The Ur-Dragon Commander Deck Tech

The Ur-Dragon is arguably one of the most powerful and popular commanders out there, holding the rank of 2 on the EDHREC's top commanders list, with over 23,000 decks logged. He's notably one of the few commanders with Eminence, an ability that works whether your commander is in the command zone or on the field, and his final ability of cheating in permanents can make the game completely unhinged. But I'm guessing you're reading this article because you don't want to play "just another Ur-Dragon" deck, so let's get into some creative ways to build this Dragon. 

How to Train Your Ur-Dragon

There are a lot of cards that people automatically throw into their Ur-Dragon deck, like Old Gnawbone, Scion of the Ur-Dragon, Goldspan Dragon, the Ancient series, and, more recently, Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm and kindred deck all-star Roaming Throne. Keep on that route and you have a powerful deck that does Dragon things and is exactly like the majority of Ur-Dragon decks. If that's the way you want to go, check the decklist below, no need to read on. Sometimes we just need a straightforward deck that "does the thing", but if you want to do something ELSE, scroll past this first deck and keep reading.

An Introductory Ur-Dragon Deck

The Flavor Choice

There's a reason that Dragons are one of the most popular types to build a kindred deck into, and there are a LOT of them. Unfortunately, this means a lot of them don't always get used despite the fact that they are fun, flavorful, and not to be underestimated. When recently opening a box of Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate cards, I knew that there was flavor missing in a lot of decks, especially for those of us who also are fans of Dungeons and Dragons.

For this deck, I focused on the idea that we want to get value out of our Adventure Dragons that have both a spell and a creature on them. While I personally included creature cards that make Adventures better, you don't need to do this, but you can choose to make them Dragons with Maskwood Nexus. I chose to not take this route, as every story has someone who's a little different.

Not being as focused on putting the "best" Dragons in the deck allowed me to put in creatures and spells that just don't have room in the 99 of a typical deck. Not that this is better or worse, just a different way to build. 

Lozhan almost serves as a secret commander in this build, with Beluna Grandsquall a close second. I left out a lot of Adventure spells, but the reason they're good is because they're going to give you value and then a creature. The Dragon cards especially are pretty decent, and none of your opponents are going to love a large flyer that comes after. All that being said, I've included a few cards that are going to make your Adventure cards that much better.

In addition to our Adventure package, I was able to include my favorite supporting planeswalker, Sarkhan. Several iterations fit into this deck, along with Rith, Liberated Primeval. In addition to Sarkhan himself, I chose some flavorful spells in Sarkhan's Triumph and Sarkhan's Unsealing.

While this deck didn't include the BIG guys, I am excited to include Earthquake Dragon as a "finisher" for this deck. Though I might in the future swap out cards like Crucible of Fire and Dragon Arch for something that threatens board states, like Thumberchaud or Balefire Dragon, I'm currently happy where this deck sits. It's fun, a little less oomph than some, and perfect for a game where I want to spend time durdling and chatting with my friends.

An Ur-Dragon Adventure Deck

This deck moves a little faster with an average mana value 3.9, most of our cards costing three, and the only 15-cost card not really costing that much as it's reduced by the total mana value of Dragons you control. That being said, I did cut as many lands as possible here, going to 33; it's almost matched with an additional 23 ramp spells, 3 tutors, and plenty of removal and protection.

Let me know in the comments how you prefer to build The Ur-Dragon: big powerful creatures to wipe out your opponents, or something flavorful with cards that you don't see as often? Either way, you should definitely check out his EDHREC page here for some other ideas on building him.