The Elder Dragons, A Look at Old School EDH
The Elder Dragons-Vaevictis Asmadi
Welcome to the Elder Dragon series where we will be looking deeper into some of the lore surrounding the original five elder dragons, Vaevictis Asmadi, Palladia-Mors, Chromium Rhuell, Arcades Sabboth, and Nicol Bolas. We will then do something a little different than most would with this one and build a flavor deck around each of them under the old EDH rules restrictions. We have to use the original versions of these character's cards(not the M19 versions) and all the cards in the 99 need to have been printed in 7ed or earlier. They can have new printings, for example Lightning Bolt has been reprinted numerous times since 7ed but because it was printed in that set or earlier it's legal for inclusion in the deck. Now that we've laid down the ground rules let's get started.
Vaevictis Asmadi was birthed from the second egg-fall by the Ur-Dragon on Dominaria. He came to be known amongst those around him to be a rampaging monster but also earned the nickname The Serpent's Tongue because of how deceptive and manipulative he could be. Vaevictis was turned into a dragon whelp by a planeswalker named Faralyn. Faralyn teamed with Chromium and another planeswalker, Freyalise, to study something known as the Shard of the Twelve Worlds. The Shard of the Twelve Worlds was essentially an envelope containing twelve planes and separating them from the rest of the multiverse. While he was a dragon whelp he found a human, Red Donald, who he allowed to believe was in control of Vaevictis. Vaevictis ultimately used Red to get to and awaken Palladia-Mors before killing him. It's noted that Palladia and Vaevictis used armies of zombies and orcs to kill Red. He was ultimately killed in the Elder Dragon War by Palladia-Mors despite having woken her earlier in the timeline.
With everything we know about Vaevictis' character traits and mannerisms as well as a little bit of background, I think it's time we build a deck. I will be attempting to build as effective of a deck as I possibly can given the build restrictions. Unlike other deck techs I've done in the past, I will include prices based on TCGPlayer market prices and try to use the cheapest printing possible. This just means that we will likely be using reprint prices over original printings, so Revised duals, Chronicles for the commander, etc. As you're looking at the list try to remember that there's probably a bunch of reserve list cards which is forcing the prices up for cards that aren't necessarily all that good, they're just old and won't ever be reprinted.
Commander
Vaevictis Asmadi-Chronicles-$.51
Lands-34
Badlands:FBB-$165
Taiga:FWB-$55
Bayou:Rev-$255
Strip Mine:4ed-$14.97
Wasteland:EMA-$28.93
Cinder Marsh:Tempest-$.15
Mogg Hollows:Tempest-$.15
Bottomless Vault:Fallen Empires-$.37
Dwarven Hold:5ed-$.82
Grasslands:Duel Decks Knights vs. Dragons-$.80
Bad River:Mirage-$2.46
Mountain Valley:Mirage-$1.18
Rocky Tar Pit:Duel Decks Zendikar vs. Eldrazi-$.33
Dwarven Ruins:6ed-$.22
Ebon Stronghold:5ed-$.19
Havenwood Battleground:C14-$.10
Thran Quarry:Urza's Saga-$3.13
Shivan Gorge:Urza's Saga-$1.10
Thawing Glaciers:Alliances-$11.80
Balduvian Trading Post:Alliances-$2.01
Heart of Yavimaya:Alliances-$1.40
Geothermal Crevice:Invasion-$.13
Mountain x4
Forest x4
Swamp x4
Artifacts-11
Sol Ring:C13-$2.81
Mana Crypt:Mystery Booster:$177.64
Mana Vault:4ed FWB-$18.98
Black Mana Battery:4ed-$.44
Green Mana Battery:4ed-$.36
Red Mana Battery:4ed-$.26
Fellwar Stone:C17-$2.62
Gauntlet of Might:UNL-$298.86
Helm of Awakening:Mystery Boosters-$4.55
Lion's Eye Diamond:Mirage-$131.09
