Maybeboard

Enchantments (2)

Creatures (1)

Lands (1)

Instants & Sorceries (2)

Artifacts (1)


This is my first commander deck as I transition from MTGO to playing paper. This deck is loosely based on my Modern dinosaur themed deck Spared No Expense!!! but I also took some inspiration from CardTyrant's Ixalan Park. With that said, the deck is broken down into "General" categories with more specific functions of cards listed below in the description. I am always open to suggestions so if you think of something that would fit well, please do not hesitate to suggest it.

Generally, the deck is pretty simple in its design, the focus is on ramping, dropping Gishath, Sun's Avatar early, and immediately swing to bring in additional dinosaurs...rinse and repeat. From that point on, the focus is on protecting my board or starting over if a boardwipe hits. Everything is generally built around this core concept of getting lots of stompy dinosaurs onto the field quick and in force with not much focus on actually casting dinosaurs from my hand. With that explained, below you will find the roles cards fill.

With all the ways to generate additional mana or lower the cost of creatures, having the ability to keep cards in the hand, play from the top of the library, or cheat out creatures from the top of the deck is pretty key to success. Obviously the main focus for this deck is hitting with Gishath early and often so the amount of card advantage has been reduced with recent changes to focus more on that.

  1. Bonehoard Dracosaur
  2. Curious Altisaur
  3. Etali, Primal Conqueror  
  4. Etali, Primal Storm
  5. Ghalta, Stampede Tyrant
  6. Gishath, Sun's Avatar
  7. Guardian Project
  8. Minas Tirith
  9. Ripjaw Raptor
  10. Roaming Throne
  11. Strionic Resonator
  12. Sunfrill Imitator ((LCC:62)
  13. Sylvan Library
  14. The Great Henge

With a strong focus on creatures and their abilities, having the ability to force specific creatures into play is extremely helpful. Worldly Tutor and Finale of Devastation once procured will likely be experimented with at some point. Both of those are on the wish list...

  1. Congregation at Dawn
  2. Defense of the Heart
  3. Savage Order
  4. Forerunner of the Empire

I mentioned above that protecting my board is a point of emphasis. In my opinion, what is the point of cheating out all those big, beautiful, stompy dinosaurs if they are just going to be destroyed next turn by a Wrath of God or something equivalent? Most of these have a very low cost or are potentially free to cast and provide what I hope will prevent removal.

  1. Akroma's Memorial
  2. Akroma's Will
  3. Asceticism
  4. Cavern of Souls
  5. Clever Concealment
  6. Canopy Cover
  7. Flawless Maneuver
  8. Heroic Intervention
  9. Steely Resolve
  10. Teferi's Protection
  11. Temple Altisaur

  1. Ghalta and Mavren for Siegehorn Ceratops - Siegehorn was one of the very few creatures that Marauding Raptor actually kills which is unfortunate. As it fills a "beatstick" role, Ghalta and Mavren can also fill that role but I believe it fills it better. The extra mana I feel is justified.

  2. Aggravated Assault for Garruk's Uprising - With Gishath's ability to rain dinosaurs from my library when damage is dealt to a player, having cards in hand is not as important as I initially thought. Aggravated Assault will provide me the ability to force extra combats to trigger Gishath more often as the expense of less cards in hand.

  3. Etali, Primal Conqueror   for Rhythm of the Wild - Originally ran primarily for anti-counter for my creature spells, countering creatures is pretty rare at my LGS so I will drop this for another tribal dinosaur that can essentially become Blightsteel Colossus.

  4. Strionic Resonator for Naya Charm - Naya Charm has merit but has pretty limited utility at only being only to tap out a single players creatures, which was primarily used it for. The ability to double Gishath's triggered ability with Strionic Resonator is just better in my opinion.

  5. Steely Resolve for Mountain - With all the ramp and deck acceleration, I decided I could reduce the number of lands as the ability to force them or make do without is very high. In exchange, giving all my dinosaurs Shroud makes them very difficult to remove and does not really affect me much as there is almost no targeted abilities or cards in this deck.

  6. Clever Concealment for Boros Charm - Boros Charm is a great utility card, which I primarily use for granting Gishath double-strike or granting my creatures indescructible at instant speed all for only 2 CMC; however, Clever Concealment can potentially be cast for free and protects against

  7. Selvala, Heart of the Wilds for Augur of Autumn - Selvala has the potential to grant up to 12 mana with this deck and really accelerations the deck. Augur of Autumn was handy for getting lands off the top of the deck but that is an easy exchange for one of the best dorks in the game.

  8. Boseiju, Who Endures for Bonders' Enclave - Bonders' Enclave is a great way in this deck to get a draw if needed but I am finding that when this deck is working, draw is not something I need considering as Gishath is usually raining dinosaurs. Boseiju is just a phenomenal land with little downside.

  9. Minas Tirith for Terramorphic Expanse - The aggressive nature of this deck has a lot of synergy with Minas Tirith for cheap card draw while the amount of ramp, dorks, and acceleration should be enough to speed up the deck and fix my mana base.

  10. 1x Cavern of Souls (LCI:345) for Evolving Wilds - 1x Cavern of Souls (LCI:345) provides a phenomenal protection against countering creatures while also helping me fix my mana base for at least getting Gishath, Sun's Avatar out.

  11. Urza's Incubator for Shaman of Forgotten Ways - As much as I love the idea of using Shaman of Forgotten Ways's formidable ability to potentially seal a game, the primary reason it is included is for the ramp. Urza's Incubator accomplishes that role in aces in comparison.

