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The Nine Dragon Rulers of the Skies: Ranking Magic's Most Dominant Scaled Tyrants from Alpha to Tarkir Dragonstorm (Part 1)
Some dragons collect hoards of gold. The best dragons in Magic collect hoards of wins.
From the moment Richard Garfield gave Shivan Dragon firebreathing in Alpha, players have been obsessed with Magic’s most iconic creature type. This was the first time players encountered a dragon as a central figure in the game. There’s something primal about dropping a massive, flying threat that demands an immediate answer or threatens to end the game. In Commander, where big mana and splashy plays reign supreme, dragons have evolved from simple beaters into complex engines that warp entire games around their presence.
But not all dragons are created equal. In a game with over 300 printed dragons spanning three decades, which ones truly deserve a spot in your 99? Which legendary wyrms have proven themselves across kitchen tables and competitive pods alike? And perhaps most importantly, which dragons don’t just win games – they create stories?
Today, we’re ranking the nine of the most dominant dragons in Magic’s history, from Alpha’s humble beginnings through the recent Tarkir Dragonstorm release. Our methodology goes beyond simple power level evaluation. We’ve analyzed EDHREC inclusion rates to understand real-world adoption, examined competitive viability across multiple power levels, evaluated combo potential that turns dragons from threats into win conditions, and considered that ineffable “Timmy factor” – the sheer table presence when these scaled titans hit the battlefield.
Fair warning: not every card on this list has “Dragon” in its name. As Magic has evolved, so too has the design space for what makes a dragon mechanically powerful. Some of our top picks might surprise you, while others have been format staples since their first printing. What unites them all is their ability to fundamentally alter games of Commander in 2025’s diverse meta landscape.
Before we dive into our top nine, let’s acknowledge some fire-breathers that just missed the cut. Goldspan Dragon revolutionized treasure strategies but lacks the game-ending potential of our top picks. Dragonlord Ojutai remains a control player’s dream but suffers from narrow application. Balefire Dragon offers a one-sided board wipe on wings, yet its high cost and vulnerability keep it from true dominance. These are powerful cards that deserve respect – they’re just not quite the format-warping figures we’re celebrating today.
#9: Ancient Copper Dragon
Let's start with chaos incarnate. Ancient Copper Dragon represents everything casual Commander players love: variance, excitement, and the potential for absolutely broken turns. When this Adventures in the Forgotten Realms mythic connects with an opponent, you're rolling a d20 and creating that many treasure tokens. Yes, you could roll a 1. You could also roll a 20 and fundamentally break the game's mana economy.
EDHREC data shows Ancient Copper Dragon appearing in roughly 15% of eligible red decks, with inclusion rates spiking dramatically in dice-rolling themed decks where it becomes almost mandatory. But what makes this dragon truly special isn't just the treasure generation – it's how it warps the entire table's psychology.
"Who wants me to roll high?" becomes a legitimate political tool. Suddenly, you're not just attacking; you're creating a shared experience where even your opponents might root for your success. In a format increasingly dominated by deterministic combo lines, Ancient Copper Dragon brings back the excitement of not knowing what's going to happen next.
The combo potential here is deceptively strong. While the variance makes it unreliable for competitive play, casual tables have learned to fear the dragon that rolls high. Pair it with extra combat effects like Aggravated Assault, and a single high roll creates infinite combats and infinite mana. Add treasure doublers like Xorn or Academy Manufactor, and even average rolls become game-breaking.
What truly earns Ancient Copper Dragon its spot on this list is its ability to scale with any table's power level. In casual pods, it's a fun, swingy threat that creates memorable moments. In higher-power games, it becomes a must-answer threat that can randomly end games. The adventure variant adds flexibility, letting you guarantee at least some treasures before committing to the full casting cost.
At around $15, it's also one of the most accessible dragons for newer players looking to add punch to their red decks. It doesn't require building around it specifically – Ancient Copper Dragon enhances whatever strategy you're already running by providing burst mana at a crucial moment.
