Gishath, Sun's Avatar - I'M YOUR DADDY

User avatar
RowanKeltizar
Firemind
Posts: 531
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him
Location: New Mexico
Contact:

Post by RowanKeltizar » 4 years ago

NAYA DINOSAURS

Image

DECK PHILOSOPHY

Naya has been a learning curve for me, and especially this deck. Although the basic concept is simple: Ramp up to Gishath, smash face, that plan doesn't always follow through. We need to be relevant in the first 3-6 turns BEFORE we can get Gishath on the field. Getting cards like Smothering Tithe, Smuggler's Share and some of our other support enchantments on the field is key as is sweeping the board clear of early aggro and other problematic permanents.

I chose the non-creature based land fetches combined with mana doublers to accelerate our mana. This has a few benefits: 1. We want to be thinning our deck of lands for Gishath triggers. 2. Only running large creatures really supports cards like Aether Flash and makes it easier to one-sided wrath the board of smaller creatures with Magmaquake or Austere Command .

Ramping up to Gishath, protecting him and enhancing his triggers is a lot of what this deck is about. It is almost a little voltron in the aspect and I can certainly K.O. players just from his combat damage alone.

WIN CONDITIONS

Smash face!

DECKLIST

Decklist

LANDS (36)

BASICS

Approximate Total Cost:

CONSIDERATIONS

Last edited by RowanKeltizar 8 months ago, edited 34 times in total.
WRBKaalia, Zenith Seeker - Certified Air Raid Material
WBElenda, the Dusk Rose - Drain and Gain
WRAurelia, the Warleader - Tokens/Equipment
URNiv-Mizzet, Parun - Controlled Burn primer
BRGHenzie, "Toolbox" Torre - Creature Feature
BRGSoul of Windgrace - Lands Matter
RGWGishath, Sun's Avatar - I'M YOUR DADDY
GWUBAtraxa, Praetors' Voice - Artifact Stax Beatdown
Budget Starter Decks
UBSygg, River Cutthroat
WU Shorikai, Genesis Engine
Image

Tags:

User avatar
MeowZeDung
Posts: 1117
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: Unlisted

Post by MeowZeDung » 4 years ago

I like it. I built my son a gishath deck that he has a blast with, and it shares a bunch of cards with your list.

How has Huatli, warrior poet been for you? I got him a copy, but he has not yet been able to play it. You gain the advantage of cracking eggs with her I guess.
Kykar primer and other active decks (click!)

User avatar
RowanKeltizar
Firemind
Posts: 531
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him
Location: New Mexico
Contact:

Post by RowanKeltizar » 4 years ago

Yeah, Huatli, Warrior Poet was mostly a flavor choice I suppose, but I could see her getting cut. She has decent utility but doesn't pack quite the punch I'm after. The life gain can be really nice since we have some huge power potentially on the field. Her 0 isn't too bad, allowing us to get a blocker on the field in vacuum. In a dinosaurs matter deck, this can also be pretty good with things like Kindred Summons. The last ability of course can pop eggs or trigger Enrage.

Overall, I'd say she does things we want, but not that efficiently. If her cmc were 4 I think she would be a lot more playable.
WRBKaalia, Zenith Seeker - Certified Air Raid Material
WBElenda, the Dusk Rose - Drain and Gain
WRAurelia, the Warleader - Tokens/Equipment
URNiv-Mizzet, Parun - Controlled Burn primer
BRGHenzie, "Toolbox" Torre - Creature Feature
BRGSoul of Windgrace - Lands Matter
RGWGishath, Sun's Avatar - I'M YOUR DADDY
GWUBAtraxa, Praetors' Voice - Artifact Stax Beatdown
Budget Starter Decks
UBSygg, River Cutthroat
WU Shorikai, Genesis Engine
Image

User avatar
RowanKeltizar
Firemind
Posts: 531
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him
Location: New Mexico
Contact:

Post by RowanKeltizar » 4 years ago

I'm looking for more ways to stack the top card of my library with a dinosaur creature for those cheat effects like Descendants' Path or Lurking Predators if I add it. Of course, Congregation at Dawn and Worldly Tutor are great, but what about putting creatures from my graveyard or from my hand on top of my library?

