Goldspan DragonGoldspan Dragon | Art by Andrew Mar

Welcome back to 60 to 100, a series where I take beloved decks from 60-card formats and convert them to Commander.

I loved the first Strixhaven set, and it feels incredibly recent in my memory. When it was announced that we would be returning to Strixhaven with Secrets of Strixhaven this year, I was pleasantly surprised. It seemed a little early; after all, it was only a couple years ago. As it turns out, Strixhaven: School of Mages released in April 2021, with almost exactly five years between it and Secrets of Strixhaven. I feel like an ancient relic.

For this installment of 60 to 100, I'm going to revisit my favorite deck from Strixhaven's stint in Standard: Izzet () Dragons. Let's have a look at the source material.

The Source Material

Izzet Dragons is the ultimate Spellslinger deck. The plan is fairly simple: fend off the opponent in the early game, run out TreasureTreasure-generating Dragons, and then begin slamming haymaker after haymaker with the abundance of mana those Dragons generate. In this case, those Dragons are Galazeth PrismariGalazeth Prismari and Goldspan DragonGoldspan Dragon, and the haymakers are Alrund's EpiphanyAlrund's Epiphany and Magma OpusMagma Opus.

Choosing a Commander

Galazeth PrismariGalazeth Prismari is the clear choice to helm this deck. He reminds me a lot of Cormela, Glamour ThiefCormela, Glamour Thief, in that Galazeth is a solid ramp spell that can easily be cast on turn three or four to set up a big, splashy instant or sorcery to cast on the next turn. The Treasure that he makes when he enters can ideally be used to protect him and ensure he survives the turn cycle.

On top of all that, who would be a better choice to represent an Izzet deck from Strixhaven Standard than the Prismari Elder Dragon himself?

Key Cards for Izzet Dragons

Artifact Generation

The key to reaching a state where this deck can fire off huge spells one after the other is generating a lot of artifacts for Galazeth to tap for mana. In that way, he's a lot like Urza, Lord High ArtificerUrza, Lord High Artificer. April O'Neil, Human ElementApril O'Neil, Human Element is a new card that may very well be the best option for the kind of token generation this deck is looking for. Getting an artifact token off of every artifact, instant, or sorcery that any player casts is a big game. April is a superior play on turn three after a turn-two ramp spell than Galazeth PrismariGalazeth Prismari, as even two or three triggers will set the stage for Galazeth to hit the board and get more immediate value.

Similarly, Storm-Kiln ArtistStorm-Kiln Artist is a perfect Treasure-generator for this strategy. Because the Treasures don't need to be sacrificed for mana with Galazeth Prismari in play, one-mana instants and sorceries are turned into zero-mana ramp spells. It's possible to squeeze additional value out of with the handful of copy-enablers that I'll get to later.

Goldspan DragonGoldspan Dragon is one of the three Dragons in the 99, and just like in Standard, it is one of the best cards in the deck at producing copious amounts of mana. Getting a TreasureTreasure token on attack is fantastic, as is gaining the option to sacrifice Treasures for two mana. The ability that ties it all together is Goldspan's ability to generate extra Treasures when targeted. Not only does it make opponents' removal spells feel awful, it also offers opportunities to turn my own spells into rituals by targeting Goldspan Dragon. When playing against Goldspan Dragon, there are few worse feelings than pointing a removal spell at it, giving the opponent a Treasure, and then getting blown out by an Essence Flux, stopping the removal spell and granting the opponent yet another Treasure.

Haymakers

There are 17 cards in the deck that cost six or more mana, along with a couple spells like Rite of ReplicationRite of Replication that can soak up similar amounts of mana. None of them serve mission-critical purposes beyond being good spells to cast after making a bunch of mana with Galazeth PrismariGalazeth Prismari and friends. With that said, let's look at a few of my favorites.

