by Johnny Cycles, September 12th, 2024
Love Dragons as much as I do? Tired of the same old play patterns of Scion of the Ur-Dragon and its father/mother (???), The Ur-Dragon? Want a fun, straightforward deck to give to a friend just learning Magic? Then check out this decklist!
Decklist – Mono Red Dragon Tribal with Inferno of the Star Mounts
| Inferno of the Star Mounts |
Creatures (31)
| Dragonmaster Outcast | |
| Shivan Devastator | |
| Dragonlord’s Servant | |
| Dragon Whisperer | |
| Kargan Dragonlord | |
| Dragonspeaker Shaman | |
| Atsushi, the Blazing Sky | |
| Leyline Tyrant | |
| Manaform Hellkite | |
| Moonveil Regent |
| Hellkite Charger | |
| Hoard-Smelter Dragon | |
| Lathliss, Dragon Queen | |
| Moonveil Dragon | |
| Shivan Dragon | |
| Two-Headed Dragon | |
| Shivan Hellkite | |
| Balefire Dragon | |
| Utvara Hellkite |
Planeswalkers (3)
| Sarkhan, Fireblood | |
| Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker | |
| Sarkhan the Masterless |
Artifacts (11)
| Arcane Signet | |
| Coldsteel Heart | |
| Endless Atlas | |
| Fire Diamond | |
| Fellwar Stone | |
| Mind Stone | |
| Ruby Medallion | |
| Dragon’s Hoard | |
| Extraplanar Lens | |
| Belbe’s Portal |
| Gauntlet of Power |
Battles (1)
| Invasion of Tarkir |
Enchantments (7)
| Dragon Tempest | |
| Burning Earth | |
| Crucible of Fire | |
| Outpost Siege | |
| Sarkhan’s Unsealing | |
| The Elder Dragon War | |
| There and Back Again |
Instants (3)
| Draconic Roar | |
| Flame Sweep | |
| Spit Flame |
Sorceries (3)
| Bonfire of the Damned | |
| Roast | |
| Jeska’s Will |
Lands (40)
Cavern of Souls
Mountain (39)
Deck Tech
My First Dragon Tribal Deck
If you’ve been following my site for awhile, it’ll probably come as a surprise that I’ve yet to write about a Dragon Tribal deck in Commander. After all, I have a whole column called Dragons in Modern. Well, one big reason for this is that, until recently, I didn’t have a Dragon Tribal Commander deck.
Shocking, I know.
The reason for this is that I’d dismantled the very first Commander deck I’d ever built – Dragon Tribal with Scion of the Ur-Dragon – years earlier. Why? An unfun play pattern.
Every game went about the same way. Ramp into Scion of the Ur-Dragon as fast as possible. Attack, activate, and win in two turns. First, hit with Nicol Bolas to make my opponent hellbent, then swing for lethal with a double-striking Dragon Tyrant. And, if the circumstances were right, I could eschew Nicol Bolas all together and hit for 22 with Dragon Tyrant.
Sure, opponents interacted with my plan and I played many grindy games in which I traded resources and played other permanents after my commander was killed and before I tried again for the win, but the win nearly always came at the hands (maws) of these two Dragons.
That’s a 100-card deck reduced to three key cards.
The realization that I was having more fun playing the cards in my 99, rather than tutoring up my win conditions, was the birth of what is now my Commander philosophy. It is also the main reason I tend to avoid playing must-kill commanders.
A quick note on this topic, which deserves its own article: I define must-kill commanders as those that will win the game in one to two turns if a person gets to untap with them. This doesn’t mean they don’t need other cards to achieve this goal. What it means is that they are the missing piece of your 2- or 3-card I-win-the-game combo. Or, they’re the key synergistic card that allows you to abuse the other 99 cards in your deck to maximum potential.
So what kind of commanders fit this description?
A quick search of top CEDH commanders tells me a couple of things. First, I’m really out of touch with CEDH… Second, the commanders I consider must kill aren’t even at the top of the list.
The only three Titan Tier commanders, according to moxfield.com.
