Scion of the Ur-Dragon MTG EDH Deck tech 2021

MTG Magic the Gathering Scion of the Ur Dragon EDH Commander Power Level 9/10 deck tech wubrg
In depth analysis of my Scion EDH Deck
I thoroughly go through each card and explain it's importance
UPDATE: Mirrorwing Dragon's effect does NOT work as I explained in the video. it was one of my newer cards I added to the deck and did not play test it correctly. swap him out for one of your favorite dragons instead. Thank You!
Dragon Tribal Sarkhan Tribal
Competitive Casual
Check out the full deck list here!
deckstats.net/...

[@backtosquarefun]

Hello everyone! POP QUIZ!!! What is YOUR favorite Dragon?! Let's talk about it!

[@denisscarabelli9255]

The dragon that make treasures

[@backtosquarefun]

Gadrak or Goldspan Dragon are the only ones I can think of lol

[@ACupOfAbsinthe]

Scion of the ur dragon

[@backtosquarefun]

The BEST Dragon!

[@ACupOfAbsinthe]

But my deck builds around artificial evolution and progenitus you can use artificial evolution to change scion of the ur dragon's dragon creature type and ability to become hydra then you can copy progenitus from your library as it's protection only means it cannot be targeted by anything where scion has the ability to basically choose progenitus to copy from then your scion becomes progenitus for one turn.

[@stephanhasenberg7783]

I have two favorite dragons old gnawbone and goldspan dragon

[@backtosquarefun]

Those 2 dragons are some of my favorites from the newer sets as well. Old Gnawbone has some sweet borderless art

[@rulerofrandomness2794]

Teneb is easily my favorite card to use in dragon decks. Once you have a lot of mana it gets crazy reanimating all the dragons.

[@backtosquarefun]

I'm 100% with you on that. Teneb is an ALL STAR and has a unique ability in Abzan colors.

[@cardboardparents1981]

I like how much you really explained the synergies with all the cards in this deck. I don't run 5 Color commanders usually because I have trouble with the mana base. You seem to have got it al figured out!

[@backtosquarefun]

Hey! Thank you for your kindness. I have a good idea on how to fix a 5 color mana base but I certainly don't have it all figured out lol. But I'm getting there! Make a 5 color deck. You'll get there too!

[@kylehysmith3217]

Best way to get better at running 5 colors is to play 5 colors and practice. I was the same way when I started with scion.

[@dustinpowell6437]

As a newer player to EDH and I have been wanting to build a scion deck ( it will be my first EDH deck ) I really do appreciate you explaining the cards more and how they stack up with one another so many people just say here are the cards that can do this ok that's it and leave it at that here that wasn't the case also looking forward to the full deck list when you get that up keep up the good information based videos boss

[@backtosquarefun]

Hello and Thank you for your kind words! I appreciate your feedback and I'm looking forward to creating some more EDH Deck lists. Welcome to the format! Commander can be as casual or competitive as you and your play group decide to make it. So much fun to be had and glad you are a part of it! Thanks for watching!

[@despair2291]

This rendition of scion edh is nice. Slow and clunky but really nice. I can see how your deck can be really fun with a level headed play group. Unfortunately my play group isn't level headed and my scion becomes the biggest threat as soon as it's played. Therefore I've had to focus my deck list around aggressive recursion and mana ramp. Typical games I'm fielding scion turn 4 as a result. I went with a less critter heavy build in favor of board wipes and single target removal. Chaos warp is amazing lol. I would recommend adding pain fetch and shock lands to your deck... those alone will not only speed up your deck but will also increase power level.. everyone anticipating your turn 5 scion to hit the field.. .. only to see it swinging turn 5 and turning into bolas.. breaks moral and sets the tone of the game.. What I enjoy the most about both if our builds though, is that they both lean heavily on a fundamental aspect of the game.. if you master the stack, you master magic. Great job with the video!

[@backtosquarefun]

Thank you for your kind words. I agree with you about the fetch lands, but my play group has banned them bc it slows the game waaaaay down

[@despair2291]

@@backtosquarefun at that same time though, so dose terrimorphic expanse. Your deck essentially runs 3 of those. Due to only running 5 basics, it's "stalling" for the same amount of time.. with the pain fetch into shock lands, sure it would stall a bit however, you would essentially be bolting yourself to fix your mana curve in a format where health is a hyper inflated resource. On top of having the added advantage of thinning your deck by a considerable margin.. though it occurs to me that if the fetch lands are banned in your play group then that would suggest that spells like explosive vegetation and kondas reach are as well. For the same reason.. may be worth having a secondary stack of cards, almost a sideboard, to alter the flow and playstyle of the deck for when you aren't having to adhere to those rules.

