Here is a list I've been working on but haven't t...

[Crater Hellion]

Here is a list I've been working on but haven't tested- everything I say about it is in theory. This deck is kind of slow but I think it's pretty good for budget.

4 Cabal Therapy (disruption OR discard your own dragon)
4 Duress
4 Worldgorger Dragon
1 Sliver Queen (no need for laq. since you dont mill your own deck, and run no FoW)
4 Buried Alive
4 Dance of the Dead
4 Necromancy (required to beat chalice and to go off with undead gladiator)
4 Undead Gladiator (engine)
1 Entomb
4 Magma Mine (kill with just dragon.. will prob cut some)
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
2 Tainted Pact-- originally Spoils, but I haven't ever played with spoils so I don't know if it's going to end up killing you here or what.
4 Dark Ritual
1 Lotus Petal
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Vault
1 Mana Crypt
2 Bloodstained Mire
2 Polluted Delta
5 Swamp
5 Snow-Covered Swamp
SB: 3 Defense Grid
SB: 3 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 3 Reanimate
SB: 3 Verdant Force
SB: 3 Chalice of the Void
-OR-
SB: 4 Phyrexian Negator
SB: 4 Nantuko Shade
SB: 4 Withered Wretch
SB: 3 Hypnotic Specter
It will probably dominate aggro like combo decks tend to, and the load of disruption should be some good vs. control. The second sideboard is obviously for play against a lot of graveyard hate, and the former is sort of generic. Chalice and hand disruption is basically all you have vs. opposing combo, unless the opponent is playing Dragon.

[mouth]

I was working on a deck like this for 1.5 a while back, with the Necromancy + Gladiator tech. If anything, the mana curve seems pretty steep, and if you felt like borrowing anything from 1.5/1.x, I'd suggest Ancient Tomb or City of Traitors. Along with the addition of Intuition, they're what make turn 2 and 3 wins possible/consistent.

[BreathWeapon]

If Undead Gladiator only functions in the Upkeep step, then you can only use Necromancey to set off the combo ... correct? That seems like a poor choice over alternatives. Jalum Tome makes more sense, it has synergy with any animate spell. I can see the Gladiators as an engine in addition to Jalum Tome, but not in its place.

4 Magma Mine? Why? With Sliver Queen and Ambassador Laquatas you have 2 effective win conditions that can be placed into the grave yard visa vi Buried Alive or an active Jalum Tome while going off ... why bother wasting 4 slots on a cute card that serves no worthwhile function for the deck?

This decklist doesn't seem optimal to me.

[mouth]

4 Undead Gladiators is a little much, I like 2, and, now that this back out there, am considering going to 1.

Their main advantage over Jalum Tome is that they can be searched for via Buried Alive. Also, they make Intuitions into additional BA's. While Jalum Tome does circumvent the whole having to use Necromancy thing, it isn't tutorable like Undead Gladiator. Instead of having to find a Necromancy, now you're trying to find a Tome.

For 1.5 I took this in the B/U direction, partially because of FoW, but also for Intuition and Compulsion. I think the same logic holds true for Type 1. I took out 1 Dragon, down to 3, because without Bazaars the most likely avenue of reaching a Dragon is through tutelage, and not self-milling. Going down to 2 Dragons may be too low.

[dicemanX]

I don't trust the Gladiator engine at all. It seems too slow to me. But then again, there aren't too many options in mono-B (for getting WGD into the grave) apart from Last Rites or Jalum Tome as a discard outlet.

Also, I hope to never see a list with Magma Mine ever again . Use Cursed Scroll instead or Scrying Glass.

[centroles]

Phantom Tape Worm posted an interesting list.

Spoils Dragon or turn2win.dec:
4 duress
4 spoils of the vault
4 buried alive
4 animate dead
4 dance of the dead
2 necromancy

4 world gorger dragon
4 squee, goblin nabob
1 ambassador laquatus
1 sliver queen

4 bazaar of baghdad

4 dark ritual
4 elvish spirit guide
16 swamp


You can even alter the manabase to include green in the board (for xantid swarms and p.deeds) by doing this:
-8 swamp
+4 bayou
+4 polluted delta


it uses bazaars but I find that bazaars are largely unneeded with spoils in the deck. replace them with type 1's restricted goodies and you got yourself a deck.

