Khans of Tarkir was about the lack of Dragons. Khans, leading their clans, were the dominant force on the plane. Fate Reforged was about changing that. Sarkhan saw the Dragons of ancient Tarkir, and saved Ugin.
Dragons of Tarkir is about the abundance of Dragons: they won their tussle against the khans of yesteryear.
Dragonlord Dromoka | Art by Eric Deschamps
I couldn't be happier about this.
Step by Step
Dragons are a fickle lot, covering a range of power, utility, and colors. Fate Reforged showed us Dragons of all sorts, all contrasting with the khans of the era they faced, and set up a future where the dragons didn't fall. It's easy to imagine what happened after Ugin's rescue because we get to see the results of time at work.
Meet Dragonlord Dromoka.
When I saw her again I noticed several things:
Elder Dragons are back! The progenitor creature type of Commander has come again, and it makes sense: Dromoka has aged a millennium since the events of Fate Reforged. She's both literally and figuratively an Elder.
With a title like "Dragonlord" you know who's in charge. In addition to her aerial ability from before she's added lifelink, and as a 5/7 for just six mana it's an efficient package for beefing up life and battling against others' aerial forces. Many Dragons (and Demons and other flying fatties) across Magic's history are 5/5 or 6/6, putting her impressive 7 toughness up as both a way to make profitable blocking harder on opponents and easier for us.
One of my favorite lines of rules text appears on her as well. Spending six mana, on your commander no less, only to meet Cancel is a disappointing experience. Against some decks, namely those running mostly Islands, it can happen repeatedly and lead to absolutely frustrating efforts despite all the mana in the world.
Dragonlord Dromoka bows to no opponent here, and with the mana available you'll always muster her support. And it doesn't stop there:
Once she's on the battlefield, Dromoka goes further to stop opponents' spells altogether on your turn. Unlike Gaddock Teeg and Rule of Law, that limit everyone, or Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir, that locks everyone but its controller into their own turns, Dromoka only protects your turn. It's still a powerful tool that can set up game-breaking plays (Dragonlord Dromoka into a Genesis Wave is going to happen somewhere soon!), but the idea is that once she's in—and she'll land thanks to her own ability—your other creatures and spells will resolve too.
She comes for you, and she won't be alone.
"Dromoka's followers forsake blood ties so that they may join a greater family." That piece of flavor text gives a little insight into what's going on in Dragons of Tarkir (The Dragons won. They rule!) and speaks to exactly what Commander is all about: taking disparate cards, mechanics, and ideas from across Magic's sets to create a greater collection for a larger deck.
It's been some time since I've built a Commander deck from scratch, but Dromoka demands I do so here.
The Facts of Life
Dragonlord Dromoka doesn't have any clear mechanical direction to follow. Her Fate Reforged form gave out +1/+1 counters with bolster, but here she protects our turns and spells. Protecting ourselves and setting up the rules of battle—definitive Abzan concepts—is where we'll go.
The first thing we'll want to handle is mana:
- Armillary Sphere, Eternal Dragon, Rampant Growth, Cultivate, Kodama's Reach, and Commander's Sphere are some early spells we can play to pluck lands out of our library.
- Wood Elves, Krosan Tusker, Civic Wayfinder, Knight of the Reliquary, and Solemn Simulacrum are creature-based ways to pull ahead on lands. There's plenty of variety not included here: Sylvan Ranger, Borderland Ranger, Pilgrim's Eye, Knight of the White Orchid, and many more to use instead.
- Courser of Kruphix, Oracle of Mul Daya, and Mirari's Wake are premier ways to make more mana. The creatures can keep lands flowing off the top of your library, a powerful effect given their places in competitive Constructed history. Mirari's Wake is as classic and "go big" as it gets.
I like both Commander's Sphere and Solemn Simulacrum since, once they've done their job, they can transform into another card, but that's just my preference. Darksteel Ingot is a solid choice if you're worried about mana woes.
The reason we want so much mana is to take advantage of Dragonlord Dromoka's home-field advantage. If we can cast her first, every spell we want to resolve after her is protected. Getting to fourteen, fifteen, or more mana gives us plenty of one-two combo options.