I can see why these are all very powerful commanders. Extra combat every turn in 5 colors seems super busted. I’ve played against Sisay enough to know how easy it is to run away with a game with her on the battlefield. And Tymna the Weaver brings along a friend and has combo potential all over it.
Three commanders I’ve had a lot of experience losing to if I can’t kill them immediately.
Below Titan Tier is S Tier, then A+ Tier, followed by A, A-, and so forth.
Of the Commander decks I’ve written about, Ob Nixilis, Captive Kingpin is in the A+ tier, while Urza and Esika are both in the A tier. Scion of the Ur-Dragon, by the way, is considered in the A- tier.
I’m taking the time to write all of this because it exemplifies a part of my Commander philosophy that isn’t explicitly detailed in that article, but which proceeds naturally from the ideas expressed there: I’m more interested in playing the 99 than the 1.
With this in mind, I prefer commanders who facilitate playing those 99 cards, over ones looking to abuse them. My favorite Commander decks are usually the ones that make me forget I have a commander to play because the cards I’m drawing are so much fun.
Each of these commanders are powerful in their own right and certainly allow the decks they helm to function at a higher level. But the decks themselves can just as easily produce exciting and powerful games without their centerpiece ever seeing the battlefield. Even my Purphoros, Bronze-Blooded deck can play cards up the curve and be competitive without ever sticking the 5-mana God that gives all my creatures haste.
Certainly decks with Sisay, Weatherlight Captain and other top tier commanders can play out the cards from the 99 without ever abusing the busted nature of their commander. I could have even played my Scion of the Ur-Dragon deck in such a way as to take advantage of the tutoring ability without always going for the win.
The problem with that deck for me, though, was that I always went for the win when I could. I eventually took out both Nicol Bolas and Dragon Tyrant, but in the end, I replaced Scion of the Ur-Dragon with Niv-Mizzet Reborn. This led to a total retooling of the deck away from Dragons.
Which leads me back to this deck: my second Dragon Tribal Commander deck, but the only one I currently have built. My inspiration for once again returning to my first love in Commander was my 8-year-old son. In my quest to get him interested in Magic, I built him this deck. So far, we haven’t gotten past turn 4 before he gets bored, but I’m still hopeful!
A Simple, but Powerful Strategy
Building this deck for my 8-year old should explain why it’s so straightforward, as well as why there are only basic Mountains in the deck (other than one Cavern of Souls). It’s meant to be easy to understand and easy to pilot. Of all the decks I’ve made, this is the one I would give to new players just learning the game.
That being said, the deck still possesses sweet synergies, unexpected nuances, and a whole lot more interaction than simply tapping out for a Dragon each turn and beating face. However, this does get me to our…
Primary Game Plan
Which happens to be just that: tapping out as early as possible to cast a Dragon and beating face. Magic offers a wide variety of ways to win games, as well as countless synergies, ranging from neat to game-ending, but for many people, adults and kids alike, summoning creatures to attack your opponent to death is both easy to understand and super fun.
Why Inferno of the Star Mounts?
Interestingly, there are only 13 mono Red legendary Dragons in all of Magic. Of those, we’re playing the ones pictured above. Each are powerful in their own right and would make excellent commanders. None, however, do what Inferno of the Star Mounts does: attack the turn it comes into play. Alongside haste, there’s all that other text that makes this particular Dragon so appropriate to helm a deck made for a beginner. Flying? Of course, it’s a dragon. Increasing its power? Dragons can breathe fire, right? Counter magic, which is a concept more difficult to understand than a kill spell? Doesn’t matter.
A quick note on power creep:
Enough said, err, pictured…
I’ll add one more thing, however, while I have the picture of the OG Dragon in Magic here. I’m including Shivan Dragon in the 99 because, well, it’s iconic. If I were to be brutally honest about it, though, Shivan Dragon has been outclassed by so many other dragons that I really should cut it. Even now, as I write this, I realize that I’ve left the latest better-than-Shivan Dragon dragon out of the deck: Dragonhawk, Fate’s Tempest.
Sigh.
Enough about all that! Let’s give the people what they want! Dragons!
