Zacama, Primal Calamity
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Legality

Format Legality
1v1 Commander Legal
Archenemy Legal
Arena Legal
Block Constructed Legal
Canadian Highlander Legal
Casual Legal
Commander / EDH Legal
Commander: Rule 0 Legal
Custom Legal
Duel Commander Legal
Gladiator Legal
Highlander Legal
Historic Legal
Legacy Legal
Leviathan Legal
Limited Legal
Modern Legal
Oathbreaker Legal
Pioneer Legal
Planechase Legal
Quest Magic Legal
Vanguard Legal
Vintage Legal

Zacama, Primal Calamity

Legendary Creature — Dinosaur

Vigilance, reach, trample

When this enters the battlefield, if you cast this, untap all lands you control.

: This deals 3 damage to target creature.

: Destroy target artifact or enchantment.

: You gain 3 life.

Recommendations View more recommendations

griffstick on which do you perfer

1 month ago

I've played against both quite a few times. They are both very strong decks. Zacama, Primal Calamity is way more powerful because of its control factor. It can still be Dino tribal like Gishath, Sun's Avatar would be and you can still run Gishath, Sun's Avatar I think hat deck if you want to go in that direction

ET_ASH1228 on which do you perfer

1 month ago

so im making a tri colored dino deck and ive already decided my commander but i wanted to see what others would pick between Gishath, Sun's Avatar and Zacama, Primal Calamity

Mortlocke on The Predator of Predators

2 months ago

LandoLRodriguez, as much as I ask people to engage with me on these deck pages I don't check the comments section often enough. Sorry for leaving you hanging so long! Thanks for the compliment on the deck page formatting - I honestly thought that people either didn't care for it and that I was the only one enjoying it. Seedborn Muse is a curious card to me - truly a green staple but is only good in decks that can regularly play on other player's turns using cards like Flash. In the case of my own deck, it's great when Zacama, Primal Calamity is on the field but wouldn't make much of an impact otherwise. Previously I had Atla Palani, Nest Tender in the deck but after a few games I quickly determined it's not a great fit. With Atla on the field the Eggs serve as a great deterrent but don't do anything else without Zacama or maybe Pyrohemia on the field. Currently i'm thinking of focusing on an ETB subtheme in this deck with the upcoming inclusion of Etali, Primal Conqueror  Flip and Sword of Hearth and Home as the focus of this sub-theme. Of course this year also holds a new Ixalan set so there will be even more Enrage Dinos to consider in the future. Thanks for bringing suggestions though, please feel free to comment on any proposed swaps I have planned for the deck and thanks again for swinging by.

DrukenReaps on Your Cheap Obscure Overperformers?

4 months ago

I only quickly perused EDHrec but pretty sure none of the following came up on the pages of the commanders I use them with. Each has done some impressive work at my table. I used sorting by Card Kingdom price on this website to find sub $2.

In Olivia, Crimson Bride I have Shifting Shadow. Since Olivia's attack reanimates Shifting Shadow ends up just giving me free creatures at effectively no cost to me. In a way it actually fuels the deck's plan.

In Ayara, First of Locthwain I have Aetherworks Marvel and Mimic Vat. This deck just loves getting more and more creatures into play. Both of the artifacts assist in doing that over and over again. Sometimes Aetherworks even drops in Plague of Vermin too, a finisher in that deck.

In Mairsil, the Pretender I have Captivating Crew, Chandra, Flamecaller, and Xathrid Gorgon. Seems to be a rare cheap commander to begin with... lol. Xathrid typically turns commanders off, highly effective card against the likes of Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind and Zacama, Primal Calamity. Chandra does an amazing job of filling up my graveyard. Every turn a new hand +1. Captivating Crew lets me "borrow" some pretty sweet attackers and other effects, there are instant versions of this effect but not on a stick to my knowledge. 1 or 2 activations often opens someone up to attacks too.

Tur on Hidden Power - Mono-Color - …

5 months ago

Hello everyone! This will be a forum post for a "Commander - Hidden Power" series. My goal is to show relatively inexpensive cards which are often overlooked by commander players in semi-competitive and casual play. (This post is not designed for competitive play.) If you enjoy the topic, please upvote the post or provide positive feedback and I will consider creating similar posts.

The powerful cards I plan on discussing are mono-color cards which are strong with big mana in commander.

