Knights and Dragons (C:Tariel)

I am starting a Commander deck themed around Knights and Dragons. I have Tariel as my commander. It is not finished, I have a couple of other dragons that will go in too, but any suggestions would be appreciated.

Tariel, Reckoner of Souls 100 cards, 0 sideboard 1 Tariel, Reckoner of Souls Commander 1 Dwarven Ruins 1 Bog Wreckage 1 Ravaged Highlands 1 Abandoned Outpost 1 Rakdos Guildgate 5 Plains 4 Swamp 1 Blood Crypt 1 Karoo 1 Ebon Stronghold 1 Secluded Steppe 1 Orzhov Guildgate 1 Ruins of Trokair 1 Drifting Meadow 1 Boros Guildgate 1 High Market 4 Mountain 1 Dwarven Hold 1 Dragonskull Summit 1 Polluted Mire 30 lands 1 Hellkite Tyrant 1 Rakdos Drake 1 Dragon Hatchling 1 Furnace Whelp 1 Griffin Rider 1 Searing Spear Askari 1 Cadaverous Knight 1 Truefire Paladin 1 Shadow Rider 1 Fallen Askari 1 Black Knight 1 Charging Paladin 1 Stromgald Cabal 1 Daring Skyjek 1 Attended Knight 1 Knight of Infamy 1 Knight of Glory 1 Burning Shield Askari 1 Skyknight Legionnaire 1 Knight of Obligation 1 Accorder Paladin 1 Griffin Sentinel 22 creatures 1 Skullcrack 1 Rise from the Grave 1 Shielded Passage 1 Angelic Renewal 1 Lyev Decree 1 Prophetic Prism 1 Assemble the Legion 1 Ethereal Armor 1 Raise Dead 1 Unhallowed Pact 1 Act of Treason 1 Kite Shield 1 Grisly Spectacle 1 Flames of the Firebrand 1 Traitorous Blood 1 Riot Gear 1 Cloudshift 1 Deviant Glee 1 Rain of Blades 1 Midnight Recovery 1 Divine Light 1 Traitorous Instinct 1 Possibility Storm 1 Vanguard's Shield 1 Pay No Heed 1 Blind Obedience 1 Bone Harvest 1 Toil (Toil/Trouble) 1 Dark Ritual 1 Smelt 1 Profit (Profit/Loss) 1 Rootborn Defenses 1 Knightly Valor 1 Debt to the Deathless 1 Oblivion Ring 1 Martial Glory 1 Swift Justice 1 Murder 1 Wear (Wear/Tear) 1 Knight Watch 1 Killing Wave 1 Weapon Surge 1 Recover 1 Red Sun's Zenith 1 Gleam of Battle 1 Security Blockade 1 Lightning Bolt 47 other spells Sideboard

Thank you,

AG

Load & View in Deck Builder (Beta)

Also, I realize it isn't complete yet. Thus the need for advice, so rip it apart if anything doesn't work.

I've heard many times that you either go all infect or no infect so I would take out Skithiryx, some things that would be good to have are  Bladewing the Risen,  Furyborn Hellkite (for big end game damage),  Puppet Strings,  Archwing Dragon

Pretty cool idea! I'd suggest putting in a couple "knight lord" cards like Haakon, Stromgald Scourge (kinda), Kindbaile Cavalier and Knight Exemplar. Riftmarked Knight is pretty cool too.

Dragons don't have so many lord type cards, but Bladewing The Risen and Crucible of Fire are pretty solid power ups. I'd also include Two-Headed Dragon since it can be a pain to block, and my personal favorite, Dragon Tyrant would work well too. He's expensive, but you're certainly within colors for reanimation if you want to go that path.

Make sure to pack plenty of removal to steal your opponents creatures with your commander, and why not hurt them at the same time, with Warstorm Surge?

All awesome ideas. I will see what I have and start looking for some of these.

From a strategy point of view, should I really ramp up the number of creatures, or concentrate on sorcerys, enchantments, and instants?  What ratio of land, creatures and other spells is a good mix (realizing that different strategies will adjust that mix)?