What are those one-two hits? The first is putting protection into play:
- Soul of New Phyrexia; Aegis Angel; Avacyn, Angel of Hope; Privileged Position; and Darksteel Plate all protect our things, particularly creatures, from our opponents.
- Karmic Guide, Sun Titan, Adarkar Valkyrie, Angel of Serenity, Spirit Bonds, Sigil of the New Dawn, and Faith's Reward all give us ways to get back creatures that fall in battle. We want to determine the course of battle, and choosing our attacks strategically means we can make calculated "losses" along the way.
We're not going to be an aggressive deck. What we want to do is sustain blows and sustain our attacks. Winning at attrition is the plan, which is tough without ways to draw piles of cards. We can fix that:
- Eternal Witness, Lifeblood Hydra, Harmonize, Greater Good, Soul's Majesty, and Loreseeker's Stone all give us ways to catch up on cards.
What I like about this set is the variety of ways we can draw. We don't need any creatures for some, a few work great if we're coming from behind, and others are repeatable. It's a mix of options to give us choices the longer games goes.
Setting up our victory takes a few moving piece, so we need powerful tools to draw into:
- Reclamation Sage, Indrik Stomphowler, Acidic Slime, and Return to Dust can handle any artifacts and enchantments giving us trouble.
- Archon of Justice, Destructor Dragon, Woodfall Primus, Song of the Dryads, and Beast Within can all handle any type of permanent, including Planeswalkers. While individually Planeswalkers are still rare finds in booster packs, the collective shift of players having some to play with has changed over the years. The newly released Duel Decks: Elspeth vs. Kiora just put two wonderfully powerful Planeswalkers into plenty of hands. Having a plan for them is never a bad thing, and all of these cards can cover other problematic permanents too.
- Sunblast Angel, Angel of the Dire Hour, Austere Command, and Fated Retribution are all ways to handle hordes of opponents' creatures that get out of hand. While the Abzan are loathe to destroy their own forces unnecessarily, having ways to handle overwhelming force are handy in emergencies.
These are our offensive tools, giving us ways to demolish enemy resistance or pick apart their sources of power. These should give us opportunities to attack and set up a more favorable situation. More defensive tools work to give us time to create our walled fortress:
- Magus of the Moat, Windborn Muse, Loxodon Gatekeeper, Blind Obedience, and Martyr's Bond all slow down opponents and force them to use their removal on things that annoy them.
- Linvala, Keeper of Silence; Forgotten Ancient; Sigarda, Host of Herons; and Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger set new rules opponents must abide by.
- Swiftfoot Boots, Sword of Fire and Ice, Sword of Light and Shadow, Seedborn Muse, and Righteous Aura are all trumps that will draw the attention of every opponent. These are ways to take over and win games. Other Swords, or cards that grant tramples and plenty of power, work well here too. The exact method of overwhelming the enemy is less important than having any way to dish out damage or nullify a strategy.
All of these cards are problematic for most opponents: Equipment that supports attacks while providing value every hit, untapping or growing during every opponent's turn, and locking away abilities and cards are all awesome ways to set up victory. These cards both set up defensive lines in the sand and give us ways to attack through everyone else. Righteous Aura is a quiet way to keep another enchantment around, since any deck planning to strike through with commander damage needs to get rid of it first: Righteous Aura doesn't target the source of the damage, making even well-shielded targets falter.
With our entire deck ready we should fill out a few lands:
- Mistveil Plains; Emeria, the Sky Ruin; Mosswort Bridge; and Windbrisk Heights are all ways to draw a card, at least in a roundabout manner.
- Treetop Village; Krosan Verge; Arcane Lighthouse; Boseiju, Who Shelters All; Opal Palace; Homeward Path; and Rogue's Passage are all lands that give us helpful bonuses. Rogue's Passage in particular can empower Dragonlord Dromoka to be an unavoidable threat—opponents can't cast spell on our turn!—and Opal Palace means she gets bigger every time someone kills her.
- Blossoming Sands, Windswept Heath, Temple Garden, Sunpetal Grove, Wooded Foothills, Selesnya Sanctuary, and Temple of Plenty are just nonbasic lands to help smooth out our mana. Nothing fancy, and plenty of alternatives are around. These can even be replaced with just basic lands for little fuss.
