The Ur-Dragon is one of the most popular commanders in Magic: The Gathering. This Dragon is widely considered to be the best Dragon commander for a Dragon typal deck, and for very good reason. Thanks to being all five colors, you can play whatever Dragon card you want in it.
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If you love Dragons, look no further than The Ur-Dragon. Its effects are very useful, especially since you never have to cast it thanks to eminence (one of the best abilities ever printed). Dragons are great at combat and explosive turns, so if that sounds fun, The Ur-Dragon is the perfect commander for you.
Decklist
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Commander: The Ur-Dragon |
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Invasion of Tarkir |
Sarkhan the Masterless |
Atarka, World Render |
Balefire Dragon |
Birds of Paradise |
Bloom Tender |
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Dragonlord’s Servant |
Dragonmaster Outcast |
Dragonspeaker Shaman |
Faeburrow Elder |
Goldspan Dragon |
Grand Wralord Radha |
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Hellkite Charger |
Lathliss, Dragon Queen |
Lozhan, Dragons’ LEgacy |
Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm |
Morophon, the Boundless |
Ramos, Dragon Engine |
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Rith, Liberated Primeval |
Rivaz of the Claw |
Sarkhan, Soul Aflame |
Savage Ventmaw |
Scaled Nurturer |
Scion of the Ur-Dragon |
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Scourge of the Throne |
Scourge of Valkas |
Silumgar, the Drifting Death |
Sunscorch Regent |
Terror of the Peaks |
Thrakus the Butcher |
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Tiamat |
Utvara Hellkite |
Wrathful Red Dragon |
Zurgo and Ojutai |
Blasphemous Act |
Crux of Fate |
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Farseek |
Gift of Estates |
Nature’s Lore |
Rampant Growth |
Three Visits |
Toxic Deluge |
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Beast Within |
Chaos Warp |
Eladamri’s Call |
Generous Gift |
Path to Exile |
Sarkhan’s Triumph |
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Swords to Plowshares |
Arcane Signet |
Chromatic Lantern |
Commander’s Sphere |
Dragon’s Hoard |
Fellwar Stone |
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Fist of Suns |
Herald’s Horn |
Orb of Dragonkind |
Sol Ring |
Descendants’ Path |
Dragon Tempest |
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Druids’ Repository |
Sneak Attack |
Temur Ascendancy |
Canopy Vista |
Cascading Cataracts |
Cinder Glade |
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Command Tower |
Crucible of the Spirit Dragon |
Deserted Beach |
Dragonskull Summit |
Dreamroot Cascade |
Exotic Orchard |
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x2 Forest |
Glacial Fortress |
Haunted Ridge |
Haven of the Spirit Dragon |
Hinterland Harbor |
Island |
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Isolated Chapel |
x2 Mountain |
Overgrown Farmland |
Path of Ancestry |
Plains |
Prairie Stream |
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Rockfall Vale |
Rootbound Crag |
Secluded Courtyard |
Shipwreck Marsh |
Smoldering Marsh |
Stormcarved Coast |
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Sunken Hollow |
Swamp |
The World Tree |
Thran Quarry |
Unclaimed Territory |
Woodland Cemetery |
The decklist contains one battle, 1 planeswalker, 33 creatures, eight sorceries, seven instants, nine artifacts, five enchantments, and 35 lands. The deck primarily cares about Dragons, hence the higher-than-average creature number.
Key Cards
The Ur-Dragon
The Ur-Dragon is widely considered to be one of the best commanders ever printed, for good reason. Whether in the command zone or on the battlefield, all Dragon spells are discounted by one. Though this seems small, Dragons tend to have a high mana cost, and combined with other ways to discount them, it adds up.
You don’t need to rush to get The Ur-Dragon on the battlefield. It does cost a lot of mana, and if it gets removed, it can be hard to get back. Make sure you’re waiting to cast it until you’re ready to push toward a victory.
