Thanks for the lookover! I like the changes a lot. I did a few statistic runs for the first 6 turns and made a few more adjustments until it was running seamlessly almost every time. I came up with a blue/black version as well.

BUG - https://deckbox.org/sets/816180
I like this one for its readily available diverse mana and more graveyard pulls. Love the chump-block/tap/sacrifice availability of Rescue from the Underworld with the manna tappers. I left out the Despise, but it can be put back in for Despise/Endless Obedience combo against opposing powerful-creature deck. Using Taigam's Scheming to pull Necromancer's Stockpile make the Sultai Charms less needed, so it will likely be my sideline swing. If I go this deck's route, I'll definitely look into the mana confluence.

BU - http://deckbox.org/sets/816041
This one has weaker creatures in start-game, but lots of option for field control. The Typhoid Rats are likely to get stomped on, so I left Disciple of Deceit on sideboard. This version appeals to me because it costs less money (and tapped mana is the bane of my existence), but it may be weaker overall.

Made some huge revisions and looking for some additional help on this deck. Ideally, there's a creature in the graveyard and I'm using endless obedience by turn 4. Rescue from the graveyards are there to cycle hornet queen and ashen rider's abilities and keep the field clean.

My biggest issue has been getting creatures into the graveyard. Usually I delay a turn (don't play a land) and then automatically drop a creature in the graveyard that way. I'd love to use thoughtsieze, but I am trying to keep this deck relatively low-cost. When I get the cards to line up, the gameplay is very fluid. I'd say about 50% of the time, they don't, however and I turn into a sitting duck. I feel like there has to be a better way to do this, I'm just missing something key.

I've also (occassionally) been without either island/forest. The Sultai Charms have come in extremely handy, but I can't help but think I might be better off dropping green and finding something similar that does a better job. This way I can reduce to a blue/black deck and not have to worry that I'll be mana screwed.

Ignore sideboard for now--it's a WIP until the kinks in the main works out.

First, what help are you looking for in specific? Is the deck not running fast enough, are you looking for more focus, or something else? I've compiled a list of things I'd personally alter below, but it may or may not be the kind of change you're looking for.

Second, casual dragon decks are an asston of fun to play. I played with a rather crude version about 7 years ago, but it was still one of the most enjoyable casual decks I've ever used. I love Kilnmouth, and most of my games ended up being won using him because he can hit the player directly.

The dragonspeakers are going to be a source of extreme aggression from the opposing team; be prepared for them to be burned as fast as you can place them down. You may want to consider replacing them with Urza's Incubator (or at least keeping them on sideline). Same cost as dragonspeakers, but will force people to sideline spells to destroy artifacts if they care that much. You could also run both (4 Urzas, 2 Dragonspeakers), and then you have a 1/10 chance of drawing a spell reduction each draw. If you elect to draw, by turn 3, you'll have drawn ten cards and will more than likely be playing dragons for an extremely reduced cost.

A couple of dragons I like:
Archwing Dragon - returns to hand and cheap; couples really well with Kilnmouth. Will also play extremely well with Scourge of Valkas since it will keep coming into play. Speaking of Scourge, I would recommend playing two of him as opposed to one. He deals directly to the player, which I have always found to be crucial for fast game-wins even in a pickle.
Knollspine Dragon - given you're going the multiple combat/main phase root, when this guy enters the battlefield you can drawn and play a lot of cards (such as lands) and just keep cycling through. In addition, by the time he's out on the field, you'll have been/will be playing a lot of spells during your turns, which means you will probably have no hand more than you'll have any valuable cards in your hand.

Spells:
I'd pull out the Seize the Days. They only untap one creature, but they still cost four mana. You already have relentless assault and aggravated assault and a dragon to allow you to take multiple combat phases. Even without it, by turn four, you should have statistically drawn some method of having a second combat, and they'll allow you to untap all of your creatures as opposed to just one. This frees up two cards slots for things like Urza's Incubator.

I'm curious as to if the Crucible of Fire will work well or not. I feel reluctant to pull it because it's a massive beef, but it seems like its almost unneeded with how big dragons are on their own. One to test, for sure.

