(Mox Jasper | Art by Steven Belledin)
Dragonstorm!
Welcome to Too-Specific Top 10, where if there isn’t a category to rank our pet card at the top of, we’ll just make one up! (Did you know that Livaan, Cultist of Tiamat is the only "Partner" Dragon commander that costs less than four mana?)
There's a new Mox in town, and it's terrible!
By Mox standards, that is.
Top 10 Legal Moxen
- Chrome Mox
- Mox Opal
- Mox Diamond
- Mox Amber
- Paradise Mantle
- Mox Tantalite
- Jeweled Amulet
- Mox Jasper
- ...
Even when you expand the definition of "Mox" out to include dubious entries like Paradise Mantle and Jeweled Amulet, Mox Jasper currently sits at the bottom of the rankings.
Now, that is to be expected, what with it not even being out yet--It was only spoiled two weeks ago, for goodness sake! Still, I bring it up because I don't actually see this one climbing the ranks very far.
The sweet spot for Moxen to surpass is Mox Tantalite, which was considered the "bad" Mox until this month, at least. I think that Mox Jasper will claim that ranking instead, or at least join in the nomenclature.
Still, I don't mind being wrong, and even "bad" Moxen can be powerful, so why don't we take a look at the circumstances where Mox Jasper could be good?
Top 10 Cheap Dragons
The obvious go-to for Mox Jasper is a deck where your commander is a Dragon, and not only that, but a Dragon you can get out quickly. So, let's start with that well, shall we?
Top 10 Cheap Dragon Commanders
- Korlessa, Scale Singer
- Gadrak, the Crown-Scourge
- Nadaar, Selfless Paladin
- Livaan, Cultist of Tiamat
- ...
Okay, so less of a well and more of a puddle. With only four options to choose from, and all but one of them costing three mana, we're not really seeing a slam dunk here outside of Korlessa, Scale Singer.
With that said, if you own a deck with any of these commanders, it's safe to say you've probably windmill slammed a virtual copy of Mox Jasper into your decklist already, as you should.
Still, that's only four decks, out of thousands of commanders. What other kinds of brews could use Mox Jasper?
Well, not to state the obvious or anything, but... Dragon decks. The only problem? Dragons don't really start hitting until about the four mana value mark, with most of them coming in well above that.
So, the inherent question of Mox Jasper is the same as a generically played Mox Tantalite: "What good is a Mox on turn four?"
Well, I would answer that by saying it's all still pretty good at that point. If you could guarantee a Mox Tantalite in every opening hand, I would argue that the card would actually be seeing cEDH play.
So, it would follow that if you could guarantee having a Dragon to turn on Mox Jasper on turn four every game, you should be playing Mox Jasper!
But why not be a bit greedier, huh? What if we could find a deep enough well of cheap Dragons that we could fairly reasonably expect to have a Mox Jasper online by turn two? Now that would feel like a real Moxen! So, let's take a look and see what's out there, shall we?
Criteria: Dragons that cost two mana or less. As is tradition, all results are ordered by EDHREC score.
10. Dragon Hatchling
(2,239 Inclusions, 0% of 2,677,265 Decks)
Before the arrival of D&D's Dragonborn into Magic, what we had were Dragon Whelps. Turns out, however, that four mana was even too much, so we went all the way down to the wyrmling instead.
Dragon Hatchling isn't blowing anyone's socks off, but it is a Dragon for two mana that can be a real threat in the air if you get some mana going.
9. Slumbering Dragon
(4,812 Inclusions, 0% of 2,677,265 Decks)
Slumbering Dragon is one of my favorite designs, ever. One mana for a 3/3 flier that can't attack or block, that then gets bigger every time someone attacks you until you've finally poked the Dragon enough that it wakes up as an 8/8.
This is not only a really fun mechanic, it's also a decent rattlesnake, which is not something you see in red all the time. Even better? It turns on Mox Jasper on turn one, making me love it even more.
