The Commander
Flying, trample
Whenever a Dragon you control attacks, it gains double strike until end of turn.
Guide
Gameplan
Cheat out fat Dragons and swing for lethal commander damage—Atarka grants double strike to every attacking Dragon, including herself (14 trample damage), turning the team into a one-shot army. You ramp hard in the early turns, deploy threats, then alpha strike with doubled, often trampling damage to delete players in one combat step.
Strengths
- Massive burst damage—double strike plus trample makes single attacks lethal
- Strong Dragon tribal synergy with anthems and cost reducers
- Green ramp lets you deploy 6-7 mana Dragons ahead of curve
- Big evasive bodies dodge most chump-block strategies thanks to flying/trample
Weaknesses
- No card advantage or recursion built in—runs out of gas after a board wipe
- Reliant on the commander or other Dragons sticking; removal-heavy tables punish it
- Seven-mana commander that does nothing until it attacks
- Color identity lacks counterspells and efficient interaction
Key Cards
- Dragon Tempest — Gives all your Dragons haste and pings for damage equal to fliers when they enter, accelerating the clock.
- Crucible of Fire — Anthem that pumps the whole Dragon team so doubled strikes hit even harder.
- Sarkhan, Fireblood — Reduces Dragon costs and digs for more threats while building loyalty.
- Temur Ascendancy — Grants haste to your big creatures and draws a card each time a fatty enters.
- Utvara Hellkite — Spawns 6/6 Dragons whenever Dragons attack, snowballing into multiple doubled, trampling threats.
- Scourge of Valkas — Burn payoff that scales with your Dragon count, providing reach to close games.
Upgrade Path
Add fast ramp (Mana Crypt, Birds of Paradise, Dragonspeaker Shaman) and cheat effects like Quicksilver Amulet, Sneak Attack, or Crux of Fate-proof reanimation to deploy threats faster. Improve card flow with Guardian Project, Garruk's Uprising, and tutors like Worldly Tutor for missing Dragons, and tighten interaction with Beast Within and Vandalblast. Lean into haste enablers so every Dragon can swing the turn it lands and exploit Atarka's trigger immediately.
Core Cards
- Rapacious Dragon
- Harbinger of the Hunt
- Cinder Glade
- Dragon's Hoard
- Demanding Dragon
- Thundermaw Hellkite
- Haven of the Spirit Dragon
- Sakura-Tribe Elder
- Akoum Hellkite
- Steel Hellkite
- Savage Ventmaw
- Garruk's Uprising
Seeded from a single deck — rates appear once more public decks exist.
Win Conditions
- ▸Commander damage—Atarka alone deals 14 trample with double strike
- ▸Alpha strike with a wide Dragon board all gaining double strike
- ▸Direct burn from Scourge of Valkas or Dragon Tempest triggers
Archetypes
- Dragon Tribal — Atarka's double-strike trigger keys off Dragons attacking, rewarding a deck packed with them.
- Voltron — She herself swings for 14 trampling commander damage, killing through chumps in two hits or one with a pump.
- Big Mana Ramp — Gruul ramp lets you power out expensive Dragons and reanimate or cheat them into play early.
Combos
No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (GR), by popularity.