#8: Terror of the Peaks
If Ancient Copper Dragon is chaos, Terror of the Peaks is inevitable mathematics. This five-mana monster from Core Set 2021 has fundamentally changed how players evaluate creature-based strategies in Commander. The numbers don't lie: EDHREC shows Terror appearing in over 25% of eligible red decks, making it one of the most-played red creatures period, not just among dragons.
The ability is deceptively simple: whenever another creature enters the battlefield under your control, Terror of the Peaks deals damage equal to that creature's power to any target. In a format built around playing increasingly large threats, this transforms every creature spell into removal, reach, or combo potential.
What makes Terror of the Peaks so dominant is how it warps game flow from the moment it's revealed in your hand. Opponents know that once it resolves, their life totals and creatures are no longer safe. Playing a simple Solemn Simulacrum becomes a Lightning Bolt. Dropping another dragon becomes a Fireball. God forbid you have any kind of token generation – suddenly every 1/1 is pinging away at life totals or picking off utility creatures.
The combo potential here is nearly limitless. Any infinite creature ETB loop instantly kills the table. Dragon tribal decks can chain multiple dragons together for lethal damage without ever entering combat. Even fair Magic becomes unfair when every creature represents additional damage.
In competitive circles, Terror of the Peaks occupies an interesting space. While not quite cEDH material on its own, it's powerful enough to see fringe play in creature-heavy metas where its ability to clear mana dorks and hate bears while pressuring life totals becomes relevant. More importantly, it's one of the few cards that casual players and spikes can agree on – it's just good, regardless of your deck's overall power level.
The true terror of Terror of the Peaks isn't just the damage it deals – it's the damage it threatens. Once it's on the battlefield, every decision changes. Do you play your commander knowing it might get sniped? Do you develop your board knowing each creature helps your opponent's clock? Can you afford to leave it alive for even one turn cycle?
At its current price point hovering around $20-25, Terror of the Peaks represents one of the best investments for any red deck. It's splashable, powerful, and most importantly, it's fun. There's something deeply satisfying about turning your creature curve into a damage curve, and Terror of the Peaks does it better than almost any card ever printed.
#7: Lathliss, Dragon Queen
Mono-red has always struggled in Commander. Limited card draw, narrow answers, and color identity restrictions typically relegate red to a supporting role in multicolor decks. Lathliss, Dragon Queen laughs at those limitations while breathing fire on anyone who doubts mono-red's potential.
EDHREC data tells a compelling story: Lathliss helms over 2,000 dedicated dragon tribal decks, making her the most popular mono-colored dragon commander by a significant margin. But raw numbers don't capture why she's revolutionized budget dragon strategies. At her core, Lathliss does two things exceptionally well: she doubles your dragons and makes them all bigger. In a tribe already defined by efficient beaters, this combination proves devastating.
The game flow impact of Lathliss cannot be overstated. Every dragon you cast effectively becomes two dragons – the original and a 5/5 flying token. But here's where it gets spicy: those tokens are also dragons, meaning they benefit from every lord effect, every tribal synergy, and most importantly, Lathliss's own +1/+1 pump. Your sixth-mana Demanding Dragon suddenly represents 11 power in the air, split across two bodies to play around single-target removal.
Where Lathliss truly shines is in her combo potential. Dragon Tempest or Scourge of Valkas with Lathliss creates a damage loop where each dragon deals damage based on your total dragon count. With just four dragons in play, a single new dragon represents 10 damage before it even attacks. Add cost reducers and you're looking at turn five or six kills in a mono-red deck.
The beauty of Lathliss is her scalability. In casual pods, she enables fun dragon tribal strategies that feel powerful without being oppressive. Players get to live the dream of amassing flying armies while opponents have time to interact. Bump up the power level, and suddenly she's enabling infinite combos with Cloudstone Curio or creating lethal armies with extra combat steps.
Perhaps most importantly, Lathliss democratizes dragon tribal. While five-color dragon decks demand expensive mana bases and premium dragons, Lathliss thrives on a budget. Many of her best dragons cost under $5, and the mono-colored mana base keeps the deck accessible. For less than $100, you can build a Lathliss deck that hangs with decks costing five times as much.
The queen also dodges many of Commander's common hate pieces. Her tokens survive creature board wipes if she does. She doesn't rely on the graveyard, making her resilient to the format's abundant graveyard hate. She even turns symmetrical effects like Mana Flare to her advantage, ramping out dragons faster than opponents can handle.