Reinforcements might be pretty good. Cream of the Crop might be another good option.

Of course there is Sylvan Library but that is $$$
WRBKaalia, Zenith Seeker - Certified Air Raid Material
WBElenda, the Dusk Rose - Drain and Gain
WRAurelia, the Warleader - Tokens/Equipment
URNiv-Mizzet, Parun - Controlled Burn primer
BRGHenzie, "Toolbox" Torre - Creature Feature
BRGSoul of Windgrace - Lands Matter
RGWGishath, Sun's Avatar - I'M YOUR DADDY
GWUBAtraxa, Praetors' Voice - Artifact Stax Beatdown
Budget Starter Decks
UBSygg, River Cutthroat
WU Shorikai, Genesis Engine
Image

User avatar
Hawk
Slayer of Threads
Posts: 1165
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him
Location: Salt Lake City, UT

Post by Hawk » 4 years ago

My sister-in-law rocks Atla Palani dino-tribal as well. A few cards from her list that has been exceptional are...

Forerunner of the Empire: She's on a budget, but the possible combos with Polyraptor, the ability of this to pop eggs and trigger enrage, the mild synergy with Gishath and Atla, and the general mayhem the mass-damage causes to the rest of the table mean she'd probably still run this even if she did also splurge for other tutors.

Martyr's Cause: Again, budget means no Altars or Bombardments - but honestly this has been so incredible anyways that it may stay even in an infinite $$$ version of the deck. In general, you definitely want some amount of instant speed sac outlets in the deck - the ability to crack eggs at a moment's notice is super important and powerful. For Cause, it makes you even more unassailable - eggs in general make scary rattlesnakes but the ability to declare blocks, pop eggs to prevent damage, and then get various triggers can make it basically impossible to profitably attack you.

Rite of Passage: Giving everyone "Enrage: Get a counter" is part of the Forerunner combo, and is just generally gross with Altisaur as well.

Mirror Entity: Making everyone into a dinosaur is fine. Making everyone a 7/7 is lethal. Making EVERYONE into an egg is amazing.

User avatar
RowanKeltizar
Firemind
Posts: 531
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him
Location: New Mexico
Contact:

Post by RowanKeltizar » 4 years ago

Forerunner of the Empire - yeah, i think I may have given this guy a bad rap. It's a great effect really. If you end up hitting him with a cheat effect, it isn't the end of the world. I think the ability to trigger Enrage is pretty efficient compared to other options.

Martyr's Cause - I mean, it's not bad. My issue with most sacrifice effects is that we don't have that many expendable tokens. Sure our commander makes tokens, but compared to something like Prossh, Skyraider of Kher those tokens are few and far between. I don't really want to be sacrificing the majority of dinos in the deck if I don't have any eggs. I want to be keeping those dinos in play. That's one reason why I've gone with things like Natural Order or Magmaquake to pop tokens. As far preventing attack, any of this is moot if my opponent has creatures with flying which I regularly seem to match up against.

Rite of Passage - this does seem pretty strong, especially with Pyrohemia. I may give it a run.

Mirror Entity - you are most likely right about this card, however... it may not really be the direction I want to go with the deck. Probably worth testing though.

I'm still wondering if I should just run Gishath, Sun's Avatar as my commander forgo Atla all together. My only real reason for going with Atla is for the possibility of cheating Gishath into play early. Gishath is also easy to counter or remove. IDK
WRBKaalia, Zenith Seeker - Certified Air Raid Material
WBElenda, the Dusk Rose - Drain and Gain
WRAurelia, the Warleader - Tokens/Equipment
URNiv-Mizzet, Parun - Controlled Burn primer
BRGHenzie, "Toolbox" Torre - Creature Feature
BRGSoul of Windgrace - Lands Matter
RGWGishath, Sun's Avatar - I'M YOUR DADDY
GWUBAtraxa, Praetors' Voice - Artifact Stax Beatdown
Budget Starter Decks
UBSygg, River Cutthroat
WU Shorikai, Genesis Engine
Image

User avatar
darrenhabib
Posts: 1812
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: Unlisted

Post by darrenhabib » 4 years ago

I used to play Gishath, Sun's Avatar as my commander for Brawl.