[@backtosquarefun]

Yeah Fetch lands are banned in my play group bc they often speed up games. But more importantly our play group disclikes the time consumption of shuffling up 100 card decks. The more tutor effects in a deck, the more games begin to feel repetitive. Our group finds it much more fun to have a randomized set of cards and create games that are a little longer. The longer games give opportunities for more shenanigans lol I respect the speed and reliable gameplay as well, I'm just not ad much into it. Those games are specifically great for "last game of the night" scenarios where there is a time crunch. Imo the cultivate tutor is one of the more simple ones. Cast it, announce "I'm grabbing a plains tapped, and a forest. Pass turn" and search while the next player takes thier turn

[@despair2291]

@@backtosquarefun I mean, fair point. XD

[@D4rkRitu4l]

This looks like a fun casual build for a Scion Dragon tribal deck, but it is nowhere close to a 9 (which doesn't need to be a bad thing, everyone likes different playstyles ;) ). I think it is probably closer to a 5 or 6. I personally also play Scion with a bit more combos and instant speed interaction and more of a mass reanimate theme, but also not even close to cEDH. A few cards that worked really well for me in general are Garruks Uprising, Temur Ascendancy, Rhythm of the Wild and especially paired with mass reanimate effects like Living Death, Eerie Ultimatum etc. cards like Faithless Looting and Frantic Search to feed your graveyard early. For the landbase, of course depending on the budget, I would recommend to cut the amount of lands that enter tapped drastically (I have 7 in a ~budget landbase). There are lots of multicolored lands that can enter untapped, even on a budget (some Pain lands, Reveal lands of Strixhaven and SoI if you are more heavy on lands with landtypes/even basics, Battle lands, etc.). One land worth mentioning as well is The World Tree, even without a Maskwood Nexus combo it perfectly fixes your mana on a land at a later stage of the game. For my favourite Dragon I guess it's a tie between Atarka, World Render; Silumgar, the Drifting Death; Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund (especially with a Standardize on the ETB trigger, I know it's mean...^^) and Beledros Witherbloom (works really well with multiple Scion activations into untapping your lands with BW's ability into a mass reanimate).

[@backtosquarefun]

Hello and Thank You! A mass reanimate theme sounds really cool for a Scion Dragon build. I love the idea of it! Plenty of cards out there to make that strategy viable. You're also right about my etb tapped lands. My play group is more casual and aren't in any hurry to win.. most of the time. But we do have our decks where we compete and don't hold back! Having lands entering untapped will speed this deck up for sure, but might lack consistency in the mana base. I have been looking at the world tree card as well! Seems like a great addition. Thank you! Your top dragons are legit. Kaarthas Tyrant of Jund has won me so many games. Beledros Witherbloom is another on my list. Coming out with an updated deck tech soon. More competitive! Thanks again for your feedback and watching!

[@michaelholloway9330]

I thought scion can only change once per turn, because he is nolonger scion until end of turn.

[@backtosquarefun]

You can stack Scion's ability. And pay 2 multiple times before the first trigger resolves. As soon as the first Scion ability resolves and he transformsz THEN you can no longer use his ability until end of turn.

[@BornFromEmbers]

I’m pretty Mirrorwing doesn’t work with Scion bc the spell is already cast before Scion becomes Mirrorwing. That being said I have a Scion deck, and it’s one of my favorite decks. I’m happy to see vids on him keep it up.

[@backtosquarefun]

Hello and thank you! You are absolutely right. Mirrorwing DOES NOT work the way I explained it in the video. I just recently added him and haven't actually had this scenario come up. I'm sure I can find a easy replacement for him. Do you have any suggestions? There are SO MANY DRAGONS! lol

[@BornFromEmbers]

@@backtosquarefun I play on a budget so I’m sure you could find a better card, but if you’re just looking to protect Scion you can run Belltoll Dragon. That way you’ll have another hexproof guy you can turn him into.

[@backtosquarefun]

Solid choice! Hexproof is always warmly welcomed in Scion. Also, the Artwork on Belltoll Dragon is SO GOOD! Even at uncommon rarity it really is a sweet looking card. I may have to add it for looks alone. It's always cool to see a dragon that isn't mono red too. Great suggestion! Thank you!

