Looking to play Dragon, but I feel like there's a bunch of vital common cards/strategies I need to know (endless plains probably being big for Dragon for example? Or scorpion bidding higher than needed to prepare for an I can swim?)

So what are the vital 3-4 things I need to know I'm each match up right now? Any big pit falls to watch out for?

Way of the Crab in Crab can wreck you by forcing you to discard a character in play, so be careful to always have a little dude out and around against them.

Dragon as you may have seen have several nasty provinces. The first is Restoration of Balance, which forces your opponent to discard down to four cards in hand when it's revealed, so be careful with how much you draw if you plan on attacking unknown provinces. The other is Feast and Famine, which, when broken, removes fate off an opponent's character and places it on a character with no fate on it. That one's safe to break if your opponent has no characters with no fate on them, so just watch for an opening.

Scorpion will almost always bid high just because it's good, and they can steal honor back if you don't bid just as high. You can't really take the high road against them thanks to their stronghold.

Unicorn have a conflict card that lets them swap from a political to a military conflict, and yeah, Endless Plains.

Lion frequently will use For Greater Glory to keep all their bushi around an extra turn when they break a province, so be careful of handing them a break if they're all in. No that you can always stop that, but if you can steal their last fate or hold a cancel or something, it can help stem the flood.

Anyone with Air as their role can run Frostbitten Crossing as a province too, which will strip one attacking character of all attachements, which is particularly bad for Dragon.