Ur-Dragon's Multiverse Onslaught | *PRIMER*

Commander / EDH MattN7498

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STRIXHAVEN/COMMANDER 2021 UPDATE —April 17, 2021

Hello! Strixhaven did a very good job of having introducing a lot of cool new ideas/mechanics in the dual color identities that made them feel unique and non generic while also making them powerful enough to want to play. We also got a whole other half of the dual color Elder Dragons which I'll give some breakdown on why I did/didn't include them. But as usual, every new set makes the list very close to being unchangeable for cards that are just good not to the run so unless they come out with better versions of current cards, it's gonna be hard to make any changes going forward.

(EXCLUSION) Velomachus Lorehold

While this is a very good beater on 6 mana, not being able to take advantage of the ability of casting free spells is a huge downside. This dragon would definitely be better as the lead of a Boros deck. However, I do think you can make this dragon worth running if you were to include more instants/sorceries in your build. My build doesn't include a lot which is why I wasn't a huge fan of including.

(EXCLUSION) Tanazir Quandrix

This dragon feels more like a Simic card than a Dragon card. All the abilities want you to do things that aren't really related to big dragons at all which is perfectly fine. Maybe if you're a low to ground dragon deck focusing on making lots of small baby dragons instead of casting big ones I could see there being a use for this card.

(EXCLUSION) Galazeth Prismari

I think if you're looking for cheaper dragons to include in your deck to be more aggressive early, this is an excellent dragon at 3 mana. Plus it's able to ramp you very quickly with the treasure. However, with the downside of not being able to take advantage of the artifact ability and getting outscaled very quickly if you aren't able to cast it on Turn 3, it doesn't seem worth it for me.

Shadrix Silverquill > Rhystic Study

This dragon is sneakily very good and political. The stats and body are nice enough at 4 mana without worrying about the ability. If there was a way to reinclude Crucible of Fire back into the deck, it would be even greater stats. But for the abilities, it's insane. One of the things that's hard to manage with the deck is making allies when you have all these big scary dragons people want to remove. Usually, you're going to want to draw cards for yourself with this but by opening the door with more interaction your opponents, you're able to make some friendly gestures that could help your cause in a game if you're not the strongest person at the table. Plus you can run into scenarios where using the other ability on an opponent may give them nothing of relevance and you get a free card of it. Plus (which I never realized until recently) you don't even have to swing/deal damage to use the ability. At this point, only cuts that can be made of worse versions of dragons or enchantments that have too much of what the deck already does. While Rhystic Study is a staple of EDH, the deck already has enough ways of drawing cards to where cutting this was the most generic card in the deck to stick even closer to the dragon theme we got going on.

Beledros Witherbloom > Amareth, the Lustrous

I think this dragon, without a doubt, will be permanently in the deck. This card is insane. First ability is a non Dragon Dragon Broodmother that if you were not even to consider his second ability is something this deck could really use. Providing ground fodder for blockers when some decks try to go wide on you while also giving some incidental life back is so good. If you're able to keep Beledros around a few rotations of the table, you can really abuse him and stay in the game. Now for the second ability. Obviously the more mana you're able to untap with it, the better it is. But later in the game, being able to cast 20+ mana worth of spells on a 6 mana dragon for only 10 life is definitely worth it in my eyes. A lot of the times I have the means of killing people with resources but just can't deploy them fast enough towards the end to overcome them. With this dragon, if you're able to land it at the perfect time, allows for some absurd turns. Amareth I think is a very good dragon at 5 mana but pretty much just praying that the top of your deck cooperates and you're sometimes able to hit something of the ability with no manipulation makes it less efficient than Beledros but I still think you can find room in the deck for Amareth.

MattN7498 says... #1

StinkyFetePete Not really I don't really play Cockatrice. I would just replace the shocks with OG duals and then add shocks back in for upgrades over some of the other lands as needed. I want to add a Taiga to the list when I feel like getting one but not needed really.

Infernocoppu Yes very cool combo hope to be able to do it. jasinatael also brings up a good points of that being a backway door to be able to win the game if you're able to produce enough treasures.

March 1, 2021 10:51 p.m.

Taskmage says... #2

Not sure if you noticed Realmwalker from Kaldheim?

March 2, 2021 7:39 p.m.

MattN7498 says... #3

Taskmage This type of effect is okay but having it on a creature, only 25% of being able to hit a dragon off the top of the deck and having no top of deck manipulation doesn't make me like it really. Seems perfectly fine for budget builds or builds where you're casting cheaper dragons.

March 2, 2021 8:12 p.m.

Willen says... #4

So... If you use Arcane Adaptation to change all creatures in library into God type, and sacriface The World Tree by it's effect, you can put all dragons in field, triggering it's effects like Terror of the Peaks, Scourge of Valkas, etc. This pseudo-combo isn't a idea to consider?

March 8, 2021 9:38 a.m.

MattN7498 says... #5

Willen For a two card combo that really only interact with each other and no realistic way to tutor either in the deck, not worth the slot. Nothing wrong with running it if you're budget or able to make better use making non dragons into dragons. But in my case, the list is already so tight and having a two card "combo" that requires a lot of mana and having no one interact just seems unlikely to happen.

March 8, 2021 10:35 p.m.

jasinatael says... #6

Stinging Study was just revealed. Instant speed, 5 mana, draw 9 is pretty amazing.

April 10, 2021 7:51 a.m.

MattN7498 says... #7

jasinatael Hmmm 5 mana Draw 9 is pretty powerful but I'm not so sure on the losing 9 life part. I'd have to think about it more since there's not a ton of ways to gain the life back and could very easily just die after casting it.

April 11, 2021 11:37 a.m.

Willen says... #8

And about the new Elder Dragons? Since I saw Shadrix Silverquill, I'm get in love with that dragon. In my thoughts, Shadrix may be the only new elder dragon to include in the deck, until now.

April 16, 2021 4:58 p.m.