Friday, August 25, 2017

Updating Draconic Dominion

Today we get to take a look at updating my favorite deck in the 2017 commander set: Draconic Dominion. What has to go, and what goodies can we find to improve the deck?


Draconic Dominion plays with one of my favorite strategies in all of magic: Putting huge dragons into play and smashing face. I'm not seeing much of a subtheme in this deck other than small ones that play off the main subtheme, like ramp and flying matters.

Out of the box, this deck is really strong. There are still a few questionable choices, mostly new cards that wizards had to fit somewhere (imo). So, rather than list a few cards I don't like and offer a handful of cards as replacements, in this deck I'm going to take out specific cards and offer one or two replacement cards.

Mana Base:
I've seen a lot of complaints about the mana base for this deck. I really disagree. The cycle of tri-lands is great in my 5 color decks. I would personally trade the vivid lands for basics as I don't like keeping track of counters if I can get away with not doing so. Lastly, I would trade out Crucible of the Spirit Dragon for some 5 color land like reflecting pool. Obviously run Cavern of Souls if you have one. Exotic Orchard, Forbidden Orchard, and even Transguild Promenade are all fine options if you are look for some more splashy lands. Could this deck run shocks/duals/fetches? sure, but it doesn't need them to function.

Ramp:
6 Artifact ramp and 3 Spells. And Curse of Opulence if that counts.

Dreamstone Hedron has got to go. The only reason I can conceive playing this card is if I can cheat it into play from the graveyard and draw cards repeatedly. I'll replace it with Explosive Vegetation which is surprisingly absent.

Farseek- If I'm not playing any form of dual lands this should be Rampant Growth.

Armillary Sphere fixes colors, but doesn't actually ramp. Chromatic Lantern is the best choice for this slot. If we need a more budget option, I like Spectral Searchlight as it can let you play some politics. Fellwar stone is another fine option.

Non Dragon Creatures (support)
Taigam, Ojutai Master- This guy is interesting, sure. The only thing we really care about is that he is making our dragons uncounterable. Leyline of Lifeforce does this same thing while being a more resilient card type. If we want to stick with a creature Dragonlord Dromoka is better.

Orator of Ojutai- What? ... .... Hmm ok. Let's replace with Dragonlord Ojutai since it actually does something.

Dragonspeaker Shaman- A simple upgrade to Ursa's Incubator is in order for this. Artifacts are slightly more resilient than creatures.

Dragonlord's Servant- Do we feel we need a fourth card that reduces mana costs of our dragons? Cloud Key can while being a little more versatile. I think it would be better to run another cheap dragon: Phantasmal Dragon

Removal
Fortunate Few- No one is ever going to pick your dragons. Any Wrath works better, I'm going to suggest Supreme Verdict.

Fractured Identity- This is a cool card but not for this deck. If there is a problem permanent getting in my way I don't want to give it to both my other opponents... Utter End is much better.

Rain of Thorns- Well if a land an enchantment and an artifact are giving me trouble this is worth it, kinda. Austere Command should be here instead.

Other Support:
Curse of Verbosity- Giving people cards is a bad idea. I like cards though. how about we just give me cards? Phyrexian Arena is good, but I want to put Whip of Erebos in this slot.

Curse of Bounty- At best this card lets us untap our attacking creatures. Let's skip that whole step by not tapping in the first place. Brave the Sands is the card I want to put into this slot.

Palace Siege- I'm not going to chose dragon on this card, which makes me feel bad. So, we may as well just go strait for the effect we want and play Phyrexian Reclamation, Oversold Cemetery, or skip the hand and play Debtors' Knell.

Kindred Discovery- I'm not taking this out because it's bad in this deck, but because it's better elsewhere. I am replacing it with Temur Ascendancy though, a card I feel is better. It costs less, which means it doesn't compete for a play with dragons, and it gives you the effect you want. If you choose not to remove Kindred Discovery, I don't blame you, but find room for Temur Ascendancy.

Dragons:
Savage Ventmaw- This is the easiest dragon to remove. It costs 6 mana and is a 4/4. The ability it gives you may let you cast something, but it's not likely to stick around long enough to be worth it. Icefall Regent is better for this deck. It comes down a turn earlier, removes a troublesome blocker, and is more difficult to remove directly.

Spellbound Dragon is my next dragon on the chopping block. I don't really need a looter and he just feels too weak. Thundermaw Hellkite takes blockers out of the equation for a turn letting in a late game alpha strike or just some early game beats.

There are a ton of good dragons both in this deck and as viable replacements if you find one you want to take out. Dragonlord Kolaghan is another haste granter. Hellkite Tyrant is great in any artifact heavy meta. Balefire Dragon kills most creatures when it hits our opponent. Rimescale Dragon is a great battlefield controller if we want to switch to snow lands. While not a dragon himself, Sarkhan Unbroken seems pretty spot on for this deck as well.

That is a lot of suggested changes to a deck I already feel is pretty strong. I don't expect every replacement to be followed, some are very minor. These are just some ideas on how to make the deck marginally better in my opinion. Hope you enjoyed, see ya next time.

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