Dragons and decks! That’s really all we need, right? Right!

Every time a new set comes along, we all want to take the cards out for a spin. It doesn’t matter the format or the form. We collectively have Shiny Ball Syndrome, and we know it. Let’s take these new cards out of their packs and into our decks!

Today, I’ve created a quartet of deckage for your pleasure. Each deck is inspired by a card from the new set that has been revealed—because, after all, we want new decks, and we want them now!

Here you go . . .

I Dodge Wraths

I Dodge Wraths ? Casual | Abe Sargent

• Creatures (10)
• 2 Rainbow Efreet
• 4 Aetherling
• 4 Ojutai Exemplars

• Spells (24)
• 2 Dismantling Blow
• 4 Counterspell
• 4 Ojutai's Command
• 2 Supreme Verdict
• 2 Terminus
• 4 Wrath of God
• 2 Opal Acrolith
• 4 Azorius Keyrune

• Lands (26)
• 9 Island
• 9 Plains
• 4 Azorius Chancery
• 4 Celestial Colonnade

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It was inspired by Ojutai Exemplars, who can Flicker out when you play your Wrath of God. You can also cast spells post-Wrath to tap stuff down to enable further beats. Both triggers work particularly well in a deck like this. Now add in Aetherling to Flicker out for 1 mana—or Rainbow Efreet who phases for 2. Both of those are really keen, right? One has recently made a mark on Standard, and the other did so a long time ago as a win condition in draw-go decks.

Now let’s toss in stuff that can turn into creatures, such as Celestial Colonnade and Opal Acrolith. Just turn off the Acrolith if it has become a creature. The Azorius Keyrune is a great way to make some mana or to make some dork—your choice! You can easily toss in things like Guardian Idol, Faerie Conclave, or Mishra's Factory along this theme.

A few support cards round out the collection: some removal and counters. This seems about as good as any place to check out Ojutai’s Command. The four abilities include some nice flexibility in a shell like this one.

What’s next?

Savage Attacks

Savage Attacks ? Casual | Abe Sargent

• Creatures (20)
• 2 Dragonlord's Servant
• 2 Scourge of Valkas
• 4 Birds of Paradise
• 4 Hellkite Charger
• 4 Savage Ventmaw
• 4 Thunderbreak Regent

• Planeswalkers (2)
• 2 Sarkhan Vol

• Spells (12)
• 2 Hull Breach
• 4 Atarka's Command
• 4 Aggravated Assault
• 2 Sword of Feast and Famine

• Lands (26)
• 11 Forest
• 13 Mountain
• 2 Kessig Wolf Run

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I added in a little backup to the deck as well. Hellkite Charger can sub in off the bench for an Aggravated Assault. It does cost 2 more mana, so you’ll lose 1 mana each iteration, but you should still get in enough attacks to push yourself into a winning position, right? What if someone kills your Savage Ventmaw? You can play and equip Sword of Feast and Famine. Smash someone’s face, and untap your lands! Tap those lands to activate your Assault or Charger as you need. (Consider also Nature's Will.)

Now that we’ve added in the combo stuff, what else would fit? You could run Thundermaw Hellkite to tap down flying blockers on the key turn to help clear the way! But I prefer stuff that’ll give you other abilities, such as Scourge of Valkas and its power to shoot opposing stuff or the cheap 4-drop Thunderbreak Regent.

From there, it’s easy to toss in a complement of mana-enablers such as Birds of Paradise and friends. A spot of flexible spells heads in. I originally ran a pair of Hammer of Purphoros to give a little smattering of haste. But after consideration, I think Sarkhan Vol is a lot better. Round things off with a Kessig Wolf Run, and you have a deck.

You could toss in Skyshroud Elves, Exuberant Firestoker, Flamekin Village, Fires of Yavimaya, or Green Sun's Zenith. Have fun with the unlimited attacks!

After that run with the beef, let’s go a little smaller.

Risen Ash

Risen Ash ? Casual | Abe Sargent

• Creatures (26)
• 2 Big Game Hunter
• 2 Bone Shredder
• 2 Dualcaster Mage
• 2 Fleshbag Marauder
• 4 Inner-Flame Acolyte
• 4 Liliana's Specter
• 4 Phyrexian Rager
• 4 Swift Warkite
• 2 Burnished Hart

• Spells (10)
• 2 Buried Alive
• 2 Dread Return
• 2 Tortured Existence
• 2 Cloudstone Curio
• 2 Conjurer's Closet

• Lands (24)
• 12 Mountain
• 12 Swamp

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I tried to include some fun 3-mana-and-under cards for your consideration. With such an intriguing body of options, your Warkite can do some useful yeoman’s work. Since the Warkite’s ability is one that fires upon arrival, I figured it would be nice to do that with most of my creature base as well in order to give the deck some synergy.

