agree with you on shards but I'm an outlier fan of Grixis Dragons right now. The "dragon's matter" cards are all very good and Grixis has access to all of them. Still, bringing it back to Kolaghan, if I was playing a dragons deck I'd say there's a strong reason to go RB just because of her. It's not even that hard to "splash" for her since you can play 2 or 3 Haven of the Spirit Dragon's with little drawback.
Also earlier today I saw someone playing her on a decktech on starcitygames. So I guess she is seeing a bit more play than I give her credit for.
The Grixis Dragons list you're referring to went 3-3 DROP, so no, I'm not overly optimistic about that particular deck.
Oh I never said it was a good deck, just that I made a thread about how a card I thought was good was seeing no play only to open up an article with someone playing her.
There's a little synergy for dash around but not much.
I think if control decks start to take over and rely on sorcery speed removal like enchantments or planeswalker activation dash gets better. Kolaghan is obviously the scariest dash threat in terms of size and evasion.
I just don't see any reason to run this over stormbreath. At least until rotation. Feels like he shoulda been 3/4 for 4 and dash 4 so he could curve-top a weenies/tokens strategy.
I just don't see any reason to run this over stormbreath. At least until rotation. Feels like he shoulda been 3/4 for 4 and dash 4 so he could curve-top a weenies/tokens strategy.
Yeah this is the problem I've found when trying to build decks. Way too many 5 drops. I mean you can play Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker which doesn't die to Ultimate Price which is becoming popular with all the powerful mono color creatures around.
Turns out Thunderbreak Regent hits the sweet spot being at a different place on the curve to Stormbreath.
There's a little synergy for dash around but not much.
I think if control decks start to take over and rely on sorcery speed removal like enchantments or planeswalker activation dash gets better. Kolaghan is obviously the scariest dash threat in terms of size and evasion.
Except I don't thing Dash should be the key ability you look at Kolaghan for. It's a nice way to give her haste. It dodges sorcery speed removal and it protects against sweepers. All that is nice, but it's not why I'd play her. It's just a part.
I just don't see any reason to run this over stormbreath. At least until rotation. Feels like he shoulda been 3/4 for 4 and dash 4 so he could curve-top a weenies/tokens strategy.
I'd easily run 1 Kolaghan either in exchange for one Stormbreath dragon or on top of a playset of them. You don't run one or the other. You run both. Stormbreath is a great threat and it swings for 4 with pro white. If you can get two on the field you swing for 8. But if you run a Kolaghan you can dash her to swing for 12 with another dragon.
It makes your other dragons even more dangerous of a threat because if they don't respond to them they're likely to not get another turn to draw into an answer. The reason to run this over stormbreath is because you want to dip into Black for removal options and one Kolaghan in the maindeck is just another threat that makes your other threats even better. Like, T4 Thunderbreak, it's killed, they take 3, T5 Stormbreath, Swing, and if they can't kill it on their turn or don't draw into a removal spell T6 Dash Kolaghan swing for 12. Now they have a Stormbreath they still need to deal with and they know you have a Kolaghan in your hand with an easy way to give her haste.
Maybe I'm the only one who see's value in that but she's a strong threat.
Sure, you could put one instead of a Stormbreath. You could also put a hoarding dragon or a lightning shrieker in there too. But since stormbreath dragon is like 10,000 times as powerful as Kohlagan - or whatever other 5 drop - you don't. I mean sure, for funsies go right ahead. I jam all sorts of pet cards in my decks for funsies. But it's certainly not competitive.
Also - wanting black for removal does not require you to play a black creature in your deck (lol?)
@GuildCaster -- You're not the only one who sees value in Storm's Fury at the moment. I used her in two lists for two Game Day events, and she won me games outright. Her anthem ability, her speed, and her extra power all mattered. She doesn't die to either Ultimate Price or Stoke the Flames. She was also unexpected, and doing the unexpected can win games.
For example, an opponent playing Abzan Aggro was at 8 life when he killed my Thunderbreak, dropping him to 5, and leaving my side of the board open for his counterattack, which would have killed me on his next turn. He tapped out for Tasigur, figuring that nothing I could cast with the would kill him. I was at 5 mana with one card in hand. Fortunately for me, I had Kolaghan in hand, dashed her out, and won the match. Stormbreath would not have gotten the job done.