Forerunner of the Empire was an enabler I used for enrage for sure, and also allows you to put Gishath (or whatever) on top to guarantee Atla Palani, Nest Tender putting it into play, if you can kill an Egg.
Bellowing Aegisaur was the combo I was using to make lots of Polyraptor with Forerunner of the Empire, so that Forerunner would get counters put on it to make more creatures. Its not infinite, which is actually perfect, but its a lot.
SPOILER
Show
Hide
Image
You should have at least one sacrifice outlet in the deck. This will help with killing your Eggs, and will also give you a way to stop the Marauding Raptor + Polyraptor loop.
Greater Good
Goblin Bombardment can be used to sacrifice an Egg and trigger enrage.
Fanatical Devotion as a way to protect your big Dinos by just saccing Eggs.


I'm not sure if you are aware of the Atla combo with Mirror Entity?
If you can give Atla a stats bonus to toughness then what you can do is put lots of Mirror Entity activation's for 0 on the stack. Lets say 10,000 of them.
This makes your creatures Eggs, and they'll die being 0/0, triggering Atla again. So the next creature comes into play, then another activation of the Mirror Entity that is on the stack resolves and the creature becomes a 0/0 dying, and this is an infinite loop.
Now you need either Kozilek, Butcher of Truth or Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre to shuffle your graveyard into your library, so that you can make use of all the triggers, by shuffling all your creatures back in so that their enter the battlefield effects can be used.
In your case it'll be the Burning Sun's Avatar which will trigger 10,000 times to kill your opponents.
But unless you have a way for Atla to not die when you activate the Mirror Entity making your creatures have 0/0 stats, she will die and of course you won't get the loop.
Currently Path of Discovery or Huatli, Radiant Champion are the cards that can buff her.

User avatar
RowanKeltizar
Firemind
Posts: 531
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him
Location: New Mexico
Contact:

Post by RowanKeltizar » 2 years ago

I have been playing this list a lot and have made a bunch of swaps based on experience with the deck. It's really one of my favorite decks to play and figuring it out has been more of a challenge than I anticipated.

Feel free to chime in with feedback. There are a lot of really neat cards in here that I feel find a near perfect home. Building the deck so that I'm excited to see each card has been very rewarding.

I only wish they would print more dinos that covered other roles in the deck as I've noticed my dino count has been dwindling. For example printing an Aura Shards or a Compost on a dino would be fantastic. There are just so many dinos that ONLY act as beat sticks. More and more those dinos have been cut.

Some specific card choices and swaps:
SPOILER
Show
Hide
What came out?

Ranging Raptors - in theory this was good but I found myself just waiting for it to die or swinging in and not getting any triggers. As dinos go, this never hit hard enough. Simply came out for another ramp spell.

Kinjalli's Sunwing - again another dino that in theory was good, but i found that I always wanted a different dino on the field.

Runic Armasaur, Silverclad Ferocidons - just didn't' do enough for me reliably. I found better alternatives in non-dino spells.

Growing Rites of Itlimoc // Itlimoc, Cradle of the Sun This is a lot better in a deck that goes wide and small with early mana dorks.

Burgeoning - Not enough early card draw in the deck for this to be good. I found it sitting on the table doing nothing far too often.

Harvest Season
, Traverse the Outlands I found myself holding this my hand far too long. I really tried to limit the number of cards that required dinos to be in play to useful. We need to become relevant in turns 1-4, not sit around waiting for Gishath to hit the table.

Momentous Fall, Life's Legacy ideally we don't want to be sacrificing our creatures. We only have so many in the deck and they fulfill valuable roles on the field.

Path of Discovery - just wasn't doing enough. Again, cards that depend on creatures aren't ideal in this deck as I found myself cutting more and more of then.

Road of Return - wasn't doing enough

Rootborn Defenses - better alternatives

Savage Twister, Subterranean Tremors, Pyrohemia - the X damage spells just didn't work out how I was hoping they would. Overall, optimizing my removal has been a challenge


Descendants' Path - I started to drop down my dino count and this was getting unreliable at best. A do nothing card at worst.

