Gilded Drake (Repaint)
A repaint of Magic by artist Bob Eggleton of his most famous Magic painting, Gilded Drake shimmers amongst the top “dragon” paintings in the game. A subject matter with origins dating back to 1993’s Shivan Dragon from the alpha set, dragon paintings have their own massive fan-base and are justifiably highly sought after by collectors. Gilded Drake is a two-mana blue creature from Urza’s Saga that swaps itself for an opponent’s creature when it enters the battlefield. This way you can steal their best creature and give them your 3/3 flyer in return. The exchange is mandatory, but since you usually take something far more valuable, it can be a good tempo play and an effective solution at the same time. Because you “own” the Drake even when it’s not under your control, decks using blink or bounce (e.g. via Flickerwisp or Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd) can steal, blink out, steal again, etc. That opens up interesting interactions in certain control / tempo builds. Gilded Drake sees some niche play in Legacy (mostly in Esper Vial / Cephalid Breakfast decks) but especially in some Commander/cEDH decks. There it’s known as a low-cost way to steal game-winning threats or even opposing commanders. In Commander, many players find ways to blink or bounce Gilded Drake to reuse the effect multiple times, which makes it even more powerful. Gilded Drake is on the Reserved List.