The Ur-Dragon does not need to attack for its triggered ability to go off. So long as any Dragon attacks, it’ll proc. Since The Ur-Dragon has massive stats, you’ll generally want to be attacking with it, however. The Ur-Dragon acts both as a draw engine and general Dragon support card, doing everything the deck needs.
Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm
Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm is essentially your secondary commander in the deck. It doubles up on all Dragons you play, regardless of if they are legendary or not. Many Dragons have game-winning effects, so getting another copy of them only makes you route to victory that much easier.
Most notable is Miirym triggers whenever a Dragon enters the battlefield. While if the spell gets countered, you lose access to it, if it resolves, your opponents will have a lot of troublesome creatures to work through.
Hellkite Charger
Hellkite Charger is one of the main ways you’ll be closing out games. The Ur-Dragon wins through combat, and Hellkite Charger helps you to gain extra combat steps to win even quicker. Hellkite Charger has haste, letting you attack with it right away.
The amount of mana you have to pay to activate Hellkite Charger is pretty hefty. However, Hellkite Charger, Savage Ventmaw, and either Druids’ Repository or Grand Warlord Radha give you enough mana to pay for it. In fact, these give you infinite combat steps. This is how the combo works.
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Prerequisites: Hellkite Charger and Druids’ Repository/Grand Warlord Radha are on the battlefield. Savage Ventmaw is on the battlefield and not summoning sick. |
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Step 1: Attack with Hellkite Charger and Savage Ventmaw. |
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Step 2: Savage Ventmaw triggers, adding three red and three green mana. Druids’ Repository/Grand Warlord Radha trigger, giving you extra mana to make a total of at least seven produced. |
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Step 3: Activate Hellkite Charger for seven mana, untapping all attacking creatures and getting an extra combat. |
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Step 4: Repeat steps 1-3 for an infinite number of combat steps. This will also provide you with infinite mana if needed. |
Scion Of The Ur-Dragon
The offspring of the Ur-Dragon, Scion of the Ur-Dragon is a very useful card that lets you bring any important Dragon onto the battlefield directly. Scion’s effect only costs two mana, so turning it into a powerful creature out of nowhere can be a game-ending effect.
Scion of the Ur-Dragon sends the Dragon to the graveyard, and the effect only lasts until the end of the turn. Make sure to use Scion of the Ur-Dragon when you’re confident it won’t be removed so you don’t lose access to your best Dragons.
Scion of the Ur-Dragon can turn into any Dragon needed for a combo. For example, if you have one of the pieces for the infinite combat combo with Hellkite Charger but not another, Scion of the Ur-Dragon can become the missing piece to start the combo earlier.
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How To Play The Deck
An Ur-Dragon commander deck is all about putting as many Dragons onto the battlefield as possible and turning them sideways to deal devastating amounts of damage. It is heavily combat-focused, utilizing Dragons with powerful stats and evasive abilities to take your opponents out as quickly as possible.
With how expensive Dragon spells can be, cards to discount them are important. Dragonlord’s Servant, Dragonspeaker Shaman, and The Ur-Dragon all discount Dragons by generic mana. If you control Fist of Suns and Morophon, The Boundless, all Dragon spells will cost zero mana to cast.
The primary win condition of the deck is winning through combat. You want to get your creatures out as quickly as possible to keep the offenses up. The deck is an aggro deck, getting the ways to get your Dragons out as soon as you can so you can start snowballing. This is helped with various haste enablers, such as Temur Ascendancy.
The biggest flaw of the deck is its weak early game. Dragons are not cheap cards to cast, so if your opponent is playing a deck that can flood the battlefield very quickly (such as a Goblin or Elf deck), you’ll likely be the first target. An Ur-Dragon deck is often going to be “public enemy” right away, so your opponents will likely target you due to how many players know how much the deck can snowball if left unchecked. Use your board wipes and removal spells early to keep yourself safe so you can start to set yourself up and stabilize.
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