I love the design of this guy! He's never been the most effective of big monsters, since you need a 4 or 5 colour deck to make him worthwhile yet there's rarely room for him in such decks. But he certainly raises a smile when he's played, and not just in Erratic Explosion decks!
I'm loving the updated Artifact template on this card.
Arachibutyrophobia
★★☆☆☆ (2.2/5.0)(2 votes)
Great for the new WUBERG decks! You can play him on turn 6 as a 9/9 flier, just give him Trample, and you're set.
So, does this card have the highest converted mana cost of any card?
DragonLord132
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(5 votes)
I find when I play the five color decks, it usually bends towards more green in order to get all the right land out in play. Prismatic Omen sure makes it easier, especially for a cost of 2.
But a 9/9 artifact flier is scary enough for any price. ;)
bigschwang
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
easily played with the urza towers or cloud posts or even a puny little piper :P
Weretarrasque
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(6 votes)
Answer to previous question: yes, it has the highest converted mana cost (Unless you count Gleemax.)
Also, it's great for domain, but nothing else.
Evil_Tactics
★★★☆☆ (3.1/5.0)(7 votes)
No, it's even more effective in CMC kill decks than domain. Using its 16 cmc to do 16 damage to creatures or players is overall more effective than trying to stick him on the battlefield. Why try to do 9 combat damage that can easily be hindered by removal or fog spells when you can Riddle of Lightning or Erratic Explosion him?
Another nasty combo is to cast Ragged Veins on some measly opponent's creature during turn two at the end of your opponent's turn, then on your third turn cast Kindle the Carnage. The damage iteration of each discarded card all pile up on that creature before it ever hits the graveyard. So if you discard Draco, Autochthon Wurm, and other CMC damage spells you're bound to do well over 30 damage on turn three.
Draco is a combo piece, I would use it only for its record CMC, not for its 9/9 status as a creature. Even if you could cast Draco as a 9/9 flyer for 6 mana, it really isn't worth it if you had to invest extra cards into setting that up, because he still has no evasion and a single removal spell would waste all your effort. If you want to take advantage of power and toughness for an artifact creature in some random combo, use Phyrexian Dreadnought's 12/12 instead for one mana.
Draco wins for its 16 CMC.
metalevolence
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(6 votes)
@ evil tactics: you're mostly right, but draco totally has flying. i think most people would call that evasion.
Take THAT, Emrakul! Draco STILL one-ups everyone's CMC!
markarmor
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I use this in a 5 color deck that uses all dual lands. He can be "hard cast" for 6 as a 9/9 flyer or tinkered out for 3. I find him to be a fair compromise to Darksteel Colossus who is challenging to cast without Tinker or other trickiness.
ctoabn
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(4 votes)
One of my favorite dragons in my dragon deck, combined with 2x dragonspeaker shaman, crucible of fire and karrthus, tyrant of jund I'm getting a 12/12 flyer with haste for 2 mana
Hedron Matrix or.... well, I don't think I need to say any more.
Edit:Oops. Someone basically just said that.
Doowyeh
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(4 votes)
I use it with Spellbound Dragon to swing through for 19 damage. Lilliana Vess is good for getting Draco to the top or alternetively Congregation at dawn or something like that.
Feralsymphony
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
The shock lands work great with this.
Ninjazilla
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
5 stars for its adorability
Fictionarious
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(4 votes)
Ancient Ooze's best friend. But seriously why would you need them both other than to be cool.
ok...I guess I could pay 10 on my upkeep, after 5 turns of mana ramping....
or..I COULD just start attacking with him on turn 4. Kaalia, you just keep getting sexier and sexier with each Angel, Dragon, or Demon I look up on Gatherer :P
JFM2796
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Invasion Block had the only playable Domain cards.
Radagast
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Depressingly ineffective - that's a huge amount of work to get a 9/9 flyer with no other abilities. Strangely, still the most expensive (tournament legal) card in the game. Useful if converted mana costs matters.
I bet it moves in an awesome fashion... kind of like a Harryhausen puppet, you know? So big it has different physics applied...
TheDementiaBat
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Draco gives more saplings
adrian.malacoda
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
@Atali
CMC matters was a theme in onslaught block, I think. This card was printed in Planeshift, which is an entire block away from Onslaught, so I doubt that.