Lotus Petal:Mystery Boosters-$7.22
Aegis of the Meek:Ice Age-$.49
Creatures-30
Birds of Paradise:Mystery Boosters-$5.59
Shivan Dragon:Welcome Deck 2017-$.12
Dragon Engine:4ed-$.22
Agent of Shauku:Prophecy-$.04
Armorer Guildmage:Mirage-$.10
Barbed-Back Wurm:Mirage-$.10
Blighted Shaman:Mirage-$.10
Cackling Witch:Mercadian Masques-$.10
Cave People:5ed-$.06
Vampire Bats:10ed-$.09
Varchild's War-Riders:Alliances-$2.87
Burning Shield Askari:Mirage-$.11
Cadaverous Knight:Mirage-$.19
Colos Yearling:Urza's Destiny-$.09
Dauthi Mercenary:Tempest-$.25
Grizzled Wolverine:Ice Age-$.08
Horrible Hordes:Mirage-$.27
Searing Spear Askari:Mirage-$.11
Suq'Ata Assassin:Visions-$.22
Suq'Ata Lancer:Visions-$.05
Dirtwater Wraith:Mirage-$.06
Heart Wolf:Homelands-$.53
Kyscu Drake:Visions-$.09
Viashivan Dragon:Visions-$.66
Nalathni Dragon:Media Promo-$2.45
Sandstone Warrior:9ed-$.06
Gorilla Berserkers:Alliances-$.06
Kookus:Visions-$.43
Keeper of Kookus:Visions-$.10
Two-Headed Dragon:8ed-$.80
Enchantments-11
Ghitu War Cry:Urza's Legacy-$.12
Firebreathing:M12-$.01
Fires of Yavimaya:Planechase 2012-$.26
Rancor:M13-$.81
Goblin War Drums:Fallen Empires-$.14
Intimidation:Mercadian Masques-$.22
Primal Rage:Stronghold-$1.33
Retaliation:Urza's Saga-$.17
Veteran's Voice:Alliances-$.03
Agility:Mirage-$.06
Soul Kiss:Ice Age-$.07
Instants/Sorceries-13
Berserk:Conspiracy Take the Crown-$12.74
Might of Oaks:8ed-$.26
Giant Growth:M11-$.04
Blood Frenzy:Tempest-$.14
Howl From Beyond:4ed-$.08
Riding the Dilu Horse:P3K-$92.01
Barreling Attack:Mirage-$.42
Breach:Urza's Saga-$.10
Elvish Fury:MH1-$.03
Aleatory:Mirage-$.36
Rouse:Mercadian Masques-$.14
Surge of Strength:Alliances-$.12
Invigorate:EMA-$.15
Total Cost-$1316.52
Surprisingly this deck isn't much more expensive than a typical EDH deck today. There's one card in this build that is somewhat questionable but I gave it a pass based on when it was printed. Mana Crypt technically has had no real printing except as a media promo and in premium products. The media promo was released in 1995 though, which is in the time period acceptable for cards in this series. Overall the deck was very difficult to build as there wasn't a lot of fixing options then as there are today as far as mana is concerned. We don't really have the spare RBG to pay on our upkeep to keep out commander in play. We don't have much for ramping our colored mana as we don't have access to signets, keyrunes, etc. There's also no other legendary creatures in the deck as I feel he wouldn't have manipulated them to join him but rather just have them killed off due to the potential of feeling threatened by them.
With this build, given what we know about Vaevictis I opted for a more aggressive deck with a bunch of combat tricks and ways to buff our creatures as he was known for being a monster but also for being very deceptive. There weren't any creatures with flash that I came across in my research for the deck though I'm sure there are some out there. I wasn't focused on finding said creatures however because I know there wasn't many from that era of Magic. There's probably better cards for this build even given our limited pool of cards to choose from but this is what I felt gave us the most flavor based off of his character traits and history that we know of. I also debated on a tokens build as well as a reanimator build based on the fact that he and Palladia-Mors used armies of orcs and zombies to defeat a common enemy but felt that it wouldn't be as flavorful of a deck. Next time we'll look into the seemingly fair ruler and teacher of many turned overbearing dictator, Arcades Sabboth.
