So Mike Flores recently top4ed a RPTQ playing this mono blue dragons deck that splashes every color to play nearly ever Dragonlord in the format (via 4 Crucible and 4 Haven of the Spirit Dragon).
After taking this deck for a test spin recently I've come to the conclusion that he may have just created the best deck in the format. It crushes Esper Dragons and basically any control matchup due to the overwhelming density of threats, the ability to recur threats with the 4 Havens, and Dragonlord's Prerogative nearly always being uncounterable. It crushes the mid-range decks due to all of the powerful finishers it plays. It is mediocre vs. the fast red decks in G1 but has a pretty solid sideboard plan (4 Master of Waves and 4 Omenspeakers and 4 Encase in Ice) for that deck.
Why are more people not talking about / playing this deck? It's absolutely amazing in the format right now. It feels like it's only a matter of time before everyone just acknowledges that the Tier 1 deck of this Standard format plays 4 Havens and 4 Crucibles...
Here's an article where he discussess the deck and his results with it:
I too thought Crucible was a bad card until I played with it.
It's actually INSANE in the control matchup. It gives an EOT play every time the two decks are playing draw-go, and then when you have 4+ counters on it, you essentially can cast a Dragonlord by tapping one land and then having the rest of the mana up for counters or draw. It almost single-handedly beats Esper Dragons alongside the Haven. I'd estimate the Esper Dragons matchup to be close to 80%+ for this deck, in no small part due to the maindecking 4 of each of these lands.
Crucible is such a bad card...I'd almost put in more basic lands or tap lands over it.
Crucible allows you to tap a single land for a Dragonlord and then hold mana for counters/removal/card draw/whatever. The land is narrow, but does it's job exceedingly well.
Kind of sad that Kolaghan is left out. Him and Dromoka cost 12 mana and do 11 damage with impunity, easily done vs control off of the Crucibles.
It was only a matter of time before Dromoka made her way to the big show and ruined control decks by being part of control decks.
I'm already interested in the mirror Dromoka vs Dromoka. Counters and protection are blank, removal is king, and recursion is dirty.
In the article; I am so glad for this quote, "Silumgar, the Drifting Death is for people who want all of their Dragons to be hexproof." I've thought the same thing for awhile now. Ojutai is good... But I would never say he blanks removal. The addition of Crucible is key here, without it you can't drop a threat and win the counter war, but with it you can do both with little disadvantage.
I really don't think Mono-U is the way to go, nor do I think 8 dragons lands is right, but I think the deck is on the right track. I'm looking at playing 2 Haven, 4 Crucible and going more for UR/b. Foul-Tongue and Thoughtseize is too good to lose, but Red has some good options in Anger of the Gods and Rending Volley. Volley specifically hurts Ojutai quite a bit; I'm surprised he is a $30 card with this running around.
It can't beat Heroic.dec, pretty much at all, and there aren't any possible sideboard cards it can play to fix that. It can't beat Mistcutter Hydra either. Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver is also an automatic loss if they cast it on turn 3 and you don't have Counterspell.
This is a deck to watch though, because it loses basically nothing from the next rotation and ALL the cards it can't beat are rotating. If the next set doesn't add an unbeatable hoser to replace these or if some kind of artifact sweeper like Ratchet Bomb gets printed, this deck might need a ban. It autowins against anything control or midrange and has no problem playing a 15 card anti-aggro sideboard to make that favorable as well. The only thing keeping it in check right now is there are cards that simply can't be answered from a deck that's essentially mono blue.
Oh my god I got massive hate for saying crucible was good and that it fit a dragon control build when it was released, and NO ONE LISTENED cause it's bad in midrange. I am so vindicated you wouldn't even believe.
A few things make little sense to me, though. Four fetches existing solely for Dig fodder seems like an unnecessary loss of life, especially for a deck that can't run life-lands and is already so weak to burn. I feel like cutting digs to 2, increasing Prerogative to 2, and replacing fetches with basic islands.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Formerly Angrypossum over at the now-defunct WotC forums.
From reading his breakdown, it seems like he might take out Anticipate all together. I wonder if he plans to move some omenspeakers into the mainboard totake their place.
I'd love to test this deck out, but I only have one Ojutai and two Dromokas and they both seem to be really key to how the deck locks the board down. I wonder if any other dragons in standard are worth playing right now in their place? Even though the mana cost is prohibitive, perhaps it's worth giving Deathbringer Regent a shot as a one or two-of in the mainboard to cast as a late game board wipe off of Crucible of the Spirit Dragon. Or maybe the slots should just go to Sarkhan's Triumph to look for the dragons.
Oh my god I got massive hate for saying crucible was good and that it fit a dragon control build when it was released, and NO ONE LISTENED cause it's bad in midrange. I am so vindicated you wouldn't even believe.
