As you might expect, a major selling point for the set Tarkir: Dragonstorm are indeed, the Dragons. There are a handful of flashy rare and mythic rare Dragons with cool abilities. The problem from a Constructed standpoint, though, is that most Dragons tend to be clunky and not worth the mana investment. It’s often best to look elsewhere for finishers.
However, there are some rewards for playing specifically with Dragons as your top-end in a Pioneer control shell. Pioneer enthusiast Claudioh took it upon themselves to construct a Dimir Dragon control deck, and thanks to some powerful synergies, the deck performed quite well. If you’re a fan of big flying monsters, you’re finally in luck.
Dragon Payoffs
In Pioneer, a big incentive to play with Dragons as your finishers of choice in a control deck is to be able to abuse the power of Silumgar’s Scorn. Most Counterspells in the format are quite situational, especially if you don’t have access to white mana for No More Lies. As such, Dimir control shells have been forced to run a smattering of narrow pieces of disruption like Change the Equation and Censor at two mana.
With enough support, Silumgar’s Scorn is the closest thing to Counterspell we have in Pioneer. Unfortunately, the Dragons themselves have never been good enough to justify playing them over various Planeswalkers and other bombs, even with Silumgar’s Scorn in the mix.
The printing of Scavenger Regent and Marang River Regent may be enough to change that. What makes these cards so intriguing is that, thanks to their Omen halves, they are more valuable than just clunky pieces of top end. Scavenger Regent doubles as a sweeper and a decent midrange body. Marang River Regent acts as both a card draw spell and a late game threat.
As such, despite the fact that you added seven Dragons to your deck to maximize Silumgar’s Scorn, you haven’t diluted your control gameplan in a problematic manner.
Plus, playing these Dragons enables you to utilize Caustic Exhale, which is an excellent tool versus the popular red aggro shells. Getting to play eight one-mana black removal spells in Caustic Exhale and Fatal Push in games two and three is a big deal in the matchup. Fatal Push is still king, but Caustic Exhale getting to answer Screaming Nemesis without needing to trigger Revolt is quite strong.
Traditional Control Elements
The rest of the deck is made up mostly of typical control elements. You’ll find a slew of removal and card advantage spells that help you keep the board clear and give you an edge in the long game.
Most cards in the deck allow you to play reactively at instant speed. For instance, on turn two, you can hold up your choice of Silumgar’s Scorn, Fatal Push, or Deduce, and use your mana in the most effective way possible based on what your opponent plays. The Clue Deduce gives you can be used to trigger Revolt, so keep that in mind as you plan your turns.
As the game goes longer, you can use cards like Dig Through Time and Shark Typhoon to pull ahead. Deadly Cover-Up serves as a solid catchup mechanism alongside Scavenger Regent’s Omen. Eventually, your Shark tokens along with your Dragons should be able to end games in short order.
Strengths and Weaknesses
At the end of the day, even with these Dragon payoffs in the picture, playing Dimir control in the current metagame does have its flaws. The Dragon win conditions are more vulnerable to traditional removal spells than Planeswalkers would normally be.
As good as Scavenger Regent and Fatal Push are in the deck, not having access to white mana to deal with enchantments can be a major liability versus the mono-white tokens shell that’s gaining a lot of traction. Silumgar’s Scorn does line up exceptionally well versus the deck’s payoffs, but you only have access to so many Counterspells.
Similarly, if your opponent is able to sneak a potent artifact or enchantment under your wall of counter magic, you may be in trouble. Both Artist’s Talent out of Izzet Phoenix and Up the Beanstalk out of the multi-color midrange archetypes can run away with games by themselves.
The good news is that your removal and Dragon suite line up very well versus red aggro. You have ample kill spells for early threats and plenty of ways to cement your advantage once you stabilize. Outside of Sunspine Lynx, which you can always counter with Silumgar’s Scorn, you’re in pretty good shape to beat the rest of the threats the red decks present.
Silumgar’s Scorn then eases some combo matchups, such as Greasefang, Okiba Boss combo. Being able to counter huge haymakers like Cavalier of Thorns out of mono-green Devotion for the low price of two mana can be the difference between winning and losing games. It’s cool to see the new Dragons making an impact outside of just the Limited and Commander environments.
