Dragonlord Dromoka vs Control
Standard forum
Posted on April 6, 2015, 1:37 p.m. by Shill
Hey guys,
So what are peoples thoughts on Dragonlord Dromoka vs control in Abzan Midrange as sideboard?
She is a huge body that basically only dies to Hero's downfall and forces them to use mana only on their turn. If they dont have the Hero's downfall they are in huge trouble because they cant counter anything else we play on our turn.
Can also block their dragons and with a Abzan charm actually kill their Silumgar, the Drifting Death
It still dies to discard, Encase in Ice from post board, Perilous Vault, and Ugin, the Spirit Dragon. I'm also not a huge fan of siding in a 6 drop to improve your matchup vs control. That's a tad slow considering they usually stabilize at this point. Still, if you get to resolve Dromoka, it at least forces them to use main phased Anticipate to dig for removal in most cases.
April 6, 2015 1:49 p.m.
CommanderOfBolas says... #4
TheDevicer: Dromoka will resolve because... you know....uncounterable. that is why it is something to bring in against control.
April 6, 2015 2:01 p.m.
Poor phrasing on my part. What I meant to say if you manage to draw this thing, keep it in your hand, and then have enough mana to cast it.
April 6, 2015 2:09 p.m.
CommanderOfBolas says... #6
Fair enough. It is basically a big threat that limits what your opponent can do. It limits the effectiveness of crux, and requires removal asap
April 6, 2015 5:07 p.m.
I just think that I often play a threat. Then the other player plays Anticipate and/or Dig through time to find an answer to that threat. This way If they dont have Heros downfall in their hand then they need to be playing these spells on their turn and may not have mana up to cast it or if they do then no mana to counter my next threat.
April 6, 2015 6:35 p.m.
I think that if you're playing Dragonlord Dromoka against control it's that you're trying to go ''over'' them and not ''under'' them. By playing the card you're asking for a specific response, so I think that if you plan on playing it it should be in combination with other cards that ask for specific things such as Elspeth, Sun's Champion. Something like 2x Dragonlord Dromoka, 2x Elspeth, Sun's Champion 1x Liliana Vess.
I don't see Dragonlord Dromoka being good if your maindeck is more on the ''get under'' them side (speed, protection)... It would probably end up being a jack of all trades but a master of none.
April 7, 2015 8:05 p.m.
My friend who I do a lot of deck testing with got reeeaaaalll excited about this card due to the can't be countered, and I'm an avid blue mage. Just remember, we can dig through time in response to ol'dude so we still get our answer on your turn.
April 8, 2015 12:58 a.m.
CommanderOfBolas says... #10
you get the answer. but you don't get to cast it because of Dragonlord Dromoka's ability. The point is you lose tempo by having to mainphase it as opposed to instant speed. And if you don't have the answer, well you are screwed
April 8, 2015 1:38 a.m.
I get that, but it probably won't be a relevant amount of tempo if I us 2 mana to purge him out of my 7 Main phase. I'm not in anyway saying he is bad, because I can promise you the control player doesn't always have an immediate answer, but don't put all your eggs in his basket.
April 8, 2015 3:42 a.m.
To push CommanderOfBolas point a bit further...
The control player will either say ''ok'' and kill it next turn or cast dig in response to find the said answer for next turn. Casting Dromoka costs 6, so control might still be able to downfall it and keep a counter spell up next turn.... or not... and this is where the card shines, lead with Dromoka, force him to get his shields down and next turn play an Elspeth, Sun's Champion, Genesis Hydra, Whisperwood Elemental, Siege Rhino, whatever is your thing that control would absolutely want to counter.
April 8, 2015 1:33 p.m.
CommanderOfBolas says... #13
I played U/w control for a while, and Dromoka didn't bother me at all. Granted, u/w is much different than u/b, so it is just my observation that it would be better against u/b, but I have not tested that matchup myself. That being said, I don't like u/w control right now, I don't think it is good enough.
TheHroth says... #2
Chances are, Dragonlord Dromoka will just eat a Hero's Downfall on the control players turn. By the time the game has progressed to the point of playing Dragonlord Dromoka, control has enough lands in play to kill it easily, and not worry about leaving counterspell mana up.
There is no doubt though that it is good. If it lives a turn, it can let you establish quite the board without fear of counterspells or other shenanigans, and makes Crux of Fate really awkward to play for the control player.
April 6, 2015 1:47 p.m.