Aint Nothin but a Dragon Thang

Commander / EDH snotice

SCORE: 57 | 82 COMMENTS | 19691 VIEWS | IN 30 FOLDERS


Rant says... #1

Like, you have a good idea here. I would throw in a couple mana dorks to help the curve a bit, maybe Somberwald Sage or Shaman of Forgotten Ways just to make it easier, but from what I can tell, you have an idea of what you want to do, but its not all that focused. Like, for example, why run Niv besides the fact that he's a dragon? He serves no real purpose in the deck. You'd be better off with more Face Punching with this build. I think it's a good idea to Focus on RG and Splash blue rather than try and run control in this deck.

May 31, 2015 12:27 a.m.

chirz2792 says... #2

I suppose a better card could be used but it can still get rid of some other problem cards.

May 31, 2015 12:29 a.m.

Rant says... #3

Last thing. I would consider lowering your curve a little. Most of your deck is 5+ cmc, maybe run some 1-3 cmc stuff. Also a Birthing pod will help make little dorks more useable. I really like Birds of Paradise for a multi colored deck, it helps. Kruphix is such a bad card for this build as well, because of your high curve, you will probably be in top deck mode before he even becomes useful. Thassa isn't BAD, but you don't need her because you have mostly flyers. While Scry is GOOD is EDH, you would most likely be tutoring out most of what you want with either Fauna Shaman or Survival of the Fittest. Fauna Shaman would be amazing with Prophet as well. Courser is meh. You don't really need to focus on life gain in EDH, since Dragons just MELT life of your enemies.

May 31, 2015 12:33 a.m.

Rant says... #4

Chris, its a spot he can use for a ramp spell OR a tutor that can grab something that can remove something permanently, especially since Blue has access to exile with that card from Fate Reforged i think?

May 31, 2015 12:34 a.m.

Rant says... #5

Okay one other thing. Dead Eye Navigator, Bogardan Hellkite (since its gives repitition with Atarka), and Outpost Siege since you like to sac creatures, would really help here too.

May 31, 2015 12:36 a.m.

snotice says... #6

If I owned a Fauna Shaman and a Survival of the Fittest, I would, but I currently don't. Additionally, though it is the best search card for green, survival is currently at a laughable price, it's so high. Thanks for the advice, nonetheless. Much appreciated.

May 31, 2015 2:25 a.m.

Rant says... #7

Yeah its stupid how much its gone up. I have a promo survival from a long time ago thats sitting at 300+ now. I got a non foil original when it was at 20 a few months ago... now thats sky rocketed x.x

June 1, 2015 9:52 a.m.

snotice says... #8

yeah, Modern and EDH has caused cards with great value, but limited supply to skyrocket. Look at some of the angels: Avacyn, Angel of Hope, Linvala, Keeper of Silence, Iona, Shield of Emeria, etc. All three skyrocketed since the release of Born of the Gods. Only, Linvala is slowly going down in price and of course Iona got reprinted.

June 1, 2015 10:35 a.m.

LordDeathseed says... #9

Your deck looks awesome! Any advice for my Surrak deck?

http://www.mtgvault.com/lorddeathseed/decks/kneel-before-temur-ugin2-edh/

June 1, 2015 5:26 p.m.

Rant says... #10

@LordDeathseed needs more big stompy things.

June 1, 2015 7:16 p.m.

snotice says... #11

LordDeathseed: Thanks, it has been a lot of moving around to get this to work. Appreciate the praise. I'll check your deck out for sure.

June 1, 2015 8:51 p.m.

LordDeathseed says... #12

June 2, 2015 6:23 a.m.

Daedalus19876 says... #13

Why did you cut Chaos Warp, out of curiosity? There are very few unconditional removal spells in your colors. (Beast Within is another, goes in every green deck I make.)

June 22, 2015 12:27 a.m.

Daedalus19876 says... #14

Also, when playing with dragons, Zirilan of the Claw and Dragonstorm are fun.

June 22, 2015 12:27 a.m.

snotice says... #15

To tell you the truth, it has been a while since I've thought about why I took Chaos Warp out. I believe it had to do with the whole tuck ruling, in addition to my issues I was having at the time with ramping fast enough.

