Radha is a Moss Diamond

[Sinis]

There isn't much history behind this deck. I noticed that while playing my Niv-Mizzet Reborn deck, playing Explosive Vegetation often puts me in a great position to go pretty wild, and I have sometimes even tutor-played it via Bring to Light. When Circuitous Route was printed, I thought "remember when there was *only* Skyshroud Claim and Explosive Vegetation?"

At this point, I've figured there are enough four CMC ramp cards that you could play a turn two Radha into a turn three 4-mana ramp spell, into a turn four threat. There are 5 sorceries that are rough analogues of Explosive Vegetation, and Overgrowth/Dawn's Reflection/Market Festival/Garruk Wildspeaker/Frontier Siege round out the remaining cards that will add two mana on the next turn to 10, which feels pretty consistent/good. There are definitely other 4-cmc cards that generate mana that could be included, but haven't been (especially Thran Dynamo and Firemind Vessel). Radha fits in as an ultra-reliable 2-mana ramp spell. She also, it turns out, is really good at eating edict effects.

I decided to make my threats mostly dragons, since I've wanted to build a deck in which I could choose either mode of Frontier Siege. The idea is that my curve basically starts at 5, and that each top deck is either good support or a large evasive beater.

So far, the deck hasn't disappointed. Even if Radha dies before I can table a 4-mana ramp spell, the deck usually has something to do on turn three with a few support enchantments, or hate cards.

General
Radha, Heir to Keld

Creature
Territorial Hellkite
Thundermaw Hellkite
Stormbreath Dragon
Glorybringer
Nesting Dragon
Scourge of Valkas
Flameblast Dragon
Hellkite Charger
Hellkite Tyrant
Lathliss, Dragon Queen
Savage Ventmaw
Scourge of the Throne
Atarka, World Render
Balefire Dragon
Knollspine Dragon
Tyrant's Familiar
Bogardan Hellkite
Utvara Hellkite
Xenagos, God of Revels
Bane of Progress
Ghalta, Primal Hunger

Artifact
Sol Ring
Dragon's Hoard
Mirror of the Forebears

Enchantment
Frontier Siege
Dawn's Reflection
Market Festival
Overgrowth
Dragon Tempest
Fires of Yavimaya
Warstorm Surge
Sylvan Library
Crucible of Fire

Sorcery
Skyshroud Claim
Explosive Vegetation
Circuitous Route
Hunting Wilds
Ranger's Path
Rishkar's Expertise
Soul's Majesty
Harmonize
Uncage the Menagerie
Primal Command
Subterranean Tremors
Chain Reaction
Blasphemous Act
Hull Breach
Vandalblast
Mizzium Mortars
Disaster Radius

Instant
Hunter's Insight
Commune with Lava
Abrade
Beast Within
Chaos Warp
Spit Flame
Pit Fight

Planeswalker
Garruk Wildspeaker
Garruk, Primal Hunter
Chandra, Fire Artisan
Sarkhan, Fireblood

Land
Kessig Wolf Run
Homeward Path
Scavenger Grounds
Endless Sands
Command Tower
Rootbound Crag
Temple of Abandon
Sheltered Thicket
Karplusan Forest
Gruul Guildgate
Raging Ravine
Mossfire Valley
Tectonic Edge
12 Forest
13 Mountain

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Underperformers:
Uncage the Menagerie, despite looking good in theory as a draw spell, has felt too clunky to work in this deck (the theory being that I could very easily cast it for 5GG drawing five 5-drop creatures, or for 6GG for six 6-drops). This may be because actually drawing 5 midrange/heavy beaters is unmanageable to push them out quickly without more support like Dragonspeaker Shaman. It makes it, somehow, less good than "draw 5".

Dragon Tempest felt like it should have been an all-star, but it was merely acceptable. I rarely had more than a couple of dragons on the field, and I have too few ways to really push out a bunch of dragons, making it one or two damage per trigger. The haste is cute, but, many of the dragons already have haste, and the deck also has Xenagos and Fires of Yavimaya. Fires feels worse, since the +2/+2 rarely matters, but at least Fires never promised more (and really should be Rhythm of the Wild if this deck wasn't just piled together).

Scourge of Valkas felt similar to Dragon Tempest in that it rarely did more than a couple of damage. In the deck's current iteration, Lathliss, Utvara Hellkite and Nesting Dragon are the only creatures that can make more than a couple of extra dragons. The triple-red investment does not help Scourge's case, either; without investing in another Stomping Ground and Cinder Glade, many of the 'forest' ramp spells won't actually push out much more red mana and help cast Scourge. I could include a spare Taiga I have lying around, however.

Spit Flame; my god this card is hot garbage. The mana investment to torch little creatures is way too high to justify the existence of this thing, which I had hoped to play using Radha's RR-while-attacking text. It turns out plenty of dragons have firebreathing, and that mana would never go to waste anyway. The cost efficiency just isn't there, when I could play something like Sarkhan's Unsealing and just torch creatures (AND/OR players!!!) all day every day, even with my non-dragon inclusions.

