4 Historic Plagon Brews: Fun & Jank Episode 21

Hey everyone, it’s Plum and I’m back at it again with another round of jank. Now, if you read my last article or talked to me in discord recently, you might have noticed I have a new obsession. For the past couple weeks there’s been single card on my mind, and he’s rocking a jellyfish hat.

Plagon, Lord of the Beach

I’ve had my fair share of obsessions over the years — from wild combo decks to cards that make me ask, “Why did they print this?” But this little Starfish Wizard is the latest and greatest, and now I’m here to show you 4 decks that feature our aquatic lord and savior.

I could sit here all day telling you how amazing Plagon is (and trust me, I will), but let’s just dive right into the decks I’ve brewed around this handsome little echinoderm. I’m not here to give you a long-winded, overly serious analysis — instead, let’s look at how Plagon, Kozilek’s Command, and Tamiyo create a synergy that’s surprisingly potent. Spoiler alert: It involves a lot of card draw, creature tokens, and more random value than I thought possible.

These 4 cards are ones I’ve been brewing around a bunch lately. Kpler’s list (Bant Greenshell from Episode 20) has really shown me the power of Kozilek's Command. Aspiring Spike has also been jamming this card a lot in Modern recently and it’s been overperforming every time. It’s just so versatile, and when combined with Plagon it can create an incredible card draw engine in whatever deck we slot it into. Before we get the decks utilizing this package I want to start with my one of my first and probably most obvious brews for Plagon. Defender Tribal.

Deck #1: Plagon Walls

Let’s kick things off with a deck that’s all about Plagon doing its thing. The goal is simple: cast Plagon, draw cards like it’s Black Friday, and crush the opponent under the gigantic butts of our creatures.

While Plagon, Lord of the Beach isn’t technically a defender (I know, shocking), he’s definitely a great fit for this defender tribal deck. This deck is all about the walls. From Walking Bulwarks to Wall of Blossoms, you’re looking at a pile of defender creatures that can soak up damage like it’s their full-time job. Plagon thrives off creatures with greater toughness than power. And guess what? Almost every creature in the deck has that!

But it doesn’t stop there — Plagon also helps you build up that insane value over time. When your creatures can get in on the action, whether that’s through Walking Bulwark giving something haste or The Pride of Hull Clade turning your defenders into attackers, Plagon is right there, keeping your hand full and providing an additional way to succeed in combat (even though he doesn’t let your defenders attack).

I think Plagon slots well into this list despite the lack of defender synergy. The list felt decent, nothing special, but not the worst. It’s a tad slow, and I’m not sure of some of my own card choices, but I think it’s a fun list to revisit in the future. We played it on stream to mild success but I felt like we weren’t taking full advantage of our Starfish friend. So we kept brewing.

Deck #2: Plagon Valuetown

OOOOOOOH BOY. This list might have not been the strongest performer, but boy is it a blast to play. I had been messing with a Simic deck list this for a while, mainly playing the synergistic package of Dryad, Angler, and Nissa to generate value like there’s no tomorrow.

Tireless Angler + Dryad of the Ilysian Grove

Let’s start with Tireless Angler, who might just be the MVP of this deck. Whenever an Island or Swamp enters the battlefield, you draft a card from his spellbook (which is a lot of fish). I actually think his power level is quite underrated and he just needs the right shell to shine.

Tireless Angler plays very well with Dryad of the Ilysian Grove, which lets you play extra lands every turn, and turns them all into Islands (and forests for Nissa!). This means more landfall triggers and more opportunities to draft cards from the Angler’s spellbook. This is card advantage, ramp, and some sweet value all in one neat package. Plus, both Tireless Angler and Dryad have solid 2/4 bodies, which just so happens to help draw cards with Plagon.

We were already playing mana-dorks in the older version of this list, but I swapped them out for Birds of Paradise and Delighted Halfling because they both set up for Plagon to draw 2 on turn 2. Between Angler and Plagon the deck can generate a ton of card advantage until you can win via the sea monsters you drafted, or the lands you’ve turned into creatures via either Nissa. I’ve also had a couple games where I was able to draft 3+ Ruin Crabs and mill the opponent out which is hilarious. Check out some gameplay from stream below!

Deck #3: Plagon Oracle

Wizards, Wizards, and More Wizards

Wizards, Wizards, and More Wizards

So here’s the deal: We’ve got a cool suite of creatures, all of which just so happen to be Wizards. Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student, Thundertrap Trainer, and Plagon, Lord of the Beach all fit perfectly into a theme that lets us play Cavern of Souls for uncounterable Oracle of the Alphas. Not only does it help us avoid counterspells, but it also taps for colorless mana, which smooths out the mana for Kozilek’s Command.

The curve feels incredible in this list. Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student + Thundertrap Trainer into Plagon, Lord of the Beach is one of the best lines in the deck. It feels incredibly easy to flip Tamiyo early on.

Our creatures are not very impressive stat wise, so similar to the UR Ring deck we mentioned in a previous article, our main win condition is the Power 9 conjured off of Oracle. The goal here is to hit a critical mass of the Power 9 in the deck and loop them. We’re talking Time Walks, Timetwisters, the whole shebang. Narset can turn Timetwister into a 1-sided wheel that usually seals the deal against most decks.

Lastly, you’ve probably seen me play Inspired Idea and Reliquary Tower before, and I think it’s right at home in this list. It’s just a cute package that has a low opportunity cost. Plagon and Inspired Idea play basically the same role in this list.

You can check out some gameplay below!

Deck #4: Jeskai Starfish

Guys I’m not going to lie. At this point I’m just throwing Plagon into anything that pops into my brain. In this case, it was Jeskai Control. I didn’t test this list as much as the other on stream so I don’t have any gameplay, but it’s rather straight forward.

This is probably the second most “obvious” shell for Plagon, but I just so happened to brew it last. Harmonic Prodigy increases the draw on Plagon AND doubles it.

#Value amirite????

Arcanist is also a wizard that increases our Plagon trigger, and also has an ability that gets doubled by Prodigy. It’s a nice little trifecta as long as we have cheap and efficient removal to back it up. Add in a bird that conjures the reserve list and you get a nice little control list. I’d like to change some numbers around for this one but more testing is definitely needed!

Closing Thoughts

Alright, the last two weeks have been all Plagon, all the time, I’m pretty sure my brain is fried. Between the value, the synergies, and the card draw, I’ve had Plagon on the brain non-stop. And let’s be real — I’m Plagon’d out (maybe). But hey, these decks are a blast, and whether you’re looping the Power 9 or making some defender tribal magic happen, there’s no denying that Plagon is a powerhouse. Now, I’m going to go take a break and let my brain recover.

Thanks for reading.

As always feel free to comment and leave any questions you have below! Make sure to come back next week for even more Fun & Jank!

If you want to see these decks in action, come hang out with me on stream where we test, refine, and have a ton of fun together!

Happy Brewing!