How I want the deck to function/What I want to use the deck for
Put down some early solid blockers in Dragonlord's Servant and Dragon Egg.
Get some early high value dragons out, and get a Dragon Tempest or Scourge of Valkas.
Finish things off with the hard-to-remove Archwing Dragon. Thunderbreak Regent is there to dissuade removal, or to force opponents to remove him before my more-important dragons.
I'll be using this as my go-to basic deck to play against when I go to places for some good ol kitchen table magic.
Some people are fine with sideboards and others are not, so I'll have a sideboard just in case. I'd like the main deck to be as self-sufficient as possible, but there are other cards in the SB I'd like to be able to play with.
Stipulations for new card suggestions
Every card is related to dragons in some way, with the exception of Mountains. Budget isn't really much of an issue, I ended up acquiring a bunch of scourges and thunderbreaks already, which prompted me to make the deck. I have all the cards except for the Thundermaws and Rorix in the sideboard.
Mana base
I tried a green splash and a black splash and a both splash, but found that I needed so many red symbols and needed lands the turn I played them that straight mountains were the way to go. Slumbering Dragon is hot garbage IMO, leaving only Dragonmaster Outcast as my only potential dragon-related one-drop.
I eventually just figured I could sideboard them in the case of I'm up against a fast paced deck.
Lots of 2 and 3 drops with a curve topping out at 5 (for the MB) seemed fine, as well as my 24 land count. I don't know if there's a way to fine tune the numbers for the curve, and that's a lot of what I'm asking for help on.
Is having no one drops in the main board asking for trouble, or is it really not big of a deal?
Card's I'm not so sure about/Concerns I have
-Dragon Whisperer: An efficient card and a mana sink, I'm just not sure if its worthwhile. It doesn't really contribute to my overall goal of the deck, but does help me have something to do early turns as well as break stalemates as a different version of Dragon Roost.
-Dragon Egg: With no reliable way to actually make him an attacking dragon, sometimes he's just a dragon ETB proc. I'm not sure if that's actually an issue though, but sometimes he just feels like a somewhat useless card, unless I use a Scourge proc to hatch him and use his firebreathing.
-A bad Dragon support to Actual Dragon ratio: Sometimes I'm just stuck with a bunch of shamans with no actual dragons to do anything. Sometimes I have no way to get my dragons out fast or make their entrances meaningful. Slumbering Dragon and Dragon Hatchling don't seem good enough as dragons to substitute them for my shamans.
-Thundermaw Hellkite: A hilariously good dragon and amazing at breaking stalemates, but I'm not sure whether or not he's sideboard or mainboard material. He's great against decks with lots of flyers, but otherwise I'd prefer lower cost dragons like Thunderbreak.
-The sideboard in general needs work. Utvara is for breaking big stalemates, but feels like a win-more card sometimes. Crucible is hilarious, but garbage if I have no dragons out. Rorix is literally there as a placeholder, I don't even own him. Just wanted a curve topper other than Utvara for longer games.
-Running out of gas: Even with my firebreathing manasinks, sometimes I just run out of cards and can't continue. Avaricious Dragon could potentially solve this problem, but I fear he would be more dead than any other card if I don't topdeck him. Maybe as a one or two-of (sideboard maybe?) and tutor him with Sarkhan's Triumph when the time comes. Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker is another potential solution, but like Whisperer, doesn't really contribute to the overall game plan (no ETB trigger, but can add to my dragon count) other than just being a generically good card.
I'd love to get some feedback on how I can really fine tune the deck. Anyone with more experience at deckbuilding, if you see any glaring flaws or problems, please fill me in. I'm not too good at this stuff.
I think, you should add a few nonbasics to your mana base. In a monocolored deck, you can get away with having a few lands that can only tap for colorless mana but also have a useful utility, without messing up your colors. Even something as simple as Blighted Gorge offers some late game gain while not impacting your early development. Of course, you have to decide, wether to be adamant about your dragon theme on all cards, or to loosen it up a bit. Other utility lands that you could consider are: Shivan Gorge (there's a Shivan Dragon around there somewhere, I'm sure), Kher Keep (home of the Scourge of Kher Ridges), Keldon Necropolis (can't think of any dragon theme here), Keldon Megaliths (also no dragons to my knowledge, but looks like a place where they would like to hang out), Hanweir Battlements (didn't help against Eldrazi, but maybe work against dragons? probably not, if yours hang out there now), etc.
The cycling lands Forgotten Cave and Smoldering Crater can act as 1-drops in the early game. (And no, you don't have to have 1-drops in a deck, unless you are playing an aggro deck, which you are not.) But you don't want too many ETB tapped lands, so be sparse. You could add Blasted Landscape as a cycling land that enters untapped, and it even fits the theme if you stretch your imagination a bit: a land devastated by your dragons.
