Ever since Alpha, Dragons have been an integral part of MTG, and perhaps the game’s most iconic creature type. While pricey in terms of mana, these mighty beasts pack power in proportion, and are often capable of turning the tides of games single-handed. With 33 years of support available, there’s no shortage of Dragons to pick from for your MTG Commander decks, but these are the ones we believe are the best of the best.
The Best MTG Dragons In The 99
5 | Astral Dragon
Astral Dragon is unique not just among Dragons, but among MTG cards in general. Getting to make two copies of any noncreature permanent is massive, letting you copy value engines like Rhystic Study, or even lands if you need ramp. Said copies are 3/3 Dragons, too, which means they benefit from typal synergy pieces like Dragon Tempest and Crucible of Fire.
Another notable facet of Astral Dragon is its capacity for spicy combo lines, such as making infinite copies of all your noncreature permanents with Cursed Mirror. It can also make infinite blue mana and tokens alongside Machine God’s Effigy, for another two-card instant win. These combos give Astral Dragon a ton of play even in non-Dragon decks, though it’s naturally at its best within them.
4 | Twinflame Tyrant
We’ve seen plenty of damage-doubling effects in Magic over the years, but Twinflame Tyrant is probably the best of them. At five mana, it’s much cheaper than Angrath’s Marauders, while still doubling all damage unlike Solphim, Mayhem Dominus. The result is a card that can slot into a wide array of decks, whether you’re burning opponents down with Guttersnipe or bashing in with Tyrant itself.
Twinflame Tyrant is a natural fit in Dragon Typal, since doubling damage from heavy hitters like Old Gnawbone can seriously swing a game. Even outside of that, Twinflame Tyrant can massively boost board wipes like Pyroclasm, and turn spells like Chandra’s Ignition into sneaky instant wins. Factor in a very serviceable Flying body, and Twinflame Tyrant is one of the best MTG Dragons in recent years.
3 | Hoarding Broodlord
Hoarding Broodlord is notorious all the way up to cEDH for its wild combo potential. By grabbing Saw in Half with its enters trigger, you can immediately create two more Broodlords, which can then tutor up more combo pieces. With rituals like Sacrifice, and mass recursion like Yawgmoth’s Will, this can easily lead to a full-on Storm turn, essentially making Broodlord a one-card combo engine.
High-end degeneracy aside, Hoarding Broodlord is just a very solid card even when played fairly. You can cast the card it grabs even if Broodlord is removed, which makes it a fine tutor effect in any deck that goes reasonably wide.
2 | Ancient Copper Dragon
The entire Ancient Dragon cycle from Battle for Baldur’s Gate is excellent in Commander, but Ancient Copper Dragon is the easy highlight. Connecting with this monster just once will net you, on average, 10 Treasures, which is a game-winning amount of mana in many cases. This can launch you into more big Dragons like Ancient Silver Dragon, or just net you a ton of triggers for cards like Reckless Fireweaver.
Ancient Copper Dragon is so powerful, in fact, that it’s even managed to secure a spot in cEDH, in Magda, Brazen Outlaw lists. There, the card is an ideal target for Magda to tutor up, and can go on to generate enough Treasures to spin into more free Dragons single-handed. Whether you’re playing at bracket two or cEDH, this is one of the best Dragons MTG has to offer.
1 | Terror Of The Peaks
As a cheaper Warstorm Surge on a body, Terror of the Peaks more than lives up to its name in Commander. In Dragon Typal decks, it turns all of your big hitters into huge direct damage spells, especially with cards like Panharmonicon in the mix. It’s fantastic outside of this, too, as it can quickly rack up pings in go-wide Token decks like Baylen, the Haymaker to boot.
Terror also unlocks a few different infinite combos, including an infinite tokens line with Hornet Nest and an Indestructible granter like Mithril Coat. You can also copy Terror five times with Orthion, Hero of Lavabrink to deal a total of 125 damage spread across the table, very likely winning on the spot. Thanks to this versatility and power, there are very few red decks, and pretty much no Dragon Typal decks, that aren’t better with Terror in their ranks.