Huatli, Warrior Poet, Huatli, Radiant Champion - walkers are just too slow for this deck.


New cards:

Regal Behemoth, Zacama, Primal Calamity - some of the best dinos in the deck. these serve strong functions.

Sol Ring, Rampant Growth - perhaps not ideal, but they get the job done. Originally, I had wanted no artifacts in the deck but Sol Ring is just too good not to include.

Nature's Lore, Three Visits - classic 2 cmc ramps spells that can grab our duals

Smothering Tithe - really such a fanastic card for the deck. I mean, I guess it's good in any white deck, but this was a much needed power boost.

Hunter's Insight, Return of the Wildspeaker - better alternatives to the sac-draw spells

Court of Bounty - this is a fantastic card as it allows us to be more relevant early in the game. It gives us both card draw and ramp early as long as we can keep the monarch token.

Garruk's Uprising - fantastic card for the deck as it can just sit on the field and draw us cards. Giving trample is a really nice bonus.

Duelist's Heritage, Akroma's Will - both these cards can simply win games. It almost feels overpowered really.

Flawless Maneuver - primo evasion. the free cast is really nice since I can fully tap my lands without much concern.

Boros Charm - pulls double duty as a doublestrike enabler and evasion.

Aether Flash - this is a pretty staxy card but I really think the deck needs it. It can completely shut down some decks. Bonus that it triggers enrage for me.

Austere Command A great flexible one sided sweeper for the deck. I run almost no artifacts but lots of enchantments. Most of my creatures are 4cmc or greater.

Oath of Druids, Defense of the Heart - at first my philosophy was that I should simply concentrate on Gishath for cheating creatures into play but I think it helps to have a bit of back up especially early in the game. Also Gishath goes back to the command zone he will cost a whopping 10 mana.

Rest in Peace this is a serious hate card and we can build around it since we don't really care too much about recursion. There might be a few better options but I have been liking this one.

Compost - we need a few card draw spells that don't rely on our creatures being on the field. There is a lot of black shinanigans in my playgroup and this is a great card when paired against those decks.

Mercadia's Downfall - too hilarious not to include. I like pump spells for Gishath but it really sucks to pour a bunch of mana into a pump only to have him removed. This is fairly efficient and it pumps the whole team.


Spinerock Knoll, Mosswort Bridge, Windbrisk Heights - we get to run all three of the hideaway lands in this deck. They are a lot of fun and are actually pretty consistent.
WRBKaalia, Zenith Seeker - Certified Air Raid Material
WBElenda, the Dusk Rose - Drain and Gain
WRAurelia, the Warleader - Tokens/Equipment
URNiv-Mizzet, Parun - Controlled Burn primer
BRGHenzie, "Toolbox" Torre - Creature Feature
BRGSoul of Windgrace - Lands Matter
RGWGishath, Sun's Avatar - I'M YOUR DADDY
GWUBAtraxa, Praetors' Voice - Artifact Stax Beatdown
Budget Starter Decks
UBSygg, River Cutthroat
WU Shorikai, Genesis Engine
Image

User avatar
Dunadain
I like turtles
Posts: 1326
Joined: 3 years ago
Answers: 2
Pronoun: Unlisted
Location: 'Murica

Post by Dunadain » 2 years ago

Doesn't Aether Flash + Polyraptor result in a draw? It's a non-optional infinite loop.
All cards are bad if you try hard enough.

Important decks: Ebondeath, Dracolich, Emiel, The Blessed, Phelddagriff
Other: Ruhan, Zask, Kellan, Liesa, Galadriel, Orca, Sauron, Thantis, Rukarumel, Sisay, Stickfingers, Safana, Thantis, Dihada

Help me complete my JumpStart Cube!

User avatar
materpillar
the caterpillar
Posts: 1299
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: Unlisted
Location: Ohio

Post by materpillar » 2 years ago

Here's my Gishath list. https://aetherhub.com/Deck/gishath-357085/Gallery

I don't lean into enrage barely at all. I go pure damage doubling beats. I've found Karametra, God of Harvests to be pretty great. She makes it almost impossible to keep Gishath, Sun's Avatar off the board even if it dies every single turn. Xenagos, God of Revels also does really good work.

