Runic Armasaur

Creature — Dinosaur

Whenever an opponent activates an ability of a creature or land that isn't a mana ability, you may draw a card.

Discussion (50)

enpc on Phyrexian Arena

2 weeks ago

I didn't realise that Phyrexian Arena got enough hype for it to be over-hyped. Though your comment would indicate that you're moving from a pretty casual form of EDH (where Arena does work becuase games are soe drawn out) into a more competitive more tuned version of EDH.

As others have mentioned, when you get into this space then you're correct that the card does less work, due to either more removal or shorter games. As you start looking for more draw efficiency then you're either looking into cards which are super cheap ( Mystic Remora , Esper Sentinel , Dark Confidant , Sylvan Library , etc) or cards that will get you multiple draws per turn (some of hte aforementioned cards, Runic Armasaur , etc.). The other thing is that due to its double black, it makes the card a lot more clunky to cast in early games, when typically most decks are going for double blue or double green (because let's face it, these two colours dominate the competitive meta).

You also have your cantrips (as other comments have mentioned) - Sign in Blood is decent but Night's Whisper is generally preferred as the casting cost is easier. There's also Painful Truths which needs a 3+ colour deck to work but costs the same amount of mana as Arena with the upside of getting the three cards immediately.

Generally though, the more competitive decks use black primarily for its tutor ability rather than its draw ability (with the obvious exception of Necropotence ).

4to16characters on Ruxa, Ramp Professor

2 months ago

I want to start by saying I love the first paragraph of your description and I love Ruxa being the Ramp Professor!

I wanted to add some possible options you might consider as well: Runic Armasaur and Endless Atlas could be excellent draw options for you. Collector Ouphe might be a great Stax card to run if you play around it's ability. Emerald Medallion would also possibly do some work as well!

Also cheers! I'm always happy to see another green deck on here!

RNR_Gaming on FYNN-ISH HIM!!!

3 months ago

I've brewed up a mean pauper list - which you've seen but definitely intend on brewing up a normal optimized list eventually. Here are some of my notes.

1) Get Fynn out either asap or wait until you've developed your board and use him as a pay off. Getting him out on turn 1 can be done in a few ways... Lotus Petal and Elvish Spirit Guide are the go to budget options. Mana Crypt and Mox Diamond - are always a solid include but I believe you noted that was out of price range. So, I'm not exactly sure if Chrome Mox , Mox Opal and Jeweled Lotus are out of the question too.

-A side note Mox Amber is really good with this low cmc commander. As it helps enable keeping up protection like Vines of Vastwood and Veil of Summer

2) Ohran Frostfang is a beast do not remove this card. Even if granting deathtouch is redundant, this is an excellent curve topper and draw engine. Also, you may not get full value out of Bow of Nylea ; if you ran some Birthing Pod , Eldritch Evolution or a go wide token lines its probably more worth it.

3) a few draw more draw engines make a world of difference Toski, Bearer of Secrets , Sylvan Library and Runic Armasaur are awesome.

OmniDreamer on Forest for the Wicked (Kamahl & Kodama EDH)

4 months ago

Sorry for the very lengthy reply. I just got swept up in this.

I've only played two games so my experience overall isn't going to tell me enough about how certain cards perform in various situations or if they're not synergizing enough with your strategy. I'm guessing you're on a budget. If your playgroup allows proxies, or money isn't an issue. Gaea's Cradle is always a great option in a deck that generates lots of token creatures, and you're already running Crop Rotation . The budget option to cradle though is Growing Rites of Itlimoc  ^Flip. When I began my 2nd game playing this deck I was very concerned since one opponent was running Angus Mackenzie which usually just neuters this kind of strategy. I mean I lost that game for other reasons, but if it had dragged on I probably would need a lot of luck to have instant speed removal for Angus and enough power to alpha strike or I'd just lose to forever fog. That's certainly an edge case, but a tad more removal could be helpful to rid yourself of problematic creatures or other effects. Song of the Dryads and Kenrith's Transformation are a couple of great options. The only other creature that doesn't do something like fight that shot to the front of my mind to get around Angus was Questing Beast .