The Best MTG Dragon Commanders
5 | Rivaz Of The Claw
While it’s unusual among Dragon Typal Commanders in that it’s cheap and not a Dragon, Rivaz is one of the very best options available in its category. When cast on turn three, Rivaz ramps you right into six mana on four, giving you access to big Dragons like Ancient Copper Dragon and Steel Hellkite. When paired with untappers like Thousand-Year Elixir, this removes one of Dragons’ biggest weaknesses.
That alone would make Rivaz interesting as a Dragon Commander, but it also packs a handy recursion ability as well, letting you recast value Dragons like Summon: Bahamut later on. You can use Conjurer’s Closet to get around the exile clause here, too, turning your graveyard into an inexhaustible resource. Though its color identity isn’t ideal, Rivaz makes up for that with its huge utility both early and late.
4 | Scion Of The Ur-Dragon
Scion of the Ur-Dragon is a wild Dragon Commander, essentially providing a repeatable Entomb effect for Dragons, mixed with a Clone element. Turning into any Dragon in your deck lets you cheat in beaters like Ancient Brass Dragon, or utility pieces like Dragonlord Dromoka, to protect a combo turn. You can pull off even fancier tricks with Changelings, such as protecting Scion itself by tutoring up a Firdoch Core.
Scion also loads your graveyard with juicy Dragons, which you can cheat back into play with cards like Reanimate or Bladewing the Risen. If you’re in a hurry, you can bring in Colossal Grave-Reaver to let Scion cheat Dragons right into play from your deck instead. Either way, Scion is a fantastic Dragon Commander, serving as a flexible threat that gradually builds up to a flashy endgame.
3 | Tiamat
Tutor effects are notoriously powerful in Commander, and Tiamat provides five of them in a single card. Though it can only find Dragons, this still gives you plenty of options, whether it’s nabbing Scavenger Regent for a board wipe, or Stormscale Scion as a finisher. You can also grab tools to help you cast your new handful of Dragons, such as Morophon, the Boundless.
Though mostly a fair Commander, Tiamat can also pull off a nasty infinite combo with Dracogenesis and Cloudstone Curio. This lets you loop Tiamat repeatedly to put every single Dragon in your deck into play, likely winning at once thanks to something like Terror of the Peaks. However you choose to play Tiamat, its deceptively simple ability gives you a huge amount of freedom.
2 | Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm
Magic’s Dragons can be tricky enough to face by themselves, so it’s unsurprising that Miirym’s Dragon-doubling ability is one of the best options for the type in Commander. Getting extra copies of damage dealers like Scourge of Valkas, for example, can get out of hand very quickly. Add in some doublers like Parallel Lives and Roaming Throne, and it’ll be board wipe or bust for your unfortunate opponents.
When winning through sheer board presence fails, Miirym even has some easy infinite combos, such as an infinite blink loop with Worldgorger Dragon. Factor in its ability to ignore the Legend rule, and this gives Miirym a huge range of routes to victory, adding a degree of subtlety you don’t normally expect from Dragon Typal.
1 | The Ur-Dragon
Surprising no one, The Ur-Dragon is by far the best Dragon Typal Commander in MTG right now. Getting a one mana discount on all your creatures before it even hits play is completely absurd, pairing nicely with ramp like Dragonspeaker Shaman to power out even your biggest threats. This more than makes up for The Ur-Dragon’s massive casting cost, as you can easily go the whole game and not cast it once.
When it does hit play, however, things get crazy real fast. All the Dragons you ramped out start drawing you cards and cheating out more Dragons, easily solidifying even a middling position on board. Throw in some extra attack trigger cards like Firebender Ascension and Genji Glove, and this ability can legitimately end games in a single turn.
With plentiful applications both in the command zone and out, The Ur-Dragon is the poster child for just how busted Eminence is as a mechanic. It’s also, by the current EDHREC reckoning, the most popular MTG Commander of all time, putting its status as the best Dragon Commander beyond dispute.
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