Making an official update to this list. Been a while since I've done that.
LANDS:
Brushland Karplusan Forest,
Sungrass Prairie ==>
Bountiful Promenade,
Spire Garden Spectator Seating - The commander duals literally have no downside 90% of the time. I guess they aren't fetchable??
Battlefield Forge ==>
Sacred Foundry
Jungle Shrine ==>
Jetmir's Garden
Opal Palace ==>
Arid Mesa
EXPLORATION PACKAGE:
Oath of Druids ==>
Exploration - Getting more lands into play is so important for this deck. I need a critical mass of mana to really have a chance at winning. Exploration is a card that performs well when you have the card advantage to support it. I ran
Burgeoning in the deck for a while, but you NEVER want to have both of these cards out at once, so I took it out.
Burning Sun's Avatar,
Rampant Growth ==>
Canopy Vista,
Wooded Foothills - So having only 36lands I think leaves me open to missing land drops which can be catastrophic. Upping from 36 to 38 feels like the right thing to do especially with Exploration in the deck.
Mercadia's Downfall ==>
Valakut Exploration - Valakut Exploration was a hidden gem for this deck. I tend to get a ton of landfall triggers and it's been doing a lot of work for me. The damage is just icing, but there can be significant card advantage here.
3 basics for
Boros Garrison,
Selesnya Sanctuary,
Gruul Turf. Normally I'm against running bounces but I believe this is an appropriate place for them.
OTHERS
Boros Charm ==>
Heroic Intervention - I think Intervention is generally the better card here. I have other ways to give Gishath a boost. The thing I like better about Intervention is that it also protects my enchantments and lands. It also protects against targeted exile.
Oblation ==>
Roiling Regrowth - balancing ramp, draw, and removal is always a challenge. Feels like there is not enough room in the deck.
Rest in Peace ==>
Farewell - I felt I needed another panic button in the deck. Farewell is one of the best boardwipes ever made.
Polyraptor ==>
Urza's Incubator - So Polyrapter caused one too many draws for me. I have to just concede to let the game keep going. Feels bad. Having both
Aether Flash and
Marauding Raptor in the deck made this infinite combo all too likely. Incubator I think really helps the deck if I need to hard cast dinos but reducing my commander's cost by 2 is solid.
Court of Bounty ==>
Sylvan Library - This is probably the best card I've added to the deck. Yeah, it was pricey but this is a prime tutor target early game. Sylvan Library is just such a broken card. Braintorming every draw step, then
having the option to put more cards into your hand is just so broken especially when you've got so many ways to shuffle your library.
Defense of the Heart ==>
Smuggler's Share - Smuggler's Share seems solid. Even if I get a couple cards and treasures from this it will feel worth the investment. Of course in higher level play, it should perfrom MUCH better. Gradually I've been taking out the creature tutors. Defense of the Heart was definitely a card I really wanted to make work but so often it didn't make it around to my turn. It's such a high priority target especally when I've got things like Zacama and Etali in the deck.
Eladamri's Call ==>
Teferi's Protection - Eladamri's call was an easy cut because there is rarely a time I want a dinosaur in my hand. Teferi's protection has saved my field or my life so many times.
Migration Path ==>
Dire-Strain Rampage - I tend to like cards that have a bit more flexibility, especially in the mana ramp slot. The 3cmc ramp cards are generally preferred over 4 cmc.
Rampaging Brontodon ==>
Unnatural Growth - I added a new section called "FACEBREAKERS" just for this card. Nice to get something that fits a deck so well.
The main thing this deck suffers from I think is the lack of dinosaur density. Having just 18 creatures for what is trying to be a tribal deck isn't a great place to be. 25-30 is what I normally would want to aim for.
There just aren't that many dinos that do what this deck needs them to be doing. For example, a dino with
Aether Flash or
Aura Shards built into it would be fantastic. How about a dino with a
Smuggler's Share effect or
Garruk's Uprising
Point being that the deck needs things that all decks need: ramp, card draw, and removal. There are only so many dinos that fit in those slots and way too many dinos that are just vanilla beat sticks.
Whiffing on my commander's trigger feels terrible and it can definitely happen with only 17 dinos actually in the deck. Even just 5 more playable dinos would help this deck A LOT.
Enlightened Tutor needs a reprint BAD. I will swap it in for
Idyllic Tutor when I get a copy.
Scroll Rack is a card I've considered adding because drawing into dinosaurs is always a distinct possibility. Hard casting them is really to be avoided but I only have so much space in the deck and I'm not sure what to take out. With so many shuffle effects though, Scroll Rack might be worth it.
I've been facing more blue decks lately and this deck is no match for those.
Rhythm of the Wild helps, but running a
Crop Rotation Boseiju, Who Shelters All package would probably be nice.
Carpet of Flowers also comes to mind. I'm also considering
Viridian Revel for some treasure based card draw. I don't want too many situationally good cards in here though as my ability to look or shuffle these cards away isn't great.
Cavern of Souls is a card that absolutely needs to be in here too. Having Gishath countered is sometimes an auto-lose for me. I was hoping it would drop a bit more with double masters reprint, but that's not happening >.>
Sarkhan's Unsealing My friend also runs a Gishath deck and he uses this to pretty good effect. I'm just not sure if I like it better than my other board wipes.
Austere Command would be the only card id consider replacing with it but then I lose out on flexibility.
Scapeshift might be a good fit, especially if I can find an
Ancient Tomb. I like how well this thins my deck for my commander's trigger. It is also a pretty easy way to get some of my utility lands into play.
Steely Resolve is another card I've strongly considered because all of our creatures are such high investment, especially our commander. One
Path to Exile can realy ruin your day.