Meme density rating of previous comment: Poser out of ten.
the.tunnel.children
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Easily my favourite art amongst the dragons.
metalevolence
★★★☆☆ (3.7/5.0)(5 votes)
before demigod of revenge, in a time before time, there was lightning dragon.
Sironos
★☆☆☆☆ (1.1/5.0)(8 votes)
It is a shame that such nice spectacular chaotic art with undeath and thunder and lightning are reflected by firebreathing and an echo cost.
Kryptnyt
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
A beautiful and evasive threat in red, the color where echo deck "must be made" thanks to Thick-Skinned goblin.
Anubisisking
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Awww, he's obsolete now but I still love this card!
Bedford
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I used him as a finisher back in the day. Still have fond memories of it.
tavaritz
★★☆☆☆ (2.7/5.0)(3 votes)
Casting cost of a card is in it's upper righthand corner, if that contains X is considered to be 0.
The cost to cast on the other hand can be almost whatever.
pedrodyl
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Turn 4 this, Then depending on how far away it is, a couple of turns later a Thunder Dragon lol jk screw Vorthoses
leomistico
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
@Wanderer25: Echo asks you to pay the creature's mana cost, so in this case . The old version of echo is exactly the same thing as Echo , so nothing didn't changed... What it's written in the upper right corner is the card mana cost, the one that you'd pay when you cast it, if nothing change it. The mana cost is different from the mana that you pay if there's something that modifies it, but its mana cost always remains unchanged. So with or without Dragonspeaker Shaman you always have to pay for echo...
One of my first Dragon, one of the cheaper, and one of my favourites! So simple, so elegant! I whished this was reprinted in Time Spiral, but it wasn't. Sadly, moreover, there wasn't even a single throwback of it, if I didn't miss something...
4.5/5
Wanderer25
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
A great card, before the rules change on echo I would've said he was definitely better than Rathi Dragon. Now I'm not sure. Before time spiral block, echo meant that you paid the casting cost again on the next upkeep. Afterward, it was changed so that the echo cost was considered a a separate cost from the original casting cost.
If I understand correctly, before the rules change you could cast him for RR with Dragonspeaker Shaman, then pay RR on the next upkeep as the echo cost. Now he would cost RR, but you'd still have to pay 2RR for echo. Is this right? To put it simply, did echo originally consider the cost as written, or what you actually paid for it? I guess it never really came up before...
Flavor- wise, I don't see what is so "lightning" about him. It seems as if he should've had haste (as did Ball Lightning, Lightning Elemental, etc.). I guess a flying, firebreathing Ball Lightning variant would've been overpowered at this cmc- but this was Urza Block after all...
Anyway, I give him 3 stars base rating, with and extra 1/2 star for the memorable art..
still, to this day, one of my favorite dragons of all time.
DarthParallax
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
As the very first card to get Foil treatment in the game, as a Dragon, and as a 4 converted mana costing card, one has to at least CONSIDER this for a Kaalia of the Vast EDH deck The historical blinginess might qualify it all on it's own for some but let's look at it's playability:
First of all, it is *almost* strictly better than Dragon Whelp, which comes in Kaalia's deck, so a simple substitution is a perfectly fine way to mildly upgrade your deck. But what if you want to take apart and rebuild the deck from the ground up? Does Lightning Dragon still make it?
Well, leomistico calls our attention to Dragonspeaker Shaman, which should probably be featured in any Kaalia deck that uses Dragons just because Dragons cost a lot of mana and you are probably using your Kaalia activation on a Demon or Angel, since those have fewer ways to reduce their mana cost. I think Bladewing the Risen and Malfegor are good enough reasons to already be playing both them and Dragonspeaker in Kaalia, so Dragonspeaker does turn Lightning Dragon the first time around into a {R}{R} Dragon with unlimited Firebreathing, though the echo cost is still 4.
Ragamander wants us to look at Moltensteel Dragon, and probably for a 60 card deck Moltensteel Dragon is easier to make better- but in Commander, there is just so much destruction effects running around that the Phyrexian Mana costs don't outweigh the vulnerability of being an artifact. An artifact creature can be killed by a LOT.
Hunter06
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The art makes him look like he has no skin. 4/5 Stars
Comments (17)
The cost to cast on the other hand can be almost whatever.
Then depending on how far away it is, a couple of turns later a Thunder Dragon
lol jk screw Vorthoses
What it's written in the upper right corner is the card mana cost, the one that you'd pay when you cast it, if nothing change it. The mana cost is different from the mana that you pay if there's something that modifies it, but its mana cost always remains unchanged. So with or without Dragonspeaker Shaman you always have to pay
One of my first Dragon, one of the cheaper, and one of my favourites! So simple, so elegant! I whished this was reprinted in Time Spiral, but it wasn't. Sadly, moreover, there wasn't even a single throwback of it, if I didn't miss something...
4.5/5
If I understand correctly, before the rules change you could cast him for RR with Dragonspeaker Shaman, then pay RR on the next upkeep as the echo cost. Now he would cost RR, but you'd still have to pay 2RR for echo. Is this right? To put it simply, did echo originally consider the cost as written, or what you actually paid for it? I guess it never really came up before...
Flavor- wise, I don't see what is so "lightning" about him. It seems as if he should've had haste (as did Ball Lightning, Lightning Elemental, etc.). I guess a flying, firebreathing Ball Lightning variant would've been overpowered at this cmc- but this was Urza Block after all...
Anyway, I give him 3 stars base rating, with and extra 1/2 star for the memorable art..
You can cast both for 4 mana, and each has an additional cost (
First of all, it is *almost* strictly better than Dragon Whelp, which comes in Kaalia's deck, so a simple substitution is a perfectly fine way to mildly upgrade your deck. But what if you want to take apart and rebuild the deck from the ground up? Does Lightning Dragon still make it?
Well, leomistico calls our attention to Dragonspeaker Shaman, which should probably be featured in any Kaalia deck that uses Dragons just because Dragons cost a lot of mana and you are probably using your Kaalia activation on a Demon or Angel, since those have fewer ways to reduce their mana cost. I think Bladewing the Risen and Malfegor are good enough reasons to already be playing both them and Dragonspeaker in Kaalia, so Dragonspeaker does turn Lightning Dragon the first time around into a {R}{R} Dragon with unlimited Firebreathing, though the echo cost is still 4.
Ragamander wants us to look at Moltensteel Dragon, and probably for a 60 card deck Moltensteel Dragon is easier to make better- but in Commander, there is just so much destruction effects running around that the Phyrexian Mana costs don't outweigh the vulnerability of being an artifact. An artifact creature can be killed by a LOT.
4/5 Stars