The Dragons
Dragons have been around since Alpha. They’ve always been powerful. In fact, one could easily argue Dragons are among the most powerful of the tribes when judging by a raw power-to-mana cost ratio.
Furthermore, power creep has not passed over the mighty fliers. Over the past few years, Wizards has slowly increased both the power and toughness of its new Dragons and the textbox that accompanies it, while also lowering the mana investment.
Case in point…
Shivan Dragon got an upgrade… Sure, it lacks fire breathing, but for 1 less mana, we get the same power and toughness AND all that text, which functions as conditional card draw. Finally, attached to this card advantage is the Commander treatment…an effect that hits each opponent.
Thus, much like Giants, Dragons have been granted a whole plethora of additional powers, beyond their general fire-breathing lethalness. They can draw us cards, sweep the board, destroy permanents (usually creatures; sometimes artifacts), make their own army, give us extra combats, tutor up a card, get rid of problematic lands, and ramp us.
One even has that wonderful text on it: “you win the game.” We aren’t playing Hellkite Tyrant, though, nor some of the bigger, more impactful Dragons, as most of those are in my Mono Red Purphoros deck. I enjoy variety in Commander, in case you didn’t read this bit already.
I’m not going to categorize each Dragon the way I did Giants because, well, I just don’t feel like it. One general aspect of them that I will point out, however, is that many of them function as removal alongside their life-reducing ability.
Akoum Hellkite – 6 mana for a 4/4 is a bit overcosted in today’s Magic, but the landfall trigger allows us to chip in some damage each turn or snipe a problematic creature. This is also our first hint of an additional direction we can take the deck, should we want to upgrade it beyond its current good-for-teaching-beginners level. More on that below.
Atsushi, the Blazing Sky – now this is more like it! A 4/4 for 4 mana, plus multiple options upon death. Atsushi is probably the better commander in this deck, if I were being completely honest.
Balefire Dragon – one of the few Dragons that puts this deck over budget. We’re playing it as fairly as possible…unless we have Dragon Tempest out. This rare enchantment also happens to be outside a budget build for this deck. Sigh. I was entertaining hope that I could not only give you an awesome deck to play, but that it would be cheap too. Maybe under $200? I’ll keep you posted.
Flameblast Dragon – our first of many strictly better Dragons than Shivan Dragon. It’s a Shivan Dragon plus Blaze (i.e., a Fireball with only one target). Please note that this is an attack trigger, which not only means we get this Dragon’s added bonus regardless of combat damage dealt (unlike the much more expensive Balefire Dragon above), but we can kill a would-be blocker before blocks are declared.
Glorybringer – ditto the 4 damage dealt by this Dragon if we exert it. Fans of my Gruul Dragons deck in Modern know how much I love this card. Too bad Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner isn’t .
Goldspan Dragon – we aren’t looking to abuse the Treasure tokens we get from this Dragon…at least not beyond using the extra mana to pump our commander to kill our opponent that much faster. That’s fair, right? The dream of a budget build is dying. This Dragon is $10 at its cheapest. And that’s AFTER it got printed in The List and in more than one precon.
Hellkite Charger – another thing we can use the extra mana from those Treasure tokens is to pay for an extra combat when we attack with this Dragon.
Hoard-Smelter Dragon – seeing as we aren’t looking to steal artifacts with Hellkite Tyrant, which I would recommend including if you aren’t playing it elsewhere, this is a great inclusion. It gives us an (expensive) answer to problematic artifacts AND pumps itself. That art, though, is crazy. Flames coming from the dragon’s sides? Okay, I guess…
Hoarding Dragon – here’s our Dragon tutor… Yeah, it’s not that great, nor do we have amazing targets, but getting Dragon’s Hoard means our opponent won’t want to kill this 4/4 unless they absolutely have to.
Lathliss, Dragon Queen – our first way of making an army of Dragons. The added bonus, of course, is we pump our entire team for . Is following this card up with one or two Dragons win-more? Nah, it’s just winning.
