I had a Standard Rakdos deck with Dragon Tempest in it.

Once I was playing against this bloke with a Modern deck and he played a card that meant no combat damage could be dealt to him, then leaned back and smirked.

I played Dragon Tempest then proceeded to load the board with Dragon after Dragon. Dragon Whisperer helped immeasurably with that.

He died. RIP

I know what you're saying but you're missing a lot of what makes this deck work.

All it has to do is hold on until the mid game. Then things get all kinds of awful for my Opponent.

You're looking at one very specific piece, but that is only part of the whole.

I have actually explained how things work in my "How to Play" but, since you seem unconvinced, I will set out the game plan a bit clearer.

EARLY GAME

Defenders, things that kill early Creatures. Card filtering.

MID GAME

More defenders, early fliers, better removal, late game set up (ramp and draw). 4/4 Dragon that can block or attack.

LATE GAME

Dragon rush either through 6/6 or Sarkhan. Draw. Direct damage.

Dragons fly. Werewolves don't.

I don't think Werewolves had anything like a recurring spell that deals four damage to a Creature.

For all the things that Arlinn Kord  ^Flip did she didn't make 5/5 fliers.

All the filtering and draw is what makes this deck pretty much hit its 6/6 every game.

Apologies if I sound curt. It's late and I'm tired.

Argy,
No worries at all. Like I said, it doesn't surprise me at all to hear that you've been able to get those Dragons singing :-)

also, when i was looking at this deck, thinking about my playset of Conclave Tribunal, my 2 copies of Ixalan's Binding and the other two in the sideboard, you know what i thought, what makes this deck possibly OP against me is the welp. its a flyer that i wont bother using a 4 cmc removal spell for. Think about it, Essence Scatter, Cast Down and Spell Pierce is about the only form of removal i wouldnt have to convince myself to use against it, in a dragon deck where literally every other creature is way scarier. i may have it stick to the battlefield and be content to take a hit or three from it just to keep myself safe from the scary dragons, but the thing is, with something like Fight with Fire in the deck you really cant afford to take any free damage at all. im going to make a bet here; im betting you can get 4-6 damage from the welp every single game! thats not bad.

Interesting insights once again xhuggels.

I need to take a look at the deck you keep talking about.

It sounds scary!

I've run two tests against the Control deck now.

In the first game it countered or killed all my early Creatures, but it eventually ran out of cards.

The second game was much more interesting. The Control deck Sided in an Ixalan's Binding and some Essence Scatter.

A Sarkhan, Fireblood got trapped by Ixalan's Binding on Turn 4, then my Lathliss, Dragon Queen got captured by another Ixalan's Binding on Turn 7.

I had another one of each in hand, so that REALLY disrupted my plans.

I cast a Demanding Dragon, which dealt 5 damage right away, then my Opponent killed it with Cast Down.

After that I didn't get much on the field other than a Dismissive Pyromancer and a Raptor Hatchling. I did some pinging damage with them.

After I drew a couple of lands I kept using the Dismissive Pyromancer to dig through my deck, discarding the Sarkhan, Fireblood and the Lathliss, Dragon Queen first. I was lucky enough to find a Dragon Egg, which I turned into a 2/2 flier by hitting it with Shock. I was now pinging for 3 each combat.

I kept drawing land, which I then kept saccing with Dismissive Pyromancer to draw again. Sometimes I was getting two lands drawn per turn, so I was able to get my mana count up.

I kept pinging with Raptor Hatchling and my 2/2 Dragon.

Eventually my Opponent got a 7/7 Flier on the field. Unfortunately they had to leave it up as a blocker, because they were now on 7 life and I had two 2/2s and a 1/1.

They finally got a 3/1 lifelinker on the field, destroyed my 2/2 flier with Cast Down, and were now able to attack with their 7/7 flier.

Meanwhile I had gotten Verix Bladewing to hand. With 8 mans available to me I was now able to get two 4/4 Dragons on the field.

With my Opponent still on 7 life they had to stop attacking with their 7/7 flier, or I would get 8 flying damage through.

I still had a Raptor Hatchling on the field by this stage so, if they attacked with a 3/1 lifelink Creature we would trade, and I would get a 3/3 Creature out of the deal.

I had Spit Flame in hand, but it wasn't enough to kill the 7/7.

I was lucky enough to draw a Fight with Fire. With 8 mana available to me I could now kill the 7/7 flier with Fight with Fire and Spit Flame.

My Spit Flame was countered with Syncopate, so only 5 damage went through to the 7/7. I attacked with both my 4/4 fliers.

The 7/7 blocked one and died. 4 damage got through, taking my Opponent to 3.

