Drake

Drake
Creature Type
(Subtype for creature/kindred cards)
Statistics	101 cards 72.3% 5% 5.9% 3% 4% 1% 4% 2% 1% 2% 6 Drake creation cards 83.3% 16.7% as of Murders at Karlov Manor
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type:"Drake"

Drake is a creature type used for cards that depict flying reptiles, similar to dragons but smaller and less powerful. Mechanically, Drakes are a predominately Blue-aligned tribe, though there is a smattering in all other colors save White. They always have flying, and often have greater toughness than power.

Storyline

The mind of a Drake is more similar to that of an animal than that of true dragons. It is often thought that drakes were descendants of the losers of the Elder Dragon War, like the wurms, but this is not true, for their ancestry can also be traced to the surviving Elder Dragons.

By and large, the difference between drakes and dragons is that dragons have wings in addition to their limbs, while drakes have one set of their limbs replaced by their wings, like birds or bats. Some exceptions (such as Wind Drake and Dromar, the Banisher) exist, though. Drakes are especially vulnerable to aether vortexes.

Drakes have been seen on Dominaria (especially on Tolaria, the Burning Isles and Jamuraa), Rath, Mirrodin, Ravnica, Innistrad, Kaladesh, Alara, Amonkhet, Shandalar and Zendikar.

Notable types of Drakes

Alaran Drakes

The sphinx Crucius and those who now carry out his Noble Work, the Ethersworn, spent years perfecting their designs on drakes before infusing the first humanoid. As a result, hundreds or thousands of etherium-infused drakes soar above Esper, many of which suffered strange behavioral changes as a result.

Amonkheti Drakes

The drakes of Amonkhet are drawn to shiny objects, clustering around Naktamun, the Luxa river, and the Lazotep mines. Although they are less aggressive than dragons, they can be a danger nonetheless. The denizens of Naktamun accept them as a part of life, with some believing that certain drakes, like the Enigma Drake, are favorites of the gods.

Dominarian Drakes

Dominarian Drakes live predominantly around Jamuraa and Shiv.

• The Jamuraan Spiketail drakes had the ability to nullify magic.
• Teferi's drakes. Created by Teferi while he was studying in the Tolarian Academy, they were used by Barrin in the defense of the University against Kerrick's forces. They had the irritating habit of disappearing into the time stream moments after being summoned.
• An Azure Drake attacked and was killed by Caliphear the Nightmare and his attendants in the Great Salt Marshes of Western Golthonor. Hakim Loreweaver had tamed one of these drakes and used it as a pet and a means of traveling.
• Along the coast of Shiv, fire-breathing drakes are quite common and respected.

Innistrad Drakes

Nephalia Moondrakes are at home at coast of Nephalia. The corpses of these drakes are often the target of stitchers, who use them to create flying skaabs like the Stitched Drakes or the Scrapskin Drakes.

Kaladesh Drakes

On Kaladesh, drakes usually inhabit the aethersphere, gliding upon its currents. Only rarely do they leave the skies. Social animals, gather in units called rushes, made up of as many as a dozen drakes. Though they prey mostly on birds, they can also be seen clinging to the hides of leviathans and whales, picking off winged leeches and other parasites and scavengers that attach themselves to the huge sky beasts. Most rushes are highly territorial and will even attack airships when provoked.

Mirran Drakes

Drakes on Mirrodin were found in the Quicksilver Sea and its adjacent landmasses. Like all of Mirrodin's wildlife, they were imported via soul traps by Memnarch and later developed metallic parts, as seen by the Chromescale Drake. The vedalken domesticated several Lumengrid Drakes to safeguard their capital Lumengrid.

Several drakes became victims of New Phyrexia's corruption and were repurposed. Serum Rakers are used to gather the increasingly rare blinkmoth serum, Viral Drakes are used to spread phyrexian diseases and multi-eyed Spire Monitors keep watch over phyrexian strongholds.

Ravnican Drakes

Torch Drakes and Drake Familiars live among the spires of the vast city of Ravnica. They become especially voracious as they prepare for their autumn migration, hunting the city’s thoroughfares from dawn to dusk. The drakes are used by the Dimir and Izzet guilds. Also, the Gruul used to capture drakes to show off. Leafdrakes are an enhanced form of drake created by the Simic. Recently, among Simic krasis, there are the Drakewing Krasis, drake-lizard hybrids.

Shandalar Drakes

The drakes of Shandalar live in large groups and are partially amphibic, being drawn to Shandalar's coasts.

Recently, the drakes of the Kapsho Sea have allied with the hydromancer Talrand against the dragons that used to tyrannize the sea. In exchange for protection, they now serve Talrand.

Zendikar Drakes

The drakes of Zendikar are primarily airborne. Using thermal updrafts and gravity currents, some drakes never land on the ground, and instead spend their entire life in the sky. Other variants have been domesticated and are used as steeds, like the Champion's Drake. Many drakes are found in Akoum, but they typically live at higher altitudes and farther north than the dragons there.

Wyverns

Wyverns are particularly large drakes with a birdlike gait. They are known to exist in Jamuraa as well as the former plane of Rath. The Cerulean Wyvern of Jamuraa has sky-blue scales that allow it to surprise its prey from above on cloudless days, while Rath's Sabertooth Wyverns are known for their exceptionally large canine teeth. The former subtype Wyvern (only used on Torch Drakes) is now incorporated into the Drake type.

Gallery

• 

  Skaab Drake concept by Steve Prescott.

• 

  Drake concept for Thunder Junction based on rainbow trout.

Tokens

Token Name	Color	Type Line	P/T	Text Box	Source	Printings
Drake	Blue	Creature — Drake	2/2	Flying	Alandra, Sky Dreamer Drake Haven Roost of Drakes Talrand, Sky Summoner Talrand's Invocation
	Green/​Blue	Creature — Drake	2/2	Flying	Leafdrake Roost