MONO RED DRAGONS
Dragons, because Dragons. Help appreciated, please keep suggestions to $3 and under.
The maybeboard currently consists of cards that are either too expensive or are just not being used, but could be used in other/ non-budget builds.
*NOTE: This is not your normal dragon tribal deck. This is not one of those decks that uses regular red spells and stuff, and dragons as a finisher. This deck’s game plan is dragons. It has many more dragons than other decks that feature this tribe, and that is because the entire deck’s game plan is devoted to dragons.
Aside from Glorybringer, we only have 6 removal spells in this deck, but they are good ones.
Spit Flame- Another Dragon Tribal payoff. It’s basically just a repeatable creature damage spell, which can be pretty powerful, especially when in the very late game you cast this, recur it, cast a dragon, and cast this again to kill a really big creature.
Subterranean Tremors- In all my time playing Goblins, and getting my creatures reapeatedly Massacred, I have learned how powerful boardwipes, even soft ones, really are. That’s why this card is a 4-of. It can be cast for x=2 early game, which clears your opponent’s board but doesn’t kill your Servants, or for x=5 or 6 later game.
Our deck wouldn’t be possible without these cards, which help us pump out dragons starting in turn 2 or 3.
Dragonlord's Servant- Reduces the cost of all of your dragon spells, and while it is the slower of our ramp plans, it still lets us get out dragons on turn 3, which is nice.
Sol Ring- The BEST Budget mana rock in this game! Amazing ramp, lets us play 4 cmc dragons on turn 2!
Crucible of the Spirit Dragon- I would say this is still sort of ramp. It lets us store up mana in the turns we don’t need it, and use that mana for an explosive, dragon- filled turn later.
Thunderbreak Regent- This card is good. It makes sure your opponents don’t want to hit your dragons, and is a 4/4 flyer on its own. Great in this deck.
Skyship Stalker- You can pay lots of different amounts of mana to give it different effects, all of which are good. It’s a great mana sink, late game and early game.
Verix Bladewing- The same concept as the above card in that it’s goood early game and more powerful late, Verix is a formidable threat on turn 4, and even better late game when you can kick it and get Karox Bladewing as well.
Thundermaw Hellkite- One of my favorite dragons, and the only dragon here that sometimes sees play in Modern. It’s a 5/5 with flying and haste on its own, and if that wasn’t enough upside, it also taps down all your opponent’s flyers for that massive alpha strike from your dragons. *Note: As there aren’t a huge number of flying creatures in my meta, this slot is currently being considered for swaps.
Glorybringer- This card was very powerful in Standard for a while, and with good reason! It is a 4/4 with flying and haste, just short of Thundermaw’s stats, but it also comes with upside. It can be exerted to hit one of your opponent’s creatures very hard, and acts as even more removal.
Scourge of Valkas- Finally, we come to The Scourge Itself. I really like this card. It turns all your dragons into Shaman of the Packs, which is a very strong ability. It wins games on its own, and when combined with, say, Sarkhan, Dragonsoul’s Ultimate, it will actually win you the game if you put these down first and then get all your other dragons.
As with any deck, there isn’t enough space to put every card you like in it. Here are some of the big ones that I left out, and my reasoning.
Stormbreath Dragon: This Dragon is very powerful, and sometimes even sees play in modern, but didn’t make the cut here. In modern, pro-white is very good, protecting against Path, but it’s not that useful in my playgroup, and you should have already won by the time you activities monstrosity. Cost is also a factor, as this is around $4-5 a card, last I checked.
Demanding Dragon: This dragon could be more interesting in this deck. The choices are both pretty good, and it comes with an on-curve body as well. If I do end up swapping Thundermaw Hellkite, this will probably be the dragon that goes in.
Lightning Bolt: How could you not include the best red damage spell in the game? Well, for a start, do you really need burn when you can just swing with 5 huge dragons? I don’t believe I particularly need the removal either, with Subterranean Tremors and Spit Flame covering that base for me.
There are many other cards I could have put in, but didn’t, so feel free to ask me an explanation on any of those.
