Scion of the Ur-Dragon Tribal/Toolbox Deck I built to be dynamic and powerful!
Work In progress! Most Upgrades are needed in the mana base. I will probably add Worldgorger Dragon in the future!
Scion of the Ur-Dragon Ability Kill Combos:
- Scion of the Ur-Dragon + Dragon Tyrant + 5 power pump (RRRRR + 2 = 7 mana)
- Turn Scion into Dragon Tyrant then pump to 11 power double strike for 22 lethal Commander Damage.
OR
- Scion of the Ur-Dragon + Dragon Tyrant + Moltensteel Dragon
- If you go for Molten steel Dragon, the combo costs 4 mana and 10 life. HOWEVER, you must activate Scion correctly.
First, activate Scion of the Ur-Dragon's ability, and With the first activation on the stack, activate Scion of the Ur-Dragon again. Resolve the top (second) activation copying Moltensteel Dragon.
Now, Scion of the Ur-Dragon is a copy of Moltensteel Dragon, but is ALSO still your commander. Note the bottom (first) Scion of the Ur-Dragon activation is still unresolved on the stack. Before it resolves, pay 10 life to activate the Moltensteel Dragon Pump for +5 Power.
Finally, let the bottom (first) Scion of the Ur-Dragon Activation Resolve copying Dragon Tyrant. Scion of the Ur-Dragon is now a copy of Dragon Tyrant, but the +5 power change is applied from Moltensteel Dragon [Rule 613. Interaction of Continuous Effects]. Thus, an 11 Power Double Strike Dragon Tyrant Commander! This concept is extended for most of Scion of the Ur-Dragon's kill Combos, so it is important to completely understand!
- Scion of the Ur-Dragon + Atarka, World Render + 5 power pump from any of the following Dragons
(Steel Hellkite, Scourge of Valkas, Hellkite Overlord, or Moltensteel Dragon)
- Scion of the Ur-Dragon + Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon + 6 power Pump from any of the following Dragons
(Steel Hellkite, Scourge of Valkas, Hellkite Overlord, or Moltensteel Dragon)
Scion of the Ur-Dragon TOOL BOX:
Transform Scion of the Ur-Dragon a copy of these Dragon's for their powerful effects and/or to pitch them to the graveyard for cheap reanimation in the late game.
"Whenever a Dragon Attacks" effects" - Transform Scion of the Ur-Dragon into these dragons pre-combat for Huge Value and/or a Powerful Aplha Strike. Note Must transform Scion of the Ur-Dragon before attacks for these effects to trigger.
Alpha Strikers:
Value Attacks!:
"Dragonjustu!" - If Scion of the Ur-Dragon makes an attack with no blocks, and you feel the coast is clear, Transform Scion of the Ur-Dragon into one of these dragons before damage for a devastating effect upon dealing damage to one of your opponents!
Boardwipes:
-
Balefire Dragon - a 6 power Blazing Volley. Note: It only affects creatures of the opponent you dealt damage to.
-
Steel Hellkite - Pseudo Engineered explosives Note: It only affects nonland permanents of the opponent you dealt damage to.
-
Hellkite Tyrant - Steal all of the opponents artifacts! FOREVER! Note: It only affects artifacts of the opponent you dealt damage to.
Discard:
- Nicol Bolas - Damaged opponent discards their hand. Best against unfair decks like combo decks.
- Crosis, the Purger - Pay 2B and choose a color, opponent discards all cards of that color. Worse than Nicol Bolas, but if you know what they are playing it can still properly dismantle a hand.
Value
-
Teneb, the Harvester - Pay 2B, put a creature card from ANY graveyard into play under your control. Great late game recursion or steals that Craterhoof Behemoth that you brought down a couple turns ago!
-
Intet, the Dreamer - Pay 2U, exile thetop card of your library face down, you may play that card without paying its mana cost as long as Intet remains on the battlefield. Dreams of topping The Ur-Dragon or Hellkite Overlord can come true!
HEXPROOF - Transform Scion into these two dragons for Hexproof in response to those pesky spot removal spells!
Other Infinite Combos...
Updates including Tuning and Optimization to come...
UPDATE 1: I've added hyperlinks on each of the cards mentioned. I am also wondering if I should keep the vivid lands (eg. Vivid Creek) which have outperformed my expectations, but the internet repeatedly states are garbage.
After Many Games with this deck, I suggest Trying to limit your infinite combos and only go for Kill Combos if you absolutely have to. Scion of the Ur-Dragon chemically combines Sodium and Chlorine extremely quickly. While it is fun to win, the Ruthlessness of Scion of the Ur-Dragon combos can quickly turn your playgroup against you. Be prepared to be the nemesis on turn ONE. An experienced table will try to bring your life points to zero before turn 5 (and rightfully so).
Scion of the Ur-Dragon is most fun against strong opponents. Where each turn you need to be impactful with Scion of the Ur-Dragon transformations just to stay alive.
