So I want to build tribal dragons. There's something strangely satisfying about flying over the battlefield and nuking everything and everyone in my path. I chose RUG for a few reasons: 1) It's a color combination I've been trying to work on for a while without much success, because the generals have just been unexciting/boring, and 2) It's one you don't typically see too often for tribal dragons, at least from what I've seen. Not to mention there's something really exciting about a kicked Rite of Replication targeting Scourge of Valkas...
Intet would probably be the best (and most flavorful) general for the job, although for now I'm using the foil Surrak Dragonclaw I got at the Prerelease. But that's not the problem; more than anything it's the curve and the number of dragons I should run that are stumping me. Every build of this deck that I have made has been either given me hands of Dragon Tyrant and his high-costing friends with no lands, or I just see ramp and lands the whole game without getting anywhere. Some of this I can chock up to variance and whatnot, but it's happening much too frequently for my liking.
There's also questions regarding how much I should try to force Dragon combos or straight-up beatdown, but those can be figured out later.
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EDH GWSelvala and the Return to HumanityGW UWDragonlord Ojutai, Control's Elder DragonUW UBGTasigur, the God-Pharaoh's Gift to EDHUBG UBRNicol Bolas and his SuperfriendsPawnsUBR
Modern UWUW Control/Midrange/Bad JundUW WUBRGHumansWUBRG BGMidrangeBG
I wouldn't focus TOO hard on flavor, if you do the deck will lose functionality, I put together a hydra tribal list using Animar, Soul of Elements because he works wonders for hydras, he could do the same for dragons I'm sure, but he really wants a lot of creatures and you'd have to sacrifice flavor somewhere for the function. But I'm sure you can find some creatures that'll fit your flavor view on dragons. Hope this helped some.
My main suggestion would be to focus on a smaller amount of dragons than most others would suggest. I would probably run 10 tops with 5 utility creatures. The rest of the deck I would run support. Ramp, counterspells, card draw, extra combat phases, extra turns and buffing/protection effects.
I was actually thinking about something loosely based off getting a kicked Rite on Utvara as my main way of pumping out dragons. Then the rest of the deck would be tuned to get to those cards quickly and to protect those cards.
Other than the flavor failure I think Riku of Two Reflections would be awesome for this. Copy all of your ramp and card draw, then all your relevant dragons, then Rite if you're really greedy.
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EDH playing competitive Magic cast away
Current Decks GTitania midrange RGThromok tokens/goodstuff | UB Grimgrin zombie tribal GW Sigarda enchantress | R Godo voltron U Braids aggro | WR Kalemne punisher RU Mizzix storm | BUG Mimeoplasm competitive reanimator | UG Ezuri infect
Other than the flavor failure I think Riku of Two Reflections would be awesome for this. Copy all of your ramp and card draw, then all your relevant dragons, then Rite if you're really greedy.
Odds are that there will be a RUG legendary in the rest of Tarkir block that ties into dragons somehow.
I'd wait and see what that guy looks like, then if its crap go with Riku flavor fail.
I have also been eyeing a Dragon Tribal deck, but I had a hard time deciding between BRG and UBR. In the end, I think I might just go with Scion of the Ur-Dragon and play essentially 4-color UBRG to get the most cool Dragons and to have access to all the best spells. You could also benefit from running black, as kicking a Rite of Replication on Kokusho, the Evening Star seems much more fun than Scourge of Valkas. I also plan on running cards like Bladewing the Risen, Patriarch's Bidding, and the newly spoiled Crux of Fate, making black a huge draw for me. This is a huge work in progress that I'm delaying finishing until Khans block is completed.
Anyway, if you are set on RUG then I would consider running all the best green ramp and blue card draw for your early plays so that you can draw into your Dragons once you've established a good collection of mana sources. This probably means cutting the number of Dragons down to only the best 15-20, but getting flooded with 6, 7, and 8 drops is a surefire way to lose. The other cards to consider would be Survival of the Fittest, Birthing Pod, and/or Fauna Shaman to trade potentially unwanted creatures in for those that you want or that your mana can support at the time.