My Opponent attacked with their two 3/1s next go, to get some lifelink. They were now on a more comfortable 9 life.

I had blocked one 3/1 with a Raptor Hatchling (giving me a 3/3) and let the other 3/1 hit me.

I played Sarkhan's Whelp next turn, and hit my Opponent for 4, putting them on 5.

They looked for something twice with Arguel's Blood Fast  ^Flip, but only came up with a land and an Essence Scatter. They were now on 1 and could choose to Transform Arguel's Blood Fast  ^Flip, but they could only get up to 4 life, and I would hit them for more than that with my Creatures.

On my last turn I hit with Sarkhan's Whelp for lethal.

Of course this test run isn't a perfect indicator of how the two decks would face off in a tournament.

It just gives an idea of possible paths to victory or defeat.

I have changed how I test decks these days. My deck must beat the majority of other decks twice, with no Sideboarding.

I was happy to see that my deck could win, even with some key pieces removed.

Dismissive Pyromancer is what saved the day, from being able to dig through my deck for answers.

It also shows why Verix Bladewing is 4 of in this deck.

Hi! I do like the deck quite a lot! I would however make a few... I was going to say suggestions, but I'll say observations instead. As you said, this "non-formula" decks tend to vary a lot with the local metagame.

I had something relatively similar in the previous standard, and it's changing quite a lot right now, but there's something I'm trying to improve, and that's the Control match-ups. I did go mostly RG, instead of Mono-Red, mostly for ramp, and I also played Draconic Disciple and Llanowar Elves. The problem I encountered multiple times is that at some point, at turn 4 or 5, they would wrath the board with Fumigate or something like that, and after dumping two mana dorks and a Dragon in play I had almost nothing.

That's not a problem for you in that, you don't have mana dorks. However, in the new version of the deck I'm brewing, I want to include Bone Dragon. It sort of gives you a late game play that can't be countered (if you bring it back from the yard) which seems great for the long grindy control matchups. You could easily include a playset of Dragonskull Summit and splash black for those if Control becomes a problem! :D

oh i didnt put it up yet Argy . its kinda still being vigorously play-tested, but basically what i did was take out all the cards from my walls deck that seemed to under-perform, and replaced them with answers. the walls block everything that isnt big, and everything that is is answered with Conclave Tribunal, Ixalan's Binding, Essence Scatter and Disdainful Stroke. The deck basically forces control players to play stuff like Teferi, Hero of Dominaria 2-4 turns later than they would like to. So im my case if i dont counter the welp, i need to go through great lengths to deal with it, and even if i deal with dragon after dragon, and you dont ever get a 4/4 on the field, i still will be taking 3 damage a turn from that little beast. 2 from his attack and 1 from his triggered ability.

MurderForBrunch I did initially consider going for this build, and adding Bone Dragon.

These are the reasons why I didn't:

• Splashing for isn't really a great idea in a 60 card deck when you need on Turn 5 to cast Bone Dragon.

• There are still quite a few ways for Opponents to either Exile cards from Graveyards, or make it so you can't return things from Graveyards.

• I don't want to Exile Spit Flame from my Graveyard. I get the feeling that finding seven other cards to Exile that AREN'T that card will be a tricky task

• The fact that this deck is monocoloured makes it easier for me to discard lands from my hand, without ending up being colour screwed. That in turn gets me out of trouble if I need to look for answers.

• Being monocoloured also makes the deck fast, as no lands enter tapped.

Against Control I will be throwing Goblin Chainwhirler into the deck. My experience over the years is that Control has a hard time dealing with Creature-heavy builds.

I also have draw and filter in this deck, which is unusual for , and helps against Control.

I will keep Bone Dragon in mind if this deck doesn't work.

I dig it. It has pretty good pace and does well to draw cards regularly.

Have you considered Banefire in Mainboard? Or possibly a white splash to take advantage of cards like Huatli, Warrior Poet, Path of Mettle  ^Flip (Great against Goblins), Settle the Wreckage, Deafening Clarion, or Radiant Destiny?

Also, why add Goblin Chainwhirler in for the Jeskai Matchup? The kill spells potentially wipe him out as soon as he hits the field if he’s not countered.

Thanks w33m4n

Skyler1776 I'll address your points.

Fight with Fire is more flexible than Banefire so it's place is in the Mainboard. I swap it with Banefire, depending on the Opponent.

If you Mainboard Banefire sometimes it is in hand, but useless against a problematic Creature. Fight with Fire can take out Shalai, Voice of Plenty for

I have already addressed a lot of these points here, including the mono coloured nature of this deck.