Soulfire EruptionSoulfire Eruption is my candidate for the biggest, splashiest spell a deck in these colors can cast. In a deck with an average mana value of around four, and in a deck that can copy spells with relative ease, this sorcery can be any combination of a board wipe, a burn spell, and a draw spell.

Mnemonic DelugeMnemonic Deluge is another huge sorcery that acts as a solid recursion spell that gets a lot better in a deck with such a high density of high-mana-value spells. Sneakily, Mnemonic Deluge can also exile and copy an instant or sorcery from an opposing graveyard. With the right pod of opposing decks, Mnemonic Deluge could nab someone's Breach the MultiverseBreach the Multiverse!

Rite of ReplicationRite of Replication is an incredibly flexible spell. A kicked Rite of Replication can very easily win a game, there are no shortage of creatures like Terror of the PeaksTerror of the Peaks that win the game on the spot when five copies hit the board all at once. My personal best Rite of Replication so far has been making five copies of my opponent's Blightsteel ColossusBlightsteel Colossus!

What's better than one Hit the Mother LodeHit the Mother Lode? Two, of course. When Innistrad: Midnight Hunt hit Standard, it gifted Izzet Dragons Galvanic IterationGalvanic Iteration. It didn't take long for players to work out that the most effective way to close out a game of Magic is two copies of Alrund's EpiphanyAlrund's Epiphany or Magma OpusMagma Opus.

Cursed RecordingCursed Recording is my new favorite amplifier for the big-spells-focused Spellslinger archetype. A four-mana artifact that has a floor of being tapped for mana by Galazeth PrismariGalazeth Prismari and the ceiling of generating an extra nine mana of value off of copying Soulfire EruptionSoulfire Eruption. The "downside" of Cursed Recording is mostly a lie. In several months of regularly casting this artifact, I have never taken damage from it. It's trivially easy to point a Prismari CommandPrismari Command or Chaos WarpChaos Warp at it when the time comes.

Ral, Storm ConduitRal, Storm Conduit is a planeswalker that serves the same purpose as Cursed Recording. Four mana is the most I'd ever want to pay to copy a spell, and Ral is a totally fine way to do it. Using his +2 ability to smooth out the deck's draws happens more often than I expected, and the fact that he enters at four loyalty and immediately upticks to six means that he rarely dies before getting value. On top of all that, Ral's passive ability can be a surprisingly effective way to chip away at opposing life totals.

How Does This Izzet Dragons Deck Win the Game?

Mizzix's Mastery is the ultimate finisher in a deck that will often have a graveyard with huge selection of expensive instants and sorceries in it by the later stages of the game. I've yet to actually have anyone allow me to resolve Mizzix's Mastery as paying the eight mana and placing it on the stack usually prompts everyone to concede. This is the Spellslinger version of Craterhoof BehemothCraterhoof Behemoth!

Hellkite TyrantHellkite Tyrant is a Dragon that's fairly easy to find thanks to Magda, Brazen OutlawMagda, Brazen Outlaw and Sarkhan's TriumphSarkhan's Triumph. While being a little more vulnerable to sorcery-speed removal than I'd like, this Dragon is very capable of ruining a fellow artifact player's day and winning the game afterwards. Due to the deck's absurd ability to generate artifact tokens, Hellkite Tyrant will often be able to win the game even without stealing anyone's artifacts.

Izzet Dragons Commander Deck List

Conclusion

This deck was a great outlet for my growing anticipation leading up to Secrets of Strixhaven. Where Lorwyn Eclipsed felt like it was targeting the players that have been around a little longer than I have, Secrets of Strixhaven seems to be aimed right at my generation of Magic players and I couldn't be more excited.

Going in, there were two drafts of this deck I had to pick between for this article. I firmly believe that this Bracket 2 (Core) or 3 (Upgraded) oriented version is much more fun than the Winter OrbWinter Orb, extra turns chaining variant I cooked up. I reasoned that most people that would be into that kind of deck would likely rather just be playing Urza, Lord High ArtificerUrza, Lord High Artificer anyways.