With over a decade of building comparative card game decks, I still can’t help myself – I love building dragon decks.
A dragon tribal deck was the first Commander deck I ever built in Magic The Gathering, and for good reason. Magic has awesome dragon cards sprinkled throughout its long history which makes building these dragon decks so much fun.
As a whole, some of the best dragons in Magic The Gathering in include, Glorybringer, Stormbreath Dragon, and Thunderbreak Regent. The most played dragons in Magic cost 4 or 5 mana and will have additional abilities such as haste.
MTG has many creatures to choose from, but we just can’t seem to get enough of dragons. They fly, have haste, and when your opponent sees you put them into play, you can feel the tension in the room rise.
In homage of these powerful wing best, I have put together a list of some of Magic’s, past and current, best dragons that you may want to consider finding a slot for in your next Magic deck.
1. Shivan Dragon
I’m starting out by getting one of Magic’s most iconic dragons out of the way – Shivan Dragon!
The Shivan Dragon has existed since the inception of MTG, even being printed in Alpha and still being reprinted in current sets to date.
At one time, Shivan Dragon was highly regarded as the best creature in all of MTG. Additionally, it has seen in decks that made the Pro Tour top 8s in 1994 and 1995.
It’s 6 mana 5/5 flyer body with the additional fire breathing ability may no longer hold up in some of Magic’s more modern competitive formats, but it’s still a dragon every Magic player should know about.
The card is referenced enough with Magic, that even if you never play against it, you will still hear about it – That’s how deep Shivan Dragon’s history is in Magic!
2. Furnace dragon
Furnace dragon has to be a card that was used in one of the strongest decks of all time (Affinity), even though the text seems to contradict itself.
Seeing 6 Pro Tour top 8s, this 5/5 flying dragon has the affinity ability (the spell costs 1 colorless mana less for each artifact you control), but it removes all artifacts from the game when it comes into play.
It was great for Block and Standard formats and was used as a sideboard card being especially useful in mirror matchups (opponents who are playing the same decks) due to this seeming contradicting ability.
3. Skarrgan Hellkite
A relatively new card being released in 2019, this card shows us the power creep on a card like Rorix Bladewing.
It costs less than Rorix Bladewing but offers many more abilities, including riot (it enters with a +1/+1) and an activated ability that lets you deal 2 damage divided as you choose if you pay 4 mana.
This card has since seen 4 Pro Tour top 8s and is a great card for any format you wish to play, especially Standard.
4. Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
2010 saw the introduction of Skithiryx, and it has to be mentioned due it its relatively cheap cost and excellent abilities.
Costing only 5 mana, it is a 4/4 flying with infect (it deals damage in the form of poison counters). Additionally, you can activate its other two abilities, one for haste and one for regeneration. Great for any format but will do well in Commander, seeing it is legendary, which means you can only have one out at a time.
Infected means it will win in a few turns if the normal damage has not already killed your opponent already, not to mention it is excellent for removing pesky indestructible creatures.
5. Niv-Mizzet, Parun
No MTG dragon list would be complete without having one iteration of Niv-Mizzet, and we have chosen this one seeing as it is a newcomer and has some remarkable abilities.
This 5/5 flying dragon cant be countered and has two abilities which when played with a mechanic that allows you to draw lots of cards you can win in one or two rounds.
It is outstanding in Standard and Pioneer and has seen 6 Pro Tour top 8s since its release.
6.Yosei, the Morning Star
Yosei has to be one of the most memorable dragons, which is not red but white, and that came from the Kamigawa dragon cycle of MTG.
Every dragon in the cycle is a 6 mana, 5/5 flyer who always triggered ability when they died. In the case of Yosei, its power was devastating in that when it did die, a targeted player would skip their next untap step, and it would allow you to tap five target permanents an opponent controls.
This card was extensively used in 2005 and 2006, seeing 8 Pro Tour top 8s, and is excellent for playing formats such as Standard, Block, or Commander.