Knowing that this deck is essentially a Rakdos-enters-the-battlefield, lil’-beaters deck gave me a good place to start. There are many strong options out there. Suspecting that our card-draw options would probably be limited, I began with a full slate of Phyrexian Ragers. I also added in some creature removal with Big Game Hunter and Bone Shredder.

From there, it was easy to spice things to taste. I like Liliana's Specter and Inner-Flame Acolyte enough to put in full sets. Can’t you just see playing Swift Warkite, dropping Inner-Flame Acolyte to give the Warkite an additional 2 power in the front and haste and then swinging with both? Then, the Acolyte pops back into your hand for another round. The evoke is great because you can drop it early and then Warkite it back into play later—and even bring it back into your hand for another do-over!

Buried Alive can stock your graveyard with three different options to recur with your Swift Warkite. We also have Dread Return in case you want to bring back a newly dead (or just Buried) Warkite—or something else. After that, I had little space, so in went some flickering and bouncing with the Cloudstone Curio and Conjurer's Closet.

I squeezed in a pair of Tortured Existence. This deck feels like an odd angle of attack on a classic RecSur deck. (Those featured Recurring Nightmare and Survival of the Fittest. Because Survival could tutor for any creature, these decks often had a ton of one-ofs and featured a reanimation subtheme.) Tortured Existence can swap your best dead creature for the worst one in your hand for a single black mana. From getting another use out of Burnished Hart to bringing back the right creature for the board state, it’s a pretty useful choice. After every Warkite trigger, you end with a creature card back into your hand, so you have the fuel to activate the Tortured Existence.

This decklist assumes you are playing multiplayer. If not, cards like Liliana's Specter, Fleshbag Marauder, and Dualcaster Mage aren’t as likely to have as much value. Perhaps you might slide into Ghitu Slinger or even Pilgrim's Eye. You could also consider Crypt Champion or Unearth.

Let’s do one more deck!

Axe to the Chin

Axe to the Chin ? Casual | Abe Sargent

• Creatures (26)
• 2 Gurmag Angler
• 2 Mardu Strike Leader
• 2 Reassembling Skeleton
• 2 Sultai Scavenger
• 4 Blood-Chin Fanatic
• 4 Bloodsoaked Champion
• 4 Paragon of Open Graves
• 4 Risen Executioner
• 2 Sidisi, Undead Vizier

• Spells (10)
• 2 Living Death
• 4 Bitter Revelation
• 2 Carnage Altar
• 2 Obsidian Battle-Axe

• Lands (24)
• 20 Swamp
• 2 High Market
• 2 Phyrexian Tower

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This deck wants to sacrifice Risen Executioner to Blood-Chin Fanatic to Soul Feast someone. Then, just replay the Executioner from the graveyard, and keep on going!

Did you know that Reassembling Skeleton is a Warrior? What about Tenacious Dead? Yay for Warriors!

I then added a few more sacrifice cards beyond the Fanatic, in case it dies. Carnage Altar, Phyrexian Tower, and High Market all work as well. Good job, everyone!

Some other mono-black Warriors popped into my mind, such as Mardu Strike Leader. It churns out a 2/1 Warrior token you can sacrifice to the Chin guy.

Man, Paragon of the Open Graves is even a Warrior. Let’s give our deck a nice lord; don’t forget that the +1/+1 you give your Warriors will only increase the life-loss from your foes as you activate Blood-Chin Fanatic.

On that note, let’s make two of the final four spots Obsidian Battle-Axe. The +2/+0 really resonates with the deck, and the free equip adds to the combo engine rather nicely I’d say. With all of this sacrificing, I think Living Death is a great card to pull out of nowhere and really shift the board state in your direction. Since it sacrifices all creatures in play, it circumvents vital keywords, such as protection, indestructible, and being annoying.

And there’s our fourth deck, all dressed up with somewhere to go.

As always, feel encouraged to make changes to these decks if you decide to build them. They are merely frameworks for you to explore. Your own collection, metagame, and personal style all require different ways to build them. I hope you found a new deck idea or card selection that you see from a new angle.

Let’s get ready to dragon!

See you next week,

Abe Sargent