Play it. Try it out and see how it works for you.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
The world is on fire
and you are here to stay and burn with me.
stormbreath dragon is like 10,000 times as powerful as Kohlagan
Now that's a hyperbole if I've ever seen one.
Stormbreath Dragon and Kolaghan are very different cards. Stormbreath has immunity against Abzan Charm, Valorous Stance and Ojutai. Kolaghan is immune to Stoke the Flames, Ultimate Price and other RG dragons. A dashed Kolaghan also dodges any sorcery speed removal.
Kolaghan has a higher damage output, especially if you have other creatures out, but ties your mana usage if you dash him.
I've seen Kolaghan used to great effect in BR warriors and Mardu warriors. The only real drawback of the card compared to the red dragons is that there are only a couple of decks that he slots into well and they aren't considered tier 1 decks.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
TLDR; I think FTF Kolaghan is often overlooked which is a shame because she's a card with big blowout potentials.
CUBE: http://www.cubetutor.com/viewcube/73964;jsessionid=2DE1F5FF41A24820A137448A2FD5CF8F
I LIKE DRAGONS!
I generally agree with you on shards but I'm an outlier fan of Grixis Dragons right now. The "dragon's matter" cards are all very good and Grixis has access to all of them. Still, bringing it back to Kolaghan, if I was playing a dragons deck I'd say there's a strong reason to go RB just because of her. It's not even that hard to "splash" for her since you can play 2 or 3 Haven of the Spirit Dragon's with little drawback.
Also earlier today I saw someone playing her on a decktech on starcitygames. So I guess she is seeing a bit more play than I give her credit for.
CUBE: http://www.cubetutor.com/viewcube/73964;jsessionid=2DE1F5FF41A24820A137448A2FD5CF8F
I LIKE DRAGONS!
Oh I never said it was a good deck, just that I made a thread about how a card I thought was good was seeing no play only to open up an article with someone playing her.
CUBE: http://www.cubetutor.com/viewcube/73964;jsessionid=2DE1F5FF41A24820A137448A2FD5CF8F
I LIKE DRAGONS!
There's a little synergy for dash around but not much.
I think if control decks start to take over and rely on sorcery speed removal like enchantments or planeswalker activation dash gets better. Kolaghan is obviously the scariest dash threat in terms of size and evasion.
Yeah this is the problem I've found when trying to build decks. Way too many 5 drops. I mean you can play Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker which doesn't die to Ultimate Price which is becoming popular with all the powerful mono color creatures around.
Turns out Thunderbreak Regent hits the sweet spot being at a different place on the curve to Stormbreath.
I'd easily run 1 Kolaghan either in exchange for one Stormbreath dragon or on top of a playset of them. You don't run one or the other. You run both. Stormbreath is a great threat and it swings for 4 with pro white. If you can get two on the field you swing for 8. But if you run a Kolaghan you can dash her to swing for 12 with another dragon.
3 Stormbreath Dragon
1 Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury
Maybe I'm the only one who see's value in that but she's a strong threat.
CUBE: http://www.cubetutor.com/viewcube/73964;jsessionid=2DE1F5FF41A24820A137448A2FD5CF8F
I LIKE DRAGONS!
Also - wanting black for removal does not require you to play a black creature in your deck (lol?)
For example, an opponent playing Abzan Aggro was at 8 life when he killed my Thunderbreak, dropping him to 5, and leaving my side of the board open for his counterattack, which would have killed me on his next turn. He tapped out for Tasigur, figuring that nothing I could cast with the would kill him. I was at 5 mana with one card in hand. Fortunately for me, I had Kolaghan in hand, dashed her out, and won the match. Stormbreath would not have gotten the job done.
Play it. Try it out and see how it works for you.
The world is on fire
and you are here to stay and burn with me.
Now that's a hyperbole if I've ever seen one.
Stormbreath Dragon and Kolaghan are very different cards. Stormbreath has immunity against Abzan Charm, Valorous Stance and Ojutai. Kolaghan is immune to Stoke the Flames, Ultimate Price and other RG dragons. A dashed Kolaghan also dodges any sorcery speed removal.
Kolaghan has a higher damage output, especially if you have other creatures out, but ties your mana usage if you dash him.
Youtube Channel