Welcome to the Elder Dragon series where we will be looking deeper into some of the lore surrounding the original five elder dragons, Vaevictis Asmadi, Palladia-Mors, Chromium Rhuell, Arcades Sabboth, and Nicol Bolas. We will then do something a little different than most would with this one and build a flavor deck around each of them under the old EDH rules restrictions. We have to use the original versions of these character's cards(not the M19 versions) and all the cards in the 99 need to have been printed in 7ed or earlier. They can have new printings, for example Lightning Bolt has been reprinted numerous times since 7ed but because it was printed in that set or earlier it's legal for inclusion in the deck. Now that we've laid down the ground rules let's get started.
Vaevictis Asmadi was birthed from the second egg-fall by the Ur-Dragon on Dominaria. He came to be known amongst those around him to be a rampaging monster but also earned the nickname The Serpent's Tongue because of how deceptive and manipulative he could be. Vaevictis was turned into a dragon whelp by a planeswalker named Faralyn. Faralyn teamed with Chromium and another planeswalker, Freyalise, to study something known as the Shard of the Twelve Worlds. The Shard of the Twelve Worlds was essentially an envelope containing twelve planes and separating them from the rest of the multiverse. While he was a dragon whelp he found a human, Red Donald, who he allowed to believe was in control of Vaevictis. Vaevictis ultimately used Red to get to and awaken Palladia-Mors before killing him. It's noted that Palladia and Vaevictis used armies of zombies and orcs to kill Red. He was ultimately killed in the Elder Dragon War by Palladia-Mors despite having woken her earlier in the timeline.
With everything we know about Vaevictis' character traits and mannerisms as well as a little bit of background, I think it's time we build a deck. I will be attempting to build as effective of a deck as I possibly can given the build restrictions. Unlike other deck techs I've done in the past, I will include prices based on TCGPlayer market prices and try to use the cheapest printing possible. This just means that we will likely be using reprint prices over original printings, so Revised duals, Chronicles for the commander, etc. As you're looking at the list try to remember that there's probably a bunch of reserve list cards which is forcing the prices up for cards that aren't necessarily all that good, they're just old and won't ever be reprinted.
Commander
Vaevictis Asmadi-Chronicles-$.51
Lands-34
Badlands:FBB-$165
Taiga:FWB-$55
Bayou:Rev-$255
Strip Mine:4ed-$14.97
Wasteland:EMA-$28.93
Cinder Marsh:Tempest-$.15
Mogg Hollows:Tempest-$.15
Bottomless Vault:Fallen Empires-$.37
Dwarven Hold:5ed-$.82
Grasslands:Duel Decks Knights vs. Dragons-$.80
Bad River:Mirage-$2.46
Mountain Valley:Mirage-$1.18
Rocky Tar Pit:Duel Decks Zendikar vs. Eldrazi-$.33
Dwarven Ruins:6ed-$.22
Ebon Stronghold:5ed-$.19
Havenwood Battleground:C14-$.10
Thran Quarry:Urza's Saga-$3.13
Shivan Gorge:Urza's Saga-$1.10
Thawing Glaciers:Alliances-$11.80
Balduvian Trading Post:Alliances-$2.01
Heart of Yavimaya:Alliances-$1.40
Geothermal Crevice:Invasion-$.13
Mountain x4
Forest x4
Swamp x4
Artifacts-11
Sol Ring:C13-$2.81
Mana Crypt:Mystery Booster:$177.64
Mana Vault:4ed FWB-$18.98
Black Mana Battery:4ed-$.44
Green Mana Battery:4ed-$.36
Red Mana Battery:4ed-$.26
Fellwar Stone:C17-$2.62
Gauntlet of Might:UNL-$298.86
Helm of Awakening:Mystery Boosters-$4.55
Lion's Eye Diamond:Mirage-$131.09
Lotus Petal:Mystery Boosters-$7.22
Aegis of the Meek:Ice Age-$.49
