Ok, going to get a jump-start on people engineering the dragon decks, given BRM gets released in a few days. We don't have all the cards, but we have enough to start reviewing some things in preparation. Keep in mind everything written is limited to the cards we currently have and the cards that have been released.

First, here are the cards that have the mechanic "holding a dragon": (Basically, the cards that probably form the synergy of having a dragon deck in the first place, without being dragons themselves!)


Blackwing Technician, 2/4 but holding a dragon->3/5 (3 mana)


Blackwing Corruptor, 5/4 but holding a dragon-> deals 3 damage (5 mana)


Rend Blackhand, 8/4, but with a dragon... Kill a legendary! (7 mana)

Now, let's talk about the dragons.

The old ones

Faerie Dragon, 2 mana 3/2 (can't be targeted)
Twilight Drake, 4 mana 4/1*
Azure Drake, 5 mana 4/4 (draw card, spell+1)

The legendaries:
-Alexstrazza 9 mana 8/8
-Nozdormu 9 mana 8/8
-Onyxia 9 mana 8/8
-Malygos 9 mana 4/12
-Ysera 9 mana 4/12
-Deathwing 9 mana 12/12

The new ones

Note the dragon egg itself is NOT a dragon, so does not apply for "hold a dragon" mechanic


Dragonkin Sorcerer 3/5 4 mana


Hungry Dragon 5/6 4 mana


Drakonid Crusher 6/6 6 mana


Volcanic Drake 6/4 6 mana


Nefarian 8/8 9 mana

Alright. So, how many dragons do we NEED in a deck to make a deck a "dragon" deck? As in, to reliably proc the hold effect. Here's my results... (I may have gone about this wrong, but I don't think so)



Basically, my hunch is to reliably proc a blackwing technician, for example (3 mana play, with a hand size of 4-5 cards) we need 8 dragons+.

Of the holding a dragon synergies...
-The Blackwing Technician seems like a mandated card. As a 3/5 3 mana, this should reign supreme (especially since 3 drops tend to be weak) and if we can consider actually hitting it 80%+ of the time, should give all dragon decks an early game boost.
-The Blackwing Corruptor also is mandated. It's a 5 drop that "does" something, so it helps early game removal (like against the Shredder, as that was pointed out) and given you can get this effect in the 80% range or so (say as a turn 5 play with 5 cards in hand, with 10! dragons, this is reliable at almost a 90% clip) it's a must have
-I'm not as sold on Rend. The big positive is I think in the late game you can consider his mechanic a near-lock, the problem is he basically is pricey removal. Like I could understand opting for Rend over a Siphon Soul, but I'd still rather have a BGH

So, if we really need 8+ dragons, (ideally, 10) which make the cut?
-Faerie Dragon, given we can run 2 copies, seems like a reasonable early game selection. It trades equally against Mech Warper, Knife Juggler, and most other standard early game plays. It's a totally reasonable card that has the added benefit of being better vs Mages (frostbolt) or Rogues (backstab) than other "normal" constructed cards
-Unless you have other card draw mechanics (like Warlock, for example, which will be a unique Dragon Shell class) I don't see Twilights earning a slot. They are great in Handlock where they are typically a high health minion on 4; not so much in ~any other class (aside from the random Duplicate/Echo/AI mage)
-Azure Drakes are great as always. They are probably going to be the only true card draw for a Dragon Deck, as the decks will have higher mana costs so likely will just try to play on curve. 2 seems pretty clear-cut
-The Dragonkin Sorcerer will likely get tried in a Dragon Priest shell, but most of the time (since it's too niche to make a spare part Dragon deck, for example) it'll be a 3/5 for 4 mana. This is slightly underpowered, even bearing the Dragon name. I'd cut it.
-Hungry Dragon, on the other hand, seems to earn a spot based on it being incredibly beefy. And the 4 slot is clear if you're not using Dragonkin or Twilights. Im going to have 2.
-Drakonid Crusher is pretty meh. I could be really wrong about this one. On the other hand, Volcanic Drake appears to be a great tempo swing type card, plus it curves naturally as a 6 drop worst case scenario, giving a Dragon deck a natural rhythm.