One big problem I see in your deck is the lack of removal. You have ETB triggers that deal damage, yes, but that can oftentimes be too ittle too late. Bathe in Dragonfire is not the most efficient card, but it's dragon themed and will get the job done in the earlier game regardless of your board state. Or get that Draconic Roar from the sideboard into the main.
I would cut down on the Archwing Dragons abit. They are basically Lava Axes, and you don't want them too early, because they cannot be used to block an opponent's onlaught. I'd also cut the Dragonspeaker Shamans completely. Your main deck tops out at 5 with several cards at 4, so you don't really need the 2 cost reduction of them. And as otherwise Gray Ogres they merely serve as chump blockers.
Tormenting Voice is kind of dragon themed, since one version depicts Sarkhan (Khans of Tarkir) and another Ugin (Dragons of Tarkir), and it helps digging for your dragons or other important stuff for more gas, while ditching superflous lands. Dangerous Wager can even become card advantage with an otherwise empty hand, and it's an instant (though how to link that to dragons, I don't know, maybe someone made a desperate wager with a dragon?). Faithless Looting is 4-for-5 card disadvantage, but still close enough to a 1-for-1 trade, so you could use that for some digging, even as a first turn play. (Maybe a dragon looted a church or somesuch.)
Edit:
On the topic of mana rocks for accellaration (see post #3 below), Mind Stone is a favorite of mine. It ramps you early on and later cycles into another card. There are several 3-mana artifacts of the same kind, but the 1-mana difference is a huge factor for Mind Stone.
Ok, I'll look into some more lands. The Ugin lands seem very useful, I forgot they existed.
How many nonbasics would you suggest? 2-3?
I'll move the draconic Roar to the mainboard. I'll try a few games without the dragonspeakers. I used to have more things like Shivan Dragon and Volcanic Dragon, but I long since cut those.
Still, the T3 shaman into 2 dragons happens a lot more than you'd think. If I don't get two dragons I still get a dragon and a 2 drop.
Fire diamond is perfectly fine, dragons have those in their throats to ignite sparks to breathe fire.
Tormented Voice is a good idea. I'll pick up a few of those. Thoughts on Avaricious Dragon as a one-of and then 3 Voices?
If I understand things correctly I can ditch things with Avaricious and then return Archwing after I discard, right?
I tried playing without Archie and I feel like he's such a huge part of the way the deck works. The repeatable ETB trigger for Valkas and Tempest makes him a hilariously good mana sink and immune to all sorcery speed removal.
He's pulled me out of a lot of normally unwinnable situations, and while a lot of the deck feels very 'win-more' at times he's one of the few cards that is fantastic to have at any time.
I guess it's just been my experience prototyping, but I've never felt bad about picking up one or two of him at any point in the game.
You'd suppose its fine to just cut the Thundermaws and Rorix for bigger, scarier dragons for more utility like Tormenting voice and Roar, and move some shamans or whisperers out? Or just cut the Outcasts?
Bro! I'm so happy to see that someone saw the beauty of "dragon ping!"
Edit: more good@ dragon tempest
This is a 2 mana scourge w/ haste for flyers!!!!!
Side note : Balefire dragon is a good dragon board wipe.
1st off ~ tauren mauler
Get 4, They are an ever growing blocker.
2nd dragon egg
Dude... kill it with a ping!!!!!
Drop dragon egg (dragon enters battlefield, let's say 2nd dragon) > use dragon tempest proc to target dragon egg > kill dragon egg > proc summon flying dragon (dragon enters battlefield) > kill weak creature or hit opponents face!
3rd Dragonspeaker shaman
Sorry bud, not modern.
I found out mid tourney. Glad they didn't throw me out then!
4th SLOWER! uTVARA Hellkite
It takes forever, but drop this beast you will wreck! Odd ruling g, but when I looked it up, they all drop at the same time, so when all tokens are dropped, they all count. Ex. So.. (you have a sourge of vallas or dragon tempest) you have and Attack with 3 dragons > spawn 3 dragons > 3 dragons enter battlefield proc. >( 3 attacking + 3 spawned tokens on battlefield > token 1 deals 6 damage > token 2 deals 6 damage > token 3 deals 6 damage.... all simultaneously!!!)
ANYWAY
24 Mountain
Creatures
4 Dragon Whisperer
4 Dragonlord's Servant
4 Dragon Egg
4 Dragonspeaker Shaman
4 Thunderbreak Regent
4 Archwing Dragon
4 Scourge of Valkas
4 Dragon Tempest
1 Crucible of Fire
Instants
3 Sarkhan's Triumph
1 Crucible of Fire
4 Draconic Roar
4 Dragonmaster Outcast
1 Rorix Bladewing
1 Sarkhan's Triumph
2 Thundermaw Hellkite
2 Utvara Hellkite
How I want the deck to function/What I want to use the deck for
Put down some early solid blockers in Dragonlord's Servant and Dragon Egg.
