The Predator of Predators

Commander / EDH Mortlocke

SCORE: 405 | 122 COMMENTS | 51708 VIEWS | IN 162 FOLDERS

A Predator Evolved —Nov. 18, 2023

After finally returning to the plane of Dinosaurs I honestly felt as if there simply too few Dinosaurs - for a moment I was even disappointed. Enrage is not a set mechanic meaning that it is now effectively considered Parasitic. But all was not lost as there were eventually some creatures that I had to include, namely:

• Pantlaza, Sun-Favored - Providing a modified Cascade effect that can help build a board faster is a solid boon. Not to mention it can apply to any Dino I cast. The once per turn drawback is fairly negligible as the deck has a pretty hefty amount of high toughness creatures.

• Hunting Velociraptor - When I read this card I was in mild disbelief. I read it, then re-read it for about 10 minutes as I simply couldn't believe it said what it does. This creature wants blood and simply doesn't care who draws it - it just wants blood. The best part is that if one creature manages to deal combat damage then my 9 CMC commander only costs 3 for the turn - further enabling the infinite combos it is capable of. The only drawaback is that it is a non-bo with Marauding Raptor on the board, But besides that this card is simply magnificent and an absolute must include.

• Curious Altisaur - This feels like a staple for any Dinosaur tribal deck. Dinos love combat damage, this Dino will reward Dinos for combat damage. This card will put in work.

• Wayta, Trainer Prodigy - Just when I had given up hope for one of my favorite mechanics, Wayta had to come and bring me some happiness. Doubling Enrage Triggers while allowing for potentially targeted removal through Fights is absolutely something the mechanic needed. But the best part is when targeting two Enrage creatures I controlled for a Fight, the effect is discounted. This card is a wonderful design that is a 10/10 for me. I only wish she was a Dinosaur, but i'll take it.

As for the non-creature inclusions, there have been some potentially great new additions:

• Welcome to ...  ^Flip/Jurassic Park  ^Flip - The latest Gaea's CradleGC effect that is also Dino specific and provides a flavorful recursion option. Despite how awesome the flip side is, I'm a little bit weary of this one. The hoops one has to jump through are not minor to get to the final goal of getting to Jurassic Park  ^Flip, but at the very least it seems worthwhile to try running the Enchantment and see how I feel about it after a time. As mentioned before this will be replacing Pir's Whim - I was a bit disappointed with it so i'm hoping this will be a direct upgrade.

• Get Lost - Having an additional removal option outside of Generous Gift always felt like a need in the deck. I never used the non-overloaded cost for Winds of Abandon and when I did use the overloaded cost it would typically ramp my opponents many turns beyond me - which I never enjoyed. I see Get Lost as an upgrade, and really cool art is just a bonus.

• Plains - Yes. A Plains. I cut Asceticism just because I felt that the average CMC for this deck is incredibly high at just shy of 4 - but cutting a 5 cost Enchantment for an additional land seems worthwhile. Asceticism has definitely secured me victory before in the past at least once, but I'm going to see how things pan out with this swap.

With all these new inclusions, what will I cut?

Pir's Whim, Winds of Abandon, Silverclad Ferocidons, Comet Storm, Zendikar Resurgent, and lastly Sylvan Scrying.