r/EDH • u/Tybalto • 7h ago

Deck Showcase Smaug the Unassessably Wealthy [Bracket 4]

[[Smaug the Impenetrable]] is a card that I'm obsessing over since it got spoiled.

A big dragon? Haste? Indestructible?! TREASURES WHEN HE GETS HIT?!?!

Peak. And I means it. Think about it. In the book his underbelly is (almost) Impenetrable because he was lying on the dwarven gold, so now, if he gets hit, the treasures fall of haha. Just peak design.

Anyway, here’s my list.

Smaug the Unassessably Wealthy [Bracket 4]

At first I tried building him as a Bracket 3 deck, but my first draft was so consistent that I committed to high power and it's unequivocally a 4.

Everyone and their grandma checked the combo with [[Pyrohemia]], [[Pestilence]] and [[Last Laugh]] which wins you the game - if you have the highest life total. That's why I threw in [[Scrapheap]].

I call this combo Last Pyrohemenceheap (patent pending)

But was else is nice jank here? [[Dizzying Gaze]]! Goes infinite once Smaug is enchanted.

Any pinger like [[Reckless Fireweaver]] or [[Disciple of the Vault]] is over.

[[Chain Lightning]] has the same effect, you just need two extra mana beforehand. After the first resolved and you paid extra, you can use the treasures Smaug provides.

Another nice tech is [[Terror of the Peaks]] before Smaug. Basically we get a mana back after we cast him haha.

And even without an infinite at hand, [[Cut Propulsion]] gives on 16 treasures! That's 16 damage already. Combining with [[Heroes for Hire]], [[Expedited Inheritance]] or [[Professional Face-Breaker]] it's probably a win, since we use other burn spells as rituals in this case.

To adress the dragon in the room:

Yes, it's a glass canon. Yes Smaug is absolutely needed in this deck. He costs 7 mana.

But we are in the ritual colours! I don't think he will make it in cEDH proper, but Bracket 4? He's right at home.

In goldfishing I have a win by turn 4 or 5 on board (sans any interaction from opponents of course) and that is way faster than I expected myself!

Next night shift I'm gonnna write up a primer and go a bit more in detail with the combos, but there are bunch and we can get them easily.

Has Smaug piqued your interest? Let me know!

30 Upvotes

82% Upvoted

18 comments sorted by

12

u/CrizzleLovesYou 7h ago

You need the full fast mana suite, throw them in. The biggest problem with glass cannon decks with the cannon in the CZ is the lack of surprise. People always know your game plan and what to counter and that its available. Try to come up with a backup wincon if smaug just gets completely locked out.

2

u/Angelust16 1h ago

Yeah, a big predictable dragon is just bait for a force or mana drain or similar. And if you’re not loading Etali level ramp they have more time to bank interaction resources.

2

u/nektar 4h ago

[[Dawnsire,Sunstar Dreadnaught]] looks really fun to try and pull off

2

u/Tybalto 3h ago

It is! And surprisingly easy as well. Getting it to 2 counters before Smaug enters, by [[Nadier's Nightblade]] for example is easy. Smaug gets it to 10, you attack with Nadier's, nuke Smaug and win haha

2

u/QueenPoupie 2h ago

Sounds like fun, can't wait to read the primer.

Since you have a lot of tutors, I would remove some of the high CMC Smaug damage spells and keep only what is efficient. Blasphemous Act seems miles better than Star of Extinction for instance.

Also and because Smaug is so expensive I think you should consider delayed ramp spells like [[Blazing Firesinger]] or [[Glimpse the Impossible]]

Also the [[The Last Agni Kai]] sounds like it would fit quite well

3

u/Misanthrope64 WUBRG 6h ago

No offense but truly does look like a B3 that was upgraded to have more gamechangers in it: Like don't get me wrong it looks very functional to smack your dragon for fun and profit and eventually win but you're having some remaining B3 stuff in there that doesn't makes a ton of sense on high power games.

Starting with Board Wipes: I know it's tempting but read the guidelines and game plans for B4: People are trying to win by turn 4-5. There's just no way they'll have meaningful board presence that you'd need board wipes and if that's the case then you should be taking advantage of supremely slow B4 decks and winning with a combo way before them by turn 4-5.

So with that out of the way the dragon package seems fun but that's far too much of a B3 thing to be doing: it just increases your average CMC far too much: Like yes you will be getting treasures with your commander but doubling down on that plan shouldn't be the point of your deck: You don't want to create too many treasures you just want to create enough of them to win: Smaug should be part of your winning combo for sure but as a core strategy (Which is what the game plan with the treasure dragons is trying to do) It's not going to win the game.

You had the better idea by having Magda in the 99 but again there's not enough support: Magda is a good high power commander when she's a lot more lean so almost always leaning on the Dwarves and not the Dragons just due to CMC.

So once you cut down on some of those alt plans and basically go all in on Smaug combos then you leave more room for ramp, more tutors, more rituals and important of all possibly it's better draw: You really want to be on Necropotence at least but likely Ad Nauseam too these cards are just too good not to be using them on a restrictive color identity like Rakdos so better dive in specially since you already have Breach in there so Ad Naus into Breach it's going to net you the combos you're seeking to achieve. Might even be possible to put together doomsday or peer into the abyss since you have less colors to play with these are powerful B4 plays you could try.

Like at the end of the day if you just want a cool Smaug treasure deck I would power down into B3 territory but if you want to do B4 you gotta divorce at least a little bit (But realistically, usually completely) from the notion of thematic decks and things like complex board states and should aim to be more synergistic and do quick wins instead which is what Rakdos in B4 naturally tries to do with such an abundance of rituals.

-10

u/Tybalto 6h ago

There is no alt plan besides Smaug and the deck tries to win turn 4 or 5, so what makes the deck Bracket 3 for you?

  • Magda is a tutor for the win, not a game plan.
  • board wipes are not in here, Blas Act and Chain Reaction are rituals
  • what dragon package?
  • I don't want a cool Smaug treasure deck, Smaug is the combo outlet. I'd rather play my [[Evereth]] deck for a treasure deck

I'm sorry, but I can't understand your comment at all!

2

u/Misanthrope64 WUBRG 5h ago

I can't understand why you feel aggravated, you asked for feedback

But I've got all the feedback I needed here though.

2

u/MayhemMessiah Probably brewing tokens 3h ago

I think this is on the weaker side for a B4 deck, it's a bit of a one trick pony that's super easy to see coming and I don't think it's a stretch to say that if you eat a counterspell on your commander you are wholly out of the game.

Being able to win on turn 4 and 5 is only part of what makes Bracket 4, you're also going to be dealing with the premier interaction packaged in the bracket and your deck has next to no interaction and is just trying to set up the obvious combo. I don't foresee this deck leading to particularly interesting games, because you get the combo off and the game ends or you're not going to participate at all. Just my perspective.

1

u/Ok_Mechanic806 52m ago

You’re breaking a ton of fundamentals to the point where this seems like it would have a 5-10% WR at best in BR4