The Predator of Predators

Commander / EDH Bracket 4 Control Dinosaurs Enrage Infinite Combo Primer Ramp RGW (Naya)

Mortlocke

Land (39)

• 1x Ancient TombGC
• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Battlefield Forge
• 1x Boseiju, Who Endures
• 1x Brushland
• 1x Castle Garenbrig
• 1x Cavern of Souls
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Fire-Lit Thicket
• 10x Forest
• 1x Gaea's CradleGC
• 1x Homeward Path
• 1x Karplusan Forest
• 1x Mana Confluence
• 2x Mountain
• 1x Plains
• 1x Plateau
• 1x Reflecting Pool
• 1x Sacred Foundry
• 1x Sanctum of Eternity
• 1x Savannah
• 1x Stomping Ground
• 1x Taiga
• 1x Temple Garden
• 1x Windswept Heath
• 1x Wooded Bastion
• 1x Wooded Foothills
• 1x Yavimaya Hollow

Artifact (6)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Cloudstone Curio
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Sword of Feast and Famine
• 1x Urza's Incubator

Creature (24)

• 1x Curious Altisaur
• 1x Etali, Primal Conqueror  ^Flip
• 1x Etali, Primal Storm
• 1x Forerunner of the Empire
• 1x Gishath, Sun's Avatar
• 1x Hunting Velociraptor
• 1x Marauding Raptor
• 1x Pantlaza, Sun-Favored
• 1x Polyraptor
• 1x Ranging Raptors
• 1x Regal Behemoth
• 1x Regisaur Alpha
• 1x Ripjaw Raptor
• 1x Roaming Throne
• 1x Silverclad Ferocidons
• 1x Temple Altisaur
• 1x Temur Sabertooth
• 1x Topiary Stomper
• 1x Trapjaw Tyrant
• 1x Vaultborn Tyrant
• 1x Wakening Sun's Avatar
• 1x Wayta, Trainer Prodigy
• 1x Wrathful Raptors
• 1x Zetalpa, Primal Dawn

Instant (8)

• 1x Crop RotationGC
• 1x Deflecting Swat
• 1x Eladamri's Call
• 1x Enlightened TutorGC
• 1x Flawless Maneuver
• 1x Heroic Intervention
• 1x Teferi's ProtectionGC
• 1x Worldly TutorGC

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Huatli, Warrior Poet

Commander (1)

Sorcery (11)

• 1x Cultivate
• 1x Farseek
• 1x Finale of Devastation
• 1x Jeska's WillGC
• 1x Kodama's Reach
• 1x Nature's Lore
• 1x Rampant Growth
• 1x Skyshroud Claim
• 1x Sylvan Tutor
• 1x Three Visits
• 1x Wheel of Fortune

Enchantment (10)

• 1x Elemental Bond
• 1x Garruk's Uprising
• 1x Meticulous Excavation
• 1x Mirari's Wake
• 1x Pyrohemia
• 1x Rhythm of the Wild
• 1x Rite of Passage
• 1x Smothering TitheGC
• 1x Sylvan Library
• 1x Welcome to ...  ^Flip

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The Threefold Sun Incarnate

Behold Destruction!

What is best in life? Crushing your enemies. See them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women. - Conan, The Barbarian

Since you haven't already run away in fear...then clearly this is the deck and more importantly - Commander for you. Zacama can easily overrun and terrorize the battlefield all by herself, but there are times when you may need to employ a pack and it's tools to crush a wily foe. The design of this deck is as simple as nature: dominate and destroy all before you using the embodiment of pure savagery and might.

The Hunting Grounds

This deck embodies the cunning brutality of the ancient beasts that once dominated our plane of existence - and those who currently dominate the plane of Ixilan. Through the combination of Dinosaur Tribal (and their non-Dinosaur Agents), Enrage, and Enter the Battlefield (ETB) triggered abilities this deck's aim is to have explosive board warping effects leaving you as the 10,000ft tall monster staring down the table as if your opponents were ants. The method of execution for your prey may vary between combat damage (Commander damage is obviously a viable option), using Pyrohemia to deliver non-targeted direct damage to all opponents, exiling all non-land cards from all opponents libraries using infinite Etali, Primal Conqueror   ETB triggers, or using the flip side of the previously mentioned (I call it Dreadsteel Colossus  ) to deliver death via Poison counters.

This deck is not restricted by price - as long as the game piece is a worthwhile addition it should not be considered out of reach. While piloting this deck, death for a given opponent should be expected between turns 8 and 11. I would consider this deck to be within the Focused category within the power scale defined in How to Power up your Commander deck by The Command Zone.

The primary strength of the deck is it's potential to have explosive starts that warp the battlefield, and control it for multiple turns at a time. This explosion can be the early game summoning of Zacama through various ramp options. Zacama's sudden appearance guarantees at least a few mana rocks and/or dorks will be removed - with haste, then that puts an opponent on a 3 turn clock. Dinosaurs such as Polyraptor, Gishath, Sun's Avatar, or Etali - Primal Storm/Dreadsteel Colossus   can reliably put you in an advantageous position via combat step.

