Quick Links
It wouldn’t beMagic: the Gatheringif there weren’t terrifying dragons flying around. But inMagic’s latest expansion, Bloomburrow, nothing can be quite as terrifying as a giant, scaly lizard that breathes fire. Instead, this cutesy set features a giant four-winged hawk with lightning eyes. That’s less scary than a fire-breathing dragon, but not by much.
It’s called Dragonhawk, Fate’s Tempest, and this turbulent Bird Dragon loves creatures with power four or greater. The more creatures you have that meet this power threshold, the further Dragonhawk can dig into your deck to either play cards or deal damage. Read on to learn how to dig deep with the Dragonhawk.
The Commander: Dragonhawk, Fate’s Tempest
Let’s take a look at this big, scary Bird. Dragonhawk, Fate’s Tempest is a 5/5 flyer for five mana with a big wall of text that lets youdig into your deck to cast cards whenever it attacks or enters the battlefield. The number of cards you may exile from the top of your library is determined by the number of creatures you control with power four or greater.
Since Dragonhawk is a 5/5, that means you’ll always at least be able to dig one card deep, but to great true value out of Fate’s Tempest,you’ll want as many four-power or greater creatures as possible. The more big critters you have, the more cards you’ll be able to exile and potentially play.
Don’t forget thatevery card you don’t play deals two damage to each opponent. This allows Dragonhawk to potentially eliminate opponents without ever dealing combat damage.
Big creatures are a fairly typical way ofwinning Commander games. WhatDragonhawk provides is a consistent source of new spells to keep the pressure onuntil you shatter your opponent’s defenses.
Powering Dragonhawk with as many four-power creatures as possible will be the main theme of your Commander deck, butcasting all those big creatures(including Dragonhawk itself)will require a consistent mana base. To that end, it’s a good idea to include lots of mana rocks as well as Treasure token generators to allow you to bank mana for when you need it.
Sprinklea few red staplesanda few big-mana bombs, and you’ve got yourself a Dragonhawk deck.
Building Your Dragonhawk, Fate’s Tempest Commander Deck
To reiterate, we’re looking forfour-power-or-above creaturesto empower Dragonhawk’s ability,mana ramp and treasure token generatorsto get Dragonhawk and other monsters onto the table as quickly as possible, and someclassic red spellsto beat back threats and defend Dragonhawk.
Big Power Creatures
For red Commanders,it’s not too difficult to get four or more powerout of a creature. The trick is doing so and still maintaining some semblance of a balanced mana curve.
Most four-power creatures start at three mana. Here, we’ve gotBonecrusher Giant,Scytheclaw Raptor,Combat Celebrant,Chaos Dragon,Giant Cindermaw, andGadrak, the Crown-Scourge(who also makes Treasure tokens, but more on that later).
Things really take off at four mana.Atsushi, the Blazing Sky,Sunspine Lynx,Alexios, Deimos of Kosmos,Wild-Magic Sorcerer,Bloodsworn Steward,Flametongue Kavu,Rose Room Treasurer,Thunderbreak Regent,Roaming Throne, andLeyline Tyrantall efficiently put out four or more power with a few more tricks tacked on.
At five mana, Dragonhawk should appear first, but there are a few other creatures that offer additional bonuses. Chief among them isGoldspan Dragon, which generates Treasure tokens to help cast all those spells Dragonhawk will exile from your library.Neheb, the Eternaldoes similar mana generation based on the damage dealt.
Bonehoard Dracosaur,Iraxxa, Empress of Mars, andTerror of the Peaksall work extremely well with Dragonhawk’s ability.Etali, Primal Stormis always fun to win games with, andUtvara Hellkitecan generate a Dragon army when attacking in conjunction with Dragonhawk.
Ramp And Treasure Tokens
Making sure Dragonhawk arrives consistently on turn four or five should be a priority of this deck. To that end, you’ve got the usual suspects when it comes to ramp (Sol Ring,Arcane Signet,Mind Stone,Thran Dynamo) as well asGlittering Stockpile,Carnelia Orb of Dragonkind(to give Dragonhawk haste),Hazoret’s Monument, andRuby Medallion.
One of the problems with havinga deck that has a lot of four-to-five mana spellsis that it can becomehard to cast them allwhen Dragonhawk is diggingthree or four cards deep. Dealing damage with Dragonhawk is great, but it’s usually a better idea to cast those spells.
Treasure tokens are the solution to this problem. Treasure tokens allow you to bank a bit of mana in between turns to provide enough gas for Dragonhawk to cast a bunch of cards on a single turn, or to just ensure Dragonhawk arrives on time.
Ragavan, Nimble Pilfereris a go-to Treasure generator for any deck with even a hint of red mana in it. The twoMagdasandProfessional Face-Breakercan generate several Treasures over their expected lifespans, andGardrakis back to give Treasures upon the death of any creature.
Big ScoreandSeize the Spoilsboth provide card draw and Treasure tokens, whileGreat Train Heistcan provide many more.
Beyond Treasures,Koth of the HammerandChandra, Torch of Defianceare two planeswalkers that offer both ramp and phenomenal power once they reach enough loyalty counters.Braid of FireandJeska’s Willcan provide enormous amounts of mana, andRunaway Steam-Kinboth generates mana and becomes a 4/4 to help empower Dragonhawk.
Staple Red Answers
Killing Dragonhawk is the simplest and easiest way to disrupt this deck, so you’re going to need a few ways to protect your big four-winged Bird.Deflecting SwatandSwiftfoot Bootsare your best bets for keeping Dragonhawk safe.
For disrupting your opponents,Chaos Warp,Wild Magic Surge, andAbradeprovide targeted removal, whileBlasphemous Act,Chain Reaction, andDelayed Blast Fireballare your board sweepers.Vandalblastcan target any or all artifacts on that table.
Reckless Impulseperforms some digging when Dragonhawk isn’t available, and finally,Insurrectioncan single-handedly win games provided it doesn’t get counterspelled.
Dragonhawk, Fate’s Tempest Commander Deck List
Here we havea sample decklistof what your Dragonhawk, Fate’s Tempest Commander deck could look like.
Terror of the Peaks
Koth of the Hammer
Mountain (28)
Budget Substitutions
While the bulk of the above deck is fairly affordable, there are a few cards that can strain a new Magic player’s account. Here area few budget substitutionsthat are nearly as good.
