Hellkite Charger

Creature — Dragon

Flying, haste

Whenever Hellkite Charger attacks, you may pay . If you do, untap all attacking creatures and after this phase, there is an additional combat phase.

Discussion (46)

TheVectornaut on Tarkir Dragon Hoard

2 days ago

I recommend adding some more early game ramp creatures or spells, probably as replacements for the Dragon Egg s and the risky Nikya of the Old Ways . More Dragonlord's Servant are totally fine, but I could also see Voyaging Satyr working to untap Gruul Turf for big mana or Zhur-Taa Druid bridging the gap between acceleration and aggression. On the spell side of things, some good old Rampant Growth effects could make Dragonmaster Outcast a nasty threat. Just looking at the cards you already have, I think more copies of Thunderbreak Regent , Atarka, World Render , and Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma wouldn't hurt. Another option if you don't mind infinite combos is upping the count of Savage Ventmaw and Grand Warlord Radha so you can run Hellkite Charger for endless combat phases.

I'll also list some possible upgrades and sidegrades based on my own experience playing with and against dragons. Dragon Tempest is nearly a direct upgrade for Impact Tremors in dragons and Scourge of Valkas is also decent. Draconic Roar seems like it would be better than Magma Jet and/or Jaya's Greeting most of the time. Spit Flame might be even better if targets tend to have 4 toughness. Flying destruction feels unnecessary here, but I'd prefer something cheaper than Pinion Feast like the flexible Broken Wings regardless. Frontier Siege might be better than Atarka Monument if you need more mana or removal. Crucible of Fire could replace Sight of the Scalelords or Dragon Throne of Tarkir , depending on how much power you need. Sarkhan, Fireblood can be a rummager, accelerant, and bomb in the world you keep him alive. Even with so many legendaries, I still prefer Elvish Piper to Thran Temporal Gateway here. A final card that I'm not sure on is the new Draconic Intervention . Seems like it could be an interesting sweeper follow-up to a Descent of the Dragons that turns all your dorks into immune dragons. That is fairly slow though.

Let me know if you have any questions and good luck with your deck!

5OhmResistor on Ford F150 [Gruul, Xenagos]

3 weeks ago

Mcat1999

Wow I did not really think much about Hellkite Charger . I always thought it was too mana hungry in general to pull off anything crazy. Additionally, I thought it was weak and with Xenagos being capable of only buffing 1 creature at a time, I wasn't so sure how to make it work. With that being said, 6 total combat steps is very important to my deck so I will have to try and add in that dragon. Thanks for the much needed advice! I need to go back to the drawing boards soon and consider these options.

Mcat1999 on Ford F150 [Gruul, Xenagos]

3 weeks ago

Given that you run both Atarka, World Render and Savage Ventmaw , I see your goal is to cheat both out together and hit for doublestrike in the air with extra combat steps.

Given that your strategy revolves around additional combat steps, dragons and ramp, it would be remiss of me to not mention Hellkite Charger , who requires only a single mana more with Savage Ventmaw to combo off. Thus, if you have 5 open mana and these two on the field, that is 6 combat steps (1st initial + 5 extra)

zobster on Etali

1 month ago

Some suggestions I have are Balefire Dragon , Combat Celebrant , Goblin Guide , Hellkite Charger , Hellkite Tyrant , Helm of the Host , Mirage Mirror , Winter Orb , Aggravated Assault , Fiery Emancipation , Ancient Tomb , Hall of the Bandit Lord , Homeward Path , Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep , Strip Mine and Blood Moon / Magus of the Moon

zobster on No Comrade, OUR Spells

1 month ago

Some suggestions Include: Goblin Guide , Hellkite Charger , Hellkite Tyrant , Scourge of the Throne , Urabrask the Hidden , Winter Orb , Aggravated Assault , Fiery Emancipation , Hall of the Bandit Lord , Ancient Tomb , Homeward Path and Strip Mine

TheVectornaut on Christmas Dagrons

2 months ago

Aside from Outcast tokens and the Mimic, you only have 4 dragons to top out at. Most Gruul dragon packages I've seen run in the 8-12 range. Some popular inclusions are Thunderbreak Regent , Glorybringer , Harbinger of the Hunt , Scourge of Valkas , Mirrorwing Dragon , Terror of the Peaks , Lathliss, Dragon Queen , and the odd Steel Hellkite . Personally, I'm a fan of going for multiple attacks with Hellkite Charger and Savage Ventmaw . The new Leyline Tyrant might have some role in such a strategy, but I haven't had the chance to test it. The first two cards I'd cut would probably be Wolfir Silverheart and Grim Lavamancer . The former is undeniably powerful soulbonded to a double-striking dragon, but for 5 mana, it may as well just be another double-striking dragon itself. As for the wizard, I get the impression its ability will act like a 1 mana tax that distracts from casting your bombs. Even if you can afford to activate it often, a lack of fetchlands (even if they're budget alternatives) will limit its potency.

Otherwise, you have a couple of cards that have stronger replacements in modern. Titanic Growth is worse than Phytoburst at least some of the time, although I'd prefer 1 cost versions like Might of Old Krosa , Groundswell , Blossoming Defense , or Vines of Vastwood anyway. Similarly, Run Amok could probably be Rancor if the trample is important. As long as you're still interested in playing around with the graveyard, Traverse the Ulvenwald could be a neat replacement for Track Down that lets you literally track down your singleton dragons. Adventurous Impulse and Oath of Nissa are less powerful but less demanding options. Shackles of Treachery likely represents a mechanic you don't even need in the deck, but if you want an Act of Treason , I've had pretty decent success with Kari Zev's Expertise . The last cards I'll suggest are just some other dragon synergy tools. Draconic Roar is an amped Lightning Strike , Dragon Tempest can be a much cheaper Warstorm Surge if you're pumping out enough reptiles, and Frontier Siege offers flexibility between ramp and control. Finally, there are the spirit dragon lands if you think those would be useful.