8. Dragonborn Looter
(5,824 Inclusions, 0% of 2,693,532 Decks)
Dragonborn Looter, on the other hand, is a bad Merfolk Looter, and always will be. As a 1/3 or a 1/4, it might at least have an argument for a reason to run it over the iconic one, but as a 1/2? Even turning on Mox Jasper isn't enough of a reason.
7. Smoldering Egg
(10,549 Inclusions, 0% of 2,677,265 Decks)
Looking at Smoldering Egg through the lens of Mox Jasper is interesting, because if there's one thing the Moxen are good at, it's feeding Storm.
And what do Spellslinger decks need? Well, put simply, Ashmouth Dragon. The problem with Smoldering Egg is two-fold: One, seven counters is a lot of counters to pay off into a simple Guttersnipe. Two, if you're a spellslinger deck, it's likely that you're also in blue, and Thing in the Ice is right there at four counters to get you an extra turn to untap and go nuts with the actual Guttersnipe effect you're playing.
With that said? If you're on the Galazeth Prismari plan, I think Mox Jasper officially gives you a reason to play Smoldering Egg for the first time.
6. Invasion of Tarkir
(14,194 Inclusions, 1% of 2,637,875 Decks)
Is Invasion of Tarkir actually a cheap Dragon? I would say no. In fact, I would have eliminated it from contention, only we only had 10 "Dragons" to pull from for our list with it included.
With all that said, if you're on Dragons, it's not like you're not going to play this card.
Two mana for some removal, swing in with a single Dragon, and bing bang boom, you've got an extra Dragon which Shocks stuff for every Dragon you attack with. Yes please!
5. Sprite Dragon
(19,339 Inclusions, 2% of 1,251,833 Decks)
Not every Spellslinger deck wants to go with the Aggro plan. In fact, most don't. With that said, if you are on it, you could do a lot worse than Sprite Dragon. A cheap, evasive, hasty flier that keeps its Prowess through turns, Sprite Dragon becomes a real threat quickly, and has to be dealt with.
The biggest problem, however, is that it's just one creature, and can therefore only swing at one player. So unless your Storm turn involves a few copy spells, this just isn't a good finisher.
Of course, if you are on the aggro spellslinger plan, say with a number of Dragons that care about casting noncreature spells, then this thing is going to fit into that plan wonderfully, and be one of your best options. That would be the situation where you would also pull the trigger on Mox Jasper.
The poster child for that deck? Livaan, Cultist of Tiamat, paired with either Sword Coast Sailor or Feywild Visitor.
4. Reckless Barbarian
(26,335 Inclusions, 1% of 2,677,265 Decks)
There are no such niche restrictions for Reckless Barbarian. Any red deck that wants mana, which is all of them, can at least make an argument for including it.
A two-mana 2/2 that can either pay for itself immediately or have you untap with two extra mana is good, no matter how you swing it. It turning on Mox Jasper early in a deck that would have multiple other reasons to play it is just gravy.
3. Scaled Nurturer
(28,561 Inclusions, 1% of 2,562,313 Decks)
Obviously, Dragon decks are the decks you can see on the horizon via the windmill slams taking place right now when it comes to Mox Jasper. For those still unconvinced, however, Scaled Nurturer is the tilt that will probably have Dragon brewers land on it.
If you're in green and in Dragons, you've at least considered this card. While there may not have been enough reason to come down on the side of playing it before, with the added incentive of "this turns on Mox Jasper a turn earlier", I think a lot of Dragon decks are going to end up playing both of these cards.
2. Shivan Devastator
(30,028 Inclusions, 1% of 2,677,265 Decks)
It's a Dragon. It's a Hydra. It's a Dragon Hydra! Shivan Devastator is one of those cards that you know just flew through design unchanged, and for good reason.
Timmy loves it, Jenny wants to do insane things with it, and the rest of us are just watching having a good time. All that said, there's every reason to be playing this in a Dragon deck, which means there will be every incentive to drop it for two mana, swing in for one, and play a Mox Jasper in second main.