Leyline Tyrant – what a fantastic card! It may be a bit too unique of an effect for beginners, but, well, it’s okay if you ignore everything past flying if necessary. But this is where the power is! For 4 mana we never have to let a land go untapped or a mana unspent. We can use the extra mana to ramp us, help us out of mana screw, or pump our commander to that magic number 20. This is one of the cards that gives this deck some fun, unexpected lines for the more seasoned player and something to grow into for the newbies.
Manaform Hellkite – when I built this deck, I included this Dragon essentially to fill out the curve. It’s nice to have a 4-mana 4/4. The first time I cast it…well, I realized just how much I underestimated the card. Nearly half (28) of our nonland cards are noncreature cards. That’s a lot of extra Dragons. Furthermore, we have a number of cards that synergize with the number of Dragons we control, not least of which is the aforementioned Dragon Tempest. These two cards in conjunction with a noncreature spell makes every late-game mana rock a double threat.
Moonveil Dragon – this was one of the first Dragons that was Standard legal when I started playing Magic again in 2011. Man, I was impressed. Unfortunately, it was never good enough for that format. It’s great in Commander and another Dragon that is strictly better than Shivan Dragon.
Moonveil Regent – another 4-mana 4/4 I’ve included to help lower our curve, I’ve yet to get the extra value out of this Dragon that it offers. However, in the right spot, we can pitch useless lands or mana rocks in exchange for a new card, or simply play this empty handed and draw a card off of each subsequent Red spell we cast.
Obsidian Charmaw – given their fire-breathing capabilities, it’s kind of shocking that this is the only Dragon that destroys a land when it enters the battlefield. Every deck needs an answer to lands like Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx and Maze of Ith, even ones built with beginners in mind.
Scourge of Valkas – one of those cards that cares when other Dragons enter the battlefield. It’s synergistic with Manaform Hellkite in a wonderful way. And, like so many of these effects, we can target anything, giving us another way of killing our opponent other than combat.
Shivan Devastator – if you aren’t familiar with my Hydra Tribal deck, now’s the chance. This card is busted and amazing and our cheapest (mana cost-wise) Dragon. Gadrak, the Crown-Scourge is the next cheapest at , but we’ve left that one out. There are just too many Dragons to choose from!
Shivan Dragon – we could, of course, cut this overcosted Dragon to make room for some of the new, more powerful ones. Alas, I’m going with my heart on this one. I just can’t bring myself to cut the OG of the OG.
Shivan Hellkite – 7 mana is a lot for a 5/5 in today’s Magic, but, once we untap with this bad boy out, we’ll have at least three damage to distribute as we see fit. It’s worth it.
Stormbreath Dragon – another staple of my Gruul Dragons deck in Modern, having protection from white will only be relevant sometimes. Punishing our opponent’s card drawing is as fun as it sounds, though. In one game, my brother-in-law had Greater Good with Yargle and Multani (the commander of his power-greater-than-toughness deck) out. My only winning line at that point was to monstrous my Stormbreath after he drew 18 cards. Alas, he sniffed it out and beat me without all those extra cards.
Thunderbreak Regent – I played this card in Standard when it was legal, alongside Draconic Roar. It’s not at its best in Commander, but it does lower our curve a little, while also chipping in some damage if our opponent has to use a targeted removal spell to answer one of our threats.
Thundermaw Hellkite – the OG of newly printed and playable Dragons. I’ve written about the evolution of Dragons here, but the TL;DR is that this was the first constructed-playable Dragon to be printed since Shivan Dragon outside of combo decks.
Two-Headed Dragon – another OG Dragon I’m keeping in more for sentimentality’s sake than any other reason. There are better options at lower mana costs. The flavor is cool, but I feel like it would have double strike if it were first printed today.
Utvara Hellkite – for 8 mana, this card better win us the game! Ideally, we’ll have at least two other Dragons to attack the turn we resolve this one.
Verix Bladewing – another curve-filler that scales up as the game goes long. Perfect!
Wrathful Red Dragon – a game-ender in the right spot, this Dragon makes blocking a nightmare for our Opponent.
