House of the Dragon — Rider and Dragon

Commanded by Rhaenyra Targaryen, the Realm's Delight, this Rakdos (black/red) 100-Card Commander Deck tells the Dance of the Dragons, the Targaryen civil war. A king names his daughter heir and dies; his widow crowns her son instead; two councils — the Blacks at Dragonstone, the Greens in the Red Keep — send ravens to every lord of the realm, and every lord has to answer. Then the dragons kill each other, and their riders die with them. The deck is Rhaenyra's side, with the whole cast of both councils: Daemon and Caraxes, Rhaenys and Meleys, Jacaerys and Vermax, Corlys Velaryon, Mysaria, Alicent Hightower, Aemond and Vhagar, Nettles and Sheepstealer.

• Bonded: printed on thirty-one cards — every Dragon, every rider, the Hatchling and Smallfolk tokens. When one enters, bond it to a creature you control: one Dragon, one non-Dragon. Each gets +2/+2 and the rider has flying; when either leaves the battlefield, the other is sacrificed. A 1/1 Dragonseed on a 3/3 Seasmoke becomes a 3/3 flyer on a 5/5 flyer — but it's one target. Ride at Dawn and The Sowing of the Seeds bond outside the enter trigger.
• The fall pays: Rhaenyra creates a Dragon Egg whenever one of your Dragons dies, the Egg hatches into a Hatchling ready to bond, Fire and Blood leaves Eggs behind the empty board, and The Dance of the Dragons makes every player of the Greens lose 1 life for each Dragon that dies, anywhere.
• Call the Banners: printed on eleven cards. Each opponent who hasn't declared chooses the Blacks or the Greens, for good; you are of the Blacks, and whoever doesn't answer is Green. Forty cards read the answer: the Blacks draw, make Treasure and add mana with you (Viserys I, Corlys, The Painted Table); the Greens lose life, discard and sacrifice. Then Larys Strong, Hugh Hammer and The Betrayal at Tumbleton switch a Black ally to the Greens, and nothing ever switches back.

Why Rakdos

Black is the Blacks: the council at Dragonstone, the ravens, the whisperers of Flea Bottom and their vendettas. Red is fire and blood: the dragons, their riders and the cities they burn. Two combos end the war: A Son for a Son (Mysaria, the White Worm + A Son for a Son with one player of the Greens) turns a single point of life loss into a drain to zero, and The Cradle and the Pit (Rhaenyra + Dragonkeepers of the Dragonmont + The Dance of the Dragons) sacrifices, re-hatches and drains in an endless loop. Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Rakdos Signet and The Conqueror's Crown ramp; The Whispers of Flea Bottom tutors; Dracarys, Dragonfire and The Storm over Storm's End remove threats; Fire and Blood is the only sweeper.

A complete 100-card Commander deck plus 4 tokens, tuned for Bracket 4, available as a digital print-yourself edition or a printed physical deck, and offered in 10 languages.