Beware, Here Be Dragons!

Commander / EDH* Budget Dragons UB (Dimir)

Seraphim755

BoardWipe (4)

• 1x Curse of the Swine
• 1x Life's Finale
• 1x Polymorphist's Jest
• 1x Sudden Spoiling

Control (17)

• 1x Dash Hopes
• 1x Dread
• 1x Equilibrium
• 1x Extract from Darkness
• 1x Hands of Binding
• 1x Jace, Unraveler of Secrets
• 1x Languish
• 1x Midnight Recovery
• 1x Mind Grind
• 1x Monastery Siege
• 1x Palace Siege
• 1x Propaganda
• 1x Silence the Believers
• 1x Silumgar's Command
• 1x Stolen Identity
• 1x Undercity Plague
• 1x Worst Fears

Counter (5)

• 1x Dismiss
• 1x Induce Paranoia
• 1x Psychic Strike
• 1x Spell Rupture
• 1x Undermine

Dragons (18)

• 1x Acid-Spewer Dragon
• 1x Belltoll Dragon
• 1x Catacomb Dragon
• 1x Conspiracy
• 1x Deathbringer Regent
• 1x Ebon Dragon
• 1x Evil Twin
• 1x Icefall Regent
• 1x Keiga, the Tide Star
• 1x Mercurial Pretender
• 1x Mindscour Dragon
• 1x Mist Dragon
• 1x Necromaster Dragon
• 1x Quicksilver Dragon
• 1x Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
• 1x Steel Hellkite
• 1x Teeka's Dragon
• 1x Xenograft

Lands (38)

• 1x Choked Estuary
• 1x Dimir Aqueduct
• 1x Dimir Guildgate
• 1x Dismal Backwater
• 15x Island
• 1x Jwar Isle Refuge
• 1x Skyline Cascade
• 1x Submerged Boneyard
• 14x Swamp
• 1x Temple of Deceit
• 1x Transguild Promenade

Ramp (7)

• 1x Crypt Ghast
• 1x Dimir Signet
• 1x Last Thoughts
• 1x Silumgar Monument
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Thran Dynamo
• 1x Ur-Golem's Eye

Tutor (2)

• 1x Diabolic Tutor
• 1x Increasing Ambition

UtilityCreatures (8)

• 1x Archetype of Finality
• 1x Archetype of Imagination
• 1x Baleful Strix
• 1x Dimir Cutpurse
• 1x Fog Bank
• 1x Notion Thief
• 1x Sire of Stagnation
• 1x Warden of Evos Isle

Commander (1)

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In the early days of nautical exploration sailors would mark unknown or dangerous sections of their maps with the phrase, "Beware, Here Be Dragons!" to signify the peril for any daring to enter those waters. The waters of such an area were perilous, sapping the strength of any who entered them and pulling their ships onto undesired courses. I thought I'd try to embody that sense of danger and mystique in a Dragon-themed EDH deck.

"But Seraphim, you're going into U/B. Isn't that a terrible combination for dragons?"

Well, random voice inside my head, you're right. Someone like Crosis, the Purger would undoubtedly be better if I wanted to expand the number of dragons in the deck. All the dragons in the world don't do a lot of good unless they're utilized properly, and all they would be in a Crosis deck are a bunch of beat-sticks. Taking advantage of dragons and making them an even more fearsome and terrifying force would be best accomplished through the use of Silumgar, the Drifting Death .

With very few exceptions, Commander decks make use of creatures to accomplish their really impressive maneuvers. Even a Mizzix of the Izmagnus deck relies on her instant and sorcery cost reduction to reach impressive levels of stupid. Silumgar's ability combined with a bevy of dragons can remove every silly utility creature regardless of keyword. Hexproof or Shroud? Silumgar's ability doesn't target. Indestructible? Well, this particular death is state-based. The only way for your opponent to save a creature upon an attack trigger is to get rid of Silumgar via an overloaded Cyclonic Rift (or similar action) or to flicker them into temporary safety.

Additionally, I've collected every interesting and unique cipher card that I can over the last few months. Cipher is a fascinating mechanic with a lot of potential for repeated use, provided the cards get encoded on the correct creature. Silumgar's combination of Hexproof and Flying keeps him safe from all targeted destruction and only really leaves him open to the aforementioned Cyclonic Rift and Green's propensity to destroy flying creatures (i.e. Silklash Spider ). Encode some goodies (Hands of Binding, Last Thoughts , Midnight Recovery, Stolen Identiy, Undercity Plague) for a bevy of fantastic effects every time Silumgar or any other dragon slip in and deal damage.

The behavior of this deck is mid-range straying over into control:

• Silumgar gives me combat dominance through a hoard of flyers that remove any blockers.

• A large amount of counter spells keep my babies safe.

• Cards like Xenograft and Conspiracy make the non-dragon creatures of my deck as useful as their scaly counterparts.

• Cards like Curse of the Swine and Polymorphist's Jest make the destruction of an entire board of enemy creatures laughably simple.

• I've added Fog Bank and Wall of Frost as low-cost, useful blockers that should keep me safe earlier in the game or to keep away any annoying Deathtouch/Trample creatures.

• Jace, Unraveler of Secrets is great for targeted creature removal and, eventually, a massive monkey wrench in my opponent's plans.

• Warden of Evos Isle reduces the generally-expensive cost of all my flying babies by one, something that should pay dividends.

My one concern at this point is my lack of a ramp; dragons are expensive to cast and I'll be out in the open until I can start casting them. Any suggestions on improving U/B's mana ramp would be greatly appreciated.

I'm attempting to keep this deck moderately budget (so unless I absolutely need him, no Kokusho, the Evening Star) and I recognize that it will probably be a more casual deck without an astounding W/L ratio. However, I've been surprised by decks in the past, so I guess we'll see!

As always, if anyone has any suggestions on ways to improve the deck without breaking the bank, I deeply appreciate it.

Date added	7 years
Last updated	7 years
Exclude colors	WRG
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	4 - 0 Mythic Rares 37 - 0 Rares 16 - 0 Uncommons 14 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	4.47
Tokens	Boar 2/2 G, Copy Clone, Emblem Jace, Unraveler of Secrets, Morph 2/2 C, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders	Ideas