“Think you’re a dragon slayer? Come here and try.”
Art:Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm
by Kekai Kotaki
Wanna Skip the Primer? Here is a Moxfield Link to both the budget and non-budget versions!
Table of Contents
Today’s Featured Commander Is:
Miirym is an awesome commander for one of magic’s most popular creature types, dragons! Dragons are not only classic fantasy creatures but, in magic, are quite big, strong, and flavorful. Miirym is the perfect commander and allows us to get two of the dragons we cast and also has built-in protection with Ward. Miirym is a powerhouse and does a ton for the deck for only six mana which in Temur can be cast quite early / easily. Dragons are awesome, and so is this deck. Without further adieu, let’s get it!
The Deck:
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Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm $80 Dragons!
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The Non-Budget Version of this Deck!
Please Note: The non-budget version of the deck was included just to show some contrast between the versions and to give players who don’t want a budget build a list. The rest of this article will focus on the budget version of Miirym.
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Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm $850 Non-Budget Dragons!
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Main Differences Between the Versions?
The main difference between the budget and non-budget versions is payoffs. In the non-budget version, we have cards like Doubling Season
and Parallel Lives
, which provide additional payoffs and tokens that we create with Miirym, not having these makes a lot of our ETB’s hit less hard. We also have higher quality ramp sources especially when it comes to creatures since we can run Delighted Halfling
and Bloom Tender
which increase our mana production quite a bit and can help us speed out Miirym.
Five Helpful Upgrades for the Budget Version
These are cards featured in the non-budget version that, if you would like, would be great ways to improve the budget version of the deck.
An amazing five-mana card that can be a Cyclonic Rift
for anyone not playing a dragon-focused deck. This card can be an absolute house when we are behind or want to clear the way for a huge attack.
Miirym and the tokens that they create are a huge part of our deck. Getting more of those tokens can be huge for establishing a presence on the board, and Doubling Season is truly the best of the best. It also works well with some of the creatures in the deck.
Last March of the Ents is an awesome card that we can ramp into, draw many cards, and dump all of the creatures from it onto the field, which can be a huge board presence advantage for us. Last March of the Ents is an absolute bomb in this deck and can be pretty close to game-ending.
Urza’s Incubator is another absolute bomb that, for only three mana, reduces the cost of nearly every card in our deck by two. This card is a staple of decks that care about creature types and was only committed from our list since it would have been 1/4th of the current cost of the budget build. If you have one lying around or want to pick one up, this will improve the deck greatly.
Bloom Tender is a strong mana dork in pretty much any deck that is more than two colors, and it shines perfectly in Temur here. Two mana, and even if it only produces one for a time, ramp is a ramp, and throughout the game, both early and mid-game just get better.
Why Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm?
Miirym is a key part of our deck. Being able to make tokens and skirt the legend rule for only six mana is extremely strong and something we want to be doing as early and often as possible. The game plan focuses on Miirym and casting them as early as possible. As soon as hit six mana, we slam Miiryim as quick as we can
Deck Overview:
This section contains information about cards in the deck and how they function within the deck! I also highlighted some of my favorite cards in the deck!
Creatures:
To start off our creature package, we have some strong early-game creature ramp like Birds of Paradise
, Rattleclaw Mystic
, and Scaled Nurturer
which are all great early game mana sources and Scaled Nurturer even gives us some life when we cast dragons which can be strong against aggressive strategies. Reckless Barbarian
and Patron of the Arts
are additional ways to produce some temporary mana which can be perfect to turbo out Miirym. Now let’s get into my favorite huge dragons in the deck that can help us end the game. Firkraag, Cunning Instigator
is awesome and can cause chaos for our opponents when we are able to goad a bunch of their creatures and cause a little bit of chaos and bad attacks at the table. Ganax, Astral Hunter
is another strong mana-producing dragon that only gets better when we have twice as many triggers if we have Miirym out. This is one of the many cards we often want to wait to cast until Miirym hits the field. Scourge of Valkas
is a dragon that can end the game without ever attacking. In testing with two Scourges and a bunch of dragons, I killed two opponents in a single turn. This card is very strong. Thrakkus the Butcher
is another very strong creature that can make combat deadly for our opponents since our dragons will be absolutely huge.