Zirilan of the Claw: seems like a fun card, but I prefer to not exile my dragons, especially when there are only 13 in the deck.

Dragonstorm: I currently don't own it, but I have thought of getting one. Currently, I feel the deck works without it, but thanks for the suggestion, nonetheless!

Beast Within: already in the deck. I personally own 11 copies of that card. It's in everyone of my green decks. So good!

Thank you for all the suggestions! I do appreciate it!

P.S.: I swapped out Chandra's Ignition for now to put Chaos Warp back in.

June 22, 2015 1:23 a.m.

TheHroth says... #16

Savage Ventmaw?? Pretty good on its own, but ridiculous with Hellkite Charger in play...

June 22, 2015 1:36 a.m.

snotice says... #17

I have considered Savage Ventmaw, but right now I don't have him in because he is only useful in when attacking. Granted that's what the deck is about. I'm going to wait for the new set to come out before I decide on if it gets included.

June 22, 2015 11:47 a.m.

Solid Deck, +1!

June 22, 2015 11:27 p.m.

snotice says... #19

Thank you HeroInMyOwnMind! It's been a lot of work. The new set is looking good for this deck as well!

June 22, 2015 11:41 p.m.

WumpaWolfy says... #20

Hey! My introduction is long overdue but I just wanted to thank you for inspiring my own Surrak build over 6 months ago when I was shopping around for a cool timmy dragon commander. I've noticed you've also moved away from the dragon tribal theme and I was curious about what inspired your changes? My own build has evolved into a creature toolbox deck with an emphasis on voltron wins via some combination of Surrak, pump, and evasion. As someone who has so much experience with the commander I'd love some feedback!

There are a few choices you've made in your current build that puzzle me however. For example, why Stubborn Denial over Negate or even Swan Song if you want a cheap counterspell? The former is so narrow and in my experience too easy for your opponents to play around when they really want to resolve their spell (by bouncing or removing your bigger creatures in response). Maybe it's a flavor thing but if that's your issue the art for the origins printing of Negate screams temur shaman to me. What is the function of Fog Bank? It's a pretty underwhelming creature that really isn't worth it's salt in my experience. Any massive fatty worth blocking in EDH usually has a voltron package giving it evasion or natural evasion/trample. I highly recommend you cut it. Unravel the Aether strikes me as an inferior Chaos Warp, though perhaps you've been burned by the RNG too many times? I'd put a whole playset in my build if I could, the card is way too flexible to not warrant a slot in my opinion. I'm also shocked that there are no planeswalkers in this build, especially considering how easy it is to fantasize about Doubling Season into a planeswalker ult. Kiora, Master of the Depths being a perfect candidate, perhaps Sarkhan Unbroken and Domri Rade in the right build too. I assume the lack of tutors is a deliberate design decision too? I highly suggest you look into including some more utility lands too. Cards like Rogue's Passage, Mosswort Bridge, and Yavimaya Hollow can significantly increase the flexibility of your deck.

I feel like win-con wise the deck feels much more scattered than your prior builds, trying to go token/warstorm surge, plus one counter beat down, and a little voltron without really committing heavily to any direction. I can't help but feel like you'd be better off with a Riku of Two Reflections deck that can really support your Warstorm Surge and Doubling Season shenanigans. And as a Surrak loyalist that kills me to say, but I really don't feel like you're playing to his strengths anymore.

Anyways I hope I didn't come off too harsh, I have a lot of respect for you as one of the only people online who has really tried to push Surrak to be as good as it can be. I'd be more than happy to have you offer some criticism of my own build: My deck:


Surrak's Titillating Temur Toolbox

Commander / EDH* WumpaWolfy

SCORE: 1 | 0 COMMENTS | 347 VIEWS


December 28, 2015 9:04 p.m.

snotice says... #21

you are right!!! I am overthinking the build. I like your build and think it is very straight forward. Instead of increasing the efficiency of my builds I tend to try and cater to the weaknesses of the deck which ends up weakening the deck overall. All those walkers I do own and will look into fixing the lack of consistency within the deck. Thank you for the strong criticism is it warranted.

