The Scoop: Elementary EDH – Ur-Dragon Love


As previously mentioned in my Jungons EDH deck post, I’ve built 2 dragon EDH decks. I have a great respect for the Jund color identity encompassing much of what dragons stand for, so even with the Ur-Dragon release, I couldn’t justify tearing apart my Jungons for a rainbow Ur-Dragon deck. So I built a separate EDH deck to give love to all that tribal dragons have to offer.

I loved Khans because it gave a creature type other than angels a means to have an answer to everything. While angels are still superior due to their primarily mono-color nature, the dragons now have a means to fight back. Unfortunately, the expansive color identity of the Khans dragons made it difficult to build a deck around. Scion of the Ur-Dragon was a decent Commander, but required significant library usage on synchronizing with its ability, should you choose to not have the Commander as merely a color identity filler (which out of respect for the format, I never do). So when the Ur-Dragon itself came out, I was ecstatic to build an EDH deck around everything the dragon creature type had to offer. And so this deck was born:

Decklist

  • Commander
    • The Ur-Dragon
  • Creatures
    • Atarka, World Render
    • Bladewing the Risen
    • Crosis, the Purger
    • Darigaaz, the Igniter
    • Dragonlord Atarka
    • Dragonlord Dromoka
    • Dragonlord Kolaghan
    • Dragonlord Ojutai
    • Dragonlord Silumgar
    • Dromar, the Banisher
    • Dromoka, the Eternal
    • Intet, the Dreamer
    • Kolaghan, the Storm’s Fury
    • Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius
    • Numot, the Devastator
    • Ojutai, Soul of Winter
    • O-Kagachi, Vengeful Kami
    • Oros, the Avenger
    • Ramos, Dragon Engine
    • Rith, the Awakener
    • Scion of the Ur-Dragon
    • Silumgar, the Drifting Death
    • Teneb, the Harvester
    • Treva, the Renewer
    • Vorosh, the Hunter
    • Scourge of Valkas
    • Utvara Hellkite
    • Harbinger of the Hunt
    • Pristine Skywise
    • Arashin Sovereign
    • Spellbound Dragon
    • Scalelord Reckoner
    • Sunscorch Regent
    • Necromaster Dragon
    • Steel Hellkite
    • Kilnmouth Dragon
    • Deathbringer Regent
    • Icefall Regent
    • Savage Ventmaw
    • Wardscale Dragon
    • Jodah, Archmage Eternal
    • Surrak Dragonclaw
    • Maelstrom Archangel
    • Dragonspeaker Shaman
    • Dragonlord’s Servant
  • Planeswalkers
    • Sarkhan Unbroken
    • Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
    • Sarkhan the Mad
    • Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh
  • Artifacts
    • Chromatic Lantern
    • Quicksilver Amulet
    • Fist of Suns
    • Darksteel Ingot
    • Commander’s Sphere
    • Herald’s Horn
  • Enchantments
    • Crucible of Fire
    • Dragon Tempest
    • Kindred Discovery
  • Instants and Sorceries
    • Sarkhan’s Triumph
    • Crux of Fate
  • Lands
    • Command Tower
    • Haven of the Spirit Dragon
    • Crucible of the Spirit Dragon
    • Rupture Spire
    • Unclaimed Territory
    • Path of Ancestry
    • Savage Lands
    • Frontier Bivouac
    • Crumbling Necropolis
    • Jungle Shrine
    • Seaside Citadel
    • Arcane Sanctum
    • Sandsteppe Citadel
    • Mystic Monastery
    • Opulent Palace
    • Nomad Outpost
    • Dragonskull Summit
    • Needle Spires
    • Temple of Deceit
    • Sunpetal Grove
    • Glacial Fortress
    • Temple of Mystery
    • Isolated Chapel
    • Rootbound Crag
    • Vivid Meadow
    • Vivid Crag
    • Vivid Marsh
    • Vivid Grove
    • Vivid Creek
    • Mountain x2
    • Swamp x2
    • Island x2
    • Forest x2
    • Plains x2

There’s a lot of carry-over in this deck from my Jungons EDH. It features many of the same tribal spells that are too good to pass up in any tribal dragon deck.

The biggest difference with this deck, obviously, is the focus on non-traditional color schemes in Dragons. To a fault, I committed to adding every legendary dragon from Tarkir and the old triple-color legendary dragons. After that, I sprinkled in tribal dragon support in the form of dragon and non-dragon creatures. The creature collection is nothing special, with no focus other than massive, powerful, versatile dragons.

I approached the planeswalkers like the dragons…to a fault. It’s simply some of the dragon-related planeswalkers.

The artifacts are all about mana ramping and fixing. Quicksilver Amulet is a fantastic card for so many reasons. Firstly, it makes any creature in your hand 4 cmc. Secondly, the mana required is colorless, so there’s mana “ramping” and mana “fixing” right there. But, the two most underrated elements of Quicksilver Amulet are the two that aren’t apparent. The Amulet’s ability can be used at instant speed for playing creatures at any phase on any turn, and the ability “puts” the creature on the battlefield, so you can avoid counterspells. Two very powerful benefits to a card that already boasts a huge help to expensive rainbow dragons. And, of course, Chromatic Lantern is a staple in any triple-or-higher color identity deck.

The enchantments, surprise-surprise, are dragon tribal. They buff dragons, benefit from dragons, let you draw from dragons…dragon dragon dragon dragon. Get it? This deck is stupid-tribal.

There frankly wasn’t much room left in the deck for instants and sorceries, but…it is what it is. Simply a dragon tutor and a field wipe to help if other decks are moving faster, which is more of a certainty than a likelihood.

This deck is volatile and non-competitive for so many reasons. It’s slow and lacks the stability of the Jungons deck. It’s basically a glorified display case of multi-colored dragons. So no…it’s not the most clever build I’ve come up with…But it’s very pretty to look at if you like dragons.

I’m excited for M19 as it has quite a few supplements for this deck. Of course, these supplements won’t actually help a deck that is designed to a flaw to do one thing, but it’s still fun to have a smorgasbord of funky dragons flailing haphazardly around on the battlefield.

— Dalton

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