MTG COTD: Dragonstorm

[The_Darkness_Incarnate]

I figured that I would do a few unexpected cards that are making an impact on the online, post-Time Spiral T2. So please rate them from a Standard viewpoint, or at least specify if you're talking about Extended or Standard.

[IMG200]http://www.mtgfanatic.com//images/Magic/TimeSpiral/Dragonstorm.jpg[/IMG200]

Dragonstorm
8R, Rare
Sorcery

Search your library for a Dragon card and put it into play. Then shuffle your library.

Storm
--------------------------------------------------------
This card is making quite a splash. The card raises quite a few eyebrows when you see it, especially if you haven't been looking through top 8 decklists in apprentice games. How does a 9 mana card that fetches dragons and is nearly impossible to storm DO anything?, on might ask. In most situations, by the time you can play it your opponent is waiting with counterspells, mass removal, and a smile. In most situations, the most storm you're going to get out of it is one or 2. But post Lotus Bloom, most situations previously mentioned are inane. Decks around it will be somewhat questionable at first glance, and a lot of sane people will wonder how a deck running 4 Rite of Flame and other unplayable cards managed to make a top 8 in a serious tournament. But at second glance, you can see how easily the deck sets off a Dragonstorm with four copies on the stack on turn 4. Many games go like this: Turn 1: Sleight of Hand, Lotus Suspend, Turn 2: Infernal Tutor for Rite of Flame/Seething Song, Turn 3: Grozoth Transmute for Dragon Storm, Turn 4: Sac Lotus, Seething Song, Rite of Flame, Rite of Flame, Dragonstorm for 4 Bogardan Hellkite, 1 Hunted Dragon, Win. All with 2 mana held back for a Remand. It's nearly impossible to win first match, as heavy sideboarding is needed to deal with the insane speed and synergy this deck gives you. It's popularity has slightly declined since people started siding 4 Shadow of Doubt and mass handfixing, but the last two games are a bit of a throwup. But regardless, you can see how much power this card has in the enviorment, as people are configuring their sideboards to SPECIFICALLY deal with this deck. It's an unexpected bomb, to the very definition of the term. If someone told me that this card would have defined a lot of sideboards when I was looking at the purple spoiler, I would have called them insane. I salute whatever genius, or genii, invented this deck.

(A list, if people don't feel like looking it up:
Main Deck:
4 Steam Vents
4 Shivan Reef
4 Blood Crypt
3 Watery Grave
5 Island
2 Grozoth
4 Bogardan Hellkite
2 Hunted Dragon
4 Izzet Signet
4 Dragonstorm
4 Rite of Flame
4 Seething Song
4 Lotus Bloom
4 Sleight of Hand
4 Remand
4 Infernal Tutor

Sideboard:
4 Gigadrowse
3 Ignorant Bliss
2 Wipe Away
3 Trickbind
3 Pyroclasm)

Post-Time Spiral T2: 4.25/5
Other Formats: 1.25/5

 

[chaoslord]

You want a standard viewpoint?

Okay.

This card sucks post-rotation.

Enough said, lol

seriously, post rotation, it doesnt get more than 2, and thats generous.

(in other news, i live again, zomg)

 

[The_Darkness_Incarnate]

You want a standard viewpoint?

Okay.

This card sucks post-rotation.

Enough said, lol

seriously, post rotation, it doesnt get more than 2, and thats generous.

(in other news, i live again, zomg)

Um... WTF? Clarify please? From what I can make out, your saying that after Kamigawa cycles out, then it won't get a storm count higher than two.

And yet you can obviously see that it can competitively get a storm count of four or more with ease.

If you're talking about after 9th goes out for 10th, I suppose a point could be made for the lack of Seething Song. But that's something like a year away. If you're talking about when Ravnica rotates out, then I will heartily agree. But that's even further away. How the crap is it sucky NOW?

I'm not entirely sure how valid your points are. It consistently works well with a deck list that is post-Time Spiral Standard. Again, WTF? Fix your grammar please.

 

[klducks]

I have yet to see this card in action in the current standard since i'm more of a limited casual guy. In fact, i didn't even check out any of the time spiral cards yet.

However, the way you describe the deck, it seems that dragonstorm does seem useful in this current format. However, being forced to have 3+ cards just to play this card gives this card not even a chance to give a such high rating of 4.25.


I can't really give an accurate rating either, since this card is really based on a standard standpoint. but from my estimation, i give it a 3/5

 

[chaoslord]

Um... WTF? Clarify please? From what I can make out, your saying that after Kamigawa cycles out, then it won't get a storm count higher than two.

And yet you can obviously see that it can competitively get a storm count of four or more with ease.

If you're talking about after 9th goes out for 10th, I suppose a point could be made for the lack of Seething Song. But that's something like a year away. If you're talking about when Ravnica rotates out, then I will heartily agree. But that's even further away. How the crap is it sucky NOW?

I'm not entirely sure how valid your points are. It consistently works well with a deck list that is post-Time Spiral Standard. Again, WTF? Fix your grammar please.

My grammar is fine, tyvm. I meant it wouldnt get above a 2/5.

And it sucks when Kami rotates out. Everybodys like, "zomg, dragonstorm", and I just dont see it. The decklist and strategy you posted is very situational. For 'sleeper' picks, I'll go with a decklist at another major magic forum I visit, complete with secret tech and all. Will I post it? Nope. Does it use dragonstorm? Nope.

Good combo you have there? Yes. Very Fragile? Also yes. Sorry, I just dont see dragonstorm as viable.

they make my point:

http://www.ugmadness.net/comics/2006-10-02.jpg

 

[Kaizer]

Ok, stupid server crash or whatever screwed up my previous post apparently.

Moving on- I agree completely with Chaos. We've already had quite the discussion about this card and have come to but several conclusions.

The first of which is that I should attempt to break to format by making a wildfire deck.

The second was that this card really isn't that great in standard.

See, what you're rating this card on, isn't the card itself and its usability in general, but how it functions as the key piece to a very convoluted combo deck. You see, the funny thing about combo decks is that you can take, THE WORST cards in standard, and pull off some crazy stuff- and win with it. Fact is, on it's own, the card is worthless. In a deck with a few dragons, it becomes a fun way to pull off a win and even tutor. However, without the kamigawa dragons, that won't really cut it in standard. Hunted Dragon and Bogardan Hellkite and Shivan Dragon, while maybe nice finishers, aren't really all that great on their own. Well, actually THEY are, but they can all be played without Dragonstorm.

So, what does that leave us with really? A tutor in red, which IS a plus. However, it's very limited in that manner- it can only fetch dragons, which aren't the top gun in Standard right now, at least not outside a combo deck. It's next major fault is that it costs nine mana. Once again, outside a deck based soley around getting this card to work (which is about the only way you'll be playing it when you think about it) it becomes completely useless.

Don't get me wrong. I like Dragonstorm. I'm building a casual dragon deck and will run a few. But the only place Dragonstorm has in standard is a combo deck. Now I didn't see people going crazy of the Freed from the Real combo deck and rating it as high as this card seems to be getting (funny, considering U/G and U/B are both far better at running an engine than U/R) so Dragonstorm doesn't deserve that high of a rating either- for the exact same reasons. In otherwords, don't overhype a simple combo deck, and especially not the key piece of that combo deck, because it is the ONLY home it has.

All that said, being it's own combo engine gets it a 1.8/5 from me.

 

[Felix Feral Fezirix]

It's a pretty meh card. It's another combo card, and a not very good one either. Kinda pointless. I mean, the dragons can move along fine alone. They don't need extra help much.

2/5.