AG

All awesome ideas. I will see what I have and start looking for some of these.

From a strategy point of view, should I really ramp up the number of creatures, or concentrate on sorcerys, enchantments, and instants?  What ratio of land, creatures and other spells is a good mix (realizing that different strategies will adjust that mix)?

AG

Well, that depends on a couple of things here. First off, what's your primary goal for the deck? What exactly is it trying to achieve? Also, what's your playgroup like? Your cards choices are probably going to differ depending on if they play a lot of removal, sweepers, grave hate, etc. or not.

Well, that depends on a couple of things here. First off, what's your primary goal for the deck? What exactly is it trying to achieve? Also, what's your playgroup like? Your cards choices are probably going to differ depending on if they play a lot of removal, sweepers, grave hate, etc. or not.

Well, for a goal I think it will play heavily around knight's supporting each other for early and mid game defense/offence and large lizards wacking the crap out of opponents late game. Everything else Should probably clear obstacles or help remove problems.

As for group dynamics and play styles. Our group is just getting into Commander, so no one really has a deck yet. In our standard casual play, one of them has a pretty nasty vampire deck (I think he will be building a commander deck based off that) and the other primarily plays a mill deck like me. We all have several decks though ranging from Aggro to control so no telling what commander decks they may come up with.

I know, not a lot of concrete detail, but hopefully will help clarify.

AG

Some other good things would be  Condemn and possibly a tutor or two

Alright then, I'll make some suggestions within your colors that I think, in general, most decks should run. Since Knights and Dragons are pretty much going to come down to which ones you like the best, I'll make suggestions that can help with the deck overall, as opposed to cards that strictly fit the theme.

First off, colorless. There's not too much to say here that isn't already known. Solemn Simulacrum is a solid card, even though he doesn't fit the theme of the deck. Mana ramp and draw power are always good. I'd also throw in Sol Ring along with other mana rocks from your colors, since your commander is pretty high cost.

For black, I'd absolutely have a Phyrexian Arena in there. I can't think of a black deck that wouldn't like it! Painful Quandary is a mean card, and works well with your commander. Also, they don't fit the theme, but Rune Scarred Demon and Sheoldred, Whispering One are pretty much auto includes in any deck I make that has black. They're both solid cards that are easy to abuse if you want, but still strong if you don't!

Red isn't always so hot in EDH, but it has its uses. Chaos Warp is probably the most popular red card in EDH, its a good removal spell. Blasphemous Act is a great board wipe, especially late game when everyone has full fields. Haste is very valuable in a deck that wants to beat face, and none do it better than Anger. And if you REALLY want to pound your enemies away, Avatar of Slaughter wraps games up really quick.

As for white, it has a very lovely dragon named Yosei, the Morning Star. It's a decent body for its mana cost, and when it dies, you can essentially finish the opponent off next turn. There's a lot of great removal in white, we all know about Wrath if God, Day of Judgment, and Rout. I also love Mortify and Return to Dust.

Tutors are quite strong in a 100 card, singleton format. Demonic Tutor, Enlightened Tutor, Diabolic Tutor; you really can't miss. If you want to run reanimation as a bit of a sub theme, let me know, and I'll rant on about that too lol.

Also, Dudecore took a lot of time to make an awesome "Comprehensive Guide to Commander" (stickied above, right here in the Commander section) and it is a really useful tool. I strongly suggest reading it. It has everything you want, from lands to staples to strong cards for your color. Hopefully this helped, and gave you a few ideas for your deck!

Awesome!  This is exactly what I was looking for. Now I have some homework to do!  If I have any more questions I will surely be back! I will also update my deck above as I make changes from these suggestions.

Thanks again!

AG

Okay, finally was able to go through everything I have. I updated the original post above with the full deck. I found several more knight cards and a couple of other dragons. I think I am pretty light on creatures though, so will have to work on adding more (specifically finding some of the great recommendations above.)

Please check it out and tell me which ones are good candidates for swap outs as I load up the creatures.

Thanks again everyone so far for the great advice.