Haha I need some and figured they were a decent price. I am still working on the list and kind of waiting out the new bracket system before I make changes to my decks
Bro the true dragon enjoyer. Going for a max rarity build like a true gold hoarding dragon would. Surprised you don't have one of each of the true duals with that kind of cash in the deck already. Gotta feel bad with that Jeweled Lotus and Dockside being high rarity. I feel you though, I lost the same three cards in my build. Love some of the tech choices you went with, but I'm not a fan of the land amounts. I have a slight bit more ramp, rocks, and draw power and trimmed down to 32. Also trimmed some of the weaker dragons, especially on the top end to put more worthwhile spells in. Honestly though, without counting it looks like my build shares about 80-90% in common with yours. Love the Hall of Heliod though, been thinking of adding that one myself especially since I run Defense of the Heart which I can recycle even without my opponent's going for enchantment hate. You should also check out a busted old enchantment I love to play called Steely Resolve. Also think the addition of Sylvia Brightspear is a cool tech. I ended up dropping the Artarka myself since it's a win more card almost every time. Probably my favorite tech is Fist of Suns. Make's your Ur Dragon always one of each color, no matter how many times it gets targeted down. Goes from a 9+ drop to a forever 5 drop. I've literally casted it and watched someone be upset they couldn't counter it because I could just cast it again. 10/10 highly recommend.
For the mana base changes I found that it was actually fairly easy to drop some of them. I know it's really tempting to just throw in one of each of the fetches, but I actually was able to comfortably cut some. I ended up cutting Flooded Strand, Polluted Delta, and Marsh Flats. I also play with 1 of each of the true duals and then Blood Crypt, Breeding Pool, Stomping Ground, and Temple Garden in addition to them instead of the crowd lands. Then Jetmir's Garden is my only Triland. I'm not a huge fan of the Orchard lands nor City of Brass, but I am running the rest of the all color lands you are plus Unclaimed Territory and Secluded Garden for kindred all colors. Then I run Arena of Glory as a tech for more burst potential if 1 of the 3 haste enchantments aren't in play. I also don't play Gaea's Cradle since I'm not running the token generators and instead opted for Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth for green color fixing plus making your Mana Confluence stop taxing you. Then last but not least a single Mountain for when people use cards like Path to Exile and Assassin's Trophy or the like on my cards, just for the little bit of extra value. I do have a replacement setup for the true duals for people wanting to build the deck and it's simply adding the rest of the shocks which is 6, then 2 more Trilands in Ziatora's Proving Ground and Ketria Triome, then 2 surveil lands in Commercial District and Lush Portico. In all honesty I haven't optimized for without the true duals and I don't like having 5 tap lands, but it's not the worst since dropping or fetching them early doesn't hurt this deck as much as others, though I could see dropping the surveil lands and maybe even a triland for cards like the orchards or City of Brass, I just don't like those cards and I like having a lot of fetch options, especially when you pull a fetch late into the game and it becomes a dead card (which is why I don't like 10 fetches with 11 targets in addition to cards like Nature's Lore and Three Visits pulling some out of the deck themselves). Exotic Orchard is probably the least problematic for me, but I have had it underperform many times before. Forbidden Orchard is the most problematic since it gives players flying blockers for free every time you want mana, which can honestly slow the deck down a significant amount. City of Brass is right in the middle because its tax doesn't cause problems most of the time but I have had games where it is very problematic (especially with all the shocks and fetches also pinging you) and you can't get rid of the tax with cards like Yavimaya Cradle or if someone else plays an Urborg, so it can become a dead card in play at times and act like anti ramp. Pulling a City of Brass in an opening hand is one of the worst feelings since it will likely deal 5-10 damage to you completely by itself.