I think it can be justified in the sense that we had no idea if any future dragons in DTK would be any good or not.
But in general, storagelands are actually very solid tech for slower decks that plan on winning a long game.
Oh my god I got massive hate for saying crucible was good and that it fit a dragon control build when it was released, and NO ONE LISTENED cause it's bad in midrange. I am so vindicated you wouldn't even believe.
I think it can be justified in the sense that we had no idea if any future dragons in DTK would be any good or not.
But in general, storagelands are actually very solid tech for slower decks that plan on winning a long game.
Yea I get that, but I thought it was pretty clear dragons would be a control shell as soon as I saw crux. I do admit I certainly didn't think they'd take dragon matters cards in the way they did though.
Oh my god I got massive hate for saying crucible was good and that it fit a dragon control build when it was released, and NO ONE LISTENED cause it's bad in midrange. I am so vindicated you wouldn't even believe.
I think it can be justified in the sense that we had no idea if any future dragons in DTK would be any good or not.
But in general, storagelands are actually very solid tech for slower decks that plan on winning a long game.
Yea I get that, but I thought it was pretty clear dragons would be a control shell as soon as I saw crux. I do admit I certainly didn't think they'd take dragon matters cards in the way they did though.
I thought they'd attempt to try and do something like that, but then fail miserably. But I generally have low expectations in regards to things like this.
i like very much this list but i think that i'll add some removal, maybe something "soft" like stubborn denial or void snare because vs aggro at the beginning you don't have enough mana to cast counter so those 2 card can allow you to gain some time in which you can add mana and use your counter, and ofc i'll add +1 perilous
Dash makes sorcery bounce effects pretty useless against red aggro and I can't think of anything else in blue that costs so little. Maybe take out a haven and throw in a single swamp for Polluted Delta to search for and you'd possibly have a chance at casting a thoughtsieze or Despise/Duress on your first or second turn.
-edit
After looking at the one drops in blue again, Sidisi's Faithful might be worth a playtest. Seems like a more versatile stall card than Void Snare, since you can either choose to have it exploit itself and bounce a creature or not bounce anything and have a 0/4 wall, but truth be told it doesn't feel like it would be worth making room for a creature that cannot kill a 1/1 token.
Oh my god I got massive hate for saying crucible was good and that it fit a dragon control build when it was released, and NO ONE LISTENED cause it's bad in midrange. I am so vindicated you wouldn't even believe.
The land is garbage though, even by Storage land standards.
What it is though, is very good against a specific subset of matches in a very specific metagame, and it provides a crucial edge in what is fast appearing to be one of the undisputed best decks in the format.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Brilliant ideas are stupid ideas that worked - Patrick Chapin
Oh my god I got massive hate for saying crucible was good and that it fit a dragon control build when it was released, and NO ONE LISTENED cause it's bad in midrange. I am so vindicated you wouldn't even believe.
The land is garbage though, even by Storage land standards.
What it is though, is very good against a specific subset of matches in a very specific metagame, and it provides a crucial edge in what is fast appearing to be one of the undisputed best decks in the format.
not really though it really helps in aggro match up also since u can slam your own dragon earlier.. imagine turn 4 opponent slam rhino u have 3 charge assume that u start charging at turn 2 u can slam an icefall reagent tap the rhino with one mana for stubborn denial.. which in the next turn you will just time walk your opponent for playing removal to your icefall.. i like the list, but for me instead of 5 mana i would prefer grixis.. since u have burn spells to just remove aggro creature or burn face against control, which in return will feed to your dig through time, then when u have enough charge against control u can go what i like to call "Dragon Time" play bunch of dragons eg, thunderbreak into stormbreath into dragonlord kolaghan swing for the win with counter back up.. or u can drop thunderbreak after u clear critters with lightning strike and wild slash to setup defense again aggro, thus this will help u play with less tap lands compared to the 5 cc built, crucible of the spirit dragon i think is a must for a dragon theme deck.. just my 2 cent..
Oh my god I got massive hate for saying crucible was good and that it fit a dragon control build when it was released, and NO ONE LISTENED cause it's bad in midrange. I am so vindicated you wouldn't even believe.
The land is garbage though, even by Storage land standards.
