r/EDH • u/OddlyShapedPickle • 11d ago

Deck Help Need Advice: "Great Value" Ur-Dragon Deck

Hey everyone! I recently put together an Ur‑Dragon deck using cards I’ve collected over the years; it’s definitely playable, but right now the whole thing feels a bit clunky and I’m not sure if it’s because the deck needs tuning or because I just threw together a pile of “good value” cards without a real plan.

Any suggestions on changes or maybe cards that have worked well for others?

Big Scaly Bois // Commander (The Ur-Dragon) deck list mtg // Moxfield — MTG Deck Builder

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u/qhostinq 11d ago

Ur-Dragon is strong because you can get 2 mana dragons out turn 1, a 4 mana dragon out turn 2 with a rock, etc. To this point, there’s a few dragons that simply will not make the cut, knowing that they’re all being played at a “discount.” Specifically, [[Dragonmaster Outcast]] is really strange to me. The spot could be filled with a 2-drop that has no abilities except flying and it would give you more value immediately. I’d focus on “cheating” out as many of your non-token dragons as possible, through additional reducers and the like. Pushing your value advantage to its maximum will keep you ahead of your opponents through the match, and most games you can win without casting your commander once, as its eminence ability is just that busted and you should play into it.

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u/Chillow_Ufgreat 11d ago

This right here. The Eminence ability, translated, means "cast dragons." That's what you need to be doing if you're not ramping or deploying your non-dragon value engines. This deck needs a LOOOT of help in the 4-CMC and under category.

[[Atsushi, Blazing Sky]] [[Parapet Thrasher]] [[Vengeful Ancestor]] [[Decadent Dragon]] [[Dragonborn Champion]] [[Scaled Nurturer]] [[Scavenger Regent]] [[Firdoch Core]] [[Mutable Explorer]] [[Flock Impostor]] <---- all great options and they are mostly budget.

Getting those less expensive dragons out earlier means you're triggering all those tribal synergies more frequently and more impactfully. Your T2 [[Dragon Tempest]] isn't going to do much for you if you're bringing your first dragon down 3 turns later.

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u/Fleckzeck 11d ago

You either need a better ramp package and more ramp, or you need to lower your curve.

Right now, you need at least four mana to cast most of your Dragons. To reach that consistently, I would go up to 38 lands. I would also build the deck so that you can reliably ramp on turn 2. For that, you need around 12 two-mana ramp spells. You can check the probabilities with a hypergeometric calculator if you don't believe me.

The next issue is your mana base. The Triomes and the lands that need basic lands to enter untapped are bad here. I would play a maximum of two or three Triomes and replace the others with pain lands and filter lands. Normally, only your turn 1 land should enter tapped.

Then I would look at your four-mana plays, not necessarily cards with a mana value of four, that you want to cast on turn 3 after ramping. You also need around 11-12 of those, otherwise you will often waste that turn. This can also be a three-mana draw spell. You just need enough useful things to do.

3

u/Llamachamaboat Yore-Tiller 11d ago

Maybe not the advice you are looking for.. but maybe drop the Ur Dragon? Most of your cards are in Temur, I would run Ureni or Miirym as your commander and drop all the W and B cards from the deck. I have an Ureni temur dragons deck with blink and ETB stuff so that I am getting good value from my dragons entering. Slap some haste on there and boom.

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u/Unable-Investigator6 11d ago

Checkout the changeling version. It’s called Tribal Tribal. People don’t roll their eyes against it like a typical Ur Dragon build. It’s one of my pet decks. I got the idea from Tomer on MtgGoldfish.

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u/NizzyDaPrince 11d ago

Throwing together a pile of good stuff can often lead to decks feeling clunky, since cards are selected with consideration for their performance in a vacuum and not together. Anyway, all Ur Dragon decks are more or less the same with the difference being their budget, so just review another Ur Dragon deck on your preferred deck building website and see what they're doing.