I have a hard time with
Goldspan Dragon in that it doesn't seem like it transitions to commander in a positive way. In standard the threat of a 4/4 for 5 haste dragon is a lot more legitimate than in commander. It becomes a purely offensive move but with very limited scope of offensive capability given multiple 40 life opponents for this format. Upgrading treasures to sac for twice the mana is normally a good selling point in favor for him in this format but there is also the issue that the commander here is an alternative use for the treasure that I intend to utilize that gives some conflict to it. Beyond that it makes one treasure per turn. Its just not very explosive in most regards. Add in the fact that it is still rocking a $20 price tag with the fact that I really don't expect much out of it in this format and I have been leery to pick a copy up myself. I would probably value the card at about a $2 price tag as far as what I expect it to do in this format. Its been kept high by the fact that it is a played standard mythic but it rotates soon and if it drops in price I might pick one up later but I don't think it really expands to any play outside of standard so it will depend on if it has a price memory that keeps it up as far as my own intention to obtain one.
Its possible that it could do a bit more for decks that want to utilize treasure in the more traditional means. I could see it being a more serious consideration for a
Ognis, the Dragon's Lash list for instance where it would have direct synergy with the commander allowing it to make two treasures on attack and that sort of deck likely utilizes the treasures for mana. I have just been sort of hard to sell on buying a
Goldspan Dragon at their current prices and my overall expectation of it in this format isn't that high.
duducrash wrote: ↑2 years ago
You are a much better deck brewer than I am, but arent you super super lite on actual dwarves?
There are a few issues I have with going super deep on dwarves.
- Lots of them aren't impressive. Some of their abilities are decent but on average we are talking 3 mana 1/1s with some tap activated ability here.
- Some of my dragons kill all the dwarves. I felt I still wanted those dragons in the deck and felt that lowering the dwarf count was more appropriate.
- The cards that create treasure are sort of dwarf substitutes in that I don't need to get to treasure count off of purely dwarves.
So, lets look real quick at some of the dwarves I didn't include that are higher up on my list of considerations assuming I want to increase the dwarf count:
Storm-Kiln Artist - 14 instant / sorcery spells right now feels low to expect more than one or two treasures assuming he lives but also he costs four mana which is a bit heavy handed for a deck that isn't heavy on instant and sorcery spells not to mention I don't really want to attack with this guy.
Torbran, Thane of Red Fell - He doesn't die to the dragon damage sweepers and even makes them more appealing. I could be sold on including him I was a bit so so on using him just because I am not really a go wide concept which tends to be more where he is good.
Dwarven Miner - The mana to activate is really high and he competes with when I need to cast my commander.
Dwarven Blastminer - Same as above with morph.
Mine Layer - I think the
Dwarven Miner cards are more appealing personally.
Dwarven Warriors - The tap ability doesn't cost mana and it could help turn the commander sideways but I can't help but feel like this is slow and walks me into sweepers.
Dwarven Nomad - Same as above.
Bloodfire Dwarf - I like that its a one drop with a relivant ability. I think that a one damage sweep on demand can still be useful against tokens but it also unfortunately kills my commander and I have a harder time including it because of that. I do think that curving a one drop dwarf and then T2 Magda is appealing though and they could probably be thought of along the lines of having moxen in that they are good early but fall off as you draw them later. My issue with some tempo mana plays is I don't think I have enough draw to consistently draw these do nothing cheap dwarves later on.
Dwarven Grunt - I really like that its a one drop with evasion. It has some of the same concerns about card advantage that I have with most dwarves though.
Axgard Cavalry - Haste is decent it just falls at the same mana cost as my commander and lacks haste itself.
So I guess offhand
Torbran, Thane of Red Fell and
Dwarven Grunt seem decent still but I still have concerns about getting too high with my dwarf count as well as questioning what to cut. I could cut into some of my redundancy on the dragon front or something else in the deck. I could also see just getting to the point of testing and then circling back to address things based on the testing.
