How to Play Dragons (Magic Misadventures Update)
Hey guys NicMakesPlays here.
Today I’m going to go over how to play Dragons in the current format!
Dragons received some new tools recently so here’s my update for Magic Misadventures.
We’re constantly covering new decks so be sure to check out our previous deck guides.
Deck Code: CEDACBAABYCAGAAGBAFQ4AYDBEBQ4ZABAEABUAIFBEDACAQAAEAQGAYJHFLVYAIBAEAAO
[See NicMakesPlays Shyvana A Sol deck details]
Win Condition and Mulligans
The goal of this deck is to open strong early game curves with Dragon Chow and discounted dragons using Herald of the Dragons.
You can control the mid-game with cards like Shyvana and Screeching Dragon until you finish off the game with Dragon’s Clutch or Aurelion Sol.
This deck finishes the game around 7-8 with Dragon’s Clutch or 11-12 with Aurelion Sol.
In this deck, you want to mulligan for a strong early game with cards such as Dragon Chow, Herald of the Dragons, Wounded Whiteflame, and Shyvana.
In matchups where you need more blockers, you can mulligan for Mountain Goat, and in matchups that go to the late game, you can mulligan for Eclipse Dragon + Aurelion Sol.
Card Choices & Key Synergies
Dragon Chow / Herald of the Dragons
Dragon Chow and Herald of the Dragons are two of the main cards you want to see in your opening hand. Dragon Chow is powerful when combined with Wounded Whiteflame because you get to draw a card but Wounded Whiteflame doesn’t kill it.
This allows you to draw a free card, and then play another Dragon to draw again and kill the Dragon Chow. Herald of the Dragons allows you to start playing Dragons at a discounted rate. This lets you get ahead on board early and control the mid-game.
Dragonguard Lieutenant / Mountain Goat
Dragonguard Lieutenant and Mountain Goat are your extra two drops of the deck. Dragonguard Lieutenant’s Challenger helps you gain value through combat trading or deal with tons of threats like Eye of the Dragon, Crackshot Corsair, Elusives, Dragon Chow, Monkey Idol, and more.
Mountain Goat is a great generic 2 drop that can help generate Gems. These Gems can be used to trigger Wounded Whiteflame’s Fated Keyword or just buff Dragons attack and heal them after combat trades.
Wounded Whiteflame / Shyvana
Wounded Whiteflame and Shyvana are your cheapest Dragons in the deck and the ones you want to mulligan for. Wounded Whiteflame has great stats and can strike Dragon Chow to draw a card without killing it. This is great to draw a free card and then draw again with another Dragon later.
Wounded Whiteflame’s Fated keyword also continuously gives him free stats with Gems, Sharpsight, Single Combat, and Concerted Strike. Shyvana can come down on turns 3-4 depending on if you have Herald of the Dragons or not. You can start to work towards her level-up progress right away so she can start generating Strafing Strikes mid-game to remove threats.
Aurelion Sol / Dragon’s Clutch
Aurelion Sol and Dragon’s Clutch are how you finish the game. You can combo Eclipse Dragon into Aurelion Sol to play him two turns earlier on turn 8. If you have Herald of the Dragons you can potentially play him earlier on turns 6-7. Aurelion Sol gives you powerful finishers such as The Scourge, Living Legends, The Destroyer, and The Immortal Phoenix.
When Aurelion Sol is leveled your Celestials all cost 0 so you can easily use a ton of powerful spells for cheap and flood the board with strong units. Dragon’s Clutch is also a great finisher since it can give all your Dragon’s Overwhelm and blow your opponent out with tons of damage. Dragon’s Clutch is also nice because it can double as refuel making it a unique card.
Single Combat / Concerted Strike
Single Combat and Concerted Strike help you interact with your opponent and deal with their threats. Single Combat is a cheap 2 mana spell that lets you remove early game threats or have answers to things when you are low on mana. The units strike each other but Dragons generally have beefier stats than their enemies.
You can also use this in response to removal spells such as Thermogenic Beam to get value from a unit that is already going to die. Concerted Strike helps deal with enemy threats such as Lee Sin or Ezreal and doesn’t allow them to strike back. This is also great to deal with enemies who have Barrier since your units strike twice. You can use these cards with Mountain Goat to generate Gems, level Shyvana, or trigger your Fury and Fated keywords.
Good Matchups
This deck is great against Control decks and Midrange decks. Against Control decks, you can open a strong early game curve and start commanding the game with your beefy stat lines.
Control decks have to invest a lot more spells to kill units with high health so Wounded Whiteflame, Shyvana, and Screeching Dragon do great in the mid-game.
You can use Single Combat to deal with threats like Veigar for cheap and Sharpsight to buff your units to live even longer through removal spells. Dragon’s Clutch and Eclipse Dragon → Aurelion Sol are both reliable ways to finish these matchups.
Dragon’s are also good against Midrange due to their beefy stats and Concerted Strike allowing you to remove threats and create favorable trades.
Bad Matchups
Dragons have a weak matchup against Lurk and Aggro. To help against Aggro, Solari Sunforger can heal back tons of health especially when combined with Single Combat, Concerted Strike and Sharpsight to heal 10+ damage.
Once you stabilize you can use a well time Judgment to take back the board and blow them out.
Tech Choices
If you want to tech in cards you can cut Mountain Goat, Judgment, or a copy of Dragon’s Clutch.
Hush- Hush is to deal with threats such as Ezreal and Lee Sin as well as being generically useful against many strategies.
Strafing Strike – Strafing Strike can be used for more cheap strike spells that can also heal your Dragons.
Chain Vest – Chain Vest is cheap and can catch people off guard. This lets your Dragon’s live through removal spells, win combat trades easier, and triggers your Fated keyword on Wounded Whiteflame.
For more Magic Misadventures decks, head to the Deck Library! To build your own, head to the Deck Builder.
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