When I first saw this card, I figured it had a
good way to avoid the undercosted removal spells
that were prevalent at the time. Then I saw
Astral Slide, and the bizarrely slow and
grinding yet undeniably powerful decks it
enabled, with Eternal Dragon at the center. It's
hard to find a middle ground with this card, and
for such a sutble set of abilities I'm not sure
if there's any reason to use him that's not a
variation on those (unless maybe Sutured
Ghoul?). Nonetheless, there's no denying how
good this card is at what it does, and it's hard
not to like a card that has a strong use in both
the early and late game.
Welcome back readers today's Dragon is Eternal
Dragon a powerful white dragon. Historically
this card has seen a fair amount of play in
conjunction with Astral Slide, the ability to
cycle to guarantee land drops and later being
able to return it to your hand means its quite
the utility card and win condition all in one.
By today standards this card is glacially slow
meaning it wont and doesn't see much tournament
play in competitive formats. In casual and
multiplayer this card is fantastic it guarantees
your you have lands to play, has a relevant 5/5
flying body and can come back over and over for
a price making it a handy card early and
late in the game. In limited its amazing a
recurable evasive threat that helps fix mana and
can act as a win condition quite the powerful
card although slightly slow its power is
undeniable. Overall a card with historic
competitive pedigree that is still good enough
for limited and casual formats.
Today's card of the day is Eternal Dragon which
is a seven mana White
5/5 with Flying, Plaincycling for two mana, and
for five mana it can be returned to hand from
the graveyard. This is solid as a reusable
source of Plains in a slower format like
Multiplayer or Commander and if not thinning the
deck it can be played as a credible evasive
threat. It is a bit mana intensive for
other Constructed formats, but the flexibility
it offers allows it to be added to a less
streamlined build with minimal drawback and
multiple options later in a game.
In Limited this is a 5/5 evasive for seven which
makes it playable for that alone, the phoenix
effect of being able to replay it adds a great
deal of value and it is even a useful card if
drawn early on. An easy first pick in Booster
and a strong choice for any Sealed deck using
White, even a splash as this can help search a
Plains out or thin the deck.
Cards that can continually come back can be
quite valuable. Even though it costs 7, the good
thing is that if you get it early, you simply
plainscycle it away, then bring it back later in
the game when you are ready for your heavy
hitter.
It’s certainly most valuable in a slower,
controlling deck, where you don’t mind drawing
out their kill spells, since the dragon can keep
coming back. You’d better have plenty of mana,
however, as the dragon likes to eat it for
breakfast. With the 5 mana cost to bring it
back, you’ll almost certainly have to wait until
the next turn to cast it again. And since the
cost to bring it back must be paid during your
upkeep, it cripples your mana for the rest of
the turn.
Eternal Dragon has had its place in the past,
and will always be a card to be reckoned with,
but it has lost some of its appeal over the
years as more efficient cards have come along.
