Machinations of the Draconian

Commander / EDH MrAwesomeSocks

SCORE: 664 | 706 COMMENTS | 116178 VIEWS | IN 243 FOLDERS


Thalanza says... #2

sorry for my poor writing. It's getting late ;)

November 30, 2014 6:15 p.m.

MrAwesomeSocks says... #3

Thalanza: Well, now, all three of those cards would make great additions! Adding them to the Maybeboard until I can get them. Thanks!

November 30, 2014 6:24 p.m.

Thalanza says... #4

Channel the Suns let you play your general earlier and solve mana color issues.

November 30, 2014 7:07 p.m.

MrAwesomeSocks says... #5

Thalanza: I'll have to think about Channel the Suns. It was in originally, but I took it out. My mana base is extremely consistent for a five color deck, so I don't know if it's necessary.

December 1, 2014 9:34 a.m.

Thalanza says... #6

Yes, it is more about playing scion one turn earlier than taking care of mana color issues. But it's certainly not a "must have".

Savage Summoning contrariwise let you take your opponent by surprise. Playing scion at the end of his turn when he has no mana left (thinking he is safe because you have not enough mana to cast scion + activation) and then one shotting with Dragon Tyrant. The "cannot be countered" part is just a super nice bonus (taking of Hinder wich otherwise basically kills you)

December 1, 2014 10:38 a.m.

MrAwesomeSocks says... #7

I've never had a problem with Hinder or Spell Crumple. My deck is much more than just a Scion of the Ur-Dragon deck. I have plenty of ways to kill without my General.

December 1, 2014 7:21 p.m.

Land count is too little. Try going for at least 37.

Also, in regards to your mana base, with all the Dual and Shock lands that you run, I think switching Dawn's Reflection for a Farseek would help smooth your curve. I'm also not really sure about running all those signets. You might want to replace some with a Chromatic Lantern, Coalition Relic, Commander's Sphere, and Darksteel Ingot. I understand that these all cost 3 (one mana more than the signets) but these rocks add mana of any color and provide additional utility, such as cantrip-ing.

I suggest you remove Oblivion Ring, Detention Sphere, and Banishing Light. 5 Color Commanders give you access to all colors, so there isn't a reason to use conditional removal. I suggest these removals (pick and choose what works for you): Council's Judgment, Mortify, Putrefy, Bant Charm, and Abzan Charm.

The best Scion decks I have played against tend to use their deck as a toolbox, much in the same way Sliver Overlord decks do. As such, I suggest adding at least ten more dragons. This gives you the versatility to make Scion what you need it to be at any given moment.

My last comment involves Training Grounds. Very few of your cards utilize the cost reduction in activated abilities. My only guess is that it's only really there for your General. If that is the case, I highly suggest taking it out. For 1) It will only reduce the cost by 1 and 2) Scion's activated ability is worded such that, no matter how many times you search for a dragon card, at the end of all those stacked abilities, it will be the most recently searched dragon card. Doing so exhaust your pool of dragons quickly and needlessly. Lastly, 3) Remember that Scion loses its activated ability when it becomes another dragon. As such, there is no need for a cost reduction when you aren't needing the ability multiple times in a single turn. If this were a Sliver Overlord deck, then that would be a different case.

December 2, 2014 10:58 p.m.

Kozelek says... #9

I love my scion deck and have never lost a game with it something to consider is (I know it's like a $20 card but) Splinter Twin and Scourge of Valkas ether one is awesome both together is a game winner especially if you combo out with Intruder Alarm (I know getting all your combo pieces together can be hard but that's why I run Diabolic Revelation cause it gets ALL your combo cards at once, also a kicked Rite of Replication on said scourge is a minimum of 180 direct damage..... But as you can tell with my suggestions there that I took scions "Clone" ability and ran with the clone sub theme. Now I could go on and on about cool combos and expensive cards you should run but at this point I'll just link my deck for you to look at A Dragon by any other name now I'll +1 your deck and be on my way (if you could return the favor is appreciate it)

December 2, 2014 11:15 p.m.

tillmidnight2356: Wow, thank you for all the input. Farseek is a much better card than Dawn's Reflection, and I'll work on getting one right away. The signets are leftover from when I didn't have the mana base that I have today. But, the 2 mana cost is what really leans me towards keeping them in. And because of that, I think going over 35 lands will leave me mana flooded. However, if I eventually take out the signets, then I'll increase the land count.

I already run Council's Judgment, but the reason why Oblivion Ring, Detention Sphere, and Banishing Light is because my playgroup runs a LOT of Avacyns. Exiling is my key way to get rid of her, and it only needs to be temporary. If there are other spells that exile permanents, then I'd be happy to take them out.

I'm curious as to why you think I would use Scion of the Ur-Dragon's ability multiple times in one turn. I'm well aware that once I transform him, he loses the transformation ability. But yes, Training Grounds isn't exactly necessary.

Thank you for the time you took to leave your input. It is greatly appreciated!

December 3, 2014 10:10 a.m.

Kozelek: That's an interesting combo. I'll see if I can find the space to work it into the deck. I especially love the Scourge of Valkas and Rite of Replication together.

Thank you for the input!

December 3, 2014 10:19 a.m.