What it is though, is very good against a specific subset of matches in a very specific metagame, and it provides a crucial edge in what is fast appearing to be one of the undisputed best decks in the format.
not really though it really helps in aggro match up also since u can slam your own dragon earlier.. imagine turn 4 opponent slam rhino u have 3 charge assume that u start charging at turn 2 u can slam an icefall reagent tap the rhino with one mana for stubborn denial.. which in the next turn you will just time walk your opponent for playing removal to your icefall.. i like the list, but for me instead of 5 mana i would prefer grixis.. since u have burn spells to just remove aggro creature or burn face against control, which in return will feed to your dig through time, then when u have enough charge against control u can go what i like to call "Dragon Time" play bunch of dragons eg, thunderbreak into stormbreath into dragonlord kolaghan swing for the win with counter back up.. or u can drop thunderbreak after u clear critters with lightning strike and wild slash to setup defense again aggro, thus this will help u play with less tap lands compared to the 5 cc built, crucible of the spirit dragon i think is a must for a dragon theme deck.. just my 2 cent..
It only brings out a dragon earlier if you're set on not doing anything during those early turns. You're paying 2 mana now for 1 mana later. That seems like a recipe for getting ran over against any deck that wants to attack.
In long drawn out games where you have mana that's being wasted each turn, this land will shine. That's why it's a mirror breaker against Esper Dragons.
Went 6-0 in games across two events this weekend. Surprisingly didn't drop a game against Mono Red or the other aggressive decks I came up against and not surprisingly trounced Sultai Whip, Abzan Midrange and Esper Control, Raptor/Den Protector be damned.
The mighty morphing duo seem a lot less impressive when you're dropping actual bomb s and they're trying to outdurdle/race you.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Brilliant ideas are stupid ideas that worked - Patrick Chapin
Yeah, the more permanents you run delve becomes more of a obstical. That's why I'm surprised this deck runs encase in ice in the main board with three copies of dig. Maybe some looting effect like Jace, the Living Guildpact or Monastery Siege would help, but adding anything like that waters the deck down.
how about playing red in form of temple of epiphany and shivan reef thus giving excess to anger of the gods to combat mono red and other aggro shenanigans and deathmist raptor + den protector instead of temple of mystery which only fuel to casting dromoka and atarka..
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
After taking this deck for a test spin recently I've come to the conclusion that he may have just created the best deck in the format. It crushes Esper Dragons and basically any control matchup due to the overwhelming density of threats, the ability to recur threats with the 4 Havens, and Dragonlord's Prerogative nearly always being uncounterable. It crushes the mid-range decks due to all of the powerful finishers it plays. It is mediocre vs. the fast red decks in G1 but has a pretty solid sideboard plan (4 Master of Waves and 4 Omenspeakers and 4 Encase in Ice) for that deck.
Why are more people not talking about / playing this deck? It's absolutely amazing in the format right now. It feels like it's only a matter of time before everyone just acknowledges that the Tier 1 deck of this Standard format plays 4 Havens and 4 Crucibles...
Here's an article where he discussess the deck and his results with it:
http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/article.asp?ID=12500
Here's the decklist for anyone who hasn't seen it:
3 Dragonlord Dromoka
3 Dragonlord Ojutai
1 Dragonlord Silumgar
2 Icefall Regent
1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
2 Anticipate
3 Dig Through Time
1 Disdainful Stroke
4 Dissolve
1 Dragonlord's Prerogative
2 Encase in Ice
2 Nullify
2 Perilous Vault
4 Silumgar's Scorn
1 Voyage's End
4 Haven of the Spirit Dragon
5 Island
4 Polluted Delta
2 Temple of Deceit
4 Temple of Enlightenment
4 Temple of Mystery
1 Disdainful Stroke
1 Dragonlord Atarka
1 Dragonlord Silumgar
1 Dragonlord's Prerogative
1 Encase in Ice
4 Master of Waves
1 Negate
4 Omenspeaker
1 Silumgar, the Drifting Death
Find me on TappedOut also!
Trade with me!! Always in search of cards!
It's actually INSANE in the control matchup. It gives an EOT play every time the two decks are playing draw-go, and then when you have 4+ counters on it, you essentially can cast a Dragonlord by tapping one land and then having the rest of the mana up for counters or draw. It almost single-handedly beats Esper Dragons alongside the Haven. I'd estimate the Esper Dragons matchup to be close to 80%+ for this deck, in no small part due to the maindecking 4 of each of these lands.
Kind of sad that Kolaghan is left out. Him and Dromoka cost 12 mana and do 11 damage with impunity, easily done vs control off of the Crucibles.
It was only a matter of time before Dromoka made her way to the big show and ruined control decks by being part of control decks.
I'm already interested in the mirror Dromoka vs Dromoka. Counters and protection are blank, removal is king, and recursion is dirty.
In the article; I am so glad for this quote, "Silumgar, the Drifting Death is for people who want all of their Dragons to be hexproof." I've thought the same thing for awhile now. Ojutai is good... But I would never say he blanks removal. The addition of Crucible is key here, without it you can't drop a threat and win the counter war, but with it you can do both with little disadvantage.