Lands are always ways to squeeze in extra effects. Cards like Rogue's Passage and Homeward Path undo plenty of other effects, and the surprising utility of Treetop Village makes it a constant tool I use in Commander, since it can dodge most End Hostilities-type cards and pick up a piece of Equipment in a pinch.
Here's my first pass at pulling together the power of Dragonlord Dromoka:
Creature (33)
1 Knight of the Reliquary 1 Civic Wayfinder 1 Wood Elves 1 Krosan Tusker 1 Solemn Simulacrum 1 Oracle of Mul Daya 1 Courser of Kruphix 1 Eternal Dragon 1 Soul of New Phyrexia 1 Aegis Angel 1 Avacyn, Angel of Hope 1 Karmic Guide 1 Sun Titan 1 Adarkar Valkyrie 1 Angel of Serenity 1 Eternal Witness 1 Lifeblood Hydra 1 Reclamation Sage 1 Indrik Stomphowler 1 Acidic Slime 1 Archon of Justice 1 Destructor Dragon 1 Woodfall Primus 1 Sunblast Angel 1 Angel of the Dire Hour 1 Magus of the Moat 1 Windborn Muse 1 Loxodon Gatekeeper 1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence 1 Forgotten Ancient 1 Sigarda, Host of Herons 1 Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger 1 Seedborn MuseSorcery (6)
1 Rampant Growth 1 Cultivate 1 Kodama's Reach 1 Harmonize 1 Soul's Majesty 1 Austere CommandArtifact (7)
1 Armillary Sphere 1 Commander's Sphere 1 Darksteel Plate 1 Loreseeker's Stone 1 Swiftfoot Boots 1 Sword of Fire and Ice 1 Sword of Light and ShadowEnchantment (9)
1 Mirari's Wake 1 Privileged Position 1 Spirit Bonds 1 Sigil of the New Dawn 1 Greater Good 1 Song of the Dryads 1 Blind Obedience 1 Martyr's Bond 1 Righteous AuraLand (40)
1 Mistveil Plains 1 Emeria, the Sky Ruin 1 Mosswort Bridge 1 Windbrisk Heights 1 Treetop Village 1 Krosan Verge 1 Arcane Lighthouse 1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All 1 Opal Palace 1 Homeward Path 1 Rogue's Passage 1 Blossoming Sands 1 Windswept Heath 1 Temple Garden 1 Sunpetal Grove 1 Wooded Foothills 1 Selesnya Sanctuary 1 Temple of Plenty 8 Plains 14 ForestIt's defensive, it's strategic, it's enduring, and it's persistent in character. It chooses the battles it wants to fight and forces opponents to places they want to avoid. Without a way to test it out this is just a rough idea: Where it goes, and how you'd go about fulfilling the new will of the Abzan, is up to you.
Different Strokes
Pulling together a more powerful family from all of Magic is always tough. I use a "Commander Box" of preselected cards to make my process easier, but I'm also constantly adding cards to it. I add so many new cards, in fact, that I stopped trying to keep up a master list of everything I'd chosen.
There's always a new darling I discover and try out.
What makes a card "a Commander card" is a nebulous question, since we all have a different idea. I want to pull together all of your ideas: What is the most quintessential Commander card, and why?
- Feedback via email, in English
- 300-word limit to explain the card and reasons it represents the Commander format
- Sample decklist, using your chosen card, is requested (does not count against word limit)
- Decklists should be formatted with one card per line with just a leading number, such as "3 Mountain"—just a space (no "x" or "-") between the number and the card name, without subtotals by card type (Submissions that don't follow this rule will be ignored.)
- Name and email required (non-personal information to be used in column)
I always find there's another card I didn't know about, or a different interaction I hadn't seen before. Even in the newest sets, where we prowl through every card on end looking for things, new uses pop up unexpectedly. Choosing just one card to represent that dizzying array of possibilities is tough, so I expect some interesting answers from you.
Join us next week when we discover more of the new future of Tarkir. See you then!