[@kylehysmith3217]

Very interesting deck I must say I enjoy the build, and since you did say you are on the more casual side might be the reason for not running just static board wipes. I run more of a competitive build of this deck, but you have a solid build there my friend well done.

[@backtosquarefun]

Hello and Thank you! I tried to keep creature removal on the Dragons inside the deck for when other players get out of hand. I haven't been a huge fan of board wipes but I do have respect for them. Board wipe are real game changers for sure.

[@timbuckto100]

I like this rendition of my favorite commander and may try this out. I might change up the manabase since I have access to the Fast Fetches and Shock lands but I really like the way it is built

[@backtosquarefun]

Hey thank you! Fast fetches and shock lands would help this deck a lot. I might eventually get them, but for now the mana base I've been running has been doing just fine. And doesn't hit my wallet as hard lol

[@backtosquarefun]

What are some of the cards you run in your Scion EDH?

[@timbuckto100]

I am a lot more focused on using scion's ability and bringing dragons back from the graveyard, than cheating them out with cards like elvish piper. Most of the cards I include are mostly just ramp and defensive cards. I try to get Scion out on turn 3 if I can I run a lot of ramp like chromatic Lantern and I opted for Fist of Suns rather than Jodah because my playgroup loves creature based boardwipes. I also run some defensive cards like Cyclonic rift, Krosan Grip, Crux of Fate (dragon flavored boardwipe), and Chaos Warp. Our overall bulk of the dragons we use are very similar. I like to include Skithryx to combo with dragons with firebreathing (Only use it in emergencies since Infect paints a massive target on your back). Another key dragon I run that has saved me loads of games Is scalelord reckoner (Not sure if I spelt it right). It is a very defensive dragon that can take something down with your commander. Also I run a Maelstrom Wanderer due to it's high CMC with the double cascade effect. A lot of my dragons cost less or the same as Maelstrom Wanderer so I can not two free dragons out of it.

[@backtosquarefun]

I love how EDH players can have the same general and go into multiple different strategies. These card suggestions are good! A lot of them I actually ran in different versions of my Scion Deck when I was working out which cards to play throughout the years. The ramp spells were in my deck for a very long time. Especially Chromatic Lantern. That card is an all star! Again, I built my deck around Lurking Predators so eventually took out all those ramp effects and replaced them with creature ramps. Which also synergies with cards like Planeswalker Xenagos and Sarkhan. Board wipes are definitely a problem. Especially in this deck. However, I find usually the player with the most board presence AFTER a board wipe will typically get targeted in my play group. Fist of Suns, walkers, artifacts, enchants, having those sorts of permanents around after a reset can make you a target. Of course, you've built your deck to respond to such inconveniences with cards like Cyclonic Rift. Which is awesome! Thanks for sharing some of your deck ideas!

[@backtosquarefun]

Oh yeah, I almost forgot! I ran Skithryx for a long time too. February 2019 I began to make my first MTG CUBE and ended up removing him from my deck. Skithryx is now in my cube and when he comes around in a draft pack it is hard for me to NOT pick him lol Another great card suggestion. Thank you!

[@martyandthepinheads7438]

Mirrorwing misses timing when scion turns into it after someones already cast a spell targeting him

[@backtosquarefun]

I added a correction in the video description. If you're using my deck list just swap Mirrorwing out with one of your favorite Dragons. Thank you!

[@burningshinato1473]

Thank you, I love your deck and the way it plays! Just a question : you linked the deck list, but when I want to see it, it seems you changed the deck a lot! Like Scion is not the commander anymore and tiamat replaced it... Why? What choices did you make to improve it this way? What are your new strategies?

[@backtosquarefun]

Hello and thank you for your kind words! When Adventures of the Forgotten Realms came out I saw the Tiamat spoiler and instantly began to deck build for it. I put SO MANY hours, years even, playing my Scion of the Ur-Dragon deck. So I used it as a base to start the Tiamat deck. I think I might have accidentally erased the original Scion list on the ___ website. Anyways, I got super busy and never had the chance to update the Tiamat deck or make a video on it. My play time has been rough lately. I actually stepped away from mtg for the pass year. I'm happy to say I have recently picked it back up and I'm in the mood to make a bunch of brews! Look forward to some more mtg content coming soon. I'm glad you like this deck list. It's been my most passionate edh deck build by far! Playing it almost reminds me of all the fine tuning I've done for it throughout the years. ❤️

[@burningshinato1473]

Yeah I can see the passion this deck gives you, just by listening you explain the deck list :D This deck can face so many situations or threats and you have the possibility to regulate your playstyle just by targeting different dragons with the commander. :D And, since your build is made around the lurking predators enchantment, don't you play some tutors to be sure playing it more often ? Thank you for your kind answer and have fun, coming back into mtg :D!