Rikiaz
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
The FTV version of this card is definitely one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.
RunedServitor
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(1 vote)
I don't usually rate cards based on what removal targets them, but considering the exorbitant mana cost and the fact that it can be Shattered as well as Doom Bladed, it's worth mentioning. There are just too many ways to kill this card for it ever to be worthwhile.
Continue
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
They had to create a symbol for this guy. Awesome.
9/9 flying for "6"? Not bad, but compare with fusion elemental. And fusion elemental does not require you to have restrictive basic lands of each type, nor does he have a "drawback". Still this card is the highest cmc in the game, which can be hard cast for 6 mana. That alone may entitle some shenanigans, plus he still is not a bad choice for a domain deck.
3.5/5
TheDragonPlainswalkr
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(1 vote)
great in a rainbow deck. (then he only costs 6) 5/5 for me.
Callahan09
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Heck you could put him in a straight green deck easily with Prismatic Omen.
Other than the obvious, this is better than Fusion Elemental because of the evasion. It's not too difficult to just chump Fusion Elemental and still win, but few decks have the ability to just churn out flyers every turn. If you have the domain, this is pretty scary since it kills almost everything in the air that isn't enchanted or equipped or has counters. Still, the EDH deck of choice for this guy is Volrath the Fallen just because of his ability to kill an opponent instantly by hitting them for 22 general damage. Maybe if it was reprinted it would have been indestructible, since it is very vulnerable to removal. Still, at a cost of {6}, it's not a disaster if it gets killed unless you have no other 5-color dependent things in your deck.
Zekepunk
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Functionally turns all lands you use to play it into Mishra's Workshops!
MechaKraken
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Just be careful someone doesn't target you with Singe-Mind Ogre's ability. I did once and the opponent had this in his hand. He wasn't happy for the rest of the match =)
Comments (51)
So, does this card have the highest converted mana cost of any card?
Prismatic Omen sure makes it easier, especially for a cost of 2.
But a 9/9 artifact flier is scary enough for any price. ;)
Also, it's great for domain, but nothing else.
Another nasty combo is to cast Ragged Veins on some measly opponent's creature during turn two at the end of your opponent's turn, then on your third turn cast Kindle the Carnage. The damage iteration of each discarded card all pile up on that creature before it ever hits the graveyard. So if you discard Draco, Autochthon Wurm, and other CMC damage spells you're bound to do well over 30 damage on turn three.
Draco is a combo piece, I would use it only for its record CMC, not for its 9/9 status as a creature. Even if you could cast Draco as a 9/9 flyer for 6 mana, it really isn't worth it if you had to invest extra cards into setting that up, because he still has no evasion and a single removal spell would waste all your effort. If you want to take advantage of power and toughness for an artifact creature in some random combo, use Phyrexian Dreadnought's 12/12 instead for one mana.
Draco wins for its 16 CMC.
Overcosted.
Edit:Oops. Someone basically just said that.
or..I COULD just start attacking with him on turn 4. Kaalia, you just keep getting sexier and sexier with each Angel, Dragon, or Demon I look up on Gatherer :P
Reassembling Skeleton in play.
Victimize in hand.
Bladewing the Risen, Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund and Draco on the graveyard.
4 + 7 + 9 = 20 damage in a possible fourth turn.
Sign me in!
HOLY SHIT.
CMC matters was a theme in onslaught block, I think. This card was printed in Planeshift, which is an entire block away from Onslaught, so I doubt that.
Not bad, but compare with fusion elemental. And fusion elemental does not require you to have restrictive basic lands of each type, nor does he have a "drawback". Still this card is the highest cmc in the game, which can be hard cast for 6 mana. That alone may entitle some shenanigans, plus he still is not a bad choice for a domain deck.
3.5/5
5/5 for me.
A 9/9 flyer for
Also great in a red deck with Undying Flames, Riddle of Lightning, Kaboom!, Explosive Revelation, Erratic Explosion, and/or Kindle the Carnage. Many, many opportunities to do 16 damage with those cards.
Great in a green/red deck with Vengeful Rebirth.