Noxious Dragon MTG Card

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Noxious Dragon offers a clear path to card advantage by potentially removing an opponent’s creature upon death. This two-for-one ability means you’re gaining an edge in resources with a single card.

Resource Acceleration: Although not directly impacting mana resources on the board, Noxious Dragon’s presence accelerates your game plan by demanding an answer. It’s a formidable threat that requires your opponent to use their resources inefficiently to handle it.

Instant Speed: While Noxious Dragon itself is not an instant, its intimidating flying presence applies pressure at any game phase. It can significantly alter the battlefield dynamics the moment it’s revealed, forcing opponents to rethink their strategies at a moment’s notice.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: When playing with Noxious Dragon, it demands that you discard a card to deploy its effects. This can place players in a tough spot, especially when hand size is crucial to maintaining control of the game.

Specific Mana Cost: Noxious Dragon’s casting cost necessitates a certain combination of mana, including at least two black mana symbols. This can be restrictive for multicolored decks that might not always have the necessary mana available when needed.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Commanding six mana to summon, Noxious Dragon can be a steep investment in your mana resources. Considering its power and toughness in relation to its cost, players may find other creatures or spells that provide a better value for the same or lower mana investment.

Reasons to Include Noxious Dragon in Your Collection

Versatility: Noxious Dragon offers flexible gameplay, fitting into dragon-themed decks or any build that could leverage its flying ability and creature removal mechanic upon death.

Combo Potential: The death-triggered ability to destroy a target creature with converted mana cost 3 or less sets the stage for strategic plays, allowing you to manage the board while developing your flying threats.

Meta-Relevance: With creature-based aggro decks prevalent in many metas, Noxious Dragon’s presence can deter opponents from committing smaller creatures to the board or clear the way for your other attackers postmortem.

How to Beat

Noxious Dragon is a formidable presence in MTG, offering a powerful flying threat and a potential board impact upon death. With its ability to take out an opponent’s smaller creature when it dies, it requires strategic handling. Facing this dragon, aim to minimize its death-trigger by manipulating the timing or the creature targets available on your battlefield. Utilize instant-speed removals like Path to Exile to handle the dragon before its death ability becomes an issue.

Counterplay can also involve increasing the resilience of your own creatures so they survive the dragon’s last gasp. Spells that grant indestructibility or hexproof, such as Heroic Intervention, ensure your important creatures withstand the dragon’s departure. Alternatively, employing graveyard hate cards such as Rest in Peace can nullify the dragon’s ability by exiling it rather than letting it hit the graveyard. It’s essential to maintain board control and protect key creatures to effectively bypass the challenges posed by Noxious Dragon in your MTG matches.