  12. Akroma's Memorial for Spidersilk Armor - Spidersilk Armor provided this deck some much needed answer for Flying but only as a defensive card. Akroma's Memorial provides a similar but also has an offensive capability while also providing some protection form and . The converted mana cost of 7 is very steep in comparison but only time will tell if it is worth it.

  13. Tranquil Frillback *f-etch* for Thrashing Brontodon - Thrashing Brontodon provided a dinosaur deck one of its few nature answers to artifact/enchantment hate. Tranquil Frillback *f-etch* provides a similar role with the upside of being able to destroy multiple at the expense of only as an ETB.

  14. Bonehoard Dracosaur for Zetalpa, Primal Dawn - Bonehoard Dracosaur adds so much with the potential for card advantage and ramp each turn at the expense of losing a good dino beatstick.

  15. Palani's Hatcher for Shifting Ceratops - Palani's Hatcher provides a potential small army of dinosaurs at the expense of losing a good dino beatstick.

  16. Wrathful Raptors for Swords to Plowshares - Swords to Plowshares is a classic removal staple for the commander format but I love the idea of being able to cause fear with Wrathful Raptors with cards like Forerunner of the Empire. Even blocking becomes a decision with Wrathful Raptors in play!

  17. Ravenous Tyrannosaurus for Giant Cindermaw - Giant Cindermaw is a great way to shut down lifegain decks but other than that, it is somewhat lackluster. Ravenous Tyrannosaurus is a force to recon with some removal built in to boot!

  18. Ghalta, Stampede Tyrant for Ghalta, Primal Hunger - Ghalta, Primal Hunger is a great card as I can consistently drop a 12/12 for 2 but otherwise, it fulfills no actual role. With this deck focusing around Gishath's ability, being able to be cast for cheap is not very important unless it helps me cast Gishath. Ghalta, Stampede Tyrant still gives me the 12/12 body with some extra utility.

  19. Intrepid Paleontologist for Atzocan Seer - Swicthing out a mana dork with a graveyard recursion element for another mana dork with lower converted mana cost and a wider graveyard hate/recursion ability sound like a solid plan.

  20. Curious Altisaur for Kinjalli's Sunwing - The utility Kinjalli's Sunwing brings to the table is beneficial in slowing down opponents but is more of a annoyance than anything else. I am hopeful that given this deck is built around dinosaurs dealing combat to players, Curious Altisuar (LCC:58) will help me keep cards in my hand to add a finishing blow, protect my boardstate, etc.

  21. Savage Order for Eladamri's Call - Unlike Congregation at Dawn that tutors to the top of the library for Gishath, Sun's Avatar to drop, Eladamri's Call tutors to my hand which is less helpful. Savage Order is harsh in that I have to sacrifice a creature with power 4 or greater but being able to tutor for a creature directly to the battlefield is powerful, especially with powerful cards like Apex Altisaur for a quick multi-creature boardwipe.

  22. Poetic Ingenuity for Smothering Tithe - This may seem like an odd switch but Smothering Tithe gets a lot of attention while Poetic Ingenuity slides under the radar in terms of making me a target early. Its ability to generate Treasure Tokens for each attacking dinosaur is a powerhouse plus it can create dinosaur tokens as well! In most decks Smothering Tithe is the obvious choice but not for here.

  23. Welcome to ...   for Kodma's Reach - Jurassic Park has the upside of being removal and ramp compared to only ramp for the same mana cost.

  24. Curious Altisaur for Runic Armasaur - Curious Altisaur just has additional upside plus has Reach, which this dech badly needs.

  25. Sunfrill Imitator for Plains - I hate to drop my land count but Sunfrill Imitator has the ability to copy other big creatures like Gishath, Sun's Avatar and do some serious damage. Each time I have played this, it has done work.

Suggestions

Updates Add

With the more recent revisions to focus more on maximizing Gishath's ability to rain down dinosaurs upon my foes, the deck has been hitting significantly harder. Sample size is always small but the previous four games prior to the edits, this deck went 0-4 (worth mentioning that most games I was the player to beat but could just not close out a game) and since the edits, it has now gone 4-2. The deck is very consistent in getting Gishath out early and has a good balance of dinosaurs and support. Removing my dinosaurs is generally hard to do with the amount of protection I run and since i am usually not casting many spells due to Gishath's ability, I am rarely caught tapped out and unable to protect.

All in all, I am very happy with how the deck is turning out but would still like to pick up a few exotic cards to really make the deck hum. The upcoming Caverns of Ixalan and subsequent Jurassic Park crossover will be highly anticipated for the potential to add/swap out some dinosaurs!!!

Comments

98% Casual

Competitive

Date added 1 year
Last updated 2 weeks
Legality

This deck is Commander / EDH legal.

Rarity (main - side)

14 - 0 Mythic Rares

66 - 0 Rares

9 - 0 Uncommons

4 - 0 Commons

Cards 100
Avg. CMC 4.32
Tokens City's Blessing, Copy Clone, Dinosaur 3/1 R, Dinosaur 3/3 G, Dinosaur 3/3 G, Dinosaur Beast */* G, Dinosaur Egg 0/1 G, Dinosaur X/X G, Egg 0/1 G, Fungus Dinosaur, Monarch Emblem, Treasure, Vampire 1/1 W
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