The Guilty Pleasures
Okay, this section title is a little misleading for a couple of reasons. First, this deck feels like it’s full of guilty pleasures for me. So. Many. Dragons.
And second, some of these cards serve an important purpose, like the one pictured above: ramping into our beaters.
Nevertheless, several inclusions here are probably strictly worse cards than something non-Dragony (or just more Dragons), but they are on theme, give us value early and late, and are cards I always want to play but never end up including in any of my decks.
Dragonmaster Outcast – unimpactful and easy to kill early and still vulnerable late, I opened a foil Russian copy of this mythic and was ecstatic. Too bad it never saw play…anywhere. Still, I think if this Human Shaman is to find a home in a Commander deck, it is here (and maybe in my budget Omnath deck).
Dragonlord’s Servant – what’s not to love about this card?! That art is amazing. The flavor text is equally funny. Costing 2 mana puts this Goblin Shaman on par with playable mana rocks. Its 3 toughness means our opponent can’t just kill it with incidental damage. Finally, I love that it’s a Shaman, because, well, Atarka don’t let just any old Goblin serve her breakfast…
Dragonspeaker Shaman – as silly as Dragonlord’s Servant is, this card is as serious. I remember first seeing this card after I started playing Magic again in 2011 and being blown away. It was exactly what my Play Deck from the 90s needed!
Dragon Whisperer – another foil mythic I opened that never saw play in constructed formats. I appreciate how pushed Wizards made this card, though. That’s a lot of text for a 2-mana creature…back in 2015. Too bad it still didn’t make the card playable. However, it is a powerful threat in our deck, having both evasion and firebreathing, while also functioning as a lethal mana sink.
Kargan Dragonlord – another card that gives us a late-game threat or an early game mana sink as we make our land drops. 8 mana is a huge investment (10 total) to get this Warrior up to an 8/8, but it’ll either win us the game if we do, or we’ll spend 1 or 2 extra mana a turn until we hit level 4 and stop there. The threat of it becoming an 8/8 may draw out a sweeper or kill spell, too, clearing the way for our better, more efficient threats.
Planeswalkers!!!
Yup, we even get to play some Planeswalkers in our Dragon Tribal deck! Well, they’re all Sarkhan, but still…
Sarkhan, Fireblood – card filtering plus ramp all for the low cost of 3 mana? This is a perfect transition card for us from the early to mid-game.
Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker – this one actually becomes a Dragon! All three modes are super relevant, even if we’ll likely use his -3 first, making it unlikely we’ll ever make it to his ultimate.
Sarkhan the Masterless – another card I’ve built multiple Modern decks around, I frequently consider cutting this Planeswalker due to a lack of other Planeswalkers to turn into Dragons. However, that static ability in our deck is bonkers. Talk about making combat problematic for our opponent! There will be games where we’ll be able to attack with abandon, while our opponent will have to find an answer to this card before swinging back. Oh, and he also becomes a Dragon and makes Dragons.
Guilty Pleasures – Part II
Outside of creatures, there are certain cards I either frequently include in first drafts of decks, only to cut them, or that I always look hard at, longing to play them, but ultimately realizing they just aren’t good in whatever deck I’m building. Some of those cards have found a home here.
Belbe’s Portal – this card inspires visions of cheating in big fatties on our way to victory and glory. The reality, though, is that at 5 mana, it’s highly likely we could just start casting our big fatties instead. Throw in the additional to activate this artifact and our dream of sticking two fatties in a single turn withers into the cold reality of death at the hands of our opponent. So why include it? Perhaps the better question is, when will I cut it? I’m already eyeing this side by side with Dragonhawk, Fate’s Tempest and asking all the obvious questions. Wouldn’t I rather play a Dragon in the 5-drop slot over an artifact?
Still, I’m going to indulge my fantasies and keep this one in the deck for two reasons. First, we’re playing a lot of ramp, so we will hopefully stick this on turn 3 at some point. This will give us ample time to get a lot of value out of it. Second, many of our Dragons lack that oh-so-relevant keyword, haste. We can activate this on our opponent’s end step, thereby solving this problem.
