10 Cool Dragons That You Should Play More in Commander

Dragons are cool. They’re also one of the most popular decks to build for Commander, whether in mono-red, two, three or even five-color varieties. Here we share 10 of the more underplayed Dragons that you should take a second look at… and why.

10 UNDERPLAYED DRAGONS WE THINK ARE COOL

While the likes of Terror of the Peaks and Tiamat are always going to top the lists of the most played Dragons, there are countless Dragons that might look like bulk rares that can deliver surprising amounts of value and synergy for the right build. Here’s our list – be sure to let us know your underrated picks after reading. 

10. GLORYBRINGER

I love Glorybringer. Ever since drafting it in triple AKH, I’ve loved it. This absolutely banging promo card also looks incredible – why wouldn’t you want to play it?

While GloryB’s exert cost may seem steep, in practice, there are enough ways to play around it that this card should see more play. Vigilance is one, but there are also untap effects, flicker, cloning, and dropping the Cursed Mirror you should be playing anyways to just have another one for a turn. It’s a perfect midrange card that comes in, steals the Monarch/Initiative/triggers on-damage effects, and removes someone’s Commander or value engine. 

9. CRIB SWAP

Okay so while this one isn’t technically a Dragon creature, it’s still a Dragon card. It can be tutored with Tiamat, Sivitri, Dragon Master, and Draconic Muralists. The Ur-Dragon and Sarkhan, Soul Aflame both reduce its cost. Taigam makes it uncounterable. Sometimes having access to an exile effect that has this much synergy is worth paying three mana to cast it. Well, two mana in The Ur-Dragon. 

8. SUNSCORCH REGENT

Commander in 2024 is a format where people cast a lot of spells each turn. It’s also a format in which premium removal is saved for stax effects and game winning cards/value engines. The midrange beaters that keep growing have a habit of sticking around longer than they have any right to, and it’s why Sunscorch Regent has been making its way into more of my lists of late. Keeping topped up on life while building a seriously intimidating Flyer is good, whether you’re playing Dragons or lifegain, or just mono-white. 

7. KAIRI, THE SWIRLING SKY

Kairi’s on-death triggers are decidedly powerful, and given there are so many cheap clone effects nowadays – with Molten Duplication just dropping in BIG – getting to trigger this whenever you want by making copies of Kairi is actually really good. Dropping Rite of Replication on her can act as a Cyclonic Rift at sorcery speed, and because she has Ward {3}, she’ll stick around long enough for you to make cool plays. The bonus is that her other death-trigger choice can return the clone and flicker spells you’re running already back to your hand.

6. SAKASHIMA’S PROTEGE

While it is possible to whiff with this card (especially if you’re playing counterspells), the opportunity to have some silly turns with it makes it worth building around. Dragons rely on some of their best anchor-pieces to win a game; Terror of the Peaks, Scourge of Valkas, Dragon Tempest, et al. Sakashima’s Protege can become any of these, at instant speed. It can also be played as a value play on an opponent’s end step in order to untap with way more than you had before, enabling you to turn the corner. It’s flexible and just what Dragon decks enjoy for redundancy. 

5. MOLTENSTEEL DRAGON

Moltensteel Dragon looks amazing in foil – let’s just get that out of the way. It’s also a cheeky way to create a huge tempo swing in a deck that can grant lifelink. Giving this thing Double Strike and Lifelink with Bruse Tarl, Boorish Herder is the dream, of course, but there are many ways to make this work for you otherwise. Think of it kinda like a build-your-own Serra Ascendant EX. 

If you’re in white, of course, the lifegain synergies are greatest, but this can also be a way to lose life if you’re in black to trigger certain effects. It’s also arguably the easiest firebreathing to pay for, costing no mana, meaning it can just kill people out of nowhere.

4. HELLKITE IGNITER

While we’re on the topic, Hellkite Igniter both looks smashing in foil and also has the ability to annihilate players out of nowhere. With the proliferation of food, clues and treasure in the format right now, it’s not difficult to amass a large board filled with artifacts. Hellkite Igniter can come down and receive huge buffs, working to assassinate a player at the drop of a hat. Even if you use treasures to pay for it, and suffer the diminishing returns of doing so, activating it multiple times is still good value. 

3. IMMERSTURM PREDATOR

Everyone should run graveyard hate, and it can often be a challenge including it without feeling like you’re ending up with dead cards. That’s why cards like Immersturm Predator are so good. At instant speed, or when it attacks, you can munch on something from a graveyard. What is exiled grows this flying threat, and it even has pervasiveness in the face of board wipes and removal with the ability to be indestructible at a moment’s notice. This one is particularly good in that it can be played in decks like Edgar Markov and Strefan, Maurer Progenitor just as much as in a Dragons deck. It’s also just good in Aristocrats in general. 

2. RUNEHORN HELLKITE

An instant speed wheel? From your graveyard? Why aren’t more people playing this? Think of it like a “free” discard effect in decks that regularly loot or use cards like Mask of Memory to draw cards – or even just decks that draw a lot and discard to hand size. Yes, stop playing Reliquary Tower.

Runehorn Hellkite is something of an oddity – a symmetrical wheel, which isn’t printed much anymore, and one at instant speed. The disruption here is excellent, and so is being able to be the first to take advantage of new cards.

It’s also just a 5/5 flyer in a pinch, that’ll give you some extra value when it dies to a wrath. 

1. MANAFORM HELLKITE

Is this article Manaform Hellkite propaganda? Maybe. But this card is just so good. 

I’ve run it in weird decks like Sylvia & Khorvath, where I run back-up doublestrike anthems to Sylvia and a bunch of cheap equipment (which turns on the likes of Halvar and Reyav). Those equipment can make tokens from Manaform Hellkite, and even just one turn with a bunch of 2/2 or bigger flyers with doublestrike is a big swing. 

You don’t need to be doing weird stuff to make this work, though. It slots right into all these new-school Izzet spellslinger decks that want to cast multiple spells. It’s my hot pick for those upgrading the Thunder Junction Izzet deck with Stella or Eris at the helm. 

END STEP

Dragons are cool, and the love of them is clear, with The Ur-Dragon and Miirym holding two spots in the Top 5 Commanders of the Past 2 Years on EDHRec. Don’t sleep on some of the lesser played ones; hell, I played Thundermaw Hellkite to great success in the aforementioned Sylvia & Khorvath deck, because it paved the way for my flyers to connect. 

Let us know your niche Dragon picks on X.