The Sun Empire- Explorers of Ixalan

Commander / EDH Dinosaurs Fight Ramp RGW (Naya) Vorthos

EmptyStar

Creature (40)

• 1x Apex Altisaur
• 1x Atla Palani, Nest Tender
• 1x Atzocan Seer
• 1x Awakened Amalgam
• 1x Burning Sun's Avatar
• 1x Carnage Tyrant
• 1x Charging Monstrosaur
• 1x Colossal Dreadmaw
• 1x Curious Altisaur
• 1x Drover of the Mighty
• 1x Emperor's Vanguard
• 1x Etali, Primal Storm
• 1x Forerunner of the Empire
• 1x Frilled Deathspitter
• 1x Ghalta, Primal Hunger
• 1x Gishath, Sun's Avatar
• 1x Imperial Outrider
• 1x Ixalli's Diviner
• 1x Ixalli's Keeper
• 1x Kinjalli's Caller
• 1x Kinjalli's Sunwing
• 1x Knight of the Stampede
• 1x Majestic Heliopterus
• 1x Otepec Huntmaster
• 1x Priest of the Wakening Sun
• 1x Raging Regisaur
• 1x Raging Swordtooth
• 1x Rampaging Brontodon
• 1x Regisaur Alpha
• 1x Ripjaw Raptor
• 1x Runic Armasaur
• 1x Snapping Sailback
• 1x Sun Sentinel
• 1x Sun-Blessed Mount
• 1x Thrashing Brontodon
• 1x Trapjaw Tyrant
• 1x Wakening Sun's Avatar
• 1x Wayward Swordtooth
• 1x Wrathful Raptors
• 1x Zetalpa, Primal Dawn

Land (35)

• 1x Clifftop Retreat
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 3x Forest
• 3x Forest
• 4x Forest
• 1x Jungle Shrine
• 4x Mountain
• 5x Mountain
• 8x Plains
• 1x Restless Prairie
• 1x Rootbound Crag
• 1x Stone Quarry
• 1x Sunpetal Grove
• 1x Thriving Grove

Sorcery (6)

• 1x Cultivate
• 1x Savage Stomp
• 1x Slaughter the Strong
• 1x Star of Extinction
• 1x Terramorph
• 1x Thunderherd Migration

Enchantment (3)

• 1x Colossal Majesty
• 1x New Horizons
• 1x Path of Mettle  ^Flip

Planeswalker (3)

• 1x Huatli, Dinosaur Knight
• 1x Huatli, Radiant Champion
• 1x Huatli, Warrior Poet

Commander (1)

Artifact (7)

• 1x Coveted Jewel
• 1x Fountain of Ichor
• 1x Orazca Relic
• 1x Pillar of Origins
• 1x Progenitor's Icon
• 1x Talisman of Conviction
• 1x Traveler's Amulet

Instant (5)

• 1x Demystify
• 1x Dinosaur Stampede
• 1x Dreadmaw's Ire
• 1x Reckless Rage
• 1x Shake the Foundations

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“The amber sun smokes with fury, gazing on foes that gather like ants invading our home. We are ready! Blade and claw strike as one.” -Huatli, the Sun’s Heart

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Heirs of the Golden City:

When the sun of Ixalan rises at daybreak, all life in the verdant jungles and highest mountaintops rise to greet it and give thanks for its nourishment. The Sun Empire rises with the dawning sun as well, stirred now from a long rest of peace and prosperity. As warring factions converge on the continent of Ixalan in search for the fabled city of gold, the finest shamans and warriors of the Sun Empire muster for battle and bring with them an entire host of wrathful and territorial dinosaurs. The gilded city of Orazca is their ancient capital and birthright, and they will not see it sullied by outsiders.

Wayta, Trainer Prodigy has a deep understanding of the greatest gift given to the Sun Empire: the bond between her proud people and their dinosaur companions. This partnership has been nurtured over centuries and remains an important throughline in the Sun Empire’s culture and martial might. The most venerated among them can commune with dinosaurs believed to embody the dawn itself, the hunger of all living creatures, and the calamity of nature with all of its disasters. Wayta’s command over her dinosaurs is based on trust and mutual respect; on equal footing with her army, she can bring down any obstacle.

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Deck Strategies:

1. Your pack of ferocious dinosaurs and their human handlers work in tandem to hunt effectively.

The human contingent of your deck focuses on cost reduction (Kinjalli's Caller, Otepec Huntmaster, etc.) and extra mana production (Atzocan Seer and Drover of the Mighty) to get your dinosaurs out faster, and the dinosaurs can in turn go on the offensive in ways that the humans unilaterally cannot. Wayta capitalizes on the raw power of the deck’s dinosaurs, siccing them on creatures to destabilize opposing boardstates and remove key threats. Many dinosaurs have Trample or other abilities like Majestic Heliopterus which will help make sure your attacks smash through.

2. Rule the top of the food chain with wrathful dinosaurs.

Many dinosaurs in the deck, like Ripjaw Raptor and Trapjaw Tyrant, have the “Enrage” mechanic which will trigger whenever they are damaged, so opponents may be hesitant to attack you for fear of rousing them and facing retaliation. Atla Palani, Nest Tender similarly creates eggs which are a great way to cheat out your powerful dinos if they’re cracked open. Certain cards like Dual Shot, Shake the Foundations, and Raging Swordtooth can be utilized trigger these effects for you instead of waiting for your opponents to come to you. All of these creatures with Enrage are also ideal targets to exploit using Wayta. With your field protected with sturdy and vengeant dinosaurs, you can also deck's Planeswalkers, Huatli, Dinosaur Knight, Huatli, Radiant Champion, and Huatli, Warrior Poet, without anticipating much resistance.

3. Harness the power of ancient relics and accrue resources.

Dinosaurs are often prohibitively expensive to cast normally and you may not always have a cost reducer around. For all of the defensive merit the dinosaurs can provide late-game, the deck can still function ploddingly slow leading up to that point if it doesn't make proper use of its non-creature cards. All artifacts in the deck, like Orazca Relic, Progenitor's Icon, and Fountain of Ichor help by directly producing mana (or indirectly, in the unique case of Traveler's Amulet) and can speed up the process of getting your dinosaurs out. Certain other cards in the deck such as Cultivate and Thunderherd Migration further help expedite your gameplan by supplying you with extra lands and making sure you have properly-colored mana accessible. Colossal Majesty can also provide some much-needed draw power.

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Part of an EHD Explorers of Ixalan revamp:

1) The Sun Empire- Heirs of the Golden City ({R}{G}{W} Dinosaurs)

2) The River Heralds- Guardians of the Golden City ({G}{U} Merfolk)

3) The Brazen Coalition- Plunderers of the Golden City ({U}{B}{R} Pirates)

4) The Legion of Dusk- Conquerors of the Golden City ({W}{B} Vampires)

Date added	4 years
Last updated	2 months
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	10 - 0 Mythic Rares 24 - 0 Rares 22 - 0 Uncommons 17 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.97
Tokens	City's Blessing, Dinosaur 3/3 G, Egg 0/1 G, Emblem Huatli, Radiant Champion
Folders	Explorers of Ixalan EDH, Explorers of Ixalan, Ixalan, Explorers of Ixalan Updated