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Lathliss, Dragon Queen: The Primer

Commander / EDH* Dragons Midrange Mono-Red Primer Tribal

Beezy

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Creature (30)

Enchantment (1)

Artifact (19)

Sorcery (8)

Instant (6)

Commander (1)

Commander: foil Lathliss, Dragon Queen

Land (33)

Planeswalker (2)

I've been looking to give myself the challenge of building a mono red deck, and Lathliss, Dragon Queen was just the inspiration I needed! I love getting incremental advantage out of my cards, and it was interesting to integrate that into this dragon tribal deck. Below is a breakdown of my card choices, enjoy!

It's pretty hard to beat down when you don't have many cards to work with, and I hear it's hard to get them in mono red. Here are my solutions!

Alhammarret's Archive : This card is insane in mono red and any deck that might have trouble drawing cards. It synergizes very well with the cycling lands ( Smoldering Crater , Desert of the Fervent , and Forgotten Cave ), and there is incidental card draw on well over a dozen other cards in this deck, from mana rocks to creatures. You're probably winning games where this isn't destroyed for a couple of turns.

Faithless Looting and Cathartic Reunion : These are not the greatest card drawers ever printed, but it's kind of what red is stuck with. They do make for decent filtering though, and looting makes up for being card disadvantage by flashing back. When you add cards to your deck that don't mind being in the graveyard, like Spit Flame , Anger , and Drownyard Temple , the stock of these spells starts going up. They also let you ditch giant dragons that have shown up to the party a little early to dig for mana rocks.

Humble Defector : The man of many haircuts. This is a super fun way to draw cards! You can make alliances, and usually the defector won't go to the person currently winning, which really helps even out the game. Remember to ask for favors if you're passing the defector around to try and add some political value to this already solid engine.

Chandra, Flamecaller , and Reforge the Soul : I'm not a huge fan of wheeling everyone's hands, especially since this deck is on the more expensive side and won't necessarily be able to fling its spells out quickly. However, Chandra's effect only works for you and actually nets you a card, which is sweet. Reforge the Soul is probably necessary but not amazing.

I want all my ramp in a mono red deck to be doing a little something extra, since we need all the help we can get and this is a good area of the deck to innovate and find extra ways to get advantage.

Commander's Sphere , Mind Stone , Hedron Archive , and Dragon's Hoard : Rocks that draw cards when you need them to? Sign me up. It's tough to flood with these rocks on your team, with Dragon's Hoard being the best of the bunch.

Sol Ring , Thran Dynamo , Gilded Lotus , and Mana Geyser : If we can't get versatility in a rock, then we should be getting raw power. Sol Ring is obviously too good, and the other two rocks in this section give you three mana back, so they really only cost you 2 mana the turn you play them. Mana Geyser is an interesting include that can net you 10, 20, 30, or more mana to go off with if things line up well. Lathliss is an amazing place to put any extra mana, too. If you can afford them, the costly but incredibly efficient Mana Vault , Mana Crypt , and Grim Monolith fit right into this deck.

Urza's Incubator , Dragonspeaker Shaman , Hazoret's Monument , and Ruby Medallion : These are solid cost-reducers that can save you several mana per turn. They're all cheap to cast, with Monument giving you occasional selection. Your commander will get expensive, so it's good to have one of these around each game.

Solemn Simulacrum , Burnished Hart , and Sword of the Animist : Rocks are vulnerable to plenty of hate and destruction, which is why Red decks need to get basics into play. These are the best ways in my opinion, with Sword being a little unpredictable sometimes. But it's usually easy enough to slap on a flyer and can get you 3+ lands in one game, which is worth the minimal risk. These get even better due to a certain land that I'll mention later...

Red decks usually aren't policing every threat on the table (because they can't), so you'll have to use these sparingly. The upside is that this deck is filled with dragons that are usually the scariest things on the board, so you shouldn't have a ton of trouble with creatures.