=============

However, simply looking at the list and thinking about good options in general I would say the following cards should be considered for replacement:

• Colossal Majesty its a bit slow compared to other green card draw. Sylvan Library is probably the best replacement if money is no issue. Beast Whisperer is decent and you can tutor it. There are great one-time effects considering the swarm you usually have like Shamanic Revelation and Regal Force . Harmonize is always a solid option. Oakhame Adversary is usually getting through because of deathtouch and you can always leave him as a blocker. Depending on your meta Runic Armasaur can net you plenty of cards.
• Liege of the Tangle feels like you'd be better off with something that helps finish the game the turn it enters the battlefield for this much mana. Craterhoof Behemoth or something like that would be nice, but if you're content with the pump that you get from Kamahl then perhaps Bane of Progress would be nice to wipe the pesky artifacts and enchantments. God-Eternal Rhonas is another decent buff to finish with. Great Oak Guardian could potentially be a finisher with your ability to turn lands into creatures and Temur Sabertooth as a way to recast the treefolk again and again.
• Nylea, Keen-Eyed I feel like she is a decent card, especially since she is indestructible, but her activated ability is pretty costly for only digging 1 card. I would prefer Duskwatch Recruiter  ^Flip for this kind of effect and if it flips it does the cost reduction. If you're after an indestructible creature here then Rhonas the Indomitable is great for the deathtouch as a blocker or threat, and his pump + trample effect. For other nice cost reducers there's Emerald Medallion and Rhonas's Monument .
• Curious Herd was a dead card for me in one of my games where I drew it. I ended up discarding it when I ended a turn at 8 cards in hand. I can see that it has potential in some matchups, but its is a bit meta dependent. Arachnogenesis would probably be an upgrade in many cases, but again meta dependant.
• Magus of the Order I was surprised when I saw this in my hand because I didn't realize it had been printed. 2020 was a blur. However, as it stands there were not a lot of great targets for this to go tutor into play. Avenger, Nyxbloom, of Baloths were the primary options to me since Leige needs to swing and connect in order to do something and wait a turn before the lands can attack giving opponents a chance to wipe your board (including 8/8 lands). Actual Natural Order would be preferable since it is less telegraphed, but still need better finisher, utility, value to tutor for. Craterhoof, Bane of Progress, or maybe something like Apex Devastator for all the silly cascades.
• Roiling Regrowth -> Harrow (generally won't get countered so the additional cost on cast of sacrificing a land is a minimal risk) or if you want a body Springbloom Druid .
• Bow of Nylea it certainly has its utility, but something like Ohran Frostfang may be better for the deathtouch buff and supplemental card draw.

Other cards to consider:

• Skyshroud Claim it doesn't have the option to cycle, but untapped lands can really help in situations where you've doubled or tripled your mana produced.
• Zendikar Resurgent is just a great card.
• Eternal Witness works great with Temur Sabertooth and is generally just a great card.
• Overwhelming Stampede just a nice alternative finisher to Kamahl incase he's too expensive to get back on the field.
• Kogla, the Titan Ape not a lot of humans in your current iteration to have his bounce ability be useful like Temur Sabertooth , but he's still another way to fight a problematic creature and he can remove an artifact/enchantment per attack.
• Champion of Lambholt with so many token creatures you can get this up to a point where your creatures are unblockable.
• Soul of the Harvest is another solid source of incremental card draw.
• Triumph of the Hordes is a nice surprise finisher, especially against someone with near-infinite life.
• Carpet of Flowers meta dependent, but excellent ramp.
• Elder Gargaroth beefy, and has useful options every attack.
• Bellowing Tanglewurm since Kamahl already can pump, this can help get your alpha strike in.
• Kamahl, Fist of Krosa can just be a fun deterrent to board wipes if you have enough mana available to turn your opponent's lands into creatures in response.
• Oracle of Mul Daya just amazing for landfall theme.
• Gaea's Touch is a budget friendly option to help put more lands into play per turn, but they need to be basic forests.
• Tireless Tracker a bit grindy, but nice way to spend mana when you have nothing better to do. Also the treasure token trigger Kodama of the East Tree to allow you to put another land into play.

