Top 10 Best Dragon Commander Cards in Magic: The Gathering

Here’s how to tip the scales in Commander.

One of the most iconic creature types to ever feature in Magic: The Gathering, Dragons are strong serpentine creatures that exist across the multiverse. Dragons mostly lean in the Red color pie yet see representation in all five colors with various color pairings available. Throughout Magic’s history, Ancient and Elder Dragons are some of the more powerful Dragon cards, with Nicol Bolas becoming a hallmark villain across numerous story arcs, such as War of the Spark and Hour of Devastation. Dragons are such an integral part of Commander, that the creature type inspired the singleton format’s original name in EDH (Elder Dragon Highlander).

Dragons are so iconic in Magic: The Gathering’s history that at least one Dragon card has appeared in every Core Set, with Alpha being the first. Now with an understanding of what Dragons are and their continual influence within Magic: The Gathering, let’s look at some of the best Dragon cards you can play in Commander right now.

#10 Ancient Copper Dragon

Commander Legends: Battle For Baldur’s Gate | Mythic

Market Price: $59.32

One of the headline Mythic Rare cards from Dungeons & Dragons: Battle for Baldur’s Gate, Ancient Copper Dragon is part of a fantastic cycle of Ancient Dragon cards. When you deal combat damage to a player with one of these Ancient Dragons, roll a d20, and an effect scales based on the result.

Market Price: $23.11

Market Price: $17.52

With Ancient Copper Dragon, you create an amount of Treasure tokens based on the result, which can get out of hand if you manage to roll above average. Treasure tokens continue to be a relevant part of Commander gameplay, and being rewarded for displaying aggression is a nice bonus. However, cards such as Ancient Copper Dragon remain expensive due to the low pull rates of Mythic Rare and Rare non-Legendary cards from Battle for Baldur’s Gate, making these harder to open, which doesn’t always meet player demand. Either way, these Ancient Dragons are a super fun way to play Commander by providing a little bit of variance in die-rolling.

#9 Dragon Tempest

Iconic Masters | Uncommon

Seen as a strong win condition for Dragon Commander players, Dragon Tempest is a two-mana enchantment that features two devastating abilities. The first gives any flying creature haste when it enters the battlefield under your control. The second ability is the most dangerous, as whenever a Dragon enters the battlefield under your control, that Dragon deals that much damage to any target based on the number of Dragons you control.

Market Price: $12.21

Market Price: $13.77

There are numerous ways you can make the most of the second ability with cards such as Descent of the Dragons, Ancient Gold Dragon, or Omniscience to extend the battlefield with more Dragons. Also, Dragon Tempest is a solid card independent of any combinations since it contributes to your game plan of casting Dragons in Commander.

#8 Dragonlord Dromoka

Double Masters 2022 | Mythic

Not all Dragons care about breathing fire and dealing absurd amounts of damage, Dragonlord Dromoka offers an uncounterable effect while negating any interaction from your opponents on your turn. In Commander, Dragonlord Dromoka is a desirable card as it allows the controller to combo off (or progress their board) without worrying about interaction from the rest of the Commander pod. While the Elder Dragon is a popular addition to any Commander strategy that features White and Green, Dragonlord Dromoka is a slam-dunk for any Dragon-focused Commander strategy.

#7 Dragon’s Hoard

Commander Legends: Battle For Baldur’s Gate | Rare

Casting Dragons is one thing, but being able to ramp or generate value from playing those Dragon cards is another, and this is where Dragon’s Hoard enters the equation. First printed in Core Set 2019, Dragon’s Horde rewards you for Dragons entering the battlefield by cashing in Gold counters for card draw. Another essential aspect of the artifact is that it can tap for one mana of any color. More commonly, tribal Dragon lists often fall into numerous colors given the breadth of Dragon available such as The Ur-Dragon and Tiamat, and Dragon’s Hoard makes it a little easier to cast those demanding spells.

#6 Savage Ventmaw

Commander: Adventures In The Forgotten Realms | Uncommon

Gaining benefits from the simple act of attacking is something a Dragon Commander strategy is always interested in, and this is where Savage Ventmaw plays a huge role for the creature type. Not only is Savage Ventmaw a decent threat independently, but there are also some neat combinations you can incorporate with little effort.

Market Price: $38.18

Market Price: $23.30

There are only three combinations with Savage Ventmaw, with the most popular option alongside Aggravated Assault. With both cards in play, you can do the following:

• Declare Savage Ventmaw as an attacker, attacking an opponent unable to block and kill it. 
• Savage Ventmaw triggers, adding six mana to your mana pool.
• Move to your post-combat main phase. 
• Activate Aggravated Assault by paying five mana, untapping all creatures you control, and giving you another combat and main phase after this one. 
• Repeat.

