working on a deck that makes dragons, lots of them.
so far tested it in a little casual play, and a fair bit more in the forge, and results can be very fun and are proving more consistent. its best played aggressively but if you only have a single dragon token out it can go defensive for a short while. is likely still week to control and sac decks, but thats a area im keen to work on improving. a rundown on the decks highlights and a few combos and synergy's I've noticed so far:
Slumbering Dragon is a good first tern drop, making a opponent wary after one or two early attacks as to what it could tern into. Its small cost makes it very useful in the mid to late game for burns with Dragon Tempest but i have found if you keep one on the board with some +1 counters on it, it can help with the activation requirements of Mosswort Bridge. finally if a opponent is foolish enough to wake one up and leave it in play, a quick one/two with Blossoming Defense then Temur Battle Rage will insure that mistake wont happen twice.
Dragonmaster Outcast is our second one drop that we can play, as a early game creature it's admittedly quite underwhelming and they can be expected to be taken out in a load of ways. However its best not to be too wasteful with them, its very powerful token creation ability is likely to come about faster than players might expect with the uses of Rampant Growth. Apart from being then able to make upkeep use of tempest, a Parallel Lives will lead to things getting out of hand.
Amulet of Vigor is our last option for the first tern play and should take priority, as it brings out our more interesting lands and Rampant Growth without them tapped! this keeps the deck moving along smoothly and and if you can put down multiple Amulets, can give you a nice combo with re-taping Savage Lands and Kazandu Refuge. (admittedly the are more constant mana ramps, but so far this has met my budget, and proven a little more fun)
Blossoming Defense is a good way to keep a creature you want, where you want it.
Dragonlord's Servant is our next stop up on the path to dragons, giving the discount of one colorlessness mana to our Dragon Egg and Thunderbreak Regent is a boon, but whats just as important is what it can free up the rest of our mana to do; from hexpoofing to tempest enchanting. as a respectable 1/3 it also has good survival for use as a early defender or harassing a opponent.
Rampant Growth is of course mana ramp and so should be played as early as conveniently possible. again it helps if the is a Amulet of Vigor in play as this can let you get a cheeky mana use that tern.
Heroic Intervention for use blocking removal aimed at your enchantments or a key tokens. if you want to do something risky it always helps to have this on hand. (again the might be better cards for this, but its worked well so far.)
Dragon Tempest this is the best-enchantment-for-dragons-in-the-game. A core part of the decks ability for offense, and should be cast when your ready to get the ball rolling. Offering haste for your quickly growing hoard of dragons is lovely, offering the chance for them to burn the house down as they do is superb! better yet this combos with Panharmonicon to double up the fun, Parallel Lives for extra ammo and the final ability of Sarkhan Vol for a complete massacre.
Druid's Deliverance and Sundering Growth are the sneaky second pillar to this deck and once a tokens in play will let you work on building up a small hoard of what ever sized dragon you can manage, a pair of each is usually appropriate, but against decks with little in the way of artifacts or enchantments, its best to swap out the sundering's for more deliverance that can be played at anytime without a target. although they combo neatly with Parallel Lives they are situational and should be used to respond to threats as soon as appropriate.
Temur Battle Rage having played lot of games with dragons over the years this card has won a good few. If you have a big dragon, chances are it will only have a single chance to do damage before its shackled, sacked or unsummoned; double strike and trample will ensure that blow counts and with Blossoming Defense you can add +2/+2 and hexproof to cut someones game much shorter.
Dragon Egg our only 3 cost in the deck the egg goes from being a costly and inflexible defender, to giving us the chance to hatch a small army. This is the most likely way you will be getting 2/2 dragon tokens early in the game and as such the hatching of the token is the result you probably want as soon as possible. this can be achieved as it comes out by using a tempest burn with a Slumbering Dragon in play to finish it off, or waiting to block a clear threat and combo the resulting token with Parallel Lives for a small swarm.
Thunderbreak Regent on to the big leagues and we have the best 4 mana dragon ever made. a 4/4 flyer for 4 would be nice, the fact it burns your opponent for touching it or any other dragon with removal is wonderful and great for avoiding any errant spells heading at them in multiplayer games. This beast also can enjoy the full effects of Temur Battle Rage and with tempest, rampant, servants and amlulets could be out and attacking on your fourth tern.
Parallel Lives at 4 mana its a bit more costly than id like, its also open to removal at the most awkward of moments so why keep one about? simple. the amount of tokens it can place on the table is practically unmatched! you want to have a dragon egg's 2/2 token? why not one more! bring in a Outcast's 5/5 token? go on have another! populate starts looking disgraceful and brood dragons have game winning hordes appear right next to them. so if you can find one, play it and keep it; its worth it.
Panharmonicon another costly 4 mana and perhaps another question as to why to have this over a extra tempest or parallel lives? well its works with both at once. if you have the three of these out and play a Broodmate Dragon that's a extra two dragons turning up, with all the extra burn damage in between.
Sarkhan Vol is so far the most practical planeswalker for the deck as his +1 to give creatures haste and +1/+1 is very practical, and his -6 are tokens, so yes they do kickoff all enchantments you might have in play. (my record stands as creating 15 in one tern.)
Broodmate Dragon are here to bring about the end of times, if the game has gone in any way smoothly for you, we can hope to have Dragonlord's Servant or tempest's still in play on your 5th to 7th tern, with some more luck they are also very good to keep in exile with a Mosswort Bridge then drop in with haste and add a populate to reliably end the game. (they are also much cheaper to get hold of than broodmother's so the is no reason not to play them as substitutes)
Dragon Broodmother Game winner. works very well with most of the deck, and makes baby's every tern. and a good choice with a Mosswort Bridge.
Land's: 2x Wooded Foothills = pain land. does as such. play first.
2x Haven of the Spirit Dragon = late game can be a way do get a key dragon back to your hand.
3x Kazandu Refuge = works best after playing Amulet of Vigor
3x Savage Lands = works best after playing Amulet of Vigor and likely required for Broodmate Dragon
1x Swamp = experimenting with having one to prevent a mishap with Broodmate Dragon
2x Mosswort Bridge = best option to use it with anything above 4 mana.
mountins and forests are in to be played and brought out by Rampant Growth
so there we have it. any suggestions and recommendations are welcome, and any cheaper options more than welcome.
