Guilds of Ravnica may not have given us any new dragons, (besides the ever difficult-to-cast Niv-Mizzet, Parun) and we did lose one hasty boi Glorybringer but Dragons are still kicking, and maybe even harder than ever! Let's see what we got.
The Gameplan
The goal is to cast Sarkhan or our ramp alternatives on turn 3 and using burst to deal with threats to Sarkhan and/or our dragons until we get to either cast those same dragons or swing successfully. Turn 2 and 3 are important in setting up as Sarkhan can be out on the board by himself but we run Shocks and Lightning Strikes to clear early threats before our summoner arrives. Once he does, we start either digging for dragons or summoning them, while playing boardwipes and burst to either keep the board clear on the enemy's side or to severly cripple threats/ create great combat trickery. We're in this for the late game.
The Fireblood Himself, and his Ramping Sidekicks
Sarkhan, Fireblood is the card the deck NEEDS to ensure that you don't die before the party starts. He's like the Z-Fighters in the saiyan saga stalling for the Dragons, I mean Goku to appear. Difference here is, he's pretty damn useful. He ramps into the dragons being casted as a +1, he can discard to draw for ANOTHER +1, and then if you manage to ult him (which can actually happen) he just brings out 5 dragons to hit your opponent upside the head with. The only thing Sarkhan isn't doing is your laundry.
Draconic Disciple is the only non-dragon, ramping creature we're running here. He can tap for any mana and is a great late game topdeck as he can trade himself in for a dragon. We'd rather have a 2 mana ramp I think, but we'll take this guy. Also debating playing Elvish Rejuvenator, as it can get you a land and die without any worry.
Dragon's Hoard Is an incredible ramp but also if the above are doing the heavy duty, this card just gets better with dragons ETB, since it can give you card draw for each successful dragon being summoned. Note that this includes tokens, so Karox Bladewing and dragon tokens summoned by Lathliss and Sarkhan all count. Truly an MVP in the deck.
The Dragons of Standard
Demanding Dragon: He demands a sacrifice or an opponent to take the heat. This guy is the closest replacement to the bringer of Glory and in some ways better, as he can potentially deal more damage than it on the turn he comes in without even having haste, OR he can just straight up have your opponent sac a guy.
Verix Bladewing: This Dragon is just your normal 4 mana 4/4 flying dragon (which is actually good just as-is) but in the late game you can kick this guy and storm the field with 2 dragons instead of one. These guys like to storm the board and burn everything in sight, so why not?
Palladia-Mors, the Ruiner: "Where's Nicol Bolas, the Ravager
, our lord and savior?? How could you ignore him and play his sister instead!?" Yeah yeah, I hear ya. I know what you mean. But we're going with White over Blue and/or Black in this deck, and for good reason. Also while there is the option for 4 Color Dragons, or even 5 colors, they just won't be as consistent and I think Nicol Bolas can be easily dealt with unlike his sister. Yes. He makes your oppoent discard. Yes, he can flip if the game goes on long enough. But I think Palladia can offer something different you might need this standard with its temporary hexproof. There's plenty of ways to rid yourself of 4 mana creatures in this standard and Palladia Mors can evade that with ease. Even when the hexproof is gone, There's still less removal options to deal with her vs her brother. Plus Vigilance and Trample are great keywords. She can kill Lyra and deal 1 to your opponent, Nicky B just can't. That said, Sarkhan allows for Nicky B to be cast without blue sources so he's in the side. Happy now? ;)
Lathliss, Dragon Queen: The Queen of Dragons NOTDaenarys is here as a one of because you don't always want to see her, and when she's around, it's a good time. Not only can she pump your other dragons multiple times for heavy damage and combat trickery, she essentially doubles up your dragons being casted. Imagine casting a kicked Verix. Whoops, now I got 3 dragons.
Casting the Fire and the Flames
We have 15 pieces of damage dealing spells, and all for good reason. We need to protect Sarkhan, and we want to constantly deal damage to our opponent or remove their creatures. We always want to have our dragons swing without consequence.
Risk Factor: What an awesome addition Guilds gave us. This can either deal 4 damage to the opponent's face or give us 3 cards free. We honestly don't even care what the outcome is. Either we hit our opponent hard or we draw into more burn, ramp or dragons. This card is like a coin with heads on each side. You really aren't losing here. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, this has Jump Start so you can cast it again, and again. I literally don't know what else you want from a card like this.
Spit Flame: This is like a more expensive lightning strike with recursion, although you can only target creatures with this. Casting a dragon while this card is in the graveyard allows you to pay to get it back in your hand which is awesome. So you don't really care if this is in the yard, and that means this is a perfect target for Sarkhan's discard abilty, AND Risk Factor for jump start. Spit Flame second ability just gives it really good utility that most spells in standard don't have.
Deafening Clarion : Hoo boy. This new Guilds card wasn't going to be insane unless you could always use both abilities. And I think Dragons can do that quite well. Imagine casting Palladia Mors and playing this the following turn. Now you've cleared your opponent's board and have a 6/3 temporarily with lifelink and hexproof for that turn since it hasn't dealt damage yet. Crazy, right? In most other situations you have to be careful using this card, as it will hit the other dragons on this list, Verix and Demanding Dragon will go down to 1 toughness temporarily and that can create an opportunity where your opponent can play burst removal to finish them off. If you're in the clear however, the lifeswing you're doing is something wicked.
Lightning Strike and Shock: To end it all we have 2 very flexible low cost burst that can hit about anything and is great in the early game to help Sarkhan land on as empty a board as possible. Not only that but these can serve as combat tricks when the dragon family is out to play. These might be last on the description but they are as important as any card here.