All-Stars:
Frontier Siege did exactly what I dreamed it would. I ended up choosing Dragons in all the games I tabled it (because I had already Radha'ed into my ramp spells when I drew it), and I got to play giant flying dragons and have them eat my opponents creatures with impunity. It was glorious.

Savage Ventmaw being great when it doesn't die is probably not news to anyone. Its (relatively) tiny body is disappointing, but the mana it generates is so, so silly. The only disheartening aspect is that it's basically post-combat mana. Notable that it combos pretty well with Hellkite Charger, and could potentially go infinite with it and Radha, Heir to Keld during the attack step.

Primal Command was amazing in every game I drew it. Finding a specific and powerful dragon was excellent, and I often slowed down my opponents by putting a costly setup piece on to of their library, or erased their graveyard. I've played the 7-life mode in desperate circumstances before, as well.

Atarka, World Render with haste is a horrifying. Even one other dragon on the table makes her must-answer.

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Thoughts on potential changes/upgrades:

I really want Dragon Tempest and Scourge of Valkas to do good work instead of just being token slayers. Because of Scourge's mana cost, that probably means upgrading the mana base with the Taiga I already own, and maybe getting a Cinder Glade or Stomping Grounds in addition for the three search-forest cards I'm running. I've been thinking of including Kindred Summons and Kindred Charge as well; both could really make Scourge or Dragon Tempest shine.

I also strongly appreciate Frontier Siege's persistent fight ability, and it makes me want to try to include Ulvenwald Tracker, Gruul Ragebeast, Arena and possibly Magus of the Arena. Between Scourge of Valkas, Dragon Tempest, Warstorm Surge, Tyrant's Familiar and Frontier Siege, dragons just hammering other creatures into the dirt was a major theme in the games that I won. Sarkhan's Unsealing, despite the deck having (surprisingly) few 7-power creatures, also feels like it deserves a slot for the same reason as the other cards.

Fires of Yavimaya really needs to be Rhythm of the Wild. The dragons that would get redundant haste could have +1/+1. I could never fear a counterspell once it's on the table. Fires is pretty obsolete.

Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma would also be a shoo-in for (vulnerable) ramp plus some utility.

The biggest notable anti-synergy has been Bane of Progress and the powerful enchantments in the deck. I was never happy to have Bane in my hand, and my the friends who I was playing with had specifically wished they had a Bane of their own to play (even to the point of naming it with Conundrum Sphinx) without knowing I had mine.

@bobthefunny Since we were talking about it on Tuesday night and you asked!

Changelog

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July 23, 2019
-1 Mountain
-1 Forest
-1 Bane of Progress
-1 Fires of Yavimaya
-1 Uncage the Menagerie
-1 Disaster Radius
-1 Spit Flame
+1 Taiga
+1 Stomping Ground
+1 Drakuseth, Maw of Flames
+1 Rhythm of the Wild
+1 Kindred Summons
+1 Kindred Charge
+1 Sarkhan's Unsealing

[Kemev]

This is a solid deck for running Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle; it's got plenty of Mountains, and late-game Explosive Vegetations get you some free lightning bolts. Unless budget is an issue, Stomping Ground and Cinder Glade are pretty handy since you can grab them with the forest searchers.

The new M20 legendary dragon'd probably be a good add... it's decent removal on a hefty body.

[Sinis]

This is a solid deck for running Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle; it's got plenty of Mountains, and late-game Explosive Vegetations get you some free lightning bolts.

I had not thought of this angle, though, I wonder how much land search actually results in me playing mountains (it looks to be just Explosive Veg and Circuitous Route), and how likely it is for me to have 5 mountains + Valakut in a game. The other three are 'search for two forests', which puts a damper on things after the first one (unless I intentionally only search one mountain/forest with those, but then I take risks with Scourge of Valkas), since there are only so many forest/mountains to go around. I'm also super gunshy about ETB tapped lands that don't produce both colours. This deck won't be able to work its mojo if the second or third land of the game enters play tapped; realistically it's the first turn only that permits it. While I normally am pretty laissez-faire about taplands, this deck pretty much demands that we keep them to an absolute minimum.

The new M20 legendary dragon'd probably be a good add... it's decent removal on a hefty body.

Definitely; I have my eye on Drakuseth, Maw of Flames; it's one of the (surprisingly) few dragons that has 7 power for the purposes of Sarkhan's Unsealing in addition to being a fairly impressive beater. The only reason it's not in the deck already is the triple red cost (and that's pretty much going to be Taiga, Stomping Grounds and maybe Cinder Glade upgrades).

[Sinis]

Played some games with it. Still haven't drawn Frontier Siege as my turn 3 play, and it has become a must-answer in my playgroup when I do table it.