Also curious on Sarkhan. He feels like another needless beef; I'm sure he'll work fine, but will he be a gamechanger? Dragons are already huge, so the it feels a little redundant to make them bigger. Again, something I would pull for either a spell reduction, a dragon, or cards that would get me more lands.

The Xenagos could be excellent because of the high mana costs and of course his -6 power which can flood the field with dragons. My biggest concern with him is that he may not be very useful early in the game, since dragon decks are notoriously slow to get creatures on the field, and early game is exactly when you'd want him to be useful. This is one I'd want to try out via proxy to see just how effective he was before officially adding.

Looks like you have a great start here, you just need to balance some card-purpose to draw-statistics. Would love to hear how the deck does when you get around to playing a match.

4

(7 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

Hey there,

Firstly: I took a look through a fair number of cards, but take everything I say with a grain of salt. I started playing magic again in August after a haitus since about 2008, so I don't have anything Modern memorized and I'm just starting to learn the new dynamics.

To start, it looks like you're going for placing counters on a lot of different creatures as opposed to focusing on a few. Therefore, I'd recommend pulling the Hardened Scales.

Creature cards you may want to consider are Ainok (for first strike) and Mer-Ek (for deathtouch). Phalanx Leader can be used in combination with Feat of Resistance (below) or Dragonscale Boon to keep the counters coming.

Instants: Feat of Resistance. I utilize these as self defense; if someone tries to target one one of your creatures with any kind of spell or ability, simply give them protection from one of the colors in that spell. Your creature gets a counter, lives to tell the tale, and any spell an opponent used is effectively countered. I've saved Anafenza quite a few times in my drafts this way; she tends to pull a lot of aggression.

Planeswalkers: I like Ajani, Mentor of Heroes far better than Steadfast in this instance. It's true that Steadfast seems to play well off of Sorin, but with only 1 Sorin the deck and only 2 Steadfast, the chances of getting them together are low. Assuming you did, and very early in the game, this casting them both is 4 mana and 5 mana in respective turns that cannot be used to cast outlast/counter producing spells, etc. My experience with these decks is that there is always something you can do with your mana every turn, so I want as much of it to focus on my main deck theme as possible.

Enchantment: I highly recommend Brave the Sands. I haven't had the opportunity to use it myself yet, but it has been against me several times and it been a game-changer time and time again. With outlast, you can attack with your creatures first. This leaves them open for blocking or outlast (if your characters have it). Should you draw one of those handy elephants that untap countered creatures during upkeeps, you can attack, outlast, then they untap for blocking. And if they are blocking, you have doubled the amount of creatures you can block.

I hope this helps some! And, as always, the best way to test if your deck is effective is to print out proxies and play casual matches until you've found a setup that plays the way you want it against many decks.

Since the black has more variety for graveyard pulls and I have more cards that place creatures in my graveyard, I went Endless Obediecne and BUG. Result is a lot cheaper, and feels a lot more effective.

Thanks for the great tips!

Deck Here: https://deckbox.org/sets/792549

Update 10/21 wrote:

Revised! See latest post.

Old Information Text (Outdated):
Looking for suggestions on how I might improve dynamics (best way to give creatures haste, perhaps?). Also would love suggestions for "large cost" creatures that can be pulled directly from the graveyard. They can be any color, though their abilities should be playable in BU(W). Aiming for 60 by the end, but will max 65 if it seems important.

Idea is simple--keep the field in check with very low-cost creatures with deathtouch until between turns 3-5. At this point, there should at least be some graveyard, and a large creature can be put into play either via via Endless Obedience or Jalira.

Support: Jace & Taigam's Scheming are to keep what should be in the graveyard there while still allowing me to draw the cards I need to pull from said graveyard. Artheros is there to keep the sacrificeable creatures coming, and keep the opponent on their toes, and the Grim's are to make sure my hand stays full.

Sideline: Suggestions welcome! I'm thinking of various counterspells and any spells that clear the board/give minus across the board for those decks built on swarms of 1/1 and 2/2 creatures.

Thank you for taking a look!