Lathliss represents what commander design should aspire to: a legendary creature that enables an entire archetype while remaining fun for both pilot and opponents. She's powerful enough to win games but fair enough to create interesting gameplay. Most importantly, she makes dragons accessible to everyone, not just players with deep pockets.
#6: Atarka, World Render
Some dragons generate value. Others create card advantage. Atarka, World Render does something far more elegant: she ends games. In a format increasingly dominated by complex engines and convoluted combo lines, Atarka represents the beautiful simplicity of turning creatures sideways until opponents stop having life points.
The stats back up the strategy. EDHREC shows Atarka appearing in roughly 20% of Gruul decks and an astounding 35% of dragon-focused builds. For a seven-mana creature in colors not known for ramp... wait, who are we kidding? Green ramps like crazy, and when you're giving all dragons double strike, seven mana is a bargain.
Atarka warps combat math in ways that make opponents' heads spin. Every dragon becomes a must-block threat. Your 4/4 dragon? Now it's effectively an 8/4. That Utvara Hellkite you just cast? Congratulations, it's dealing 12 damage and making a token. God help the table if you have any kind of power enhancement. Xenagos, God of Revels turning Atarka into a 24/12 double striker isn't magical Christmas land – it's a typical Tuesday.
The game flow impact extends beyond just damage output. Atarka fundamentally changes how opponents must evaluate threats. Can they afford to tap out when any hasty dragon represents lethal damage? Should they hold up removal for Atarka or the dragons she's about to enhance? The mere presence of Atarka in the command zone alters gameplay patterns before she's even cast.
What elevates Atarka from simple beatstick to top-tier dragon is her versatility within different deck structures. In dedicated dragon tribal, she's the ultimate force multiplier, turning your scaly army into a game-ending alpha strike. In Gruul stompy lists, she provides a way to break through stalled board states. Even in lands-matter decks, she pairs beautifully with land-animating effects to create unexpected lethal attacks.
The combo potential might seem limited compared to our other entries, but that's missing the point. Atarka doesn't need elaborate combinations – she is the combo. Double strike plus any power enhancement equals dead opponents. Add extra combat steps and the math gets silly. Throw in damage doublers like Fiery Emancipation and you're dealing damage measurable in scientific notation.
Competitively, Atarka occupies a fascinating niche. She's too expensive for true cEDH but dominates high-power casual tables where games last long enough to cast seven-mana spells. She's the perfect commander for players who want to win through combat in a format increasingly hostile to creature strategies.
From her origins in Tarkir Standard to her current status as a Commander staple, Atarka has proven that sometimes the old ways are best. Not every game needs to end with Thoracle loops or infinite turns. Sometimes, you just need a really big dragon hitting really, really hard. Twice.
#5: Korvold, Fae-Cursed King
"That's not a real dragon!" I can hear the purists crying. Listen, when your type line says "Legendary Creature — Dragon Noble," you're a dragon. When you're also one of the most played commanders in the entire format, you've earned your spot on any dragon list. Korvold doesn't just make the cut – he devours the competition.
The numbers are staggering. EDHREC lists Korvold as the 8th most popular commander of all time, with over 15,000 registered decks. He appears in nearly 10% of all Jund decks as part of the 99. These aren't accident statistics – they're evidence of a fundamental truth: Korvold breaks one of Magic's core resource systems.
The recipe seems innocent enough: whenever Korvold enters the battlefield or attacks, sacrifice another permanent, then draw a card and put a +1/+1 counter on Korvold. In practice, this transforms every permanent you control into potential card advantage. Treasures become cards. Fetchlands become cards. That random 1/1 token? You guessed it – it's a card.
Understanding Korvold's game flow impact requires recognizing how he warps entire games around his presence. Once Korvold hits the table, the game becomes about feeding the king. Every treasure you crack draws a card. Every creature that dies draws a card. Every land you sacrifice to a Harrow effect draws a card. In a format where card advantage is king, Korvold sits on the throne.
