Pointed Discussion

This is quite good in red because you'll usually have nothing in hand turn 7 anyway. If you can play two shocks prior to this, that'd be a plus.

Fun with Seal of Fire or Pandemonium

very good if you can pop it out of spinrock knoll

double the damage done with niv-mizzet

wow!! just noticed that there is a cycle of 7 cmc rare creatures from this shadowmoor that corrispond to the hideaway lands from lorwyn! just think,

hollowborn barghest for howltooth hollow.

isleback spawn for shelldock isle.

knollspine dragon for spinerock knoll.

mossbridge troll for mosswort bridge.

windbrisk raptor for windbrisk heights.

I really like the art on Spinerock Knoll, but i'm a bit dissatisfied with this one. He's clearly from a different spinerock than we saw previously.

That was my first thought, too, Tezz.

This is such a great dragon! If you emptied your hand for burn spells and got this guy out, you're already swimming in card advantage.

Curious about the timing of Pandemonium.
Pandemonium deals damage as the creature enters the battlefield, which is the same time Knollspine Dragon's ability triggers. Therefore, you couldn't get the cards off of KD's entrance. Unless I'm mistaken. Anyone like to clear this one up for me?

As for Pandemonium.

When you control multiple effects which go on the stack at the same time, you decide the order. For Example:

Lets say your opponent has no cards in hand. If you attack with Blizzard Specter and Hipnotic Specter and they both get through, you can have Blizzard Specter’s abiity happen first (returning a card to hand) then have Hipnotic Specter's ability take effect (discard that card).

Fun with Kaalia.

The rulings of this card states: "This ability counts the total amount of damage (both combat and noncombat) dealt to the targeted opponent by all sources (including ones you controlled and ones you didn't) over the course of the turn"

Could someone clarify if this damage 'over the course of the turn' includes damage inflicted after the summoning of knollspine dragon as long as the damage occurs during the turn in which it was summoned? i.e. Can I give it haste and draw cards if it deals damage to target player?

Isleback Spawn >> Shelldock Isle
Hollowborn Barghest >> Howltooth Hollow
Mossbridge Troll >> Mosswort Bridge
Knollspine Dragon >> Spinerock Knoll
Windbrisk Raptor >> Windbrisk Heights

Pandemonium is the most solid combo with this I think.

Add Wild pair to the Pandemonium, Warstorm Surge, Where Ancients Tread combo, go get like...Inferno Titan stack the triggers so the knollspine goes off last and draw at least 13 cards. Depending which flavor of burn enchantment you have out.

I personally don't like pandemonium. Despite its attractive mana cost, do you like turning your opponents creatures into burn spells?

This is a BOMB.
In my Gisela, Blade of Goldnight EDH, I once drew 68 cards with it. Now THAT'S power!

Edit: I just stole a Laboratory Maniac and drew 108... Best win ever. Seriously. Do not underestimate this dragon.

@Marsupia: no, that wouldn't make any sense. The ability triggers immediately after the Dragon enters the battlefield. There's no way it could count demage dealt after that.

Card draw in red is weird. Period. Not complaining, though. A 7/5 flying for 7 is really good, and if you're playing a slower format like EDH, I don't see a reason not to use Where ancients tread or Warstorm Surge with it too.

@MindAblaze: Pandemonium depends a lot on your political skills. On a 4-player table, you can team up to prevent an opponent from holding a good board position. Also with Vicious Shadows or similar it turns the battlefield into a minefield. My Malfegor deck uses it, while Maelstrom Wanderer uses Warstorm. Both with this card, not to make this comment off-topic.

@DarthParralax: It sucks with Kaalia. You can't get draws out of combat damage and cheat him into play at the same time.. While Kaalia does like refilling her hand, this is not the dragon you're looking for.

Run with Rakdos, Lord of Riots: Deal five damage to opponent, cast 7/5 flier for {R}{R}, discard hand and draw five new cards.

this boy absolutely dominates after dropping him for 2r in a Rakdos, Lord of Riots edh deck, reloading ur hand in the process

my friend used this in a kaalia deck to draw 39 cards in one turn. then i flipped the table.

When you draw 20+ cards off of this, most people scoop. If you set this up correctly, this causes bigger blowouts then few other cards. Even if your only drawing 5 or 6 cards, it's generally well worth it because it's just you. Just a solid edh card. The fact that you discard your hand isn't too relevant if you load up your deck with graveyard recursion. If you draw an obscene amount of cards, you will find a way to win.

A) Yes, this works with Pandemonium effects: Knollspine Dragon enters the battlefield, and both it's own ETB effect and the Pandemonium effect want to trigger. You control them both, so you can put them on the stack in any order. Put the dragon's ability on first, then Pandemonium, so Pandemonium resolves first, dealing damage before the dragon's ability resolves.

B) This card works fine with Kaalia. Kaalia has issues with drawing cards, but when running well can deal a lot of damage. No, putting the dragon into play with Kaalia will probably not draw you cards since it's before combat damage is dealt, but the dragon's ability is a "may" ability: So if you need the card draw, drop something else with Kaalia and cast the dragon in the second main phase, and if you don't need the card draw but really need a beater, then this card still works with Kaalia.

C) @Marsupia: The wording on that ruling is odd, but it in no way means the dragon's ability will let you draw cards from damage dealt after its ability resolved. The ability goes on the stack when the dragon enters the battlefield, and when it resolves it gives you cards then. It does not set up what's called a delayed trigger, which would check later in the turn to draw you cards again.