Lightning Dragon
Creature — Dragon
Flying
Echo 
(At the beginning of your upkeep, if this came under your control since the beginning of your last upkeep, sacrifice it unless you pay its echo cost.): This creature gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Urza's Saga
- Price
- $4.88
- EDHREC rank
- #28319
Lightning Dragon is a 4/4 flying, haste, firebreathing Dragon for four mana — a respectable rate that closes games when unanswered. The upkeep echo cost makes it a one-shot threat in slower formats unless you're built to pay it repeatedly, which limits its ceiling.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Lightning Dragon fills the role of a budget, haste-enabled aerial threat in mono-red or Dragon-tribal builds, though five-mana echo makes it a liability in multiplayer games where you're spending mana every upkeep instead of developing your board. Legacy and Vintage have access to far more efficient threats, so Lightning Dragon doesn't see play there outside of fringe Dragon-themed lists. The echo mechanic is the defining constraint across every format — Lightning Dragon punishes you for keeping it, which is a hard sell when most competitive shells want permanents that stick without ongoing payment.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$4.88 cheap tier
At $4.88, Lightning Dragon sits at the low end of the casual Dragon market — affordable enough that budget Dragon-tribal players won't think twice. It's a niche card with a small, stable demand ceiling, so don't expect the price to move meaningfully in either direction.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.