The weaknesses of this deck are it's high cognitive load, limited options for recursion, and generally poor politics. The high cognitive load manifests itself mostly during the main phases. Balancing Enrage triggers alongside ETB triggers and replacement effects - and getting the ordering just right to make sure you maximize each effect can be down right exhausting. I highly recommend you use the time allotted to you during each of your opponents turns to figure out what you're going to do on your turn, or more likely than not you are going to make a misplay.

A well timed boardwipe or the coordinated efforts of all of your opponents systematically destroying your board are extremely difficult to recover from. More often than not, I've found myself in such predicaments simply due to being the 10,000 foot tall monster destroying everything - as is in the nature of the deck. I've found that i've been limited to simply casting and recasting Zacama as that was the only option left to me until I could get additional resources to build a game plan or be killed off. Such is the plight of a deck with an intimidating commander.

Tooth and Nail

• Temur Sabertooth + Zacama, Primal Calamity + *12 Lands (or 6 lands and a mana doubler) - Tyranno Omniscience 1 - Infinite Mana - During the main phase with Temur Sabertooth and 12 untapped lands in play, cast Commander. This results in {3} floating mana and an ETB trigger. When her ETB trigger resolves use two of the floating {3} to activate Temur Sabertooth’s ability targeting Zacama leaving {1} mana floating. Tap all 12 lands once again and cast Zacama leaving {4} floating mana and another ETB trigger. Use {2} to activate Temur Sabertooth again, and now I am at a net positive of {2} floating mana. Access to infinite mana has been proven.
• Cloudstone Curio + Zacama, Primal Calamity + Other Creature – Tyranno Omniscience 2 - Infinite Mana - This combo must be played during the main phase with Zacama ready to be cast, Cloudstone Curio, and one Other Creature in play. Lastly, the player must have access to an amount of mana at least equal to (Zacama’s Casting Cost) + (The Other Creature’s Casting Cost) + 1. Upon casting Zacama, all land sources must be tapped. Once Zacama’s ETB trigger resolves the player will have an amount of floating mana equal to The Creature’s Casting Cost + 1. Cloudstone Curio will trigger because of Zacama hitting the battlefield. The Other Creature must be chosen as the Curio’s target to return to hand. Cast the Other Creature, once it enters the battlefield the amount of mana left floating will be {1}. A Cloudstone Curio trigger will occur and Zacama will be chosen as the target. Cast her tapping all lands once again and the amount of floating mana remaining should be equivalent to The Other Creature’s Casting Cost + {2}. Access to infinite mana has been proven.
• Sanctum of Eternity + Zacama, Primal Calamity + *13 Lands (or 7 lands and a mana doubler) - Tyranno Omniscience 3 - Infinite Mana - With 13 lands (or 7 with a mana doubler) and Sanctum of Eternity - cast Zacama, (note: you are always tapping all lands except Sanctum of Eternity). Once Zacama's ETB effect triggers, you'll have {4} floating. Use {2} to activate Sanctum of Eternity, returning Zacama to hand. You will have {2} floating. Recast Zacama and you'll have {5} floating. Use {2} to activate Sanctum returning Zacama to hand. You'll have {3} floating, netting you {1} mana. Recast Zacama, and you'll have {6} floating, netting {2} mana. Pay {2} to activate Sanctum returning Zacama to hand - you'll have {4} floating, and then after casting her - you'll then have {7} mana, netting you {3}. Access to infinite mana has been proven.
• With infinite mana I can reach critical mass by funneling it directly into Zacama – removing all artifacts, enchantments, and creatures I don't control. Then gain 1 billion life. To try and end the game I can attempt to and kill them off one by one with Commander damage while maintaining a favorable boardstate. If Shivan Gorge is on the battlefield I can then use it's ability to end the game when combined with Zacama's ETB land untap ability to end things faster.Alternatively, when Temur Sabertooth or Cloudstone Curio are on the field I can use and reuse Etali, Primal Conqueror  's ETB effect when infinite mana is established to try and end the game.
• Forerunner of the Empire + Polyraptor + Rite of Passage - P.O.U.S - Polyraptors of Unusual Size - Infinite* Polyraptors - To explain this combo, i will just quote the article Brewer's Minute: Rivals-Seven Modern Combos by SaffronOlive: "The basic idea of the combo is that we get Rite of Passage on the battlefield, use Forerunner of the Empire to find our Polyraptor, and then when Polyraptor enters the battlefield (perhaps with the help of something like Through the Breach or Dramatic Entrance), we make an infinite number of infinitely huge Polyraptors! Each time a Polyraptor enters the battlefield, Forerunner of the Empire does one damage to everything. Normally, this would kill off the Forerunner of the Empire after three pings, but with a Rite of Passage on the battlefield, every time Forerunner of the Empire pings our creatures, our team also gets a +1/+1 counter! The end result is we make as many Polyraptors as we want while also sweeping away all of our opponent's creatures and making all of our Dinosaurs huge with +1/+1 counters!"
• Forerunner of the Empire + Marauding Raptor + Polyraptor - A Nest of Raptors - Infinite* Polyraptors - Note, this combo requires that Polyraptor be the last card cast. When Polyraptor enters the battlefield, it's Enrage trigger will be on the stack due to Marauding Raptor's passive first ability "when another creature you control enters the battlefield, Marauding deals 2 damage to it". A new Polyraptor will enter play, which will also have it's Enrage trigger activate - ad infinitum. To prevent the infinite Enrage triggers from stalling out the game (resulting in a draw), trigger Forerunner of the Empire's ability - "Whenever a Dinosaur enters the battlefield under your control, you may have Forerunner of the Empire deal 1 damage to each creature." 3 times. Note: Forerunner's ability is a "may" ability - so you can choose trigger it after you generate {X} number of Polyraptors first. The 3 Forerunner ability activations will kill all creatures with toughness 3 or less - removing itself along with Marauding Raptor - ending an infinite trigger loop and leaving behind an army of Polyraptors.
• Marauding Raptor + Polyraptor + Zacama, Primal Calamity - Herald of Raptors - Infinite* Polyraptors - With 9 lands (and access to Naya), Marauding Raptor and Zacama in play - cast Polyraptor. Marauding Raptor's ability triggers off on each instance of Polyraptor entering the battlefield. After creating an arbitrarily large number of Polyraptors, end the infinite Polyraptor triggers with an activation of Zacama's first ability targeting Marauding Raptor. Note: the order in which these cards are played matters - make sure Polyraptor is the last card to be cast.

