We are getting to the pointy end of the spoiler season for Strixhaven (MTG's next set, which has a magical school setting very similar to the one in Harry Potter) and many new and interesting cards have already been revealed. However of them all the one that currently interests me the most is Dragon's Approach
This is the 5th MTG card to have the "A deck can have any number..." rules text and the first non-creature card with it. The other 4 were all creatures.
While breaking the limit of copies is interesting even in normal constructed in EDH - a format built around running only single copies of cards - it changes everything. It also enables certain cards that are usually worthless in EDH (because they rely on multiples) to become strong, the biggest of which is Thrumming Stone
And somehow Thrumming Stone is arguably even stronger and scarier with Dragon's Approach than the creatures because it just burns all your opponents for lethal.
But even without that combo Dragon's Approach is capable of some powerful plays thanks to its additional ability which allows you to tutor dragons from your deck onto the battlefield (a super powerful effect as seen in card like Dragonstorm and Magda).
A rough semi-budget conscious outline for an EDH deck using Dragon's Approach would be something like this -
Commander = Urabrask the Hidden or Purphorus Bronze Blooded (because they can give your Dragons haste)
33x Mountains (no real need to get fancy with this mana base Ancient Tomb and Gemstone Caverns are both good ramping upgrades if you have/can afford them)
33x Dragon's Approach (the heart of the deck, you could probably get away with less but exactly 1/3 is a good place to start testing)
1x Thrumming Stone (the deck's super combo)
Looting Effects x9 (allows you to throw away extra copies of Dragon's Approach and be able to dragon summon quicker + digs for Thrumming Stone etc. Wheel of Fortune is a good upgrade if you have/can afford one)
1x Faithless Looting
1x Cathartic Reunion
1x Thrill of Possibility
1x Tormenting Voice
1x Wild Guess
1x Dangerous Wager
1x Wheel of Misfortune
1x Magus of the Wheel
1x Reforge the Soul
Ramp x8 (ramping quicker is always good Mana Vault and/or Dockside Extortionist are excellent options if you have/can afford them)
1x Sol Ring
1x Wayfarer's Bauble
1x Ruby Medallion
1x Arcane Signet
1x Mind Stone
1x Thought Vessel
1x Fellwar Stone
1x Prismatic Lens
Dragons x7 (the other win condition for the deck)
1x Hellkite Courser (gets out your haste giving commander)
1x Thundermaw Hellkite (no flying blockers)
1x Terror of Mount Velus (double striking dragons)
1x Terror of the Peaks (dragon damage on ETB)
1x Scourge of Values (dragon damage on ETB)
1x Lathliss, Dragon Queen (more dragons)
1x Utvara Hellkite (more dragons)
General Utility x8 (sometimes it'll be necessary Deflecting Swat is a fantastic upgraded redirect option if you have/can afford it)
1x Blasphemous Act (wrath no. 1)
1x Chain Reaction (wrath no. 2)
1x Richochet Trap (redirect no. 1)
1x Shunt (redirect no. 2)
1x Chaos Warp (targetted universal removal)
1x Jeska's Will (generically awesome card, ritual + advantage)
1x Anger (another way to give everything haste)
1x Dragon Tempest (another way to give everything haste + dragon synergy)
That's just my rough initial thoughts about how to build around but I think it's a good starting point and would be plenty of fun to play as it is. Going into other colors is always an option and Blue in particular is appealing with extra looting effects, spell cost reduction effects and even artifact tutoring like Fabricate. What do you think? Are you interested in trying out Dragon's Approach or any of the other new cards from Strixhaven and if so which ones?
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