I will provide one card per mono-color identity. These cards will not include x-spells nor multi-color identity spells. (I.e. no Torment of Hailfire nor Zacama, Primal Calamity)

It is obvious that big mana is a huge part of semi-competitive play. Whether it is from ramping through creatures, artifacts, enchantments, instants, sorceries, or lands. Big mana is pretty fun. Mana doubling effects from lands are especially useful. In this article, I'll be focusing on mana doubling from lands, but other ways to generate big mana are always possible

Here are some common big mana effects for each mono-color identity:

This is not an all inclusive list as Mana Flare, Heartbeat of Spring, Keeper of Progenitus, Sword of Feast and Famine, et cetera would work just as well. In each mono-color identity the artifacts Caged Sun, Gauntlet of Power, and Extraplanar Lens can be used, however the black and green color identities have an advantage for mono-color double mana effects. Furthermore, green contains cards such as Seedborn Muse, Awakening, and Wilderness Reclamation which allow for more interactions.

Well, let us begin in WUBRG order!

White: Sacred Mesa

This card is relatively unused. According to EDHREC, Sacred Mesa is played in 1511/849227 (0%) decklists and is under one dollar. You'd be surpized how powerful this card is with double mana. Imagine making some number of pegasus at instant speed as either blockers or attackers for your next turn. (The upkeep cost can be paid by making a summoning sick pegasus during your turn.) Not to mention power and toughness buffing effects are ideal with Sacred Mesa, examples include Dictate of Heliod, Cathars' Crusade, Caged Sun, or Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite.

It is often compared to Luminarch Ascension because they have similar effects. Yes, it makes a 4/4 angel instead of a 1/1 pegasus.

However, Luminarch Ascension has many downsides:

  • You have to have four quest counters to use the ability. (That is, you have to not lose life during an opponents turn four times.) This creates a huge target on your life total and you'll see it surely chip away.
  • Bounce effects, such as Cyclonic Rift really mess it up. Welcome back to square one!
  • Common cards, such as Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider prevent quest counters from even occurring. Vampire Hexmage or Hex Parasite are also options to remove the counters.

Sacred Mesa is way more versatile and does not have such downsides. Not to mention is it only three mana, ideal for Sun Titan recursion.

Blue: Compulsion

It is very rare to see this wonderful card. According to EDHREC, Compulsion is played in 1000/945324 (0%) decklists and is under one dollar. Having an activated draw ability with very little downside on a blue enchantment is insane. Ideal when paired with Teferi's Ageless Insight or Thought Reflection. There are a few cards which have a similar effect, such as Triskaidekaphile or Kefnet the Mindful without having to discard a card, but having a two mana activation is much more versatile. I suppose that an argument could be made with Training Grounds, but that is too much just to make the Kefnet the Mindful ability more cost effective. Furthermore, discarding a specific card like Echo of Eons, Wonder, or a shuffle Eldrazi such as Kozilek, Butcher of Truth has some nice synergy. (In fact, it should be played in most bant enchantress decks, such as the commander Tuvasa the Sunlit. Replenish for life!)

Black: Chainer, Dementia Master

This is a wonderful card, but a little pricey compared to the previous two cards. According to EDHREC, Chainer, Dementia Master is played in 6344/983251 (1%) decklists and is approximately ten dollars. Yes, we all know that you can abuse Chainer, Dementia Master with Gray Merchant of Asphodel or Kokusho, the Evening Star with sacrifice outlets such as Phyrexian Altar. Suppose we don't want to abuse this card into the ground is it still just good card? Yes. We can fill up or graveyard with Buried Alive or Entomb and get back a creature card, or we can grab a creature card from an opponents graveyard. It can also be used to interrupt graveyard combos, such as Aristocrats by using the ability on an opponents Butcher Ghoul with the undying trigger on the stack.

Red: Scourge of Kher Ridges

An extremely powerful and undervalued card. According to EDHREC, Scourge of Kher Ridges is played in 1005/912333 (0%) decklists and is under three dollars. If you're able to untap with Sourge of Kher Ridges and double mana, your opponents are going to have a rough time. As you can put multiple activations on the stack, it provides you with a very high on-board presence. Even within a response to removal. I've heard players complain that Scourge of Kher Ridges dies too quick to removal and my answer is "from your opponents perspective it needs to die before you're able to untap". Ideal with lifelink (and deathtouch) equipment such as Basilisk Collar or Shadowspear.

Green: Kamahl, Fist of Krosa

Typically unseen in play. According to EDHREC, Kamahl, Fist of Krosa is played in 4786/880991 (1%) decklists and is approximately five dollars. It is odd how unused Kamahl, Fist of Krosa is compared to Ezuri, Renegade Leader when they basically have the same effect. Overrun as an activated ability which is stackable multiple times. I agree that Ezuri, Renegade Leader is better in elf tribal decks, however Kamahl, Fist of Krosa is great in most big mana decks. Ideal for wide aggro. Tall aggro will gain the benefit of trample. If you don't have extra creatures you can animate your lands as 1/1 attackers, correction 7/7 attackers. (Pretty interesting because these attackers get around Cyclonic Rift, they're lands.) You can also get some payback by animating your opponents lands in response to a creature board wipe. (From that reasoning it can be paired with cards such as Ascendant Evincar and Crovax, Ascendant Hero to destroy opponents lands through animation.)

