Is Dragonlord Atarka good in Commander?

Dragonlord Atarka in Commander — Combos, Decks & Price

Dragonlord Atarka enters and immediately eats up to 10 damage worth of creatures or planeswalkers — seven mana for an 8/8 flying, trample body that cleans the board before it even attacks. The cost is real, but Ureni of the Unwritten can cheat it into play off a kicked spell, which makes that seven irrelevant.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01

Ureni of the Unwritten

59.1% of decks · synergy 0.53

Ureni of the Unwritten fetches Dragonlord Atarka directly off a kicked spell trigger, turning a free tutor into an 8/8 that immediately blasts the table for up to 10 damage — one of the cleanest hits the deck can find.

02

Alena, Kessig Trapper // Gilanra, Caller of Wirewood

36.8% of decks · synergy 0.35

Alena, Kessig Trapper // Gilanra, Caller of Wirewood generates mana off high-power creatures, and Dragonlord Atarka's 8 power means it refunds a significant chunk of its own casting cost the turn it enters — then hits hard enough to keep that engine churning.

03

Eshki, Temur's Roar

16.6% of decks · synergy 0.11

Eshki, Temur's Roar wants big Dragons to copy or cheat out, and Dragonlord Atarka delivers both a threatening body and a removal trigger that can clear blockers or pick off opposing value pieces the moment it arrives.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

Format	Verdict
commander	legal
legacy	legal
modern	legal
pioneer	legal
standard	not legal
vintage	legal
pauper	not legal
oathbreaker	legal

Commander is where Dragonlord Atarka lives — the format's slower pace lets you reach seven mana reliably, and a free 10-damage sweep on entry is backbreaking against token strategies and planeswalker-heavy pods. In Pioneer and Modern it's strictly a finisher in ramp shells, competing against cheaper threats that close games faster, so it sees only fringe play there. Legacy and Vintage have no interest: the format speed and the availability of free interaction make a seven-mana sorcery-speed play a liability. Oathbreaker can support it in green-red big-mana builds, though the 20-life starting total means the board wipe clause does less work than in a four-player pod.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

$1.76 cheap tier

At $1.76, Dragonlord Atarka sits firmly in budget territory for what it delivers — an 8/8 with evasion and a built-in removal trigger at that price is straightforward value. Casual demand from Commander keeps a floor under it, and widespread reprints have cemented this price rather than eroded it.