Burning Earth – I’d rather see a fire-breathing Dragon spewing flames on a fertile plain than this weird art, but I can’t deny its thematic synergies. That, and we’re playing a total of 1 nonbasic land. Boom.
Crucible of Fire – is this card win-more? Is it win-anything? I don’t care. It’s a Dragon Tribal deck. Not including this card is basically against the rules. Furthermore, I think it has game-ending potential as a late-game bomb on a stalled board. It also makes all those baby Dragon Illusions we make with Manaform Hellkite into potent threats.
Dragon Tempest – I include this in my guilty pleasures section mostly because I was playing a lot of Standard when this card was first printed (in Dragons of Tarkir). I remember thinking that all the Dragons I wanted to play already had haste, making the first half of this enchantment irrelevant. And the second half was simply too slow for a 60-card format. It’s much, much better in our deck, where most of our Dragons lack haste and we’ll have the time to have multiple Dragons on the battlefield at once without already winning.
Extraplanar Lens – with its reprinting, this card’s price plummeted to more than reasonable, allowing me to include it in this deck. We’re hoping, first, that our opponent isn’t on red; second, that we’ll be running far more basic Mountains than anyone else; and third, that what we can do with double the mana will outclass what our opponent can.
Gauntlet of Power – yes, that’s not the pictured card, but I’m showing Gauntlet of Might here because this 4-mana artifact helped power up…you guessed it…Shivan Dragon back in the day. I sold my copies, unfortunately. Gauntlet of Power is the next best thing. We’re again hoping to gain more value out of this artifact than our opponent. Would another Dragon be better here? Probably.
It’s not just a combo…it’s a lethal combo!
However, we do have more than just a high curve to incentivize us to play cards like this. Our commander can outright win the game the turn after we cast it with this card out if we make a 7th land drop. Yup, 7 x 2 = 14. 14 +6 = 20. 20 + 20 = dead. Yay for simple math!
Invasion of Tarkir – more Dragon synergies, in both art and text. Not to mention the Dragon on the flipside makes every attacking Dragon come with a Shock.
Sarkhan’s Unsealing – the guiltiest of my guilty pleasures, this card has win-more written all over it…or does it? At 4 mana it’s pretty aggressively costed for the effect. It also slots quite nicely into our curve, since most of our Dragons are 5 mana or greater. And, the icing on the cake – it’s a cast trigger, meaning counter magic won’t stop it.
This is an example of why I love brewing in Commander. It’s a powerful card that synergizes in both theme and card selection. And, it’s played in only 1% of decks, making it a hidden gem. Because of this, it’s also under $1. But if you reread the card, notice that it’s any creature that triggers it, not just Dragons.
In a format known for its bombs, why wouldn’t more decks want to play a difficult-to-remove support piece that turns all their bombs into kill spells or sweepers? Yes, it’s only 4 damage, but still. All but the largest creatures survive this, while blocking the turn we resolve a 7-drop becomes extra painful. This card deserves a home in any deck playing both Red and big creatures.
The Elder Dragon War – I have no such strong opinions about this saga. I’m just happy it exists. It does things we want and even has “Read ahead,” giving us maximum flexibility. Being a potential 3+-for-1 means it deserves a spot in the 99.
There and Back Again – another saga, this one is an auto-include for Tolkien fans. Who among you doesn’t want to play Smaug? Of the two sagas, though, this is by far the weaker of the two.
Dragon Tribal Removal
Yes, we even get to extend our Dragon theme to the kind of removal we play. Are these kill spells and sweepers the best, most mana efficient? Not even close. Do they have Dragons in the picture? Most definitely!
Draconic Roar – surely Lightning Bolt is better and sort of Dragon related. Stormbreath Dragon exists, after all. Well, I won’t dock you Dragon Tribal points for playing Lightning Bolt, but don’t cut Draconic Roar to make room for it.
Flame Sweep – a conditional sweeper strictly worse than Anger of the Gods or Brotherhood’s End or Sweltering Suns or…you get the picture. But do any of those have a Dragon in the picture? Flavor text about Dragons? Didn’t think so.