All in all, these are relatively unused cards which have a lot hidden power with big mana. If your deck is mono-colored and designed for big mana spells or abilities, think about giving these cards a chance. See if they work well for you and your playgroup.

Epicurus on Ramos the Mutated Lord

5 months ago

+1 just because I love Mutate! Hahaha, don't even know if this deck is good or not, but it definitely could be, and looks fun as hell either way.

I can make some suggestions, but take them with a grain of salt. I really believe that I would have to actually play the deck to determine what it needs, what it doesn't need, and what might be helpful to add or cut in order to improve it.

First, here's a list of cards that are generally good for a Ramos deck:

Shielding Plax - gives Ramos Hexproof, puts two +1/+1 counters on him, and draws a card.

Maelstrom Nexus - Puts five counters on Ramos with one spell, grants free casting.

Corpsejack Menace - Speeds up access to Ramos's mana ability.

Zacama, Primal Calamity - Castable using Ramos's ability, and in my experience one of the best things to do so with.

Horned Kavu - Two colors for feeding Ramos, allows you to recast something, and has the added bonus in this deck of possibly allowing you to re-mutate stuff.

Next, I think that you need more early ramp. Here are some suggestions for that, starting with the most obvious choices:

Cultivate

Birds of Paradise

Noble Hierarch

Ilysian Caryatid

Fellwar Stone

To help facilitate some of these inclusions, here are some suggested cuts:

Thrun, the Last Troll - You have enough targets to Mutate without this, and removing him lowers your mana curve.

Lore Drakkis - Yeah, I know, that would make one less Mutate trigger, but it really doesn't do much of anything else for you. You don't have many instants and/or sorceries.

Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin - I understand why you may want him (he generates blockers, and you are vulnerable to go-wide strategies), but I think he's just unnecessarily raising your curve. By the time you can cast him, you'll probably have a lot of other spells you'd rather cast with that mana. If your meta dictates that you require defense against go-wide, there are better choices. Crawlspace, Lightmine Field, Silent Arbiter/Dueling Grounds.

Fertilid - Absolutely a waste of mana. There are a million things you're better off with than this.

Geist of Saint Traft - I'm actually torn on this one, but I really believe that it falls into the same category as Thrun. You'll likely have other good targets for mutation, though the Flying and Hexproof combination is a good one. I'd still consider your mana curve when deciding whether to keep it.

The Ozolith - Other than Ramos and Crystalline Giant, I really don't see how this is incredibly useful. It's genuinely a good card, but I don't see enough here to justify its inclusion.

Zendikar Resurgent - Too high of a cost. By the time you can cast it, this deck shouldn't need it. If you want to keep the draw effect, you're better off with Chulane, Teller of Tales.

Windgrace's Judgment - Pure jank. I take it your meta is mostly multiplayer? Even so, you'd probably benefit much more from some kind of cheaper, targeted removal. However, if you're so inclined, Decimate for one less mana, or Ruinous Ultimatum for a much more beneficial effect.

Finally, your land base could use an upgrade. That's probably obvious, and likely due to budget restrictions. I get it, land can be what makes a deck expensive to build, and casual decks sometimes aren't worth the money. However, you have a lot of lands on your list that ETB tapped, and that is disconcerting. Pain lands and check lands are the cheapest way to remedy this problem (albeit, the check lands are way more effective if you have shock lands and/or triomes, and furthermore aren't exactly inexpensive either).

I hope I didn't explode your brain, hahaha. If anything, take all of this as proof that I really want this deck to be awesome!

Cheers!

tonylomas on Lands vs Enchantments

6 months ago

hi all ! is Zacama, Primal Calamity the best option against heavy enchantment edh decks? theres also Aura Fracture but i really need grave recursion with this one...and seems kinda fragile, what do u suggest? lands related stuff pls <3

Max_Hammer on Legality Question About Zirda

7 months ago

I'm working on this EDH deck where you've got Zacama, Primal Calamity as your commander and Zirda, the Dawnwaker as your companion for some spammy nonsense.

I figured, well, Illusionist's Bracers should work great in here, giving me double value on Zacama, or whatever else I happen to want.

Well, it's showing up as red/not legal for some reason. Tapped Out does yell at you when something isn't legal for your companion, but the bracers are equipment, and therefore have an activated ability.

I checked and they're not banned from EDH nor is there any weird errata I wasn't aware of, so I'm pretty sure this is just a glitch with Tapped Out.

Same thing was happening with Shefet Monitor before I took it out, even though cycling is an activated ability legal for Zirda. Plus, I have other cycling cards and other equipment in the deck.

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