Dragon's Presence MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 4 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityCommon
TypeInstant

Key Takeaways

  1. Dragon’s Presence offers instant speed flexibility, impacting board state and enabling timely reactions.
  2. Its specific mana and card discard requirements may limit its utility in diverse deck constructs.
  3. The card’s potential to synergize with dragons makes it a formidable tool in creature-focused metas.

Text of card

Dragon's Presence deals 5 damage to target attacking or blocking creature.

"The Ancestor Dragon appeared atop the clouds, amid shattering mountains and sundering earth." —Jiang Yanggu's travelogue


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Dragon’s Presence provides players with the potential to control the board by leveraging card effectiveness. Casting this can lead to beneficial trades or deter opponents from deploying their threats, thereby maintaining a hand that’s ready to respond to evolving game scenarios.

Resource Acceleration: One of the key components of Dragon’s Presence is its synergy with dragon-themed decks. For those who harness the power of dragon creatures, it can act as a trigger for additional effects or bonuses that accelerate your resources, further tipping the scales in your favor.

Instant Speed: The versatility of Dragon’s Presence is amplified by its instant speed, granting the strategic advantage of reacting in real-time to threats. Whether it’s a surprise block or the disruption of an opponent’s momentum, this card’s ability to operate on an instant timing is invaluable, allowing for tactical depth and unpredictability in play.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Dragon’s Presence mandates the discarding of a card to activate certain abilities. This cost can stifle your hand, leaving fewer options as the game progresses – a potential pitfall for strategies reliant on maintaining card advantage to control the match.

Specific Mana Cost: The playability of Dragon’s Presence is bound by its need for specific mana types, making it a less flexible choice for decks that run a broad color palette. If your mana base isn’t aligned with the requirement, playing this card becomes challenging.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With an elevated mana demand compared to some alternatives, Dragon’s Presence might lag in a fast-paced game where efficiency reigns supreme. Players may find other cards that provide similar benefits without such a steep resource investment.


Reasons to Include Dragon’s Presence in Your Collection

Versatility: Dragon’s Presence offers an adaptable option for decks looking to control the board. Its ability to potentially clear multiple creatures with a single card makes it a fit for various deck types, especially those looking to maintain battlefield superiority.

Combo Potential: With the right setup, Dragon’s Presence can become a key piece in a combo that continuously deals with opponents’ threats. It synergizes particularly well with strategies that aim to boost the number of dragons you control, amplifying its impact each time you cast it.

Meta-Relevance: In a game state dominated by creature-heavy decks, Dragon’s Presence shines as a tool for maintaining an edge over the emerging swarm strategies. Moreover, its relevance can escalate in a meta where dragons are a prevalent tribe, ensuring that your collection remains competitive.


How to beat

Dragon’s Presence brings a formidable challenge to the battlefield in Magic: The Gathering, often tipping the scales in favor of dragon-themed decks. Its power to fortify dragons with indomitable strength complicates the game for those without a solid strategy to counter this enchantment. To overcome Dragon’s Presence, focus on versatile removal spells capable of targeting enchantments. Cards like Naturalize or Disenchant provide a cost-effective solution to this threat. Similarly, leaning on counterspells such as Negate can prevent Dragon’s Presence from ever affecting the board state.

Moreover, strategies that bypass the conventional combat phase can also undermine Dragon’s Presence. Employing direct damage spells, like Lightning Bolt, or capitalizing on cards that reduce life totals outside of combat, such as Gray Merchant of Asphodel, can render the enhancement irrelevant. Prioritizing these alternative win conditions disrupts your opponent’s setup and gives you the upper hand. Above all, adaptability and quick response are key when facing the fiery power that Dragon’s Presence introduces to the game.


Cards like Dragon's Presence

Dragon’s Presence carves out a unique spot in the world of creature enhancement spells in MTG. It draws an immediate parallel to cards like Dragon Mantle. Although the latter is significantly cheaper in terms of mana cost and gives the creature a slight power boost through firebreathing, Dragon’s Presence leaps ahead by providing an often game-changing vigilance ability. This creates a dual thread, allowing creatures to not only be formidable attackers but also reliable defenders.

Examining further, a spell like Glaring Aegis comes into focus. Glaring Aegis also gives a creature an additional ability, in this case tapping a potential blocker, which can swing the tide of battle. However, it offers a minor defense boost, and unlike Dragon’s Presence, it lacks the flexibility of being cast for only one mana in the presence of a Dragon. Cards such as these underline the significance of strategic spell casting due to their capacity to alter board states significantly.

To encapsulate the value proposition of Dragon’s Presence, it emerges as a powerful option for players with a penchant for Dragon-aided strategies, giving them a formidable way to both attack and shield effectively within a single turn cycle.

Dragon Mantle - MTG Card versions
Glaring Aegis - MTG Card versions
Dragon Mantle - Theros (THS)
Glaring Aegis - Dragons of Tarkir (DTK)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Dragon's Presence MTG card by a specific set like Treasure Chest and Global Series Jiang Yanggu & Mu Yanling, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Dragon's Presence and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Dragon's Presence Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 2016-11-16 and 2019-11-07. Illustrated by Tan Yan Yao.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12016-11-16Treasure ChestPZ2 708312015normalblackTan Yan Yao
22018-06-22Global Series Jiang Yanggu & Mu YanlingGS1 162015normalblackTan Yan Yao
32019-11-07Mystery BoosterMB1 862015normalblackTan Yan Yao
42020-09-26The ListPLST GS1-162015normalblackTan Yan Yao

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Dragon's Presence has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PauperLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal

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