Get some early high value dragons out, and get a Dragon Tempest or Scourge of Valkas.
Finish things off with the hard-to-remove Archwing Dragon.
Thunderbreak Regent is there to dissuade removal, or to force opponents to remove him before my more-important dragons.
I'll be using this as my go-to basic deck to play against when I go to places for some good ol kitchen table magic.
Some people are fine with sideboards and others are not, so I'll have a sideboard just in case. I'd like the main deck to be as self-sufficient as possible, but there are other cards in the SB I'd like to be able to play with.
Stipulations for new card suggestions
Every card is related to dragons in some way, with the exception of Mountains. Budget isn't really much of an issue, I ended up acquiring a bunch of scourges and thunderbreaks already, which prompted me to make the deck. I have all the cards except for the Thundermaws and Rorix in the sideboard.
Mana base
I tried a green splash and a black splash and a both splash, but found that I needed so many red symbols and needed lands the turn I played them that straight mountains were the way to go.
Slumbering Dragon is hot garbage IMO, leaving only Dragonmaster Outcast as my only potential dragon-related one-drop.
I eventually just figured I could sideboard them in the case of I'm up against a fast paced deck.
Lots of 2 and 3 drops with a curve topping out at 5 (for the MB) seemed fine, as well as my 24 land count. I don't know if there's a way to fine tune the numbers for the curve, and that's a lot of what I'm asking for help on.
Is having no one drops in the main board asking for trouble, or is it really not big of a deal?
Card's I'm not so sure about/Concerns I have
-Dragon Whisperer: An efficient card and a mana sink, I'm just not sure if its worthwhile. It doesn't really contribute to my overall goal of the deck, but does help me have something to do early turns as well as break stalemates as a different version of Dragon Roost.
-Dragon Egg: With no reliable way to actually make him an attacking dragon, sometimes he's just a dragon ETB proc. I'm not sure if that's actually an issue though, but sometimes he just feels like a somewhat useless card, unless I use a Scourge proc to hatch him and use his firebreathing.
-A bad Dragon support to Actual Dragon ratio: Sometimes I'm just stuck with a bunch of shamans with no actual dragons to do anything. Sometimes I have no way to get my dragons out fast or make their entrances meaningful. Slumbering Dragon and Dragon Hatchling don't seem good enough as dragons to substitute them for my shamans.
-Thundermaw Hellkite: A hilariously good dragon and amazing at breaking stalemates, but I'm not sure whether or not he's sideboard or mainboard material. He's great against decks with lots of flyers, but otherwise I'd prefer lower cost dragons like Thunderbreak.
-The sideboard in general needs work. Utvara is for breaking big stalemates, but feels like a win-more card sometimes. Crucible is hilarious, but garbage if I have no dragons out. Rorix is literally there as a placeholder, I don't even own him. Just wanted a curve topper other than Utvara for longer games.
-Running out of gas: Even with my firebreathing manasinks, sometimes I just run out of cards and can't continue.
Avaricious Dragon could potentially solve this problem, but I fear he would be more dead than any other card if I don't topdeck him. Maybe as a one or two-of (sideboard maybe?) and tutor him with Sarkhan's Triumph when the time comes.
Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker is another potential solution, but like Whisperer, doesn't really contribute to the overall game plan (no ETB trigger, but can add to my dragon count) other than just being a generically good card.
I'd love to get some feedback on how I can really fine tune the deck. Anyone with more experience at deckbuilding, if you see any glaring flaws or problems, please fill me in. I'm not too good at this stuff.
The cycling lands Forgotten Cave and Smoldering Crater can act as 1-drops in the early game. (And no, you don't have to have 1-drops in a deck, unless you are playing an aggro deck, which you are not.) But you don't want too many ETB tapped lands, so be sparse. You could add Blasted Landscape as a cycling land that enters untapped, and it even fits the theme if you stretch your imagination a bit: a land devastated by your dragons.
One big problem I see in your deck is the lack of removal. You have ETB triggers that deal damage, yes, but that can oftentimes be too ittle too late. Bathe in Dragonfire is not the most efficient card, but it's dragon themed and will get the job done in the earlier game regardless of your board state. Or get that Draconic Roar from the sideboard into the main.