MrAwesomeSocks:

Glad you appreciate the input. For Training Grounds, I wasn't really sure what you wanted to do with it so, I was just trying to speculate a reason for its inclusion.

In my five color decks, Abzan Charm and Bant Charm are auto-includes. They are great ways to deal with Avacyn and provide you with flexibility depending on the circumstance.

December 3, 2014 8:36 p.m.

Why not Hellkite Overlord? It seems super s'well.

December 6, 2014 11:13 p.m.

CharlesMandore: Great Dragon! I'll see if I can make space for him.

December 8, 2014 2:35 p.m.

fabler says... #15

December 12, 2014 9:02 a.m.

fabler: I'm trying to find the space for him. He used to be in, but he was cut out.

December 12, 2014 10:08 a.m.

NoSoyYucateco says... #17

Quicksilver Amulet seems like it could be really useful in here for big dragons that end up in your hand, especially when you're running five colors.

And a Rise of the Dark Realms would be a sweet finisher.

It also seems to me like Infinite Reflection could be a blast in here, and would merit running Training Grounds for sure.

I'm also thinking Feldon's Cane and Elixir of Immortality would be smart inclusions.

December 12, 2014 8:55 p.m.

TwoMagicDudes: Yes, I really like Quicksilver Amulet, but it's currently out of the deck in favor of Sneak Attack. If space ever opens up in the deck, I'll try to add it in.

Rise of the Dark Realms and Infinite Reflection are both expensive and unnecessary. I do not run enough creatures to take advantage of either.

Both Feldon's Cane and Elixir of Immortality aren't in because of spacial reasons. If I had the space, I'd probably run one or the other.

Thank you for the input! It's greatly appreciated.

December 13, 2014 10:32 a.m.

Cobthecobbler says... #19

Hey, check out my deck for some ideas.


Five-color Beatdown and Reanimator Playtest

Commander / EDH* Cobthecobbler

SCORE: 41 | 31 COMMENTS | 8699 VIEWS

I base my deck around Scion, and I often use scion as a cannon to shoot of a kill combo whenever necessary. With scion, you're actually able to activate his ability as many times as you can pay for, and he will just cycle through dragons until hes the first dragon you picked (going in reverse).

Theres one way you can really abuse that, and that's with Moltensteel Dragon and Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon. Have him turn into Skithiryx, and then Moltensteel, and what will happen is Scion will be Moltensteel dragon long enough for you to pump your life/red mana into his stats, and that increase will still be there when the game sees Scion turn into Skithiryx. All you need to do is respond to no blockers with this combo (at instant speed; surprise your victim) and pump +6/+0 into Scion and you're swinging for 10 infect, which is still for game, even in commander.

There's other interesting things you can do with your dragons over in my deck, so check it out, it could help you out.

December 13, 2014 10:50 a.m.

Cobthecobbler says... #20

December 13, 2014 10:52 a.m.

Cobthecobbler: I do run a Hellkite Tyrant, it's up there.

I'm curious as to how the Moltensteel Dragon + Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon combo works. Shouldn't Scion immediately cycle through the dragons that you pick? Can you really respond and pump him using Moltensteel before he becomes Skithiryx?

I love your deck. Kind of what I'm going for. It's much much more than just a Dragon deck. Borderline control deck haha.

December 13, 2014 11:18 a.m.

Cobthecobbler says... #22

Oops, sorry, I just realized I was looking at your maybeboard. facepalm

The combo works like this:

Assuming Scion of the Ur-Dragon is already out, and able to attack (hopefully with some form of haste), we swing at the opponent. Also assuming the opponent has no flyers/available blockers/response and the attack goes through. Before combat damage is dealt, you pay and put scions ability onto the stack twice, the first targeting Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon, and the second targeting Moltensteel Dragon.

The stack uses the First in Last out method of sorting, so when you put Skithiryx down first, you threw him onto the bottom of a literal stack of effects, then you placed Moltensteel on top of him.

You allow the change into Moltensteel to resolve, so now Scion is Moltensteel Dragon for all intents and purposes. The stack is asking both players whether or not scion can turn into Skythirix, and in that time waiting, you hold priority and respond with Moltensteels ability. Usually we pay life here, but if there's a chance if this being stopped, we combine any amount of red mana we can afford. Pump +6/+0 into scion and pass priority. They pass it back and Now skithiryx deals 10 damage with infect to the player who, as we said before, couldn't respond to scion attacking, or did not expect something like this.

Epochalyptik -- If there's anything wrong with the way this was worded or with how the combo actually works, can you clarify? Also sorry for tagging you twice.

December 13, 2014 11:38 a.m.

Cobthecobbler: Ah, okay, I didn't realize you could respond to the first transformation of Scion. I thought you had to let Scion's two activation triggers resolve before responding. Thank you for clearing that up for me. I'm definitely going to add that in the deck.

December 13, 2014 11:51 a.m.

That works. Note, however, that Scion of the Ur-Dragon's ability doesn't target anything, and your opponent won't know what you're copying until the ability resolves.

December 13, 2014 2:18 p.m.

Cobthecobbler says... #25

Good point, I realize I slipped up writing that. Thanks

December 13, 2014 6:30 p.m.

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