So, that leaves 2 Faeries, 2 Hungry Dragons, 2 Azures, and 2 Volcanic. That's 8. I want 8 as a minimum, but ideally 10 dragons. So, as far as the legendaries...

The most obvious/useful ones are Ysera and Alexstrazza. Nozdormu is gimmicky and not good, Onyxia is slow and likely similar (but less fun!) to Nefarian, Malygos needs a deck built around her, and Deathwing is Deathwing. (He, funny enough, could earn a spot in the deck as a total hail mary)

So, my initial shell is going to be the 5 "hold dragon" cards, the 8 dragons listed, and those 2 slow legendaries as late game. The decks need a little more early game, removal, maybe tech innovations, and perhaps the standard Loatheb/Slyvanas/Dr Boom killer 5, 6, and 7 curve.

I checked a couple numbers in your table and they are right so you are calculating it correctly. Perhaps a better calculation is say you go first and have a BW Tech and 2 cards. You decide to mulligan aggressively for a dragon. What is the probability you have a dragon by turn 3? I can calculate this later tonight and maybe more scenarios since I think all the cards are getting released today.

I hope we see more 1/2 drops with dragon synergy, but hopefully no undertaker.

an undertaker for dragons is ok as long as there arent five other 1 and 2 drop dragons that are good enough to play anyway

with the hold a dragon mechanic, I expect deathwing to see some play.

With the rest of the cards introduced, figured I'd add a few more comments about dragon-shells:

1. Paladin obviously seems to be the best fit with dragons, given they have a very strong dragon class card.



it's a dragon, obviously, which can satiate the 8-10 needed to hit the hold procs. But its also a mid-game ramp, which ALLOWS the late game dragons to be played in the first place. that's incredible.

when you consider paladins also have consecrate/equality and weapons for removal, I'm thinking something like:

The shell I listed above. (Maybe Thaurisan instead of Slyvanas, he's that good, for the 6 spot)
Tirion
2x Consorts
1x Eq
2x Truesilver
2x Consecrate
2x Muster
2x Minibot

Gives early game plays, weapons for removal, aoe, plus the natural midgame presences into late game. Really strong.

2. The only additional class dragon card is the Twilight Whelp:

To echo a comment in the BRM thread, there were a lot of classes that could have used a different Zombie Chow. Priest was not 1 of them.

That said, since Faerie Dragon is anti-syngery (can't be healed) with the priest ability, maybe this card replaces that? Plus, Dragonkin Sorcerer w/ Velens and Pw:s actually seems possibly stronger than Hungry Dragon (in just priest)

So, it seems like if you make those swaps, you could use:
2x Cleric
2x pw:s
2x Velens?
2x sw:d
Perhaps a cultist or blademaster (some combination to buff the 3 spot), and novas for aoe...

could maybe cut just 1 cleric given you have 2 azures.

The ONLY thing negative about consort is that it is ANOTHER great 5 drop. Wondering if it's gooing to be tough running two QMs now...

im pretty sure a dragon pally deck isn't going to focus around a muster/qm combo

Looking ahead I came up with a Dragodin deck of

It could be terrible as it lacks card draw, taunts, and only heals from truesilver. But I think the deck starts off very strong taking over the board early with chow, juggler, mini bots. On turn 3 you continue to take over the board with ability to play a 3/5, muster, or trade better with peacekeeper. Turn 4 we can play a 5/6 or a weapon... I think it starts very strong.

This curves into quartermaster which can win you the game right there, blackwing corrupter who allows us to continue to dominate the board with his deal 3 damage effect, or dragon consort which allows us to ramp into our late game very strongly. Thaurissan helps with that ramping too and after starting that strong it's going to be pretty tough to beat turn 7 Ysera, turn 8 Tirion. I thnk this deck also allows us to play volcanic drake for very cheap/free.

Just realized I forgot equality, probably want to fit one in somewhere. Maybe Faerie Dragons instead of juggler? I think juggler is better because you'll rarely get the hold effect from faerie dragon but I'm interested to hear thoughts on that as well as the rest of the deck.