This is the list if you wanted to mess around with any of the tech I chose for your next version. They're organized in their own categories from smallest mana value to largest then alphabetical. Commander: The Ur-Dragon Planeswalkers: Sarkhan, Fireblood Creatures: Birds of Paradise Delighted Halfling Dryad of the Ilysian Grove Gwenna, Eyes of Gaea Rivaz of the Claw Sarkhan, Soul Aflame Roaming Throne Goldspan Dragon Rith, Liberated Primeval Scalelord Reckoner Scourge of Valkas Terror of the Peaks Ancient Copper Dragon Dragonlord Dromoka Dragonlord Silumgar Hellkite Courser Hellkite Tyrant Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm Steel Hellkite Vaevictis Asmadi, the Dire Ancient Brass Dragon Balefire Dragon Morophon, the Boundless Old Gnawbone Tiamat Ancient Silver Dragon Scion of Draco Instant & Sorceries: -Instants Enlightened Tutor Path to Exile Swan Song Swords to Plowshares Vampiric Tutor Worldly Tutor Boros Charm Cyclonic Rift Dovin's Veto Eladamri's Call Heroic Intervention Mana Drain Anguished Unmaking Teferi's Protection Return of the Wildspeaker -Sorceries Demonic Tutor Farseek Nature's Lore Three Visits Fabricate Tempt with Discovery Crux of Fate Ruinous Ultimatum Artifacts & Enchantments: -Artifacts Sol Ring Arcane Signet Fellwar Stone Orb of Dragonkind Chromatic Lantern Fist of Suns Urza's Incubator The One Ring The Great Henge -Enchantments Dragon Tempest Steely Resolve Rhystic Study Rhythm of the Wild Temur Ascendancy Defense of the Heart Smothering Tithe Lands: 1 Mountain -True Duals Badlands Bayou Plateau Savannah Scrubland Taiga Tropical Island Tundra Underground Sea Volcanic Island -Shocks Blood Crypt Breeding Pool Stomping Ground Temple Garden -Trilands Jetmir's Garden -Fetches Arid Mesa Bloodstained Mire Misty Rainforest Scalding Tarn Verdant Catacombs Windswept Heath Wooded Foothills -All Colors Cavern of Souls Command Tower Haven of the Spirit Dragon Mana Confluence Reflecting Pool Secluded Courtyard Unclaimed Territory -Utility Arena of Glory Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth True Dual Replacements: Commercial District Godless Shrine Hallowed Fountain Ketria Triome Lush Portico (or Exotic Orchard) Overgrown Tomb Sacred Foundry Steam Vents Watery Grave Ziatora's Proving Ground
There's probably a few cards I have continuously swapped in and out in a couple slots and I'm not sure which would be considered optimal honestly. Like Fabricate for Imperial Seal. The cheapness of 1 black and 2 life is certainly better, but sometimes putting it straight into your hand can make the difference for grabbing a Fist of Suns or One Ring and 2 extra mana isn't game changing with this much ramp and mana rocks in the deck. Urza's incubator is another one I've swapped out for other tech, but I find it consistently gives 4+ mana in value and has earned its keep in this list for now. Then there's Return of the Wildspeaker and Last March of the Ents. While I love Last March and think it is an amazing card, I find having the cheaper card at instant speed can really make the difference, even if it is technically less value. The pure draw power is all that is really needed. I've also messed around with Scion of Draco's slot with cards like Scion of the Ur Dragon, Klauth Unrivaled Ancient, Scourge of the Throne, Hellkite Charger, and a few other strong dragons. I feel that is the most flexible slot currently and it is hard to pick. I am running Draco now because it can consistently be played on turn 3 half the time for 1 mana and still provides a lot of value. There's also Farseek that I have swapped with Skyshroud Claim and Open the Way, all three of which are solid choices, but I think the added 2 drop is more beneficial so that you are less likely to have a dead turn 2. A handful of the tech cards I would like to play, but haven't found cards worth dropping for them are Kindred Discovery, Painful Truths, Assassin's Trophy, Dawn's Truce, Monster Manual, and Kindred Boon to name a few. If I dropped any one card and were forced to put one more card in I would instantly put 1 of the fetches back in (probably Flooded Strand) and go to 33 lands, but I have this deck tuned fairly well and don't get mana screwed hardly at all and I feel every card in this list has earned it's spot with good use value so it is hard to trim it. If I were forced to I would probably say Urza's Incubator for the 8th fetch, but I haven't justified it to myself yet.
Hey! Thanks a lot! I appreciate your post and everything that went into it. I’d live to deep dive in real time! Add me and join the discord! I’m sure the community would enjoy having you!
@@IDraken1221 I took a whole shower during the intro and when I got out you STILL had not got to the deck tech 😂. I was like “what the f* is this guy talking about”
Solid card! My opinion the mana value of the spell to not get immediately payed off puts it out of my list. With that, if you can ensure you double spell it can be quite oppressive!
I like jeweled lotus generally but I took it out. My issue is that UR dragon is a 9 mana drop. If you play it too soon people will prep removal or counters and if your holding onto it at the exact moment you can cast the ur dragon. It's usually burning a hole in your hand for multiple turns. I personally feel like you can replace jeweled lotus with a different mana rock. Especially one that isn't as obvious and you can put to use as soon as you draw it. I have mox amber for example if you want another 0 drop mana rock. The deck has a lot of legendaries so I don't see it being a problem. You can also have a medallion instead. I counted and I have 27 cards in my deck that would benefit from a ruby medalian, in addition to the the ur dragon discount. I also may throw emerald medallion in their because I have 11 cards that would benefit from it, but I'm iffy on that.
I added patchwork banner as a mana rock. It's cool cause you choose a creature type and creatures of that type get a +1/+1 and you can tap the artifact for 1 mana of any color. It's a 3 generic mana cost so not bad imo. I also added ancient cornucopia. It's a 3 drop mana rock 2 generic 1 green, it's taps for one mana of any color, but depending on how many different color pips a spell is you heal that much. So if you use it to cast klauthe for example you get 2 health or if you use it to cast scion of the ur dragon you heal 5. I think it's nice because it heals you from using things like mana crypt, your fetches, shock lands or an ancient tomb.
Just played the deck and whooped butt against some other 8 to 9 lvl decks. Was fun to play. Only change I made was to swap in the OS dual lands but other than that used made the deck as is.