Blasphemous Act : Blasphemous Act is just super cheap and useful. You can play it for 4 or less every time and then be the first one to set up post-wipe. This is one of the best boardwipes in EDH in my opinion.

Vandalblast and By Force : You're going to need ways to mass-wipe artifacts, and these are my favorites. Shattering Spree is usually better than By Force, but this deck runs a lot of colorless sources in utility lands, so you'll be able to blow up more with By Force.

Relic of Progenitus : You can't be letting everyone have fun with their graveyards, or else you'll fall behind on resources. Keep them in check with this and Scavenger Grounds .

Spit Flame and Chaos Warp : Excellent spot removal. Warp can hit troublesome permanents and you basically get 4-5 uses out of Spit Flame every game you see it, making it one of the better cards in the deck.

Dragon Tempest : Ping tiny creatures as you develop your board. Oh and also your dragons have haste.

Volcanic Offering : This card is really interesting, and is mostly a meta call for me. My meta contains a fair amount of irritating lands like Cabal Coffers , Glacial Chasm , and Alchemist's Refuge , and this spell can take out two lands and two creatures at once. If lands don't tend to be threats in your play group, I would suggest another versatile removal spell instead.

Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle : Why NOT turn your excess land drops into lightning bolts? This addition is nearly free and when you draw it, you'll have a huge advantage when you get 5+ mountains out.

These cards are what really make the deck awesome, and it was a blast choosing between the dozens and dozens of options to see which ones best work in EDH.

Honorary Dragons Dragonmaster Outcast , Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker , and Zirilan of the Claw : They each do a pretty good imitation of a dragon, seeing as they all can and will generate multiple dragons for you. Kiki is also good with your small ramp creatures. Weirdly, if you copy Humble Defector and give it away, the token won't get sacrificed.

Removal Dragons Hoard-Smelter Dragon , Hellkite Tyrant , Steel Hellkite , Glorybringer , Scourge of Valkas , Akoum Hellkite , and Warmonger Hellkite : They see your stuff and destroy it. These are the workhorses of the deck that disrupt your opponents and are giant flying beaters. Warmonger deserves a mention for being really unique and forcing creatures to slam into each other while you fly over.

Utility Dragons Hoarding Dragon , Skyline Despot , Changeling Berserker , and Archwing Dragon : A little card draw and tutoring with my dragons, please. Archwing Dragon looks like hot garbage but is actually amazing at triggering Lathliss multiple times while avoiding boardwipes. Changeling Berserker might not sound like a utility creature, but it's the perfect way to protect Lathliss AFTER getting a 5/5 out of the changeling. And there's no danger of losing Lathliss forever, since "champion a creature" gives you the creature back after the changeling leaves for any reason.

Tiny Dragons Dragon Hatchling , Slumbering Dragon , Metallic Mimic , Taurean Mauler , and Adaptive Automaton : These dragons' primary goal is to trigger Lathliss and other ETBs on the cheap. Mimic and Automaton enter AS the type you choose, so you will get dragons with Lathliss. Taurean Mauler can have your Flamekin Village enter untapped and grows as the game progresses. I would definitely play all these cards if they said "When ~ enters, create a 5/5 flying Dragon."

Smash-Your-Face-In Dragons Thunderbreak Regent , Verix Bladewing , Thundermaw Hellkite , Scourge of the Throne , Balefire Dragon , and Nesting Dragon : These guys are just here for the beatdowns. Thundermaw makes your team unblockable for a turn, Verix brings a friend, and Thunderbreak punishes targeted removal a little bit. Balefire dragon is amazing to bring our with Zirilan, and can just wipe someone's entire board out of nowhere when you give it haste. Newcomer Nesting Dragon lets the deck do something it was terrible at: surviving board wipes! Scourge of the Throne basically wins the game when it attacks.

And that's the deck! The basic gameplan involves ramping and developing your board in the early turns, while setting up for a Lathliss + 1 or more dragon follow-up, preferably with haste, to get in some serious damage. Remember to like the deck if you enjoyed this primer!

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