I would cut down on the Archwing Dragons abit. They are basically Lava Axes, and you don't want them too early, because they cannot be used to block an opponent's onlaught. I'd also cut the Dragonspeaker Shamans completely. Your main deck tops out at 5 with several cards at 4, so you don't really need the 2 cost reduction of them. And as otherwise Gray Ogres they merely serve as chump blockers.
Tormenting Voice is kind of dragon themed, since one version depicts Sarkhan (Khans of Tarkir) and another Ugin (Dragons of Tarkir), and it helps digging for your dragons or other important stuff for more gas, while ditching superflous lands. Dangerous Wager can even become card advantage with an otherwise empty hand, and it's an instant (though how to link that to dragons, I don't know, maybe someone made a desperate wager with a dragon?). Faithless Looting is 4-for-5 card disadvantage, but still close enough to a 1-for-1 trade, so you could use that for some digging, even as a first turn play. (Maybe a dragon looted a church or somesuch.)
Edit:
On the topic of mana rocks for accellaration (see post #3 below), Mind Stone is a favorite of mine. It ramps you early on and later cycles into another card. There are several 3-mana artifacts of the same kind, but the 1-mana difference is a huge factor for Mind Stone.
Former Rules Advisor
"Everything's better with pirates." - Lodge
(The Gamers: Dorkness Rising)
"Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science."
(Girl Genius - Fairy Tale Theater Break - Cinderella, end of volume 8)
How many nonbasics would you suggest? 2-3?
I'll move the draconic Roar to the mainboard. I'll try a few games without the dragonspeakers. I used to have more things like Shivan Dragon and Volcanic Dragon, but I long since cut those.
Still, the T3 shaman into 2 dragons happens a lot more than you'd think. If I don't get two dragons I still get a dragon and a 2 drop.
Fire diamond is perfectly fine, dragons have those in their throats to ignite sparks to breathe fire.
Tormented Voice is a good idea. I'll pick up a few of those. Thoughts on Avaricious Dragon as a one-of and then 3 Voices?
If I understand things correctly I can ditch things with Avaricious and then return Archwing after I discard, right?
I tried playing without Archie and I feel like he's such a huge part of the way the deck works. The repeatable ETB trigger for Valkas and Tempest makes him a hilariously good mana sink and immune to all sorcery speed removal.
He's pulled me out of a lot of normally unwinnable situations, and while a lot of the deck feels very 'win-more' at times he's one of the few cards that is fantastic to have at any time.
I guess it's just been my experience prototyping, but I've never felt bad about picking up one or two of him at any point in the game.
You'd suppose its fine to just cut the Thundermaws and Rorix for bigger, scarier dragons for more utility like Tormenting voice and Roar, and move some shamans or whisperers out? Or just cut the Outcasts?
Thanks for the help, I really appreciate it.
Edit: more good@
dragon tempest
This is a 2 mana scourge w/ haste for flyers!!!!!
Side note : Balefire dragon is a good dragon board wipe.
1st off ~ tauren mauler
Get 4, They are an ever growing blocker.
2nd dragon egg
Dude... kill it with a ping!!!!!
Drop dragon egg (dragon enters battlefield, let's say 2nd dragon) > use dragon tempest proc to target dragon egg > kill dragon egg > proc summon flying dragon (dragon enters battlefield) > kill weak creature or hit opponents face!
3rd Dragonspeaker shaman
Sorry bud, not modern.
I found out mid tourney. Glad they didn't throw me out then!
4th SLOWER!
uTVARA Hellkite
It takes forever, but drop this beast you will wreck! Odd ruling g, but when I looked it up, they all drop at the same time, so when all tokens are dropped, they all count. Ex. So.. (you have a sourge of vallas or dragon tempest) you have and Attack with 3 dragons > spawn 3 dragons > 3 dragons enter battlefield proc. >( 3 attacking + 3 spawned tokens on battlefield > token 1 deals 6 damage > token 2 deals 6 damage > token 3 deals 6 damage.... all simultaneously!!!)
4. mutivault
Dude, this is your new messiah.
Use it to tap it's self, instant dragon. That equals 1 Bonus damage/ping off 1 colorless mana!!!
Drop turn 1, drop mountain turn 2, tap mountain, swing with mutavault for 2, on turn 2!!
Just watch out for unspent mana, dont lose a land over 2 damage,
5. Archwing dragon?
Bro, drop that like hot garbage, it is cool. But overall you are wasting precious mana to re-summon a creature.
6. I like slumbering dragons, Tho, I admit the are usually useless.
1 mana drop dragon, 1st turn. Or wait until you have a scourge + dragon tempest. Use as a 1 mana 2+ damage (usually more by this point) ping.
Very powerful vs token decks, they cant attack you more than 4 times w/o fighting an 8/8 flying.
I could go over more, but those are my main suggestions.
Mutavault and tauren maulers FOR SURE!