The reason why I'm choosing RUG as the colors is that it's a combination that's always interested me, and yet I've never been able to do right without getting really bored with it or having the deck be overpowered to the point where it either warps my meta so every game is Archenemy, or they just outright refuse to play. Tried Wanderer, a couple different variations of Riku, and nothing. RUG Dragons seems like the way for me to have a deck I'll enjoy in a color combination that I want to play in.
Not going to lie, I almost went with Grixis Dragons instead. I shied away for a couple reasons: Firstly, Nicol Bolas is really the only proper choice of general for such a deck, and having taking several shots from him I know how unfun of a general he is, and at that point I'm really only using him for colors (although Bladewing and Crux are fantastic cards that I really want to run). And secondly, I'm running a Grixis artifact deck with Mishra at the helm and I just don't have any good lands to spare.
For the general, I stumbled upon an Intet, the Dreamer in my collection and now I'm torn between her and Surrak Dragonclaw. Flavor fail Riku is out of the picture because, well...he's a flavor fail. Also having used him a couple times already for decks I know how much of a stigma he carries, and I'd like this deck to fly under the radar a little bit. I mean, it's Tribal Dragons. I don't need a target to be painted on my head too soon.
I'm aware of kicked Rite on Utvara Hellkite; I used Scourge as an example mainly because I like the mental gymnastics needed to figure out all the math for all the triggers.
I've narrowed down the dragons to 17, and so far in goldfishing it seems to be the correct balance. I could probably stand to weed out a couple here and there--I'm still trying to find room for Steel Hellkite, let alone Progenitor Mimic and Spitting Image--but for that I'll probably post the list over in the Multiplayer forums and see what the general consensus says.
EDH GWSelvala and the Return to HumanityGW UWDragonlord Ojutai, Control's Elder DragonUW UBGTasigur, the God-Pharaoh's Gift to EDHUBG UBRNicol Bolas and his SuperfriendsPawnsUBR
Modern UWUW Control/Midrange/Bad JundUW WUBRGHumansWUBRG BGMidrangeBG
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Intet would probably be the best (and most flavorful) general for the job, although for now I'm using the foil Surrak Dragonclaw I got at the Prerelease. But that's not the problem; more than anything it's the curve and the number of dragons I should run that are stumping me. Every build of this deck that I have made has been either given me hands of Dragon Tyrant and his high-costing friends with no lands, or I just see ramp and lands the whole game without getting anywhere. Some of this I can chock up to variance and whatnot, but it's happening much too frequently for my liking.
There's also questions regarding how much I should try to force Dragon combos or straight-up beatdown, but those can be figured out later.
GWSelvala and the Return to HumanityGW
UWDragonlord Ojutai, Control's Elder DragonUW
UBGTasigur, the God-Pharaoh's Gift to EDHUBG
UBRNicol Bolas and his Super
friendsPawnsUBRModern
UWUW Control/Midrange/Bad JundUW
WUBRGHumansWUBRG
BGMidrangeBG
And for some utility dragons you have
Here's just a couple of fun cards for dragons
I wouldn't focus TOO hard on flavor, if you do the deck will lose functionality, I put together a hydra tribal list using Animar, Soul of Elements because he works wonders for hydras, he could do the same for dragons I'm sure, but he really wants a lot of creatures and you'd have to sacrifice flavor somewhere for the function. But I'm sure you can find some creatures that'll fit your flavor view on dragons. Hope this helped some.
Major thanks to Traprootkami for the signature.
Major thanks to Traprootkami for the signature.
If you're looking to spam Scourge of Valkas than Grixis might be a better color combination thanks to Patriarch's Bidding and Bladewing the Risen.
In RUG play Spitting Image, Progenitor Mimic, and Stolen Identity for repeated clone effects for your Scourges of Valkas or dragon baby factory.
Who needs Colours?
My most played EDH deck:
X Kozilek, the Great Distortion
UBR Nekusar, the Mindrazer
My main suggestion would be to focus on a smaller amount of dragons than most others would suggest. I would probably run 10 tops with 5 utility creatures. The rest of the deck I would run support. Ramp, counterspells, card draw, extra combat phases, extra turns and buffing/protection effects.
