A to Z 2016 : ZIRILAN OF THE CLAW

And our final entry into Meta MTG's A to Z Challenge - Cryton Collection is upon us! This is pretty much the exact opposite of last night's featured card, Yawgmoth's Will. Where that card is expensive and I never played with it, Zirilan of the Claw (Mirage) is cheap and was played often.

Zirilan of the Claw is likely strictly casual. It used to be a bulk rare, for the most part, but once the Dragons of Tarkir set was announced, just about any and every dragon and those associated with them felt an uptick in price. Most prices have settled, albeit some slightly higher than originally starting from. I believe this is what happened with Zirilan, currently sitting at roughly $3.

I could see this being a really fun Commander/EDH card for sure. If my friends and I would utilize it in casual decks for Chaos matches, why wouldn't it be equally (if not more) fun in a 99 card deck stacked with as many dragons as you could have? Although, with the Commander/EDH format, if Zirilan is your general, you are stuck using only dragons hailing from the red portion of the color wheel. Though, that's where many of them represent.

It's a shame no foil version of this card exists, I'd love to have one. Perhaps it will be reprinted? I feel that set mentioned above (Dragons of Tarkir) would have been a good home for a reprint, though, so I'm not holding my breath!

Have you ever played with Zirilan of the Claw? If so, what decks did you use it in? Do you think it would make a good general in Commander/EDH? What's the best dragon you've utilized with Zirilan of the Claw?