My first reaction on seeing Dromoka here was
something along the lines of "Wow, that's a lot
of abilities for one creature". My second
reaction was basically "So there are decks that
basically can't deal with her?" Seriously - as
an invalid target for Ultimate Price or Roast,
Dromoka presents control decks with an
incredible dilemma. Yes, she can still be stolen
by Silumgar and doesn't boost other creatures
like her Fate Reforged incarnation, but how many
ways are there to easily deal with her? Atarka
may have the biggest creatures, but Dromoka has
the most dangerous ones. I don't really want to
imagine a larger-format deck or a casual deck
with her alongside Voice of Resurgence and
Fleecemane Lion.
Today's card of the day is Dragonlord Dromoka
which is a six mana Green and White 5/7
Legendary that can't be countered, has Flying
plus Lifelink and your opponents can't cast
spells during your turn. This is obviously
intended for Commander or Multiplayer with the
final effect, though any removal or such can and
will be used on any other turn instead.
The casting cost is a bit high for other formats
and while the
5/7 with evasion and Lifelink is strong, more
aggressive options exist at or below the mana
cost. Overall it is unlikely to see play
outside of Commander and perhaps Multiplayer and
even in those formats is more of an
inconvenience than a serious threat.
In Limited this is a seriously powerful first
pick in Booster even with the two colors as a
large evasive body, the bonus of Lifelink, and
limits an opponents options enough to be of
value for that alone. In Sealed at least
one of the colors can be easily splashed to
include this if the other is solid and aside
from other elder dragons there isn't much in the
format to actively oppose Dromoka's power and
toughness.
As with all of the new Elder Dragons, if Dromoka
can get on the battlefield and do his thing,
it’s going to be a huge issue for your opponent.
And, good for you, some of his abilities make it
more likely for him to be on the battlefield.
Blue decks will hate him since they can’t
counter him, and other types of control decks
will have to use their kill spells on their own
turn, which messes with their strategy. If their
removal is mostly burn, they’re going to have a
tough time dealing 7 at any time.
Also, if he survives your opponent’s turn, he
helps you attack with more confidence, since you
know your opponent won’t be able to play any
kind of combat trickery. Then, he potentially
brings about a 10 point swing, hitting your
opponent for 5 and gaining you 5.
This is what a six mana creature should look
like.