Grimlock

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to this deck, as there is an alternate commander (it is legal to swap commanders between games).However, the alternate commander of this deck is not actually legal- enter Grimlock, Dinobot Leader  . He is the epitome of what makes Dinosaurs cool - but turned to 11. Silver-bordered cards were temporarily legal in commander from December 01 2017 until January 15th 2018. But there is always the rule of cool - if your playgroup is cool with the use of silver-bordered cards that aren't too disruptive (refer to the silver-bordered cards that remained banned while Silver bordered cards were legal). With Grimlock   at the helm, the deck loses it's ability to control the board as easily and effectively boils down to Turn Right. Win Fight.. With Grimlock as your commander I would recommend him for games with a more casual game/meta (threatening to win between turns 10 and 13).

Additionally, you get to live out the fantasy of the following episode of transformers:

If you were wondering about what transformer I use to pay for Grimlock  's activation cost I chose the MP-08 Grimlock Masterpiece, pictured below:

Grimlock @ Amazing Spiral Show

It's no secret that Dinosaurs are among the coolest creatures to have ever walked the earth, and the various planes within Magic: The Gathering. This deck is very much a love letter to those wonderful great beasts and monsters that capture the imagination. To match that vision, the deck has the ultimate dinosaur themed Deckbox. A custom creation I had commissioned from an artist based out of Canada, Denis of Cretaceous Sculpting on Etsy.com. The deckbox itself was obviously not cheap, and given it's custom nature some "aftermarket" modifications needed to be made to ensure the functionality met my requirements. But at the end of the day it turned out perfectly, and will be one of the crown jewels of my collection. I hereby present to you dear reader: The Tyrant King's Deckbox!

We Spared No Expense Show

It's Vision is Based on Movement! Show

Worry not, my cat is safe - the Tyrant King let it pass without harm. Anywho, thank you for stopping by and making this far into my deck description. This deck will never be broken down and torn apart - it will be a forever predator, ever evolving and iterating. I hope you enjoyed my rants and ravings, please come by often or leave a comment and we can talk about Dino tribal stuff. Later!

Top Ranked	Achieved #10 position overall 7 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Primer 6 years ago
Date added	7 years
Last updated	4 days
Key combos	Temur Sabertooth + Zacama, Primal Calamity Cloudstone Curio + Zacama, Primal Calamity Forerunner of the Empire + Polyraptor + Rite of Passage Marauding Raptor + Polyraptor + Zacama, Primal Calamity Forerunner of the Empire + Marauding Raptor + Polyraptor
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	15 - 0 Mythic Rares 54 - 0 Rares 12 - 0 Uncommons 4 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.70
Tokens	Copy Clone, Dinosaur 3/3 G, The Monarch, Treasure
Folders	Dinosaurs are the Best, im gonna build but its too much money, Deck ideas, Interesting Commander Decks, Future deck ideas, Decks to Reference, decks to try, Decks to Get, Decks to look at, Cool Concepts