7. Scion of the Ur-Dragon
This list would further not be complete unless we included a dragon that you could use as your Commander and Scion the Ur-Dragon is the ideal choice if you are looking to create a commander deck with dragons.
Containing all five colors of mana in its casting cost, having this card as a commander allows you to make up your deck of cards with any color.
Furthermore, it has an ability that is unrivaled that costs only 2 colorless mana, which allows you to search your deck for a dragon permanent and place it onto the battlefield while Scion becomes a copy of that card until the end of turn.
8. Thunderbreak Regent
This card was terrific during its timeframe in Standard, which encompassed 2015 and 2016 due to its tribal ability.
The ability is that whenever a dragon you control becomes the target of a spell or ability, Thunderbreak regent will deal 3 damage to that player. Due to the fact that you are allowed up to four cards in Standard, this cheap dragon was great for applying enormous pressure.
This card is also an excellent option for Commander alongside Scion of the Ur-Dragon as the Commander with a deck made just of dragons.
9. Silumgar, the Drifting Death
Released in 2015, this card was a fantastic finisher for control decks in Standard format and featured 2 Pro Tour top 8s.
Featuring the abilities of flying and hexproof along with the ability that whenever a dragon you control attacks a player, creatures defending player controls gets -1/-1 until the end of turn. Not to mention it is a 3/7 dragon that, along with hexproof made it almost impossible to get rid of.
This is another amazing card to add to a commander deck made solely of dragons.
10. Broodmate Dragon
From the periods of 2009 through to 2010, Broodmate dragon was one of the best creatures in its Standard format.
Costing 6 mana, this flying dragon has the ability when it comes into play to create a token dragon with flying that is 4/4. This means 6 mana gave you, in essence, two flying 4/4 dragons. Furthermore, due to there being two creatures that came into play, it made spot removal very difficult.
This card was so loved and played that it featured 7 Pro Tour top 8 finishes.
11. Thundermaw Hellkite
This was the first dragon to see play in a non-rotating format since Rorix Bladewing and was hailed as the go-to dragon card for Standard and Modern between the periods of 2012-2014.
It has the standard abilities of flying and haste but what pushes it over the top is its triggered ability that, when it comes into play it damages the opponent’s creatures with flying and taps them.
This may seem inconsequential at first, but this card was being played at a time where many decks were using Lingering Souls, and this card dealt with them brilliantly.
This is another great card for your Commander or Modern decks.
12. Glorybringer
We finish off with a dragon card that has had 21 Pro Top 8 finishes and 52 Grand Prix top 8 finishes.
Released in 2017, this card is still used in Modern and Standard and is also a great addition to a dragon commander deck.
Yet another dragon for 5 mana that has flying and haste this card may seem like it has nothing to offer. However, it has an exert ability that allows you to deal 4 damage to a target non-dragon creature.
The exerted ability meant that you could not untap the card during your next turn, but this is not a train smash, especially if you are removing your opponent’s cards efficiently.
MTG Dragons Overview
There are over 10,000 creatures in Magic, but none as iconic as the classic dragon, which many MTG fans will attest to being the most iconic of the lot!
If you are planning to add a dragon to your deck nowadays, you will now have the option to choose from over 200.
Primarily dragons stem from red, but you can find them in all colors (with some even being colorless) and in many different sets.
What MTG Set Has The Most Dragons?
Seeing as dragons are an iconic creature for MTG, you would figure that perhaps some decks feature more dragons than others, especially since there are over 200 of them, and you would be right.
The MTG set with the most dragons is undoubtedly the set titled Dragons of Takir. This MTG set was loaded with dragons, even having a stylized dragon head as its symbol.
Following that, you have the MTG sets of Fate reforged, Scourge, and Iconic Masters.
Hopefully, this article gave you a little insight into some of the dragons you can use in your own decks and a little bit of history into the dragons that come from MTG.