Dragon Tempest and Descent of Dragons?
Standard forum
Posted on March 16, 2015, 8 p.m. by Gorgosaurusrex
Two cards from Dragons of Tarkir have piqued my interest: Dragon Tempest and Descent of Dragons.
In a deck with token generators (Dragon Fodder, Hordeling Outburst, Goblin Rabblemaster, etc) It is possible to create quite a few Dragons with Descent of Dragons. Couple this with the damage triggers and haste from Dragon Tempest and you have a neat little interaction.
Does anyone else think this could be playable? Obviously not tier 1, but it can't be as bad as that janky Assault Formation deck (lol).
I've actually seen some GW Manifest/Devotion decks run Assault Formation to great effect, but I'm assuuming the slight wasn't the point of the post.
I think the interaction could make for a fun homebrew to take to FNM, but I wouldn't expect to see it making big appearances anywhere. I've seen a bunch of lists with that combo floating around recently, though, so do some digging and I'm sure you can compile something playable.
March 16, 2015 8:03 p.m.
Check my deck based on these cards.
In Every Good Life There is an Image of Death Playtest
Standard*
SCORE: 6 | 6 COMMENTS | 721 VIEWSMarch 16, 2015 8:07 p.m.
ItchiUchiha117 says... #5
It might just be a play on GR Monsters, ramping into big things like Savage Ventmaw that just so happens to be able to win by nuking the opponent from time to time. It means that Dragon Tempest, Frontier Siege, Hornet Queen, and Descent of the Dragons would be all in the same deck, as they should be.
March 16, 2015 8:10 p.m.
lol I actually built Dragon Ramp for this same idea lol
March 16, 2015 8:12 p.m.
Rasta_Viking29 says... #7
I think a combo deck is possible but probably not tier one. Descent of Dragons has a ton of upside but it is also a bad top deck on an empty board. Red has a bevy of heavy hitters that are cheaper and more consistent as options as well.
March 16, 2015 10:14 p.m.
Gorgosaurusrex says... #8
I just think this deck could play a little bit like Scapeshift/Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle decks in Modern, albeit without the consistency. Depending on how many Dragon Tokens you make you probably won't need to swing to get lethal. 5 Dragon Tokens causes 25 damage with Dragon Tempest.
I was going to put this in the Standard forum but I assumed it should go here as the cards technicality haven't been released yet.
March 17, 2015 11:50 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #9
Discussions about particular formats always go in the format forum, regardless of whether they also involve unreleased cards. The exception is deck help, which goes in the forum of the same name.
Moved.
March 17, 2015 3:52 p.m.
ChrisHansonBiomancin says... #10
It's crazy how, for how well those cards interact with each other, they each pull you in opposite directions for deckbuilding and are thus hard to have together in a cohesive list.
Specifically, Dragon Tempest wants you to play high-value flying creatures (hopefully Dragons), which tend to be expensive. The damage trigger provides a little gravy but it probably won't be very useful outside of this combo since massing Dragons is usually not doable, and win-more if it is.
On the other hand, Descent of the Dragons clearly wants to be played alongside mass tokens and other small creatures.
If Standard had some mass-flying tokens low on the curve (ie Lingering Souls but hopefully Red), I could see a cohesive strategy being possible. However, with the current card pool, including both of these cards in a deck means that one of them will be almost useless without the other.
March 17, 2015 5:24 p.m.
Gorgosaurusrex says... #11
Well I think I'm going to go with Temur colors, so I have access to Elvish Mystic, Rattleclaw Mystic, Sylvan Caryatid, and Battlefield Thaumaturge to make Descent of Dragons easier to cast. Between the mana dorks and Goblin Rabblemaster I should have enough creatures to feed Descent. I could even use Hordeling Outburst or Dragon Fodder.
I think Dragon Tempest will see play in R/G/x stompy decks with plenty of dragons and in a separate combo deck with Descent of Dragons.
March 17, 2015 6:14 p.m.
ChrisHansonBiomancin says... #12
Descent of the Dragons would work well in a shell like that, but Dragon Tempest doesn't have synergy with anything. You could still do well with Temur Ascendancy since it at least affects all of your creatures and still has good synergy with Descent.
March 17, 2015 7:58 p.m.
Rasta_Viking29 says... #13
Outpost Siege, Purphoros, God of the Forge, and Impact Tremors should work with the tokens and dragons.
March 17, 2015 10:53 p.m.
ItchiUchiha117 says... #14
Frontier Siege would, too, either as ramp or removal.
March 17, 2015 11:36 p.m.
Gorgosaurusrex says... #15
I think the sieges and Purphoros, God of the Forge are too slow for this deck. I want to combo out on turn 4 or 5, so spending turn 3 or 4 just casting a siege isn't where I want to be.
The deck will have plenty of deck-digging in Commune with the Gods, Anticipate, Taigam's Scheming, and Dig Through Time. I don't think this deck will be any more reliable than the Jeskai Ascendancy combo decks but it will be just as fun!
March 18, 2015 2:21 p.m.
ChrisHansonBiomancin says... #16
Here's an overly-complicated idea to get both combo pieces to be relevant in a deck: Hornet Nest Fight Club, probably RUG or Naya (Temur Charm / Dromoka's Command). Control the board with Nests and stuff like Anger of the Gods and Roast to give yourself time to set up the combo. Use token-generating Planeswalkers like Xenagos, the Reveler and Elspeth, Sun's Champion that can reload your board to Descent after Anger (Sarkhan Unbroken isn't bad either). Sprinkle in some fairly-costed Dragons like Thunderbreak Regent. Boom. Deck.
March 18, 2015 4:20 p.m.
ChrisHansonBiomancin says... #17
Or just play Archetype of Imagination. Tier 1.
March 18, 2015 4:25 p.m.
Gorgosaurusrex says... #18
That deck sounds absolutely terrible but fun to play.
I've actually had some success with my Temur version of the Descent of the Dragons/Dragon Tempest deck (Descent of the Dragons Combo. By "some success" I mean it can play the combo semi-reliably on turn 5 without disruption. It needs some serious work, and probably some type of cheap counter like Swan Song to help against disruption.
This deck sucks, but I'm having fun with it!
March 19, 2015 12:11 p.m.
I use a mardu deck with 2 Dragon Tempest, 4 Secure the Wastes, 4 Goblin Rabblemaster, 2 Wingmate Roc, 4 Thunderbreak Regent, 2 Mardu Charm, 2 Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury, 3 Outpost Siege and 2 Descent of the Dragons amongst other mardu staples. The other night I was playing an abzan midrange deck that was up 31 to 6 and I had 1 goblin token, 2 warrior tokens an Outpost Siege a Dragon Tempest and a Thunderbreak Regent on the board. at the end of his turn I Secure the Wastes for 5 more warrior tokens. He just tapped out for a Courser of Kruphix and a Sorin, Solemn Visitor he also had Siege Rhino and a Sylvan Caryatid on the board. I exiled a Descent of the Dragons with the outpost and played a 7th land. Then turned my 8 tokens into 4/4 dragons meaning they each do 9 dmg(9 dragons total) when they hit the board, dealing 72 dmg. If that wasnt enough they also all had haste and if they were targeted would deal 3 dmg. I know this is a rare combo to pull off but the look on his face when I explained it all was priceless and was one of my most rewarding comebacks. I love this combo to death, but my deck does alot without it also.
bijschjdbcd says... #2
Most decks are playable.
Also as far as I know this should be in Standard or Deck Help forum Epochalyptik?
March 16, 2015 8:02 p.m.