Creatures-30
Birds of Paradise:Mystery Boosters-$5.59
Shivan Dragon:Welcome Deck 2017-$.12
Dragon Engine:4ed-$.22
Agent of Shauku:Prophecy-$.04
Armorer Guildmage:Mirage-$.10
Barbed-Back Wurm:Mirage-$.10
Blighted Shaman:Mirage-$.10
Cackling Witch:Mercadian Masques-$.10
Cave People:5ed-$.06
Vampire Bats:10ed-$.09
Varchild's War-Riders:Alliances-$2.87
Burning Shield Askari:Mirage-$.11
Cadaverous Knight:Mirage-$.19
Colos Yearling:Urza's Destiny-$.09
Dauthi Mercenary:Tempest-$.25
Grizzled Wolverine:Ice Age-$.08
Horrible Hordes:Mirage-$.27
Searing Spear Askari:Mirage-$.11
Suq'Ata Assassin:Visions-$.22
Suq'Ata Lancer:Visions-$.05
Dirtwater Wraith:Mirage-$.06
Heart Wolf:Homelands-$.53
Kyscu Drake:Visions-$.09
Viashivan Dragon:Visions-$.66
Nalathni Dragon:Media Promo-$2.45
Sandstone Warrior:9ed-$.06
Gorilla Berserkers:Alliances-$.06
Kookus:Visions-$.43
Keeper of Kookus:Visions-$.10
Two-Headed Dragon:8ed-$.80
Enchantments-11
Ghitu War Cry:Urza's Legacy-$.12
Firebreathing:M12-$.01
Fires of Yavimaya:Planechase 2012-$.26
Rancor:M13-$.81
Goblin War Drums:Fallen Empires-$.14
Intimidation:Mercadian Masques-$.22
Primal Rage:Stronghold-$1.33
Retaliation:Urza's Saga-$.17
Veteran's Voice:Alliances-$.03
Agility:Mirage-$.06
Soul Kiss:Ice Age-$.07
Instants/Sorceries-13
Berserk:Conspiracy Take the Crown-$12.74
Might of Oaks:8ed-$.26
Giant Growth:M11-$.04
Blood Frenzy:Tempest-$.14
Howl From Beyond:4ed-$.08
Riding the Dilu Horse:P3K-$92.01
Barreling Attack:Mirage-$.42
Breach:Urza's Saga-$.10
Elvish Fury:MH1-$.03
Aleatory:Mirage-$.36
Rouse:Mercadian Masques-$.14
Surge of Strength:Alliances-$.12
Invigorate:EMA-$.15
Total Cost-$1316.52
Surprisingly this deck isn't much more expensive than a typical EDH deck today. There's one card in this build that is somewhat questionable but I gave it a pass based on when it was printed. Mana Crypt technically has had no real printing except as a media promo and in premium products. The media promo was released in 1995 though, which is in the time period acceptable for cards in this series. Overall the deck was very difficult to build as there wasn't a lot of fixing options then as there are today as far as mana is concerned. We don't really have the spare RBG to pay on our upkeep to keep out commander in play. We don't have much for ramping our colored mana as we don't have access to signets, keyrunes, etc. There's also no other legendary creatures in the deck as I feel he wouldn't have manipulated them to join him but rather just have them killed off due to the potential of feeling threatened by them.
With this build, given what we know about Vaevictis I opted for a more aggressive deck with a bunch of combat tricks and ways to buff our creatures as he was known for being a monster but also for being very deceptive. There weren't any creatures with flash that I came across in my research for the deck though I'm sure there are some out there. I wasn't focused on finding said creatures however because I know there wasn't many from that era of Magic. There's probably better cards for this build even given our limited pool of cards to choose from but this is what I felt gave us the most flavor based off of his character traits and history that we know of. I also debated on a tokens build as well as a reanimator build based on the fact that he and Palladia-Mors used armies of orcs and zombies to defeat a common enemy but felt that it wouldn't be as flavorful of a deck. Next time we'll look into the seemingly fair ruler and teacher of many turned overbearing dictator, Arcades Sabboth.
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