December 28, 2015 11:24 p.m.

WumpaWolfy says... #22

No problem! I find it much more effective to think about your wincons first then work backwards when building EDH decks, otherwise you do tend to end up with a mess of ideas haha. I see your new build took a lot of inspiration from mine, so one card you should really consider is Birthing Pod. With one activation it'll set you up with your engines or combo pieces, more than that will likely win you the game. It's so powerfull that I'm considering running Fabricate even though I run a mere 4 artifacts so I can fetch it more reliably. Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker is another one of my all-stars that can soft-lock a whole table alongside Prophet of Kruphix and cards like Duplicant. The beautiful thing about Kiki is that he works wonders in almost any creature based Temur deck, including this one and it's emphasis on token creation. You can also give pseudo haste to creatures like Balefire Dragon and Utvara Hellkite by creating hasted copies to use to attack instead. With Doubling Season or Parallel Lives he can get of control!

A couple of my less obvious aces are Tyrant's Familiar, Time of Need, and Woodland Bellower. The Tyrant is just a great beater that consistently is able to destroy my opponent's commanders and problematic creatures, and always feels great to cast after flashing in Surrak. Time of Need is almost on par with the power level of Demonic Tutor in my deck that revolves so heavily around legendary creatures. Early game I can fetch Nissa, Vastwood Seer  Flip to help ramp or Thassa, God of the Sea to smooth out my draws and grant evasion should I opt to go for a voltron kill. Other great targets include Xenagos, God of Revels, Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, Prime Speaker Zegana, Venser, Shaper Savant, Dragonlord Atarka, or Maelstrom Wanderer giving you a flexible package of powerful cards available to you for a mere two mana. The card is super cheap financially too! Woodland Bellower is just an awesome card if you build around it. He grabs ramp (Wood Elves), tutors (Fierce Empath), recursion (Eternal Witness or Skullwinder), removal (Reclamation Sage) or graveyard hate (Scavenging Ooze), all while providing a big body to beat down your opponents with. See the Unwritten is worth an honourable mention considering how awesome it is to play after casting Surrak or having had your board wiped. Getting any number of your value machines like Xenagos, Kiki, or Prophet will give you an amazing board position. The card wiffs sometimes but I'm almost never disapointed by the value I get from wheeling with it.

If you're more interested in doing a Temur dragon token build however, I highly recommend you look into watch The Command Zone's podcast on Jimmy's Intet, the Dreamer brew at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LQwS7LRuA0 for some inspiration. I've been tweaking my own casual version that revolves around Scourge of Valkas and Dragon Broodmother/Utvara Hellkite (my Surrak rejects essentially) and it's a blast to play. jrl134 has a nice list he/she's developed based on The Command Zone deck if you want a good starting point. Some cool inclusions are Sundial of the Infinite to keep token copies that would normally be exiled like the ones created by Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, Feldon of the Third Path, and Splintertwin. Dictate of the Twin Gods and Furnace of Wrath are cool political cards that I had never thought of that makes both the Scourge/Dragon Tempest combo more deadly as well as straight up beat down with your dragons. Once I'm happy with my own build I'll post it too. I should probably get around to providing a more indepth description of my Surrak too. Anyways his/her decklist can be found here if you're interested:


I Dream and the World Trembles

Commander / EDH jrl134

SCORE: 1 | 0 COMMENTS | 179 VIEWS


January 1, 2016 9:53 p.m.

I don't know if you've thought about this, but Belltoll Dragon ?

April 8, 2016 5:28 p.m.

I am copying this deck down because i wanted to mod it. Holy **** it was hard to put in the format I wanted Creatures, instants, etc.

September 24, 2016 6:32 p.m.

snotice says... #25

Thanks! It is a tough balance between creatures and instants. I've found that you have to make sure your deck flows into whatever goal you are trying to achieve. Ramp, Card Advantage and fatties are the goals of the deck with a serving of some control. I like counter-spells in EDH, but in general they require a lot of timing that I'm just not into. I'm looking forward to Commander 2016 to see what else I can do to improve the deck, though that new card Rashmi, Eternities Crafter is a boss in this deck!

September 24, 2016 11:52 p.m.

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