Spit Flame – the picture alone is worth inclusion, but the recursive nature of this removal spell makes it a pretty decent choice, regardless. We are playing 27 Dragons and some Planeswalkers who can also trigger the buyback cost.
Bonfire of the Damned – fine, this fire falling from the sky probably isn’t of the Dragon kind, seeing as the card was printed in Avacyn Restored, a set with a total of 1 Dragon (Archwing Dragon). However, I have fond memories of blowing out opponents with the miracle cost of this card and, we have the potential to make a lot of mana; it’s nice to have something to do with it.
Roast – first printed in Dragons of Tarkir, this removal spell fits our theme nicely.
Outpost Siege – a powerful enabler in more than just Dragon Tribal decks, we get the pleasure of playing this the way it was intended.
The Rest
We’re playing seven mana rocks, one Endless Atlas for card draw, and the odd-card-out, Jeska’s Will. Honestly, I had an extra copy of this and figured this was its optimal home. It can let us cast our commander as early as turn 3, while the card draw is sorely needed in a deck like ours. It’s not really on theme, so if there’s a Dragon-related option we aren’t already playing that you know of, let me know in the comments!
Otherwise, let me say a few words about the inclusion of some of the games most-frequently played mana rocks. If you’ve read my Commander philosophy, then you know I don’t like running mana rocks in all of my decks because it both reduces the number of unique cards we get to play and creates a more homogenous play experience between decks. I honestly think a sub-format banning all mana rocks and ramp spells would be good for Commander. That being said, I understand their value, particularly in a deck like ours. We have a ton of high-mana-costing spells. Without mana rocks, there’s a good chance we’ll be too far behind or already dead before we can start deploying our Dragons.
That being said, I’ve included as much Dragon-themed ramp as possible.
Mana Rocks
Arcane Signet
Coldsteel Heart – ice dragons are a thing, right (Icingdeath, Frost Tyrant)? Totally on theme.
Fire Diamond – even more on theme.
Fellwar Stone –looks like a dwarf mining a stone in my version. That’s kind of on theme, right? Dwarves and Dragons are totally friends…
Mind Stone
Ruby Medallion
Dragon’s Hoard – the thematic jewel of our mana ramp and card draw.
Card Draw
Dragon’s Hoard
Endless Atlas
Jeska’s Will
Mind Stone
Ideal Hand and Game Play
No secret here. We’re looking to make land drops and ramp into some Dragons. With this in mind, our ideal hand will have at least 3 lands, 1 mana rock or ramp creature, 2 Dragons, and a support card, whether it’s removal or card draw. We’d rather not see any Dragons costing more than 5 mana, while having one of our 4-drops means we can start pressuring our opponent, while also setting us up for the late-game.
From there, we want to chain together as many Dragons as possible until our opponent has been vanquished.
That’s not to say there aren’t some sweet synergies to keep games interesting. I’ve mentioned most as I’ve highlighted each relevant card, but I’ll include them here for simplicity’s sake.
Mana Doublers + Inferno of the Star Mounts = Victory
In case you missed the math lesson above, with one of our two mana-doubling artifacts on the battlefield, we only need seven mountains to pump our commander’s power to 20. But we have nine other Dragons in which we can sink this extra mana. As detailed above, some gain firebreathing, while others do more: destroy artifacts, give us an extra combat, or shoot down creatures.
Manaform Hellkite + Dragon Tempest + Mana Rocks = a Whole Lot of Damage
This is 3-card combo that, if it comes down early and goes unanswered, can win us a game without us every casting another Dragon. Throw in Crucible of Fire and things get even more fun.
Kill All the Things
We play eight Dragons that can kill other creatures, not to mention Planeswalkers and Dragon Tempest. What this means for game play is that not only will we often be able to lower our opponent’s life total with our Dragons, but we will frequently be able to keep the board clean with those same Dragons. And while this may not come as any surprise, there is something extraordinarily satisfying about resolving a Glorybringer, killing a creature, and hitting for 4 that needs to be experienced to be fully appreciated.