A lot of the cards you suggested would have to take the place of Dragons so they are a no go.

I would not add another Planeswalker to this deck, as they require a LOT of protection from Creatures. I'd rather attack with my Creatures, unless the Planeswalker has synergy with them.

In regard to Path of Mettle  ^Flip, Goblin Chainwhirler does 1 damage to Goblins, then leaves behind a 3/3 with First Strike. It's a lot of red decks' go to for that matchup.

The point you have made about Goblin Chainwhirler is EXACTLY why it comes in against Control. Once again, I mentioned it here.

If Control has to utilise one of its kill or counter spells on the Chainwhirler, that is one less spell they have in hand against my other Creatures.

Thanks for taking the time to Comment Skyler1776.

I keep coming back to this list. will you build it in paper? im just very excited to learn how it performs!

what do you think of Cosmotronic Wave in sideboard for alpha swings and alpha striking? But i do like your reasoning for shake the ground and chainwhirler.

Draw well!

Thanks Kizmetto.

Yes, this is the deck that I'm planning to take to WNM.

I have a lot of the cards but I need to get off my arse and build StuBi's Fermentoring deck before we can play.

I did have a BIG think about Cosmotronic Wave.

Its 4CMC plus the fact that it would be very situational (to get the most out of it my Opponents would need a few Creatures on the field - which they usually don't by the time I've finished killing all their stuff - and I'd have to wait until I could hit for lethal ... then just have Settle the Wreckage cast against me) made it less appealing.

With the amount of flying Creatures and burn spells in this deck usually the last points of damage are fairly easy to achieve.

Certainly not a bad idea, though.

Something else that gets final damage through are the pump abilities on the 2/2 Dragon that Dragon Egg leaves behind, and on Lathliss, Dragon Queen.

I need to reference those in "How to Play" as I often forget them myself!

What are your thoughts on Sorcerous Spyglass for your sideboard? I'm thinking mainly as an answer to Teferi, Hero of Dominaria. Just a thought-- your insight is appreciated.

You know what?

I don't hate that idea.

I do have quite a few sweepers in my Sideboard, and I'm sure I don't need all of them.

Pluses:

• I can shut down ANY card that has problematic abilities, after I Sideboard.

Minuses:

• Control decks can probably bounce and Counter it, but they have to waste two spells in doing so. They could also just Negate it but again, that wastes a spell.

• It may slow down my early game.

• I'm not have a HUGE problem getting rid of Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, due to all my fliers.

I will run some tests with it to see if it works for me.

Thanks for the suggestion BioProfDude!

Actually, traditionally Control can’t counter Spyglass. It is a 2-Drop that, if you are on the play, they would only have 1 mana open.

Skyler1776 Control can easily Counter it with Negate if they go first.

Skyler1776 also of COURSE Control can counter Sorcerous Spyglass if they only have .

They just cast Spell Pierce.

Generally control dont really play spell pierce, and if they do its only 1 or 2 copies. Ive seen this tactic work to some success, but its only good on the play. At the very least you force a counterspell out of them. The problem with spyglass is it doesnt do anything to plainswalkers that are currently on the field. You either play it early instead of a creature, or you dont play it at all, and that creature would be able to put some hurt on teferi anyway.

Control decks in my local meta heavily play Spell Pierce, but that was more me responding to the assertion that, "Actually, traditionally Control can’t counter Spyglass. It is a 2-Drop that, if you are on the play, they would only have 1 mana open."

I was thinking along similar lines xhuggels. If I'm going to play a 2 drop Artifact that means not playing one of my other 2 drops.

Also, I'm not sure what I would remove for the Artifact.

I like my massive amounts of removal and I like all my Creatures.

It's been a potent mix in testing.

To add onto my previous point, the earlier you HAVE to play a spell, the more copies you need, and even if you sideboard in a playset, you are still not guaranteed to have spyglass in your starting hand.

This becomes a concern because if you dont play this before teferi lands, you may end up with a relatively dead card in hand. Traditionally control does well against most deck archetypes because those decks end up with a few dead cards. Red aggro beats control because they not only get underneath control, but they also never have this issue. Spyglass seems like a high risk high reward option to me.

This deck has now gotten to the stage where most of my decks eventually reach that, there isn't anything really obvious that's worth suggesting, so people are reaching for cards to suggest, or telling me to completely change the direction of this deck by using different colours.

I'll keep an eye on these Comments but please don't make a suggestion unless it doesn't appear in Cards Already Considered, and is playable in a mono build.

I do find it frustrating to have to explain why I've already considered, and rejected, certain cards. My list is supposed to circumvent that.