Gisela, Blade of Goldnight + Finale of Devastation = Chef's Kiss

The Great Henge is fantastic here. That card is $$ though.

I have a Crop Rotation / Sylvan Scrying package of Mosswort Bridge (CA) / Ghost Quarter (I hate Maze of Ith) / Cavern of Souls (I hate blue) / Temple of the False God (Ramp) / Scavenger Grounds (I hate black). That package does a lot of work for me.

Temple of the False God/Castle Garenbrig can get Gishath out a turn earlier by themselves. It's probably not worth it but Cathedral of War giving Gishath exalted is really funny.

Fiery Emancipation turns Gishath into a 1-shot.

I should really add Spinerock Knoll, Duelist's Heritage, Akroma's Will and Court of Bounty to my deck.

User avatar
RowanKeltizar
Firemind
Posts: 531
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him
Location: New Mexico
Contact:

Post by RowanKeltizar » 2 years ago

Dunadain wrote:
2 years ago
Doesn't Aether Flash + Polyraptor result in a draw? It's a non-optional infinite loop.
Yes, it does. A bit risky I know. This is something I'm still working on. I've run into this situation a couple of times and I usually just concede so the rest of the table can keep playing.
materpillar wrote:
2 years ago
Here's my Gishath list. https://aetherhub.com/Deck/gishath-357085/Gallery

I don't lean into enrage barely at all. I go pure damage doubling beats. I've found Karametra, God of Harvests to be pretty great. She makes it almost impossible to keep Gishath, Sun's Avatar off the board even if it dies every single turn. Xenagos, God of Revels also does really good work.

Gisela, Blade of Goldnight + Finale of Devastation = Chef's Kiss

The Great Henge is fantastic here. That card is $$ though.

I have a Crop Rotation / Sylvan Scrying package of Mosswort Bridge (CA) / Ghost Quarter (I hate Maze of Ith) / Cavern of Souls (I hate blue) / Temple of the False God (Ramp) / Scavenger Grounds (I hate black). That package does a lot of work for me.

Temple of the False God/Castle Garenbrig can get Gishath out a turn earlier by themselves. It's probably not worth it but Cathedral of War giving Gishath exalted is really funny.

Fiery Emancipation turns Gishath into a 1-shot.

I should really add Spinerock Knoll, Duelist's Heritage, Akroma's Will and Court of Bounty to my deck.
Yeah, most dinos don't have amazing enrage abilities. It's great if it happens but I agree that it's currently not worth building around too much.

The Great Henge is fantastic no doubt. I kind of missed the boat on this one though. May or may not get one we'll see.

Took a look at your decklist. I like the inclusion of Turntimber Symbiosis // Turntimber, Serpentine Wood and Shatterskull Smashing // Shatterskull, the Hammer Pass . I like these cards that can come into play as untapped lands if needed.

I try to keep my mana curve as low as possible, so I run a few things I can reliably cast in the first four turns.

Ranger's Path is a straight up upgrade to Explosive Vegetation so I should see about getting one.

How has Greater Good been playing for you?

Also, I am pretty opposed to running non-dino creatures for some reason. Maybe i'm just being a purist. IDK.
WRBKaalia, Zenith Seeker - Certified Air Raid Material
WBElenda, the Dusk Rose - Drain and Gain
WRAurelia, the Warleader - Tokens/Equipment
URNiv-Mizzet, Parun - Controlled Burn primer
BRGHenzie, "Toolbox" Torre - Creature Feature
BRGSoul of Windgrace - Lands Matter
RGWGishath, Sun's Avatar - I'M YOUR DADDY
GWUBAtraxa, Praetors' Voice - Artifact Stax Beatdown
Budget Starter Decks
UBSygg, River Cutthroat
WU Shorikai, Genesis Engine
Image

User avatar
materpillar
the caterpillar
Posts: 1299
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: Unlisted
Location: Ohio

Post by materpillar » 2 years ago

RowanKeltizar wrote:
2 years ago
How has Greater Good been playing for you?
I can't really tell if it's extremely strong or extremely win-more. I mostly use it to try and deck myself in response to losing. >.>
RowanKeltizar wrote:
2 years ago
Also, I am pretty opposed to running non-dino creatures for some reason. Maybe i'm just being a purist. IDK.
Gisela is pretty on theme for me because I'm more "large beatsticks with damage doublers" than I am dinosaurs specifically.