Flex Spots
Other Dragons
The world is once again your oyster on this one. Of the more than 350 Dragons printed in Magic, 153 are mono Red. That’s a lot of cards to pick from to personalize your Dragon Tribal deck. As I mentioned above, there are some very powerful Dragons in the 7- and 8-mana range that I play in my Purphoros deck, but which could easily be slotted in here. Check out that decklist for more, but Tyrant’s Familiar is one powerful option, while Hellkite Tyrant should be an auto-include in any Dragon Tribal deck.
Damage Increasers
Doubling or increasing damage is another way of providing the deck some reach, as I alluded to above. There are several cards that would power up the damage we deal with Dragons like Akoum Hellkite, Shivan Hellkite, and Thunderbreak Regent, to name but a few. I play most of these in my Chandra Tribal Commander deck, about which I’ll write at some point. Here’s a short list:
| Fiery Emancipation | |
| Mechanized Warfare | |
| Solphim, Mayhem Dominus | |
| Torbran, Thane of Red Fell |
Mana Storing
Leyline Tyrant may be our best way of accruing over the course of several turns, but there are several cards that do something similar. Birgi, God of Storytelling gives us a for every spell we cast in a turn, while its flipside is another source of card advantage. Ashling, Flame Dancer is off theme, but otherwise functions like Leyline Tyrant with a bit of upside thanks to its magecraft. Horizon Stone doesn’t work with the fire-breathing ability of most of our Dragons, but it would allow us to cast more than one big creature a turn in the right spot.
All of these are additional ways we can tweak the deck to abuse our commander’s last line of text.
More Efficient Removal
Red has access to a huge number of burn spells, many of which will do the job better than the ones we’ve chosen. Of those, some number will be Dragon-adjacent enough not to water down our theme too much. Sure, for the purists out there, they’ll ruin the tribal nature of the deck, but to most, playing a card like Lightning Bolt won’t detract from our all-in-on-Dragons concept.
The Lands
Yes, we play almost all basics for a reason, but you don’t have to. There are plenty of utility lands that would give this deck a necessary edge that I’ve left out on purpose. There’s already enough cards with enough text for my 8-year-old to slog through to add a bunch of complicated lands to the mix. Not to mention the need to explain colorless mana vs. . Once he’s mastered the basics, I can upgrade some of my Mountains to Wasteland and the like.
Weaknesses
We are a pretty top-heavy deck when it comes to our threats. If we don’t make land drops and/or resolve a few mana rocks, we could die without ever casting a Dragon. Or, we’ll durdle until turn 5, cast a single Dragon, watch with a sad face as it gets killed by our opponent, then repeat the next turn.
Casting a single Dragon a turn on an otherwise empty (for us) board will often not be good enough. On the other hand, casting a single Dragon a turn on an otherwise empty board for our opponent will be. But if we don’t hit our kill spells or permanents that allow us to keep their board clean, it will oftentimes not matter that we can swing for 4 or 5.
Furthermore, this is a powerful, but casual deck. It is built to be handed to a complete beginner, after all. Commander decks looking to combo off or which play a ton of powerful and efficient cards that synergize together will frequently kill us before we can get anything going.
Conclusion
Dragons are iconic across both time and space, making them a great introductory creature for beginning players of Magic to enjoy. This Mono Red Dragon Tribal deck is a fun, exciting, and easy (relatively speaking, of course) deck to play and, therefore, a great option for those just learning the game. And, using starcitygames.com, the cost of the deck is under $200. Not exactly budget, but pretty cheap nonetheless. However, if we take out Cavern of Souls ($45), Jeska’s Will ($20), and a couple of the more pricey Dragons like Balefire Dragon ($12), then we’re right around the $100 mark.
While I built this for my 8-year-old son, I won’t lie, it has been super fun for me to play, as well. Maybe that’s because I love Dragons so much that I’ve created this site to show them off in all their fiery glory, or maybe that’s because casting big, flying, fire-breathing monsters is just so awesome, full stop.
As always, thanks for reading and watching! Let me know in the comments what you think of the deck and my card choices. Do you have a Dragon Tribal deck? Who’s your commander?