Figured I'd jot down some thoughts. This is by no means all-encompassing or w/e, but I've played with all the new cards in various decks a small amount, so here are the first impressions: (Obviously cards that are not released - so, next week - wont be listed!)

Blackwing Technician
I've tried this card in a few decks; the standard Dragon Paladin, a Dragolock, and priest. So far, I'm very unimpressed.

In the Paladin deck, the 3 slot is kinda rich, with Aldors, Musters, and tech stuff (like additional card draw from acolytes, a BGH, maybe a MCT, etc) so it was a squeeze. Even when it was procing as a 3/5 - which wasn't 100% at all, btw - it underwhelmed compared to doing something to my opponent's board or filling mine up with bigger threats.

In the warlock deck, the Imp Gang Boss is just 100% better. Even if the Tech was a 3/5 - which, again, it wasn't! - the Imp Gang Boss is better. It was played on curve but underwhelmed, as it lacked the demon synergy. Compared to a classic handlock, a 3 mana 3/5 just isn't quite the same as a 3 mana 8/8/

Finally, I didnt like it in priest either. Priests have a lot of strong 3s, and if you look at a lot of lists, the Dark Cultist - always a 3/4, but also with a deathrattle - is sometimes cut. The 3/5, which again, is not always a 3/5, seemed comparable but a little worse.

Rend Blackhand
I've only tried Rend in my control warrior with only 4 dragons, and a gimmicky Priest deck that wasn't really sure what it was. Because 3 of the 4 dragons were held very often in Warrior, he actually hit a lot. And oh boy, did he hit! I've taken down 2 Rags, 2 Emperors, and a Boom. I didn't swap out my BGH, but he just became yet another removal.

Minor sidenote, the more I play classic control warrior, the more I lean towards reactionary legendaries that are also big bodies. I cut Dr. Boom. He's a major threat and pure value, but he's not as good when you're on the backfoot. Compare him to Baron Geddon, for example, who clearly is inferior headsup, but does a lot more for you in behind situations.

This is a small sample, but he's staying in my deck, as long as I have a couple of dragons. In the priest deck, I had other dragons (the faster ones) and other removal that was likely better/cheaper (double sw:d) so he wasn't good there. Basically, the slower your deck is, the better Rend becomes. The fact he can stabilize a board and create a 8/4 - which, although easy to deal with, if they DONT take it out, that's a lot of face damage OR he trades 2 for 1 with an 8/8 as well or so.

Hungry Dragon
This card to me is the new Shredder. The only classes I haven't tried him are the classes I don't play (Mage and Hunter), and the class that is really weak right now (Shaman). I don't think I actually have played my combo druid w/ him in place of shredders, so scratch that. Of the leftovers:
For Rogue, he was an odd fit into Oil, but I have a spare sub that I generally rotate between an inventor, a shredder, a kezan, or now this. The little dude was never hard to clear, although something could be said for wanting the shredder so you have an oil target. Def worth considering, but not a must-have.
For Warrior, he was the needed 4 drop. I don't like the randomness of the Shredder, whereas the extra 1 drop has already had synergy with my taskmaster, acolyte, and armorsmith. (And weapon whirlwind!) I'm only running 1, but I may swap to 2.
For Priest, he was not good. The little guy ended up being a pain too often and the 6 health is actually worse than something like a blademaster, which is cheaper. (The 4 v 5 is not necessarily relevant)
For Warlock, I just don't think the Dragolock is that strong. It's not as good as demonlock and it's not as good as Handlock. The 4 mana 5/6 is nice and all, but when you can consistently have a 4/9 for example, that is just better. (And not have toworry about opponent's board) I found this deck to not work at all.
And for Paladin, he was great. Just a really big minion that can naturally follow the curve. The fact so often you have a weapon (or at least, so often I do, with Musters/Cogs) the little bro was never a threat. Natural fit into the midrange, but it's still a tossup whether he's better than Shredder. He's just different. In a paladin deck that runs acolytes (I don't) he's prob even better.

Lastly, I've also used Chromagus a little. He's been great in warrior, but I'm not sure if he's better than other late game legendaries. Just a lot different.