Pointed Discussion

This one's a straight classic, methinks. The original art is pretty much superb.
Might not be THE dragon of choice nowadays, but this one sure screams TRADITION.

Agreed, the Shivan Dragon represents the dragon tribe in Magic...I love the flavor text...Does anyone else get a Smaug vibe from this art, specifically from the animated movie???

My absolute favorite card for a very long time (I think until Legends was printed, although I can't honestly remember what card knocked the Dragon from it's throne in my mind), this beautiful flyer was the heart and soul of my powerful mono red deck.

He'll shiv ya.

This surely was a beast when it came out and my current dragon themed deck still has two of the M10 variants in it. Its MTGs iconic red creatures and I hope that one day I get one of the alpha ones. Even though thats obviously getting harder.

On pure flavor and nostalgia alone, Shivan Dragon is one of the most amazing cards from the early days of MTG. I remember having one of these from 4th Ed. back when I first started playing in the mid 90's. He was the king of my and deck along with, WOW this card coming up is horrible. . . .Jungle Wurm (cut me some slack, I was young). The orignial art for Shivan Dragon is in my opinion, one of the coolest art of all. The new art is cool, but this art is just purely classic. And he still holds his own today too. He's a good addition in a beginners deck because he's cool, powerful and easy to use. 5/5

I remember playing a multiplayer game back in the 90's, someone attacked someone else with this guy and pumped him to 10, I cast Berserk on it, talk about card advantage I destroyed an Opponents Shivan Dragon and another player for 1 G mana.

@pontiac: Just gotta say, from someone who played around the same time period: nice move. Good old shivan was such a powerhouse back then... getting... nostalgic...
One time I traded three lord of the pits for my first shivan. Just sounds weird to say, is all. That's how we rolled in the 90's.

one of the first and best cards in magic

Not sure why you'd mention the Power 9 on this card. That's kinda missing the point entirely.

How far they've fallen. When I started playing in the early 90s, Revised had just been released. At the time, this was easily the most valuable card in the set, and the only to be worth nearly $20. The format was really slow then and it allowed for this creature to be a game-winner. Now, it's a little bit under-powered by today's standards, though. Consider the abilities of the Kamigawa dragons (which have the same P/T and CMC) in contrast. And then there's the Thundermaw that totally changes the expectations for a 5 or 6 CMC creature. Great as it once was, the Shivan will probably never see pro use again (well, unless WotC underpowers subsequent sets to make it viable again).

Probably the strongest creature in Alpha. He could take on a Lord of the Pit or Force of Nature with a few untapped mountains.

Revenge? You? I am SMAUG! I kill when I wish! I am strong, strong, STRONG! My armor is like tenfold shields! My teeth like swords! My claws, spears! The shock of my tail, a thunderbolt! My wings, a hurricane! And my breath, death!