[@backtosquarefun]

Thanks! One of my favorite aspects of this deck is how it can adjust it's power almost instantly. You can increase it or decrease it depending on the other players at the table. This deck can punish the spikes trying to take advantage of the newer players at the table while also doing really cool things without "hitting the gas" Adding tutors for more reliability is a great call. That would definitely help to fetch for Lurking Predators. I personally don't like using tutors, but that's just how I like to play. I like the randomized chance of drawing a card in commander. Knowing each card has roughly a 1% chance of being drawn adds suspense and makes it that much better when playing a game. I also feel tutors tend to create decks which become repetitive and seeing the same way to win over and over again just isn't for me. But I can also see why people like the consistency! I have a lot to catchup on with mtg. So many new goodies out there! Thanks for your wonderful input. It's been encouraging for me to put up some new mtg content 🔥🔥🔥

[@Max-jp6jb]

this deck is not a 9/10 the average mana cost of cards in this deck are way too high you might as well make it an ur dragon deck and you got 1 combo with scion when you can add like 5 better ones and you don't have any removal besides just using your creatures but your not always going to be able to use your creatures to remove threats in-game this deck is just really bad you should edit it's way too mana heavy if I ever played against a deck like this it would be super easy to win all i would need is literally a couple of counterspells and a little bit of removal and it's an easy win

[@backtosquarefun]

Hey Max. I appreciate your feedback. I've been playing this deck since 2008. The mana base isn't perfect but if you haven't actually played this deck, all you are really justifying your points on are off of pure guesses. I've played this deck. Took out cards, added cards, throughout the years. This deck wins games. If you are playing games where you win before turn 5, that simply just isn't my play style. If you area looking for turn 4 wins you gotta check out CeDH. Which is not something I've tried before, but I certainly wouldn't begin to act as if I knew how those kinds of decks work. Good luck with everything. Make commander what you want it to be. And have fun. Everyone has a different idea of fun. This deck is mine.

[@Max-jp6jb]

@@backtosquarefun ok sorry for being a dickhead but as someone who also plays scion your deck was missing allot of really good/high synergey cards and really good combos like moltensteel skithrix or niz mizzet fire mind with curoisty and savange ventmaw with aggravated assualt and even something as simple as the ur dragon with a taited strike are really good combos the only reason i had to comment was because you said this deck was a power 9 when it's not idk who you play agaist but their decks must also be a low power level imo if i was you i would add some better dragons and cut out all the costly planeswalkers or just switch the commander for someone like jodah to make the mana cost cheaper anyways like i said sorry for being rude im just trying to give constructed critsim i don't think this deck is trash but you can defietly make it way better i also suggest whispersilk cloak as it gives scion protection and makes him unblockable

[@backtosquarefun]

Now this right here I can get behind! I built this entire deck around having creatures and to maximize the synergy ratio with Lurking Predators. Many of the cards you suggested, I ran at one point. The whispersilk cloak was great, but I found the equip cost actually made my Scion build a lot slower. It felt like taking a turn off. Still, wscloak is a wonderful card just did not fit with the way I wanted to build. I appreciate your criticism. We gotta lift eachother up! Some of the dragons I run are a bit outdated. I have a upgrade video coming out. I'm making it more competitive so we'll see how it goes lol

[@Max-jp6jb]

@@backtosquarefun there’s allot of ways to make it really competitive I built my deck to be competitive but also dragon tribal but there’s way more sweaty decks that don’t even feel like a dragon deck and those decks I don’t like at all they are super boring but for your competitive build I would obviously recommend board wipes especially living death that card is insane when the board is filled with creatures and your graveyard is filled with creatures also would recommend primevals glorious rebirth that card has saved me so many times and I would also recommend Keiga the tide star but that’s up to you I personally find keiga to be really handy if an opponent board wipes and they’re board isn’t affected I have stolen so many blightsteel colossus with that card cause no one expects it also rysui is all really good too to keep the board on check after board wipes there’s some other really good cards but I would just recommend going on edhrec.com it shows everything but you might honestly already know about that website I’m definitely gonna watch when you build a competitive scion deck to see what spicy cards you add in

[@backtosquarefun]

Max! I feel the same way. I've seen Scion "Tribal" decks with only 5-10 dragons in them and it honestly hurts my heart lol I've been spoiled in my meta. The other players in my group run loads of board wipes. So I cut the board wipes down and focus on the dragons in the deck to do the removal for me. It's certainly a bad habit to rely on the rest of the group for board wipes. And at a certain point I will probably eat it for building my Scion deck this way I'll work on the updated Scion deck. Maybe have it not so focused around Lurking Predators. Should be a fun project. Thanks for your support!