Some combo suggestions:

• Quirion Ranger + Ashaya, Soul of the Wild to use the ranger's ability to return the ranger and untap any other creature that can tap for mana to recast the range and repeat for infinite cast triggers, creature ETB triggers for other permanents that care, and "landfall" triggers. Scryb Ranger can also work if your "lands" produce an additional green or if you have a way to give them haste like Lightning Greaves or Concordant Crossroads .
• Cloudstone Curio + Kodama of the East Tree to put a land into play, bounce another land, resolve Kodama trigger to put that land back into play and bounce the first land for as many additional lands you can play per turn. This becomes infinite if you have a permanent that generates any kind of token on landfall trigger.

Dunx on +1/+1 Selesnya Commander

5 months ago

Here are some cards you should consider

Travel Preparations

Llanowar Reborn

Rogue's Passage

Glare of Subdual

card draw

Runic Armasaur

Harmonize

Lifecrafter's Bestiary

Warriors' Lesson

Hunter's Insight

ramp

Sword of the Animist

Kodama's Reach

sub780lime on Rin and Seri, Procreators

5 months ago

Epicurus, thank so much for all the suggestions.

It's funny, I had just cut a few of the cards you are suggesting. I pulled Cryptolith Rite to make room for a bit more removal. I also recently cut Triumph of the Hordes in place of other overrun effects. I run it in a number of decks. The problem I run into is find it as a dead card unless the board state is right, where other overrun effects can be used even if your not complete finishing another player off and need to draw to more board power. If you can't poison out all three players (Five 2/2's need to get through to each player), it's a bit of a waste. I'm still on hte fence aobut pulling it, but that was my reasoning from past experience.

I know you mentioned Wrath of God and Blasphemous Act, but I've found even in wider decks, sometimes you just have to wipe the board and work to rebuild along with everyone else. Do I need both, possibly not. Goblin Bombardment can be a quick finisher of a third player if you've only got enough on board for two. It is situational and I have considered cutting it, so it's good to hear someone else thinking along the same lines.

Runic Armasaur is just great card draw at the 3 spot. I'm definitely open to other card draw suggestions, but I'd be looking for them in a similar CMC.

I definitely hear what you are saying on Kamahl, Heart of Krosa and tend to agree that it's a bit costly to get it going. I do have some 7 drops in the deck so that would really what I'd be looking to replace if it would seem to add enough value. I also tend to agree with you on Prava of the Steel Legion. At only 3 cmc, it adds a lot of value to my game plan and may be worth replacing a simpler anthem effect I have.

I'd love to check out your deck if you want to post a link in the comments here.

Epicurus on Rin and Seri, Procreators

5 months ago

For what it's worth, I never build a green go-wide deck without Cryptolith Rite and Champion of Lambholt. The former I actually try to fit into any deck I build with green in the identity, and the later is a major wincon.

Also, I just recently built a token deck with Kamahl, Heart of Krosa and Prava of the Steel Legion as partner commanders. Kamahl costs a lot more to get out than what it might help in this deck, but Prava is actually more effective than you might think (Defense boost means more survivors after attacking wide), and it's cat tribal to boot.

And finally, Triumph of the Hordes.

As for cuts, it's hard to say because I'm not the one playing the deck. From an outside perspective, it seems like Goblin Bombardment, Runic Armasaur and the two board wipes (Wrath of God & Blasphemous Act) don't aid your goal. All are incredibly useful cards, but I wouldn't put them in here if this was my deck.

That's all I got. Hope it helps!

CaptainToll on Favorite non meta creature

6 months ago

Goblin Cratermaker, Humble Defector, Wickerbough Elder in Hapatra, Vizier of Poison and Runic Armasaur (allthough he does not get slept on anymore as much as people used to)