Against weaker opponents I would advise trying to play out your hand in a battlecruiser tribal style or if you must resolve a Scion of the Ur-Dragon try to transform into tool box targets such as Ojutai, Soul of Winter or even The Ur-Dragon to kickstart your Battleship fleet. You could even swap Scion of the Ur-Dragon for The Ur-Dragon as commanders if you want to commit to a more fair battleship style.
I would consider Scion of the Ur-Dragon a pinnacle midrange deck with the power to go late, but will fall to "I win" combo decks.
Scion of the Ur-Dragon is also extremely weak to hyper-aggro decks. Sometimes you will die before resolving your first Dragon. If you have a fast meta, early interaction is your friend. If you resolve Scion of the Ur-Dragon without taking to much damage you will be playing the "scary defender." Leave Scion of the Ur-Dragon back with at least 2 mana open until you feel you have enough other dragons in play to hold the line after an attack. The good news is if you get to start attacking, you can probably snowball into a win.
A turn 6 Scion of the Ur-Dragon transformation into The Ur-Dragon -> attack -> play a free dragon from your hand. Turn 7 main phase: [Reanimate] -> The Ur-Dragon -> transform Scion of the Ur-Dragon into Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund -> attack with up to 3 dragons -> play a free dragon is a great way to stabilize and snowball your board.
The Ur-Dragon is almost always my first value transformation on turn 5-6. The value of playing a free Dragon your hand while tutoring The Ur-Dragon into your graveyard for reanimation spells is amazing and usually snowballs into a win.
If I am scared of a late game deck, I will Dragonjustu Scion of the Ur-Dragon into Nicol Bolas and try to force them to discard their hand. I do this instead of a kill combo because it is cheaper, preserves life points, and of course, saves the kill combo.
To survive aggressive lists, such as "go wide" or "commander damage beats", your best options for Scion of the Ur-Dragon transformations are Balefire Dragon, Drakuseth, Maw of Flames, and Silumgar, the Drifting Death. You can even combine Balefire Dragon + Moltensteel Dragon if you need to wipe a board of beefcakes with greater than 6 toughness.
In my experience going for the Moltensteel Dragon kill combo is almost never the right play, unless it is EXACTLY the right play. Think of it like going all in on a hand of poker. If you do it, you better win on the spot, or you probably just lost.
The kill combo is extremely effective when you need to kill 2 or even 3 players at once. You can devote a larger portion of your Dragons to finish off the weaker player(s), While using your combo to Knock out the strongest opponent. Again, you would only do this if you absolutely have to, or if your hand is packed with permission and you think you just "Have it".
That said, if it is early game and you strongly feel that one of the players MUST DIE NOW you have a judgement call to make. I've won by picking off opponents with strong starts, but I have also died to the other 2 players on the crack back. Either way, the player you kill will be extremely salty. I only recommend this line in a more competitive scenario.
I still absolutely adore Scion of the Ur-Dragon for its flavor (who doesn't love dragons?), diverse lines of play, and sheer firepower. Scion of the Ur-Dragon has a high skill ceiling and yet also a low skill floor. You will have easy games with Scion of the Ur-Dragon, but you will also need practice and repetitions to be competitive against other optimized decks.
Let me just leave you with one final board state.
Utvara Hellkite + Scourge of Valkas + Scion of the Ur-Dragon transformed as The Ur-Dragon have all been Declared as attackers.
You have Bladewing the Risen in hand and Kokusho, the Evening Star in your graveyard.
Can you order the triggers for maximum value?
Solution: Utvara Hellkite will trigger 3 times Creating 3 dragon tokens. Each token causes Scourge of Valkas to trigger upon ETB. The first Scourge of Valkas trigger deals 4 damage to target creature or player, the second deals 5 damage, and the third deals 6 damage for 15 damage total.
Next, The Ur-Dragon triggers 3 times. You will draw 3 cards but can only place one permanent on to the battlefield from your hand. You place Bladewing the Risen on to the battlefield, Triggering Scourge of Valkas and Bladewing the Risen simultaneously.
Note: Scourge of Valkas ruling: The amount of damage dealt by the Dragon that entered the battlefield is based on the number of Dragons you control when the ability resolves. ALSO Scourge of Valkas and Dragon Tempest can hit ANY target including planeswalkers due to updated oracle ruling.
You get to resolve simultaneous triggers in any order so resolve the Bladewing the Risen trigger first. Bring Kokusho, the Evening Star back to the battle field causing yet another Scourge of Valkas trigger. You should now have 8 dragons and 2 unresolved Scourge of Valkas triggers. Let them both resolve for 8 damage each or for 16 damage total.
Your dragons ETB for a whopping 15 + 16 = 31 damage just from Scourge of Valkas triggers! On top of that you created 5 FREE dragons and drew 3 cards! Shivan Dragon would be proud!
Thank you for reading! Cheers!
