(Bringin' It) Back From The Brink #2: (Potentially) Returning Dragons

Precedent as well as other Magic-Speculators looking ahead at Commander 2013 believe this cycle to be included in each of the five expansions set to come out in early November.

Color me more skeptical on this particular set, but it isn't off base. Wizards likes to combine bang-me-over-the-head obvious inclusions with the scathingly surprising.

I guess that means I won't be surprised if they aren't, and I think that might be a good thing.

All of them except Dromar got new border updates in Wizards specialty products over the past few years.  Darigaaz, Rith, and Treva were part of Duel Decks: Phyrexia vs. the Coalition. Crosis saw new art in the Graveborn Premium Deck, and Rith got this sweet alternate upgrade in FTV:Dragons.

WotC likes to put nostalgia in circulation, and these cards certainly have that kinda quality. Commander was originally based on building around the Elder Dragons after all, and then by extension these guys, and their distant enemy-colored cousins in Time Spiral.

So if they do get printed, you're probably going to favor the shiny newness over the Old Guard, and that's pretty natural for us.

Still, I think there's quite a bit of fun left in these old dragons, and with much of the new tech, I think it's time we tried to get back to our Elder Dragon roots and brought these guys Back From The Brink.

Crosis, the Purger

Discard is strong, but playing
the guessing game and the strength
of his peers really render Crosis Obsolete.
Ranked Third in this cycle, but doesn't
outclass Dromar by much. 

Having Nicol Bolas as your Elder hasn't exactly been great for Crosis, who's just outclassed in Dragon-ness and nostalgia by the most Evil Lord of Evil in Magic. Bolas also has a far superior discard mechanic.

And I know, there are even other, better options in Garza Zol and Thrax if you're trying to get your Grixis on.

Still, Crosis isn't terrible. The 6/6 for six defense will get old in this little review, but he is a little bit better value if you want to have something that's slightly more castable and similar to Bolas.

If you're looking for metagame choices, Crosis is much better than Bolas against mono-colored decks. He comes out a turn or two quicker, which is usually the difference in someone preparing for Bolas and not preparing. His ability can also pressure an opponent to play their spells a little bit earlier than they'll want to, which could give you stuff to counter. Just remember to bring Haste.

Mostly though, I think Crosis is for the folks who like Flying Purple People Eaters and other assorted EDH Hipsters. He's definitely more theme or casual than function, even when he's not a Commander.

Rith, The Awakener

Rith is the best in this cycle.
Has access to two quality strategies:
Tokens, and Commander damage. 

Rith is a deck I saw quite a bit when I first starting playing EDH. He doesn't have a lot of problems in Naya because the options are few and mostly bad. Just ask GG about Hazezon Tamar.

Tokens are an EDH archetype, and Rith's definitely one of the leading leaders in Saproling-making technology.

Moving forward, I see Devotion giving Rith some extra power. I know that sounds strange when you look at his CMC, but if you've ever played against a Rith deck, your opponent basically wants to cast green permanents to match the color of the tokens. If you get an early hit in without anything but Rith on the field, or you're already overrun by your opponent, you might have other choices.

Red and White are mostly support colors. Rhys and Trostani have really taken off as the primary token Commanders, but the big advantage to Rith is that there's a little bit more tempo and versatility that can be created with access to Pyroclasm effects and evasion. Rith is also much more sizeable, which means he can also present lethal Commander damage on the board, using the tokens to chump, whereas the tokens in these other decks really need to swing because their Commander isn't going to get there.

Dromar, the Banisher

Poor Dromar. Maybe someday we'll
have a reason to pull him out of the
clouds and play him. Still manages
a Fourth Place finish in the cycle.

For many, many reasons, Dromar is definitely the one I most pity in this cycle.

If this were the Hundred-Acre Woods, our Esper Dragon here would definitely be "Eeyore." His design doesn't let him get out of his own way, which means he's kind of a mess. To quote my favorite reporter on the street, Mr. Brian Fantana, "Against 60% of the color pie, he will bounce himself every time."

Even worse- he is also severely outclassed by Sharuum, Zur, Merieke, and even Ertai the Corrupted.