User avatar
RowanKeltizar
Firemind
Posts: 531
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him
Location: New Mexico
Contact:

Post by RowanKeltizar » 2 years ago

I've been thinking about whether or not to run recursion in this list, and I think we have enough reasons NOT to. It actually behooves us to not run our own recursion and hate on others' recursion strategies.

I've found a few cards I really like for this deck which can both be used offensively and to our own benefit Wheel of Sun and Moon being one of the best. This can can completely shut down some decks and if there aren't any great opponent targets it can help us recycle our dinos after the ineveitable board wipe.

I've run into the situation and Gishath having double strike and/or multiple attacks and just not really hitting anything with his trigger because everything is in my graveyard. I think this will solve that problem.

The other card I found that's decent is Repopulate. Similar theme of being useful as a graveyard hate piece while recycling our own dinos.

What do you all think? Am I crazy or are these good picks?
WRBKaalia, Zenith Seeker - Certified Air Raid Material
WBElenda, the Dusk Rose - Drain and Gain
WRAurelia, the Warleader - Tokens/Equipment
URNiv-Mizzet, Parun - Controlled Burn primer
BRGHenzie, "Toolbox" Torre - Creature Feature
BRGSoul of Windgrace - Lands Matter
RGWGishath, Sun's Avatar - I'M YOUR DADDY
GWUBAtraxa, Praetors' Voice - Artifact Stax Beatdown
Budget Starter Decks
UBSygg, River Cutthroat
WU Shorikai, Genesis Engine
Image

User avatar
RowanKeltizar
Firemind
Posts: 531
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him
Location: New Mexico
Contact:

Post by RowanKeltizar » 2 years ago

We got a few new cards that are worth discussing.

Dire-Strain Rampage seems decent. Could be a good swap for Roiling Regrowth Filling so many card slots with land ramp has it's drawbacks, namely drawing into these cards lategame when i don't need them. Having a flexible card like this that can either be ramp or removal seems great. Worth a shot.

Unnatural Growth while a bit off theme, this card is bonkers! I like that it "stacks" with double strike and extra combat phases.

Overgrown Farmland this cycle of lands seem REALLY good and I will likely be picking up multiple copies of all of them.

Ruinous Intrusion this piece of spot removal looks like it plays great with my commander, however 4 cmc is a bit high for one target. Exiling is great though for a green card.
WRBKaalia, Zenith Seeker - Certified Air Raid Material
WBElenda, the Dusk Rose - Drain and Gain
WRAurelia, the Warleader - Tokens/Equipment
URNiv-Mizzet, Parun - Controlled Burn primer
BRGHenzie, "Toolbox" Torre - Creature Feature
BRGSoul of Windgrace - Lands Matter
RGWGishath, Sun's Avatar - I'M YOUR DADDY
GWUBAtraxa, Praetors' Voice - Artifact Stax Beatdown
Budget Starter Decks
UBSygg, River Cutthroat
WU Shorikai, Genesis Engine
Image

User avatar
Venedrex
Wait, we can have titles?
Posts: 1411
Joined: 3 years ago
Answers: 2
Pronoun: Unlisted

Post by Venedrex » 1 year ago

Not sure if you like mixing your peanut butter and chocolate, so take this with a grain of salt, but would Topiary Stomper be of any use in this deck? It is of course a relevant creature type that can grab a land and hopefully start beating down later on. But you do have a bunch of ramp already and I'm sure dino slots are precious.
Epicurean, EDH without Universes Beyond.

http://nxs.wf/np748831

User avatar
RowanKeltizar
Firemind
Posts: 531
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him
Location: New Mexico
Contact:

Post by RowanKeltizar » 1 year ago

It should be in here probably. I'll add it in place of rampant growth since it's a body and only costs one more. Thanks!