[@joeartz1858]

9/10?!?!

[@backtosquarefun]

Yeah! I think it's a solid 9 (Non cEDH) On the power scale. What are your thoughts?

[@user-my6bp2zo6k]

I think this is more of a 6/10. To be a 9, I would expect worldgorger dragon/ animate dead combo and maybe niv-mizzt/curiosity. Also, max 10 dragons and then way more cheap interaction, 2 drop ramp, cheap card draw.

[@backtosquarefun]

You've made some great points. My main focus of this deck was to keep consistency on Lurking Predators. Ramp, card draw, and removal were all effects I could find on dragons. Thus, allowing me to lean heavier into the creature based Dragon theme. The thought of reducing a Scion EDH Deck to only have 10 dragons makes me sad lol When piloting Scion, you really don't (NEED) more than a dozen dragons to get the job done and get the win. I can see where you are coming from and I appreciate your input! Well noted. Do you have a favorite dragon?

[@paulvandorst4263]

"I built this deck in 2010...." few seconds later, sunbird's invocation from 2017...

[@backtosquarefun]

Yeah man. If you're building a commander deck and never upgrade it. Then you're probably doing it wrong. But to each thier own 🌟

[@atrixgaming89]

Do you think you'll make an update video when the new Tiamat commander comes out?

[@backtosquarefun]

Hello! Tiamat's ability is an ETB (enter the battlefield) effect so it doesn't work too greatly with Scion, of the Ur-Dragon. There is a good chance I will be giving Tiamat his very on deck tech. He looks like a lot of fun to play! Are you thinking about building Tiamat or Scion and throwing him in the 99?

[@atrixgaming89]

@@backtosquarefun Yeah! I'm trying to build a dragon deck but don't know how to put both timat and scion in the same deck.

[@backtosquarefun]

I think the best way to pull it off would run Tiamat as the general and throw Scion in the 99. Then whenever you play Tiamat, you search for Scion as 1 of the 4 and you essentially have them both as your general lol

[@abelsark6686]

Where's Skittles?

[@backtosquarefun]

Skittles was in there for a very long time. I have much love for him. I found I wasn't casting him often and when I would use Scion's ability, I was often shifting him into more of the powerful dragons. Honorable mention for sure! What a throwback

[@elliottedwards3209]

Was there supposed to be a link to the full deck list?

[@backtosquarefun]

Yeah I'm updating the deck list and will add it to the video description soon. Sorry and thank you!

[@anthonyhoussain5794]

I am not seeing the deck list anywhere, am I missing it?

[@backtosquarefun]

Hello! I'm working on uploading the deck list. I spent the time to create it and for whatever reason it didn't save on the website so I stepped away from the project. I can have it up and running within the next few days. Sorry for the inconvenience. Thanks for the reminder, friend!

[@kyleashby882]

And yes etbs do work with scion that's one of the things that makes scion so powerful

[@ever4586]

Can transform Scion 2 times in same turn? After transformation he lost the abbility

[@backtosquarefun]

Hello! So you can stack the triggers on Scions ability. Before the first trigger resolves you can pay another 2 mana and activate Scions ability. You can do this as many times as you'd like but you have to do it BEFORE the first ability activation resolves (When Scion is still Scion) I hope I explained it correctly. Harder to type out then I thought it would be lol Please let me know if this helps! Thanks!

[@ever4586]

​@@backtosquarefun so can i transform in Moltensteel Dragon, pay to give more power and after, transform in Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon to kill a player with infect?

[@backtosquarefun]

Yeah you got it! You have to stack Scion's ability and pay 2. Then pay 2 again before he transforms into moltensteel dragon. Once Scion becomes moltensteel dragon, activate his fire breath and pump his attack before the 2nd Scion ability resolves on the stack. I hope this explains it well enough lol Enjoy!

[@christianmoquin2235]

@@backtosquarefun you cant trigger twice Scion

[@backtosquarefun]

False.

[@edsontorrontegui9491]

Looks insanely slow, powerful my ass

[@backtosquarefun]

Hello! Thank you for your super helpful input. Have a great day!