This all works fine for the main contender we're talking about without really talking about them. The Ur-Dragon will be happy to go turn one Shivan Devastator into Mox Jasper into Reckless Barbarian.
What's more interesting to me, however? The Firkraag, Cunning Instigator deck that will both want a hasty Dragon, and revel in the fact that it cares about +1/+1 counters.
1. Korlessa, Scale Singer
(Helms 347 Decks, Rank #1,731; 29,700 Inclusions, 2% of 1,214,158 Decks)
Simic is not exactly your first thought when it comes to Dragons, but I think the most exciting thing about Mox Jasper is that it might give the more "serious" Dragon folk a reason to play Korlessa, Scale Singer over Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm.
Looking at the top card is an extremely powerful effect, and there are 74 Dragons available in Simic without even getting into Changelings and the like. Tie all that together with an extra free mana rock to put the final bow on it, and I think you could make a pretty darn mean Korlessa deck.
In fact, I think you could make the best possible Dragon deck and leave both Miirym and The Ur-Dragon in the dust. After all, you're in green, and you have a cheap commander that will let you "draw" card after card. That's mana and cards, which is everything you need, right?
Honorable Mentions
Of course, when we're talking Moxen, we're talking high-powered play. Which means that there's some Spikes who have been yelling at their screen this whole article about Changelings.
Top 10 Cheap "Dragons"
- Changeling Outcast
- Metallic Mimic
- Masked Vandal
- Universal Automaton
- Korlessa, Scale Singer
- Shivan Devastator
- Scaled Nurturer
- Mothdust Changeling
- Reckless Barbarian
- Unsettled Mariner
And to be fair, they're right. I think that there are some extremely good decks out there that can find a way to abuse the various cards like this that care about creature types.
That genre isn't quite to the cEDH level yet (trust me, I've tried), but is still very doable in any of the other brackets. And landing a turn one Universal Automaton into a Mox Jasper into a Magda, Brazen Outlaw does seem pretty great.
With that said, that deck is difficult to pull off, and Dragons are popular. I think it's likely that where we'll mostly be seeing Mox Jasper is in Dragon decks.
Despite the hurdle of Dragons costing a lot more on average, you're not really unhappy with this being a mana rock that probably won't turn on until turn three. Why? Well, because it's free, of course!
All that said, I think the biggest winner here is undoubtedly Korlessa, Scale Singer, who was probably being underplayed anyhow, and is now getting a great mana rock.
A single new card in the 99 will never take a deck and push it over the top, but still, this helps. In fact, let's take a look at how much this helps in the Dragon commander hierarchy, shall we?
Korlessa is the best Dragon Commander? (Upgraded - 3)
I don't want to toot my own horn, but I think that this brew can more than go toe-to-toe with the likes of The Ur-Dragon and Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm. A turn two commander that will draw you untold numbers of cards throughout the game is powerful, even if you're missing out on some of the most impressive Dragons.
As for how the deck plays, it tends to set up early and do Simic things, dumping eight mana on the board before it really gets going. This is not your typical Simic deck, however: With Dragons abounding, it's not hard to close out a game, even if there are two or three board wipes along the way.
Nuts and Bolts
There always seems to be a bit of interest in how these lists are made (this seems like a good time to stress once again that they are based on EDHREC score, NOT my personal opinion…), and people are often surprised that I’m not using any special data or .json from EDHREC, but rather just muddling my way through with some Scryfall knowledge! For your enjoyment/research, here is this week’s Scryfall search.
What Do You Think?
Hoo boy, this is a lot of Dragon cards coming out, isn't it?
And finally, what is your favorite cheap Dragon? Is there a deck you play that will be playing Mox Jasper? Is it a Dragon deck, or have you found the secret sauce?
Let us know in the comments, and we'll see you at the table with four chromatic Dragons as table legs.