Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Wacky Wednesdays: Commander Edition

Welcome, readers, to another edition of Wacky Wednesdays. Welcome also, to Fate Reforged! What better way to acknowledge the return of dragons to Tarkir than by featuring a dragon themed deck? Today I will be going over a Commander deck containing one of my all-time favorite interactions in the game, and a lot of dragons.

This deck, built by my brother, is a tribal deck made of one of Magic's most iconic creatures: Dragons. The commander is none other than Scion of the Ur-Dragon. Using his unique ability, this deck is able to create a myriad of wacky combos and interactions.

Scion of the Ur-Dragon

Before we go any further, have a look at the deck: Dragon Tales





Legendary Creatures (1)

x1 Scion of the Ur-Dragon  (Commander)

Creatures (35)

x1 Anger
x1 Atarka, World Render
x1 Birds of Paradise
x1 Bladewing the Risen
x1 Bloodbraid Elf
x1 Draco
x1 Dragon Broodmother
x1 Dragonspeaker Shaman
x1 Dragon Tyrant
x1 Dromoka, the Eternal
x1 Elvish Piper
x1 Flameblast Dragon
x1 Hellkite Charger
x1 Hellkite Overlord
x1 Hellkite Tyrant
x1 Intet, the Dreamer
x1 Joiner Adept
x1 Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund
x1 Maelstrom Wanderer
x1 Moltensteel Dragon
x1 Nicol Bolas
x1 Ojutai, Soul of Winter
x1 Prophet of Kruphix
x1 Quicksilver Dragon
x1 Scion of the Ur-Dragon
x1 Scourge of the Throne
x1 Scourge of Valkas
x1 Silumgar, the Drifting Death
x1 Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
x1 Solemn Simulacrum
x1 Steel Hellkite
x1 Teneb, the Harvester
x1 Thundermaw Hellkite
x1 Utvara Hellkite
x1 Vorosh, the Hunter
x1 Wardscale Dragon

Instants (2)

x1 Cyclonic Rift
x1 Enlightened Tutor

Sorceries (6)

  • x1 Crux of Fate
    x1 Cultivate
    x1 Demonic Tutor
    x1 Diabolic Tutor
    x1 Farseek
    x1 Primal Surge

Enchantments (5)

x1 Bear Umbra
x1 Bludgeon Brawl
x1 Canopy Cover
x1 Crucible of Fire
x1 Lurking Predators

Artifacts (7)

x1 Chromatic Lantern
x1 Coalition Relicx
x1 Darksteel Ingot
x1 Lightning Greaves
x1 Mycosynth Lattice
x1 Quicksilver Amulet
x1 Sol Ring

Planeswalkers (3)

x1 Domri Rade
x1 Karn Liberated
x1 Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker

Lands (40)

1x Ancient Ziggurat
1x Arid Mesa
1x Bloodstained Mire
1x Cavern of Souls
1x Command Tower
1x Copperline Gorge
1x Crystal Quarry
1x Dimir Aqueduct
1x Dragonskull Summit
1x Drowned Catacomb
1x Evolving Wilds
1x Exotic Orchard
1x Flooded Strand
3x Forest
1x Godless Shrine
1x Golgari Rot Farm
1x Hallowed Fountain
2x Island
1x Isolated Chapel
3x Mountain
1x Overgrown Tomb
3x Plains
1x Polluted Delta
1x Reliquary Tower
1x Rootbound Crag
1x Savage Lands
1x Simic Growth Chamber
2x Swamp
1x Temple Garden
1x Terramorphic Expanse
1x Watery Grave
1x Windswept Heath


This deck contains much of what you would expect from a five color dragon tribal Commander deck.  It also contains a few cards that seem like they don't really belong.  I'll get to those later.

It is Scion of the Ur-Dragon that really ties this deck together. One can use his ability to find a dragon for almost any situation. I'll go over some of the more creative uses.

First off, this deck has a couple of combo kills for when things get desperate.  If it's a single player who needs to be taken care of, we can activate Scion's ability and then activate it again in response it the first activation.  The first one to resolve should turn Scion into Moltensteel Dragon, where we will proceed to activate its fire-breathing ability (its ability to pump itself by +1/+0) six times, using our life to pay if necessary.  Then the second Scion ability should resolve and turn Scion into Skithirix, the Blight Dragon.  At this point we have a 10/4 infect creature we can swing with to inflict a lethal amount of poison counters.  Alternately, we could pump Scion five times and have it end up as Dragon Tyrant to attack for lethal commander damage.

Moltensteel Dragon  Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon  Dragon Tyrant

If the game has just gone on too long, we can enchant Scion with Bear Umbra, activate its ability to turn it into Hellkite Charger, and proceed to take as many combat phases as we need to end the game as long as we have at least seven lands.

Bear Umbra  Hellkite Charger

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that four of the new legendary dragons from Fate Reforged make an appearance in this deck (along with Crux of Fate doing its best Plague Wind impression) and are all excellent targets for Scion. They, along with others, make excellent toolbox/utility targets for Scion.

Crux of Fate  Atarka, World Render  Silumgar, the Drifting Death

  • Atarka, World Render will end games fast by granting mass double strike.
  • Silumgar, the Drifting Death clears away pesky opposing creatures.
  • Dromoka, the Eternal leads to massive amounts of +1/+1 counters for you smallest dragon.
  • Ojutai, Soul of Winter taps down anything in your way.
  • Teneb, the Harvester and Bladewing the Risen for reanimation of dragons who have fallen.
  • Quicksilver Dragon can be used to deflect a kill spell that targets Scion.
  • Wardscale Dragon to keep combat clean and free of tricks.
  • Utvara Hellkite ensures you have plenty of big dragons.
  • And more!

Dromoka, the Eternal  Ojutai, Soul of Winter  Teneb, the Harvester
Quicksilver Dragon  Wardscale Dragon  Utvara Hellkite

But enough of all that 'normal' Commander stuff. You came here expecting something wacky.  The true king of weird in this deck is none other than the Multiverse's greatest villain: Nicol Bolas!

Nicol Bolas

You may have noticed the odd inclusions of cards like Bludgeon Brawl or Mycosynth Lattice.  Well, they are odd indeed, and they lead to one of the funniest interactions in the game.  If you cast both Bludgeon Brawl and Mycosynth Lattice, every permanent will be an artifact and every non-creature artifact will be able to be equipped to a creature,  If you then cast Nicol Bolas and Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker, you can then equip Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker to Nicol Bolas!  I think I'll leave you with the mental image of Bolas picking himself up and swinging himself at your opponent to knock all the cards out of their hand.

Bludgeon Brawl  Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker

Oh, and it goes without saying that Mycosynth Lattice is Hellkite Tyrant's best friend.

Mycosynth Lattice  Hellkite Tyrant

That's all for this month, friends.  Let me know what you think about today's article in the commnets below and I'll see you next month!

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