By doing this, you gain infinite combat phases, infinite combat damage, infinite Red mana (or infinite Green mana), and infinite untap of creatures you control. For two cards, this is an excellent combination where both cards service well independently of the combination in a Dragon Commander strategy.

#5 Terror of the Peaks  

Core Set 2021 | Mythic

Market Price: $35.45

Once a terror in Standard, Terror of the Peaks follows the long line of Mythic Rare Dragons that saw heavy constructed play. Once rotated out of Standard, these pushed cards often fall into Commander to see a renewed application. With Terror of the Peaks on the battlefield, you can deal damage to any target whenever a creature you controls enters the battlefield. Since the damage is determined by the power of the creature entering play, you have the potential to deal absurd amounts of damage to your opponents.

Market Price: $13.77

Take Earthquake Dragon for example, you can cast the Elemental Dragon for a reduced cost given its effect and also deal ten damage to any target with a Terror of the Peaks in play. It can snowball out of control if you happen to have an Omniscience and grip of Dragon cards in hand, too.

#4 Old Gnawbone

Adventures In The Forgotten Realms | Mythic

Market Price: $21.34

One of the more impactful Adventures in the Forgotten Realms cards for Commander is Old Gnawbone. Not only does the Legendary Dragon slot perfectly into the associated creature strategy, but it is also a fantastic card to run in Green-based Commander lists. Since you are creating Treasure tokens every time a creature you control deals damage to a player, you have the potential to ramp into more significant threats and game-ending spells. Pairing Old Gnawbone with Professional Face-Breaker gives you another approach to using those Treasure tokens instead of using them for mana.

Coupled with staple Commander doubling effects such as Doubling Season and Parallel Lives, you have a compelling way to create so many Treasure tokens — a very flavorful approach to playing a Dragon Commander strategy.

#3 Tiamat

Adventures In The Forgotten Realms | Mythic

Another exciting card to appear from Adventure of the Forgotten Realms is Tiamat, who is the Queen of Evil Dragons within the Dungeons & Dragons universe. In the realms of Magic: The Gathering, Tiamat is an attractive option for players looking for a solid Commander to lead their Dragon army into battle.

Market Price: $32.09

As she is in all five colors, you can play any legal Dragon card in Commander with the bonus of being able to find up to five Dragon cards with Tiamat’s entering the battlefield ability. You don’t need to worry about the non-Tiamat clause since Commander is a singleton format, so you can focus on grabbing five Dragon cards to help progress your game plan. Unfortunately, Tiamat doesn’t gain any additional enter the battlefield value through blink effects such as Ghostly Flicker or Ephemerate. However, the Dragon God remains an excellent yet flavorful option for Commander players, especially those who play Dungeon & Dragons.

#2 Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm

Commander Legends: Battle For Baldur’s Gate | Rare

One of the more impactful Dragon cards to enter Commander is Miirym, Sentinel Wurm. Miirym enables you to double your Dragons and grants extra value alongside cards such as Temur Ascendancy, in addition to being an evasive threat with her Ward ability. If you are looking for a deckbuilding challenge with a Dragon focus, you can build Mirrym, Sentinel Wurm affordably as a Commander by using mostly Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur’s Gate cards.

However, if you want to expand, Mirrym, Sentinel Wurm is excellent within a five-color Dragon strategy — especially if you have access to doubling effects such as Mondrak, Glory Dominus and Anointed Procession. Either way, Mirrym, Sentinel Wurm is an amazing Dragon card, and capable of taking down Commander pods at the helm.

#1 The Ur-Dragon

Commander 2017 | Mythic

Market Price: $58.95

Unsurprisingly, The Ur-Dragon remains one of the best Dragon cards you can play in Commander. Ranked as one of the top five Commanders according to EDHREC, The Ur-Dragon comes with two excellent abilities. The first is a passive ability that discounts Dragon spells by one generic mana, and the second rewards card draw for attacking with your Dragons, then you may put a permanent card from your hand onto the battlefield.

Market Price: $84.67

Market Price: n/a

Market Price: n/a

Typically with The Ur-Dragon, you see Commander players drop an Omniscience with the last ability to unlock their hand to drop as many Dragon cards as they wish. Grabbing a copy of The Ur-Dragon is expensive as it is featured in the (now out of print) Draconic Domination Commander Precon and a Secret Lair Drop. However, the Legendary Dragon will feature in Commander Masters, the upcoming Masters release focusing on the singleton format.