Magic! In total, there are more than 11,000 creature cards in Magic: The Gathering, with 212 of them claiming to be dragons. Red is usually the first color that comes to mind when thinking of dragons, but dragons are in every color in the game, and some are extremely adaptable.
As your emphasis moves as the length of the matches you play changes, such as with Commander and Standard, your needs to fill out your deck varies. Regardless of the format, you’re playing, these are the best dragons in our opinion.
Skithiryx, The Blight Dragon
Skithiryx wields the ability to fly, which allows him to soar above ground-based obstacles when attacking. This black lizard enters with 4/4 (four power and four toughness) and three excellent abilities for five mana:
- Infect (gives -1/-1 counters to creatures and poison counters to people; players with 10 lose instantly).
- Skithiryx gets haste for one black mana spent, allowing it to overcome summoning sickness.
- Spend two black mana to restore Skithiryx, preventing it from being destroyed.
Skithiryx’s infect trait allows him to win quickly with just a few attacks, especially because he can use haste and ward off several removals. Infect is also effective at eliminating indestructible creatures, who die if their toughness reaches 0, adding to the ebon mythology.
Dragonlord Dromoka
Even without a game-changing ability, Dragonlord Dromoka is one of the greatest Legendary Dragons. It helps mold spell-based control decks by preventing the opponent player from casting spells during your turn, letting you do anything you want without being countered. The 5/7 stats for six mana are also extremely impressive, allowing Dragonlord Dromoka to hold his own against monsters with similar mana costs.
Clockwork Dragon
Clockwork Dragon is the first monster, and while it may not appear to be much at first look, most gamers will immediately dismiss it. What makes you think this is one of the finest dragons? Simply said, he is incredibly flexible since he can be used in any deck, and he enters the game as a 6/6 with the potential to grow in power over time. When it comes to his disadvantage, all you need is Ferocity to counter his removal ability. If you lack in fury, try proliferating.
Dragonlord Silumgar
Silumgar is a 3/5, and while his power may appear to be low, deathtouch immediately kills whatever it battles, removing the problem. Even better, as long as you control Silumgar, you can steal an enemy creature or planeswalker! This is a wonderful attribute since it removes an opposing force while also giving you its strength.
To guarantee Silumgar stays around long enough to use your kidnapped minion, prepare some hexproof or shroud-bestowing artifacts.
Inferno of the Star Mounts
Inferno of the Star Mounts is a strong Legendary Dragon that may turn the game around if left on the battlefield for too long. Its ability to deliver 20 damage to any target after using the repeating ability enough times can be the difference between winning and losing a game.
The main issue is getting there because even if your opponent can’t block Inferno of the Star Mounts, they’ll be able to target you and kill you before you reach the power spike.
Draco
This card is another example of a diamond in the rough, albeit it is not as flexible as the previous one. In rainbow decks, this monster shines the brightest. You could make this card for next to nothing with the 12 different basic land cards you have. Without additional cards that can help you play several lands each turn, it’s nearly hard to get him out sooner than 8 turns, although it’s feasible to get him out on the fourth round.
Balefire Dragon
Balefire, one of red’s many imposing behemoths, joins the battlefield with the customary strong battle qualities and dragon-like soaring ability. He also has a special ability that causes all of your opponent’s creatures to take battle damage!
Balefire can easily slaughter your opponent’s whole army when he hits them directly if your opponent has no flying blockers or if you make him unblockable with equipment/auras.
Ebondeath, Dracolich
Dracolich, Ebondeath, is a strong Dragon capable of massive tempo swings if you have other Dragons to assist him in returning from the graveyard. Its 5/2 stats make it a formidable attacker, capable of dispatching most early- to mid-game foes. You’ll be able to keep reviving Ebondeath from the graveyard to unleash deadly assaults on your opponent if you have expendable Dragons.
Furyborn Hellkite
Like the others before it, this card demands a lot of preparation, but it ranks higher since, unlike the others before him, you don’t need anything special to summon him; simply attack and summon him. A 12/12 flyer is terrifying since it can survive many cards that directly damage monsters and only fears creatures with reach and/or deathtouch. When combined with a card like Haunted Cloak, you may create a very deadly monster.
Atarka, World Render
Although Atarka’s toughness of 4 is on the low end for dragons, a 6/4 monster is still nothing to sneeze at, especially with Atarka’s many abilities:
- Flying
- Trampling (deals excess battle damage to opponent when battling creatures)
- All of your dragons get a double strike whenever they attack.
Double strike is one of the finest qualities in the game, allowing a monster to attack twice with each blow; Atarka not only grants it to herself but also all of your winged reptiles. When you add in Atarka’s trample effect, your opponent will quickly succumb to your creature-piercing friends who deal double damage.
Scion of the Ur-Dragon
One of the greatest Dragon-tribal Commander choices is Scion of the Urn-Dragon. Because it costs five mana and requires five distinct resources, you may use it in whatever Dragon-themed deck you desire. Scion may be converted into a copy of a Dragon from your library for only two mana, allowing you to take control of games by figuring out the proper response to your opponent’s board until the end of the round.
