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Let's be honest. Dragons are some of the coolest creatures in the game, and Tarkir: Dragonstorm has been one of the most popular sets in recent memory. While it's very easy to assume it's because Dragons are sweet and people love them, it's also very likely that people just like Magic sets that feel like Magic sets, and not ghost cars and cowboys and 80's horror movies. (To be fair, a lot of those sets were good, but I still take issue with their theming.)
With Tarkir's success, I thought it would be fun to go over some of the best Dragons that have ever flown across our tables. Turns out there are a lot of Dragons in the game, 394 to be exact, so you'll have to forgive me for breaking this list up into multiple parts.
If you're looking for some cool Dragons to try out for your Commander decks, your Cube, or just want to see some Dragons that had a historical impact on the game, let's get started!
Ancient Copper Dragon
There are quite a few very ridiculous Dragons in Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate. We'll be going over a couple of them, but Ancient Copper Dragon is definitely the most egregious offender. Depending on the version, its price is anywhere from $80 to $200, and with good reason!
With a single attack, this guy can make up to 20 Treasure tokens! Let's be honest, anything over four is pretty ridiculous. If you're casting this on six, then attacking on seven, you have a higher than average chance of generating more Treasures than you have lands. That's basically a Time Walk. There's a reason that every version of Ancient Copper Dragon is a pricey Commander staple.
Bladewing the Risen
Bladewing is an OG Dragon, and was super exciting back in Scourge when he first premiered. He has since been reprinted in a ton of Commander and reprint sets, like Iconic Masters and Commander 2017. It's obvious why Bladewing is a Commander favorite. He's a 4/4 Dragon that pumps all other Dragons' power and toughness - yes, all Dragons which does include your opponents' - along with being a Dragon reanimation spell when he comes into play. That's a lot of value for 7 mana...especially if you're getting something like an Ancient Copper Dragon back.
Bogardan Hellkite
One trend you'll notice is that most of the really good Dragons have seen reprints in multiple Commander sets, and Bogardan Hellkite is no exception. Commander aside, my most prominent memory of the Hellkite is seeing Patrick Chapin and Gabriel Nassif facing off in the Dragonstorm mirror match in Worlds 2007. At the time, and maybe even today, there was nothing more exhilarating than casting a Dragonstorm with a storm count of at least three, allowing you to seek out all four copies of Bogardan Hellkite and kill your opponent on the spot.
It was an absolutely legendary match that you can find the highlight for here. It's definitely worth the six minutes.
Broodmate Dragon
Broodmate Dragon was a huge part of the Alara Standard metagame. The funny thing is, in addition to being a key component of the actual Jund deck at the time, it was also prevalent in certain control decks variants, like Quick n' Toast or Cruel Control. Being able to put 8 power of flying Dragons into play for 6 mana was a big deal at the time, and it's still not too shabby today, either.
Covetous Dragon
Unfortunately, Covetous Dragon doesn't really hold up nowadays. In fact, it hasn't even been reprinted since Urza's Destiny...which has a lot to do with being on the Reserved List, but still! Covetous Dragons was the primary win condition in Kait Budde's Artifact Red Wildfire deck that helped him win Worlds 1999 in Yokohama. The list was pretty epic, and took advantage of all the broken artifacts that Urza's Saga Block offered, including plenty of artifact ramp.
Artifact Red by Kai Budde | Worlds 1999 | Standard League
- Creatures (8)
- 1 Karn, Silver Golem
- 3 Masticore
- 4 Covetous Dragon
- Sorceries (4)
- 4 Wildfire
- Artifacts (28)
- 2 Mishra's Helix
- 2 Worn Powerstone
- 4 Cursed Scroll
- 4 Fire Diamond
- 4 Grim Monolith
- 4 Temporal Aperture
- 4 Thran Dynamo
- 4 Voltaic Key
- Lands (20)
- 13 Mountain
- 3 Ancient Tomb
- 4 City of Traitors
- Sideboard (15)
- 4 Spellshock
- 2 Shattering Pulse
- 2 Rack and Ruin
- 1 Phyrexian Processor
- 3 Earthquake
- 2 Boil
- 1 Mishra's Helix
The Dragon of Tarkir Dragonlords
All five of the Dragonlords - Dragonlord Atarka, Dragonlord Dromoka, Dragonlord Kolaghan, Dragonlord Ojutai, and Dragonlord Silumgar - all saw a tremendous amount of competitive play, both when they were Standard legal, as well as today. You can still find Dromoka shutting down your opponent's spells in Pioneer, and Atarka coming out of the sideboard in Modern Amulet decks. Ojutai was a pivotal finisher in Standard control decks. Each of these guys and gals has been extremely popular since they were printed.
Eternal Dragon
Eternal Dragon, like Bladewing before it, is another OG Dragon from Scourge that still finds homes in Commander decks. Plainscycling is a fantastic ability, allowing you to search for any Plains in your deck, like a beautiful Tundra, and the ability to get back the Dragon at a later point, over and over, meant that this one saw a ton of competitive play when it was legal. Eternal Dragon was primarily found in Astral Slide decks and control decks as a finisher alongside Decree of Justice.
Glorybringer
Oh man, Glorybringer was an absolute beating. Even now, it's still such a powerful card that just needs to be dealt with quickly in formats like Vintage Cube. Ever since it was printed in 2017, it's been a staple in competitive formats. It dominated Standard while it was legal, and it still keeps showing up in Pioneer from time to time.
Anyway, thanks for reading and I'll catch ya next time!
Frank Lepore