That said, I can find a few decent reasons to use him. I like the concept of building around Commanders as a "Safety Valve," or even as a sort of "Poker Face" to confuse your opponent.

Like Crosis, Dromar's a pretty good candidate if you like to go deep. With access to decent control colors, it's probably safe to say that not many creatures are going to find their way on the board. If they do, token decks won't stay very long. Mono-Green decks in general are pretty bad matchups against him. So if you have a Timmy/Ramp style metagame, maybe this is a better option than it looks.

Also, being able to bounce him to your hand for control matchups make him a lot more re-castable than the rest of the cycle. I'm not sure if that's good, but I like to keep costs low and have a good threat at all time. Combined with counters and discard, this could prove to be a grindy way to maintain card advantage into the late-late.

Treva, the Renewer

I'm convinced Treva is worth playing.
The clear Number Two in this cycle,
and makes a strong case against Rith
because of his versatility.

Treva's actually my favorite in this cycle for several reasons.

The most unimportant of these is that I get to call him Falcor, and use my rarely seen and seldomly enjoyed "Neverending Story" comedy routine. Like this one.

Atreyu and Falcor walk into a bar, and sit down. Bartender says, "Hey, the bar's getting ready to close up soon." Atreyu replies, "Don't worry, we won't be here long." They get up and walk out of the bar, walk back in, and sit down. Bartender says, "Hey, the bar's getting ready to close up soon." Atreyu says, "Don't worry, we won't be here long." They get up, walk out, and walk back in. This time, the bartender says, "Okay guys, what's the story? You can't do this all night. The bar's getting ready to close." Atreyu looks at Falcor, then says to the bartender, "Sorry, we have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, but don't worry we won't be here long." Bartender says, "Sorry to hear. Is there anything that can be done? Like, is there a cure?" Atreyu sighs, looks down at the bar, and says, "No. Unfortunately, it never does." Then they get up, walk out of the bar, and walk back in again.

Ba-dum pshhh...

Anyway, Treva's best quality is his color-access. Though they sometimes don't mix too well, having access Ramp, Wraths, and Counters means you're going to weather the storm.

Third, I think he has the most relevant ability of the cycle. Some people will tell you gaining life is irrelevant, which is true against strong Voltron decks and Stompy decks that go unchecked. However, I tend to think it's probably the most threatening thing people can do and still stay under the radar in multiplayer matchups.

Treva's basically the "Rith" of the Life Gain decks. There are a couple of nice little sub-archetypes that would really align with Treva well, like Turbo-Fog or Combo Life-Gain (The decks with Felidar Sovereign and Test of Endurance). Basic control decks really stretch that extra 2-3 life a turn to max value, using him to pose a threat and keeping Treva from being messed with.

The thing people most forget is that Treva can pick other colors with his ability, which is where his coloring also tends to help control versions of this deck that don't like to have a lot on the field. Overall, I just have a lot of high praise for Treva. One of the most underrated Commanders.

Darigaaz, the Igniter

Terrible. Just terrible. Outclassed in
just about every category I can think of,
including artwork. This is the ugliest thing
I've ever seen. Fifth n this cycle, and
even lower in his own colors. Not worth it.

The days of using Darigaaz were over early after Kresh and Karrthus pushed him down the totem pole, and that doesn't look likely to change after Commander 2013 comes out. Prossh, Skyraider of Kher, which was spoiled at Comic Con, is likely to outclass him in the dragon department and simply provide a better alternative to those people who don't want to play Karrthus.

Deep down, I think we all know Darigaaz was never any good anyway. Playing the guessing game with his ability hardly feels worth it for extra damage, because if you have him out, and that damage is going to be a significant factor in the game, chances are you're already winning.

Overall, I find him to be the worst in this entire cycle. I'm sure there are some nice interactions with Furnace of Rath, Gratuitous Violence, Nature's Will, Sword of War and Peace, and Double Strike, but if your general needs to find Magical Christmas Land to eke out W's, the prognosis is not good.

That's all I got for today. As always, feel free to speculate with me about Commander 2013, opinions on my opinions, and good strategies to bring these guys BACK FROM THE BRINK.

Until then, I'll be working on my Neverending Story comic routine. I suggest you work on your own pop culture joke skills too.

-UL