Ramos, Dragon Engine
This is yet another of the Rainbow gods. Multicolored spells are a good source of counters for this card. Unlike most other rainbow deck cards, this one may be summoned with any 6 mana, so you don’t need every color on the field to play it.
Once this card is played, your counters will stack up rapidly, allowing you to obtain his 5 counters after just playing two cards. There’s no need to explain how useful it is to have 10 free mana, especially since if you spend all of them, you’ll quickly regain all five counters, allowing you to utilize this ability every turn.
Scourge of the Throne
Scourge is a 5/5 card that symbolizes one of the finest comebacks in the game. Scourge receives a permanent +1/+1 counter with his dethrone attribute if it strikes the player with the greatest life. You also get to untap all of your creatures and enjoy a second combat phase this round!
Scourge’s powers strengthen itself while allowing several assaults on your opponent; reserve it for instances where their life is more than yours.
Lathliss, Dragon Queen
For a Dragon-themed deck, Lathliss, Dragon Queen is one of the greatest Legendary creatures in the game. By using nontoken Dragon troops, you can overwhelm your opponent with 5/5 Dragons. While the impact of generating more Dragons is powerful, the two-mana cost effect of buffing up your Dragons until the end of the round is a fantastic method to win games if you have a large board. While +1 to attack may not appear significant, it might mean the difference between defeating a more expensive creature and dying.
Deathbringer Regent
This is a card that may be very useful in breaking a stalemate or wiping the board. If this card isn’t countered, it will clear both your and your opponent’s fields of creatures. Normally, this would appear to be a negative trait, but being black allows you to play cards like Bonehoard or Apocalypse Demon from your graveyard or set up for Avatar of Woe.
How can you say no to a 5/6 with flying when it already has so much going for it? Put a Haunted Cloak on this bad guy once more, and you’ll receive a free attack on the turn you summon him.
Dromoka, The Eternal
Dromoka is a fantastic choice for white and green dragons, which is especially beneficial given their scarcity of famous dragons. You get a 5/5 creature with the typical flying ability for only five mana. Even better, whenever one of your dragons strikes, Dromoka adds two +1/+1 counters to your creature with the lowest toughness!
Simply summon Dromoka and your other dragons to bolster your team’s weakest monsters and guarantee that everyone is battle-ready. Dromoka is also one of the most affordable dragons available, and you can often get her for around $1!
Demanding Dragon
Although this card does not have the same clearing power as the previous one, it is less of a two-edged sword. This card lets you deal damage to an opponent for just 5 mana unless they sacrifice a creature. This card is somewhat more powerful in Standard games than in Commander games, but it doesn’t make it any less powerful in Commander. Because it’s a red card, it has a number of ways to get haste and may go well with red mainstays like War’s Toll or Haunted Cloak.
Dragonlord Ojutai
Ojutai, a five-cost reptile with a decent 5/4, flight, and two enticing talents, is another five-cost reptile. As long as he’s untapped, he’s hexproof, making it impossible for your opponent to target him. Second, anytime he does combat damage to a player, you get to look at the top three cards in your deck, pick one, and discard the rest.
Ojutai’s powerful draw effect, unusual color combination, and lack of need for other dragons make him a popular choice in many builds.
Darigaaz The Igniter
When fighting mono decks, this dragon is even more strong, and if they prefer to keep their hand-filled, they’re in for even more punishment. Being a 6/6 for 6 isn’t awful either, especially since you have such a strong ability. Because this card is black, red, and green, there are several ways to add haste, lifelink, trample, deathtouch, and other effects to make it even more lethal.
Utvara Hellkite
Utvara, another magnificent red dragon, sports a 6/6 while also triggering a fantastic self-stacking ability: Whenever a dragon you control strikes, put a 6/6 red dragon token with flying into the field.
When any of your dragons (including tokens) attack, you get a new minion with Utvara’s strength. If your opponent doesn’t deal with Utvara right away, they’ll be crushed under the weight of an ever-increasing swarm of strong dragons.
Crosis, The Purger
This is another card that works better against mono-color decks than anything else, although it’s more of a mill card than a burn card. This is another 6/6 for 6 dragons, which is a recurring motif. This card has a higher possibility of being charmed with hexproof because it also possesses blue. This might offer it an advantage over the previous card.
Hellkite Tyrant
Hellkite Tyrant, with six power and five toughness, easily takes the top place with a wide range of powerful effects:
- Flying
- Trample
- Gain control of all artifacts controlled by an opponent whenever Tyrant damages them.
- You win the game if you control at least twenty artifacts at the start of your upkeep.
Tyrant’s enormous numbers, along with his abilities to fly, stomp, and steal artifacts, make him our greatest dragon yet. This allows you to steal and command common artifacts such as the Sol Ring, Worn Powerstone, and Paradox Engine, as well as gain victory by just having enough of them.
Finally, unlike Silumgar, you get to keep the spoils even if Tyrant dies; once you get them, you have them forever. Despite his terrifying abilities, you can get your own Hellkite Tyrant for less than 10 bucks!