The combo potential is nearly limitless. Food Chain creates infinite mana and infinite card draw. Dockside Extortionist loops generate infinite treasures and infinite cards. Even fair strategies become unfair when you're drawing three or four extra cards per turn. Korvold doesn't just enable combos – he finds them by churning through your deck at an alarming rate.
Competitively, Korvold has proven himself at the highest levels. He's a legitimate cEDH commander, capable of winning on turn three or four with the right setup. But here's the beautiful part: he's equally powerful at casual tables, just slower. The same engine that powers competitive wins creates value trains at any power level.
The building flexibility around Korvold is part of his enduring appeal. Aristocrats strategies sacrifice creatures for value. Lands decks use fetchlands and recursive land effects. Treasure builds go all-in on artifact tokens. Food decks... well, they feed the king. Each approach is viable, and many Korvold decks blend multiple strategies into a value soup that's hard to stop.
There's been consistent discussion about whether Korvold is too powerful for the format. He generates advantages too easily, grows too quickly, and enables too many broken interactions. But banning discussions aside, Korvold represents something important: he's a dragon that doesn't care about dragon tribal. He's powerful enough to see play in any Jund deck, regardless of theme or strategy.
For dragon enthusiasts, Korvold offers an interesting proposition. He's arguably the best dragon to include in dragon tribal decks that can support his colors. The card advantage he provides helps find your other dragons, and his sacrifice requirement is easily met with token generators like Dragon Broodmother or Dragonmaster Outcast. He might not breathe fire, but he does something far more dangerous – he drowns opponents in card advantage.
#4: Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm
When Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm was spoiled in Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate, the collective dragon tribal community lost their minds. Here was everything they'd been asking for: a reasonably costed legendary dragon that doubled all their dragons. Oh, and she has ward 2, because apparently R&D decided subtlety was overrated.
The adoption rate has been meteoric. In just over two years since release, Miirym has rocketed to become the second most popular dragon tribal commander on EDHREC, with over 7,000 dedicated decks. She appears in an impressive 25% of Temur decks that care about dragons. These numbers would be impressive for any commander – for one competing in the most popular tribal archetype in the format, they're extraordinary.
To understand why Miirym warps games so completely, you need to appreciate the exponential math she enables. Your first dragon after Miirym creates one token. Your second creates two more (one original, one copying the token). By your third dragon, you're creating three bodies from a single spell. The board state spirals out of control faster than a Doubling Season convention.
But here's where Miirym gets truly nasty: she doesn't just copy the dragons, she copies their enter-the-battlefield effects. Suddenly, every dragon in your deck has twice the impact. Demanding Dragon makes each opponent sacrifice two creatures. Goldspan Dragon creates two treasures immediately. Terror of the Peaks deals damage equal to its power twice. The value generation is obscene.
The combo potential pushes Miirym from strong to potentially broken. Any bounce effect like Cloudstone Curio creates infinite dragons with the right setup. Clone effects become particularly powerful – copy Miirym herself and watch the token generation go exponential. Even fair strategies feel unfair when every dragon represents multiple bodies and doubled effects.
What makes Miirym particularly dangerous is her built-in protection. Ward 2 might seem minor, but in a format where mana efficiency matters, forcing opponents to pay an extra two mana to remove your value engine is significant. It's the difference between removing Miirym and developing their own board, and often that tempo loss is enough to snowball the game.
Deck building with Miirym rewards both innovation and raw power. The obvious approach fills the deck with dragons and ramp, leveraging the multiplication effect. But creative builders have found success with clone tribal, turning every Phantasmal Image into a dragon generator. Others focus on ETB effects, using Miirym to double up on value creatures that happen to be dragons.
The metagame impact of Miirym cannot be overstated. She single-handedly revitalized Temur dragons as an archetype, offering a powerful alternative to five-color builds. She's pushed dragon tribal from casual tables into high-power pods. Most importantly, she's changed how players evaluate dragons – now every dragon is viewed through the lens of "how broken is this with Miirym?"
At around $30-40, Miirym represents a significant but worthwhile investment for dragon enthusiasts. She's powerful enough to build around, flexible enough to include in the 99, and fun enough to keep games interesting. She might not have the pedigree of some legendary dragons, but she's earning her place through sheer dominance.
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