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I think the reason most people avoid dragons is because, for what you get, the Wyrm is really a better deal. The thing about a monster type pretender is that you can start attacking independents right from turn 2. Undead or titan pretenders need to do at least a little bit of research before they move out. The problem with dragons is that they don't have regeneration. Since monster pretenders fight all the time, they are really prone to getting afflictions. The Wyrm, who is tougher than the dragon anyway, and has much lower path cost, does have built-in regeneration and is amphibious, too. The dragon's only military advantage is that it flies. (The blue dragon can go in the water by way of water magic, of course).

If you wanted a good cheap W9 or N9 blessing, and a monster-type pretender, the dragon would be the way to go. For F9, you'd really be better off with the Moloch.

The dragon can also take better advantage of items by turning into human form. But it's hard to come up with a good use for these items when you can't use most of them in combat and all your magic is concentrated in one or maybe two paths.