I was actually thinking about something loosely based off getting a kicked Rite on Utvara as my main way of pumping out dragons. Then the rest of the deck would be tuned to get to those cards quickly and to protect those cards.
EDH Decks:
WUBOloro, Combo ControlWUB
UBOona Reanimator ComboUB
BRGProssh, Eater of the Blue MageBRG
UBRGrixis StormUBR
Rebuilding Jenara (stealyourstuff.dec)
Pauper Deck:
UBInspired SirenUB
Current Decks
GTitania midrange
RGThromok tokens/goodstuff | UB Grimgrin zombie tribal
GW Sigarda enchantress | R Godo voltron
U Braids aggro | WR Kalemne punisher
RU Mizzix storm | BUG Mimeoplasm competitive reanimator | UG Ezuri infect
Odds are that there will be a RUG legendary in the rest of Tarkir block that ties into dragons somehow.
I'd wait and see what that guy looks like, then if its crap go with Riku flavor fail.
EDH Decks:
WUBOloro, Combo ControlWUB
UBOona Reanimator ComboUB
BRGProssh, Eater of the Blue MageBRG
UBRGrixis StormUBR
Rebuilding Jenara (stealyourstuff.dec)
Pauper Deck:
UBInspired SirenUB
Anyway, if you are set on RUG then I would consider running all the best green ramp and blue card draw for your early plays so that you can draw into your Dragons once you've established a good collection of mana sources. This probably means cutting the number of Dragons down to only the best 15-20, but getting flooded with 6, 7, and 8 drops is a surefire way to lose. The other cards to consider would be Survival of the Fittest, Birthing Pod, and/or Fauna Shaman to trade potentially unwanted creatures in for those that you want or that your mana can support at the time.
Other cards that you can consider to help with mana/dragon flood would be Scroll Rack, Wheel of Fortune, Compulsion, Greater Good, etc. to help cycle cards out of your hand for new ones.
Jalira, Master Polymorphist | Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder | Bosh, Iron Golem | Ezuri, Renegade Leader
Brago, King Eternal | Oona, Queen of the Fae | Wort, Boggart Auntie | Wort, the Raidmother
Captain Sisay | Rhys, the Redeemed | Trostani, Selesnya's Voice | Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight | Obzedat, Ghost Council | Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind | Vorel of the Hull Clade
Uril, the Miststalker | Prossh, Skyraider of Kher | Nicol Bolas | Progenitus
Ghave, Guru of Spores | Zedruu the Greathearted | Damia, Sage of Stone | Riku of Two Reflections
Not going to lie, I almost went with Grixis Dragons instead. I shied away for a couple reasons: Firstly, Nicol Bolas is really the only proper choice of general for such a deck, and having taking several shots from him I know how unfun of a general he is, and at that point I'm really only using him for colors (although Bladewing and Crux are fantastic cards that I really want to run). And secondly, I'm running a Grixis artifact deck with Mishra at the helm and I just don't have any good lands to spare.
For the general, I stumbled upon an Intet, the Dreamer in my collection and now I'm torn between her and Surrak Dragonclaw. Flavor fail Riku is out of the picture because, well...he's a flavor fail. Also having used him a couple times already for decks I know how much of a stigma he carries, and I'd like this deck to fly under the radar a little bit. I mean, it's Tribal Dragons. I don't need a target to be painted on my head too soon.
I'm aware of kicked Rite on Utvara Hellkite; I used Scourge as an example mainly because I like the mental gymnastics needed to figure out all the math for all the triggers.
I've narrowed down the dragons to 17, and so far in goldfishing it seems to be the correct balance. I could probably stand to weed out a couple here and there--I'm still trying to find room for Steel Hellkite, let alone Progenitor Mimic and Spitting Image--but for that I'll probably post the list over in the Multiplayer forums and see what the general consensus says.
GWSelvala and the Return to HumanityGW
UWDragonlord Ojutai, Control's Elder DragonUW
UBGTasigur, the God-Pharaoh's Gift to EDHUBG
UBRNicol Bolas and his Super
friendsPawnsUBRModern
UWUW Control/Midrange/Bad JundUW
WUBRGHumansWUBRG
BGMidrangeBG