I really don't think Mono-U is the way to go, nor do I think 8 dragons lands is right, but I think the deck is on the right track. I'm looking at playing 2 Haven, 4 Crucible and going more for UR/b. Foul-Tongue and Thoughtseize is too good to lose, but Red has some good options in Anger of the Gods and Rending Volley. Volley specifically hurts Ojutai quite a bit; I'm surprised he is a $30 card with this running around.
"Reveal a Dragon"
This is a deck to watch though, because it loses basically nothing from the next rotation and ALL the cards it can't beat are rotating. If the next set doesn't add an unbeatable hoser to replace these or if some kind of artifact sweeper like Ratchet Bomb gets printed, this deck might need a ban. It autowins against anything control or midrange and has no problem playing a 15 card anti-aggro sideboard to make that favorable as well. The only thing keeping it in check right now is there are cards that simply can't be answered from a deck that's essentially mono blue.
Nah man. Whelming Wave.
A few things make little sense to me, though. Four fetches existing solely for Dig fodder seems like an unnecessary loss of life, especially for a deck that can't run life-lands and is already so weak to burn. I feel like cutting digs to 2, increasing Prerogative to 2, and replacing fetches with basic islands.
I'd love to test this deck out, but I only have one Ojutai and two Dromokas and they both seem to be really key to how the deck locks the board down. I wonder if any other dragons in standard are worth playing right now in their place? Even though the mana cost is prohibitive, perhaps it's worth giving Deathbringer Regent a shot as a one or two-of in the mainboard to cast as a late game board wipe off of Crucible of the Spirit Dragon. Or maybe the slots should just go to Sarkhan's Triumph to look for the dragons.
I think it can be justified in the sense that we had no idea if any future dragons in DTK would be any good or not.
But in general, storagelands are actually very solid tech for slower decks that plan on winning a long game.
Yea I get that, but I thought it was pretty clear dragons would be a control shell as soon as I saw crux. I do admit I certainly didn't think they'd take dragon matters cards in the way they did though.
I thought they'd attempt to try and do something like that, but then fail miserably. But I generally have low expectations in regards to things like this.
Dash makes sorcery bounce effects pretty useless against red aggro and I can't think of anything else in blue that costs so little. Maybe take out a haven and throw in a single swamp for Polluted Delta to search for and you'd possibly have a chance at casting a thoughtsieze or Despise/Duress on your first or second turn.
-edit
After looking at the one drops in blue again, Sidisi's Faithful might be worth a playtest. Seems like a more versatile stall card than Void Snare, since you can either choose to have it exploit itself and bounce a creature or not bounce anything and have a 0/4 wall, but truth be told it doesn't feel like it would be worth making room for a creature that cannot kill a 1/1 token.
The land is garbage though, even by Storage land standards.
What it is though, is very good against a specific subset of matches in a very specific metagame, and it provides a crucial edge in what is fast appearing to be one of the undisputed best decks in the format.
not really though it really helps in aggro match up also since u can slam your own dragon earlier.. imagine turn 4 opponent slam rhino u have 3 charge assume that u start charging at turn 2 u can slam an icefall reagent tap the rhino with one mana for stubborn denial.. which in the next turn you will just time walk your opponent for playing removal to your icefall.. i like the list, but for me instead of 5 mana i would prefer grixis.. since u have burn spells to just remove aggro creature or burn face against control, which in return will feed to your dig through time, then when u have enough charge against control u can go what i like to call "Dragon Time" play bunch of dragons eg, thunderbreak into stormbreath into dragonlord kolaghan swing for the win with counter back up.. or u can drop thunderbreak after u clear critters with lightning strike and wild slash to setup defense again aggro, thus this will help u play with less tap lands compared to the 5 cc built, crucible of the spirit dragon i think is a must for a dragon theme deck.. just my 2 cent..
It only brings out a dragon earlier if you're set on not doing anything during those early turns. You're paying 2 mana now for 1 mana later. That seems like a recipe for getting ran over against any deck that wants to attack.
In long drawn out games where you have mana that's being wasted each turn, this land will shine. That's why it's a mirror breaker against Esper Dragons.
UR Blue-Red Control
Modern:
UBR Grixis Control
UWR Jeskai Control
The mighty morphing duo seem a lot less impressive when you're dropping actual bomb s and they're trying to outdurdle/race you.
Casting it at all, let alone for a decent cost with Delve seems to be a rare occurrence.
I'm going to try replacing it with Jace's Ingenuity.
I know, I know. 8 cards at the 5 cmc is a lot. However, if Shota had 10 in his PTDTK 2nd place deck, then 8 in ours isn't bad.
Cruel Control
Niv-Mizzet EDH
Cruel Tezz
I'll start worrying about that when people actually start using the card, and as that seems unlikely, I'm not going to start worrying.