[morphon]

Crater: I refer you to the discussion in B/U Dragon in this forum where I posted a list with 3x Undead Gladiator - in addition to Jalum Tome. As a tertiatry win condition in conjunction with Necromancy, the Gladiator is very nice. Unfortunately it is too slow and mana intensive to be used as a secondary win condition (behind the primary Buried Alive combo). Without the Bazaars or without blue for Compulsion (probably better than the Tome), I cannot suggest running anything other than the Tome (with the possible suggestion of Scrying Glass - but even that one won't consistently generate cards, and cannot dump a drawn Dragon into the graveyard). 3x Gladiator is Max since I stopped using Vampiric Tutor (slows you down a turn) in favor of Spoils. Adding a single gives you lots of options if you draw the kill creature and have to cast Buried Alive to prime the pump.

BTW: Why run Sliver Queen over Laquatus? With the Ambassador, you pass the turn, and the other guy loses. With the Queen, your opponent gets a FULL TURN in which he could use any number of topdecked cards to wreck you (Infest? Wrath?). Plus, you wind up being susceptible to combat hate (chant/Moment's Peace). Adding a Queen is one thing, but replacing Laquatus? I don't see how that helps anything.

Tainted Pact?? Look at the number of 4x in the deck and ask yourself how many times Pact will simply remove cards from your library without putting any into your hand. Plus, its one mana more than Spoils so it cannot be used as easily to get out of mana-screw like Spoils can.

Sorry, but there is no way this list is more consistent or packs as reliable disruption as the Mono-Black one I posted in the B/U discussion.

[pox_Master]

I have been looking over various dragon builds and yours is an interesting concept.

I have found that blue is overall the best splash in Dragon builds and it can work in Budget.

Some cards you get with the blue splash (That are budget) are:

Lim Dul's Vault- It's no demonic but it still gets the job done.
Compulsion- Can let you go off with just a dragon.

Mana Short- It doesn't provide the reliable protection that Fow gives but it helps to ensure crucial cards get through and that you can go off somewhat safely. Basically for protection you can add either mana short or defense grid. It all depends on your personal preference.

Aerial Caravan- I run this instead of a sliver queen. Sliver queen does provide an alternate kill but how do you get around Ankh of Mishra with it ? Aerial gives you the ability to get around most of the problem cards like Ankh and Blessing. Dumping Aerial in a grave allows you to still go off even if its removed. It is essentially a scapegoat card that opponents will have to waste cards to remove. The next card is what makes Caravan powerful.

Opportunity: This combined with Aerial Caravan can save you a lot of headaches against oath and Ankh Sligh decks. You just go off then Use Caravan until you remove Opportunity and Laquatas. You might want to remove a Necromancy in case they counter the the Laquatas. Then mill them with some mana left open to be able to opportunity them for the win. It's so much easier and reliable. And all it requires is 2 slots!!!

[Phantom Tape Worm]

Quote (centroles @ Nov. 27 2003,10:45)Phantom Tape Worm posted an interesting list.

Spoils Dragon or turn2win.dec:
4 duress
4 spoils of the vault
4 buried alive
4 animate dead
4 dance of the dead
2 necromancy

4 world gorger dragon
4 squee, goblin nabob
1 ambassador laquatus
1 sliver queen

4 bazaar of baghdad

4 dark ritual
4 elvish spirit guide
16 swamp


You can even alter the manabase to include green in the board (for xantid swarms and p.deeds) by doing this:
-8 swamp
+4 bayou
+4 polluted delta


it uses bazaars but I find that bazaars are largely unneeded with spoils in the deck. replace them with type 1's restricted goodies and you got yourself a deck.

You must have meant something other than the bazaars.  Short of the dragon itself, the bazaars are the most important card in the deck.  They are simply non-negotiable, ie. if you don't have bazaars you can't play the deck.

Of course, if you're talking about "5 proxy budget", then yes, the 1.5 decklist for spoils dragon is definately strong enough for type 1 IF your metagame is not already prepared for the more resilient type 1 U/b/g builds.  Upgraded with mox jet, lotus, demonic consultation and other goodies, the deck is not a bad choice for type 1.\n\n

[BreathWeapon]

Isn't it a little odd to run 4 Squee and 4 Spoils in the same Dragon deck? One is intended to strengthen the deck as time progresses and the other is used to win now. How does this work out in the deck?

[Phantom Tape Worm]

Squee can provide a late game (and by late game I mean turn 3 or later) for the 40% of the time that you don't kill on turn 2 and for the rest of the time where your initial attempt is thwarted by FoW or some other non-game ending counter measure.

I suppose in theory you could drop squee for xantid swarm main deck, but then you really are counting on winning on turn 2 and since that's only really going to happen about 60% of the time (without being disrupted), it's probably not a good idea.