Instants:
We are playing blue, so having at least a couple of counterspells is necessary, like Arcane Denial
and Counterspell
, which are two cheap and very strong counterspells, whether we use these offensively or defensively. They are quite strong. Blur
and Displace
are strong cards in the deck since we can re-ETB the original creature and get additional token copies from Miirym. Sarkhan's Triumph
is a three-mana tutor for the deck that can let us grab any dragon; there are a ton of awesome options at various mana costs, which makes this card strong at any stage of the game. We also have some artifact and enchantment removal like Return to Nature
and Krosan Grip
which are very strong and cheap.
Sorceries:
We only have two sorceries, and they are both ramp in Cultivate
and Kodama's Reach
, which are great cheap ways to get some mana fixing for the deck.
Artifacts:
We have a trio of dragon-based artifacts in Carnelian Orb of Dragonkind
, Jade Orb of Dragonkind
, and Lapis Orb of Dragonkind
which are expensive mana rocks since they all cost three mana but the benefits they provide when casting dragons are huge. Getting Haste, Hexproof and a Buff allows us to scry 2. These cards are not the most efficient but are great budget rocks for the deck and provide a decent amount of value. We have some stronger mana rocks like Chromatic Lantern
as well as two of the talismans. Panharmonicon
is arguably one of the best artifacts in our deck since we can get additional Miirym triggers which we will never say no to.
Enchantments:
To start off our enchantments, we have Dragon Tempest
, which not only makes dragons hasty but can be a great source of damage for commanders/creatures or to whittle down our opponents. Former modern powerhouse Up the Beanstalk
has a home here since we can get a ton of cards off of it for only two mana. Since we get additional ETBs from Miirym’s ability and the tokens they create, cards like Warstorm Surge
can be a great way to take out opponent’s threats or damage them and lower their life total. Life Finds a Way
is an awesome card that lets us get even more tokens from Miiryms ability which can turn the tides of the game quite quickly.
Land Base:
Dragons are an extremely supported creature type, so we have access to strong lands like Haven of the Spirit Dragon
, which is a great land for when we want to cast dragons and can be a strong way to recur a key dragon back. Crucible of the Spirit Dragon
is an awesome land that we can build up in the early turns and get some big payoffs after a few turns of storing counters onto it. Temple of the Dragon Queen
is another awesome land that we can use to get one of our three colors and we almost always have a dragon to reveal for it. Beyond that, we have a bunch of various lands to produce Temur as well as some basics to round out our landbase. I have found a ton of success with this landbase and found it to be strong and efficient even though it is missing some of the pricier lands which would make it a little faster.
Strengths of the Deck:
- Our commander comes with built-in protection through ward, allowing us to stick them and keep them around longer
- Temur allows us access to a wide range of interactions and ramp as well as counterspells
- A decent amount of ramp
Weaknesses of the Deck:
- A lot of our dragons are expensive so we can be slow to start
- We need to be conscious of the hands we keep, a hand without ramp is almost never worth it a strong six is much better than an ok seven. While this is a problem every deck faces it is amplified here based on our high average mana cost.
- Weak to creature hate
Deck Stats:
Sample Hands:
Main Win Conditions:
There are no infinite combos or loops within the deck. We end the game solely through combat, whether it is attacking with our dragons or with Miiryim. Many of our dragons can easily threaten an opponent’s life totals in just a few attacks.
Conclusion:
Miirym is an awesome commander for a very fun dragon deck that is a blast to pilot. Miirym being in Temur takes away some of the dragons we can use, especially compared to the five-color decks, but being able to make tokens and skirt the legend rule, is a very powerful ability. Even in its budget form, it is still an absolute blast and is a great and not expensive introduction to both dragons and commander. Thanks for reading to the end and for all of your support.