Sadly C19 has nothing for this deck (except the Cinder Glade reprint).

No (new) significant underperforming cards have been identified; in the last game I played, my turn 2 Radha got answered, and I tabled Sarkhan, Fireblood turn 3. He got some decent value as an immediate looter, and he permitted me to table a turn 4 Savage Ventmaw. Sadly, it all got answered by removal and a Yahenni, but, it's possible that those setbacks simply meant my opponents didn't have removal for the next wave of threats (including a hasty Utvara Hellkite copied by a pre-existing Mirror of the Forebears). Despite the wipes, Soul's Majesty and Garruk, Primal Hunter allowed me to eventually close out the game with Rhythm of the Wild, Atarka, Xenagos and Scourge of the Throne. They've all earned their slots for sure; the beatings were out of control.

I look forward to being able to test if the C17 Kindred cards are actually worthwhile; I nearly played Kindred Charge (with Utvara Hellkite on the table, no less) but was stymied by a boardwipe.

[ISBPathfinder]

Any thoughts on adding Haven of the Spirit Dragon?

The use of the land ramp auras is a bit interesting. Usually the fact that they might get swept up by non land sweepers or someone's Aura Shards is reason that I avoid them for just land ramp. Maybe you are running them because they are four mana ramp specifically? Thran Dynamo would still probably do more for the same mana though.

Sarkhan the Masterless seems like he would be kind of fun with the number of dragons you have.

[weltkrieg]

Sadly C19 has nothing for this deck (except the Cinder Glade reprint).

Are you sure? That dragon that attacks and gives all of your spells in the graveyard flashback until end of turn seems like a pretty good addition given what you're trying to do. If a land ramp for 4 once is good, it's probably good twice.

[Sinis]

Any thoughts on adding Haven of the Spirit Dragon?

I've been very gunshy about colourless lands, and lands that enter the battlefield tapped. The deck really needs the first two lands to produce G/R, and the third land to come in untapped.

It might be worth it, though, I wonder about it. The deck (so far) has been all about tap-out ramping for the first three turns, and then tabling threats. I'm not sure when I'd add counters to Haven, though the Raise Dead would be pretty welcome (and, since all our creatures are threats, maybe Haunted Fengraf is also playable?). (Edit: I thought this was the other Spirit Dragon land with a storage feature; most of my problem with it still stands; I very reliably want to play Radha on turn 2, and this interferes, though it may be worth it anyway.)

The use of the land ramp auras is a bit interesting. Usually the fact that they might get swept up by non land sweepers or someone's Aura Shards is reason that I avoid them for just land ramp. Maybe you are running them because they are four mana ramp specifically? Thran Dynamo would still probably do more for the same mana though.

This is exactly why they're included, and were a calculated risk; it has everything to do with the idea that you could turn 2 Radha into turn 3 "4 mana spell that will generate 2 extra mana next turn".

Thran Dynamo is every bit as vulnerable as the land auras (it really comes down to how much land destruction vs. artifact destruction your group plays). My group is very Vandalblast-happy, but less keen on land destruction. Second, the colour requirements for many of our draconic overlords makes Thran Dynamo less enticing. I think I would be more likely to run Firemind Vessel to meet the necessary colour requirements, even though TD provides more raw mana. Third, the land auras synergize with Garruk Wildspeaker. Narrow, I know, but can be pretty significant.

It's not that the land auras are invulnerable (they're very vulnerable), it's just that they are - in my group - less vulnerable than mana rocks.

Sarkhan the Masterless seems like he would be kind of fun with the number of dragons you have.

I really like all the abilities on this Sarkhan. I might pick up a copy and run him; the passive is probably less exciting than we'd like (my experience so far is that we'll be getting 2-3 damage max, and anything more than that would signal a win from rampaging around with 4 dragons, though that could be combined with Scourge of Valkas or Dragon Tempest damage).

Sarkhan's +1 has real potential with the other walkers in the deck though I have qualms with how much use it would get, since he doesn't prevent damage to himself or other walkers and can potentially tank loyalty when they simply get blocked (c.f. Gideon Jura, Gideon Blackblade who prevent damage to themselves). I think mostly, I would churn out dragon tokens with him.

Sadly C19 has nothing for this deck (except the Cinder Glade reprint).

Are you sure? That dragon that attacks and gives all of your spells in the graveyard flashback until end of turn seems like a pretty good addition given what you're trying to do. If a land ramp for 4 once is good, it's probably good twice.

Backdraft Hellkite is what I think we're talking about.

I'm not sure I like that one. I feel like (for this deck) it might not do enough; a lot of our ramp isn't sorcery/instant based. That said, it might be worth a try because flashing back some of the card draw or utility spells might be really worthwhile. It bears testing; my only real disagreement with it is that it's body is (comparatively) weak, and that its ability is only conditionally useful. But, in the situations where it's good, it could be backbreaking.