Let me know if you have any questions and good luck with your build!

MIme2Waste on Jungle Omelette

2 months ago

Since no one's mentioned it yet, I feel like mentioning a non-budget option: Nesting Dragon . Play lands, get eggs that not only triggers Atla but gives you a free 2/2 when they die.

Also, since you're running Savage Ventmaw and Ashnod's Altar , you might consider Hellkite Charger for many combat steps. Not infinite, but the extra two mana gets you the trigger if you've got the fodder.

Mcat1999 on Ukhlees, Rage-born

2 months ago

The word Ükhlees means "From death" in Mongolian, which is important as Ukhlees, Rage-born is a creature set on Tarkir, which was molded and developed around Mongolian culture and warring practices. In fact, there are two design philosophies for world-building: Top-down and Bottom-up. A Top-down structure is where you take an over-arching theme and build beneath that theme. Consider it like an umbrella where everything must be contained under that dome. A Bottom-up theme is like a tree; It starts with a few basic ideas and blooms and flourishes upward, spanning and sprouting outwardly from its central position as it grows.

The former is used to restrict creative exploration in order to hone in on appropriate themes, sub-themes and story elements. The latter is used to promote creativity, flexibility and exploration. For reference, Eldraine is a Bottom-up theme where "Anything fairy tail goes" was the core root of the set and you can grow outwardly from there in all directions.

Ravnica would be more of a Top-down theme: 10 guilds, each under strict color rules. Follow the rules.

Tarkir was a Top-down theme in which the developers asked what a world divided into warring Wedges would look like. Each wedge was given unique properties they could not stride from, and the overtheme was a war between mankind and Dragons. Add in some time manipulation and you've got your set.

Mardu is known for their aggressiveness, perhaps none more-so than Ankle Shanker for Goblins, and our queen Kaalia of the Vast . I have always wanted a Mardu Goblin deck, and I am just itching for the day I can utilize the card Dralnu's Crusade properly, that was I can do some horrific stuff with Goblin and Zombie population. With Amonkhet's Anointed Procession , the obvious route is a very strong token-leaning deck with ETB burn effects and aristocrats as sub-themes as we hammer out the opposition in relentless Waves of Aggression .

And so I present to you, Ukhlees, Rage-born - aka "Rage is born from death".

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Ukhlees, Rage-born

Legendary Creature - Goblin Warlock

Flash, haste

Raid - When Ukhlees, Rage-born enters the battlefield, add for each creature you attacked with this turn. You don't lose this mana as steps and phases end.

At the beginning of your upkeep, create a 1/1 red Goblin creature token for each opponent you have.

Sacrifice X Goblins, : Return target creature with converted mana cost X from your graveyard to the battlefield. It's a black zombie in addition to its other types.

3/5

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Elements of card:

• CMC: 5 as there is a lot of power on the card.

• Subtypes: Goblin is obvious. While Tarkir does not have Warlocks, a Wizard more-so implies casting spells through schools of training and magic. A Warlock, as from Eldraine, is more-so someone who uses dark and foreboding magic from often-times dark or Demonic sources at the cost of great sacrifice.

• Flash? Yes. This way you can take advantage of many combat tricks such as Savage Beating , Hellkite Charger and Warmonger Hellkite . You'd also have combat tricks such as Brutal Hordechief and Master Warcraft . Also Atarka Pummeler .

• Haste? Yes. While you'd already be into your combat step as Ukhlees, Rage-Born enters the battlefield, what this allows for is the ability to return a creature who just died during combat. For example, you attack with a Grave Titan and your opponent declares blockers. Grave Titan is about to die so you flash in Ukhlees, Rage-Born. Add some mana and do what you can to disrupt the boardstate. Grave Titan lands in the bin and you sacrifice some creatures to bring him immediately back. Additionally you are able to attack with Ukhlees, Rage-Born during additional combat steps if you'd like.

• Raid? Why are we adding mana? Well, we are adding mana to incentivise attacking. Mardu wants to attack. Mardu thrives on combat. We want to give ourselves the option to by rewarding us for doing so. We also retain the mana, albeit mono-red, for our second main phase if we don't have a combat trick in play. This means we can swing with whatever we've got and immediately dump it into something such as Goblin Offensive or a Chancellor of the Forge , generating value out of loss and rage.

• Now you see the plays here. Attack all-out, Flash in Ukhlees, Rage-Born, trigger Raid, creatures die, bring out Goblins, bring back Zombies. A boardstate that rebuilds itself in a way Mardu wants to play. Alternatively, attack full-swing and create rage from death .

• Wait, what about the pseudo-Eminence ability? Well, easy. We want to attack and we want to sacrifice. This gives Ukhlees, Rage-Born both options. Three little 1/1s are nothing and can be used to grab something much better back from the yard.

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The design was meant to be self-sustaining and all-inclusive. One of those decks where the Commander pilots the deck, not the other way around. Similarly to Urza, Lord High Artificer and The Gitrog Monster , Ukhlees, Rage-Born IS the engine. The deck functions AROUND him.

Hope you all enjoy the design. Leave comments if you'd like, but please keep in mind the essay I wrote to explain it. That is why he is designed the way he is - each aspect was carefully considered for efficiency and value. We aren't aiming to make a busted Commander here, nor a lack-luster one. More of a gut-punch Commander to win the game.