I think this list is fairly out of date. I'll work on it a bit when I get a chance.
WRBKaalia, Zenith Seeker - Certified Air Raid Material
WBElenda, the Dusk Rose - Drain and Gain
WRAurelia, the Warleader - Tokens/Equipment
URNiv-Mizzet, Parun - Controlled Burn primer
BRGHenzie, "Toolbox" Torre - Creature Feature
BRGSoul of Windgrace - Lands Matter
RGWGishath, Sun's Avatar - I'M YOUR DADDY
GWUBAtraxa, Praetors' Voice - Artifact Stax Beatdown
Budget Starter Decks
UBSygg, River Cutthroat
WU Shorikai, Genesis Engine
Image

User avatar
RowanKeltizar
Firemind
Posts: 531
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him
Location: New Mexico
Contact:

Post by RowanKeltizar » 1 year ago

Making an official update to this list. Been a while since I've done that.

CHANGELOG

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.

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

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.

OTHER CARD CONSIDERATIONS

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.
WRBKaalia, Zenith Seeker - Certified Air Raid Material
WBElenda, the Dusk Rose - Drain and Gain
WRAurelia, the Warleader - Tokens/Equipment
URNiv-Mizzet, Parun - Controlled Burn primer
BRGHenzie, "Toolbox" Torre - Creature Feature
BRGSoul of Windgrace - Lands Matter
RGWGishath, Sun's Avatar - I'M YOUR DADDY
GWUBAtraxa, Praetors' Voice - Artifact Stax Beatdown
Budget Starter Decks
UBSygg, River Cutthroat
WU Shorikai, Genesis Engine
Image

User avatar
RowanKeltizar
Firemind
Posts: 531
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him
Location: New Mexico
Contact:

Post by RowanKeltizar » 1 year ago

I am really happy with where this deck is overall, minus the fact we don't have that many high tier dinos to choose from. I win a lot of games with this deck. Good mana generation, good card advantage, andI can push tons of damage through with protection.

Congregation at Dawn ==> Shadow in the Warp - So Congregation is a great card in theory but the reason I've cut it is because it's basically only usable if Gishath swings and connects, so it's practically useless early game. Shadow in the Warp on the other hand is just fantastic at any point in the game and I needed to find room for it.

I will probably try to find room for Tyvar's Stand and Tyrranax Rex from the new set. The phyrexian dinsosaur is just a great beatstick if I have to hard cast it. Toxic puts a clock on a player, or I can one shot with multile combat phases and double strike. Tyvar's stand is just too good not to include since it's both a pump spell and Gishath shield. 1 mana protection is great with a high end of being able to one shot people.

I can finally afford an Enlightened Tutor for this deck, so woot!

Any other suggestions would be appeciated!
WRBKaalia, Zenith Seeker - Certified Air Raid Material
WBElenda, the Dusk Rose - Drain and Gain
WRAurelia, the Warleader - Tokens/Equipment
URNiv-Mizzet, Parun - Controlled Burn primer
BRGHenzie, "Toolbox" Torre - Creature Feature
BRGSoul of Windgrace - Lands Matter
RGWGishath, Sun's Avatar - I'M YOUR DADDY
GWUBAtraxa, Praetors' Voice - Artifact Stax Beatdown
Budget Starter Decks
UBSygg, River Cutthroat
WU Shorikai, Genesis Engine
Image

User avatar
Diz
Griever
Posts: 266
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: she / her
Location: Lionheart

Post by Diz » 1 year ago

Have you considered:

Carnage Tyrant? It's a threat that has to be dealt with, eventually, and while I realize it dies to wrath and edict effects, it's still a sizeable beatstick that requires specific types of interaction to be dealt with.

Kinjalli's Sunwing? It's a mild stax-y effect that might make you into a bit of a target, but it's bound to slow down your opponents (even if just by a turn), and turns off hasty swarm wins (at least for that one turn).

Rampaging Ferocidon? Deters token strategies and prevents obnoxious effects (such as Oloro) from getting out of hand.

Runic Armasaur? ...why WOULDN'T you want this in your deck?

Silverclad Ferocidons? It's a bit mana-intensive for what you probably want it to do (function as a blocker), but given that its effect is applied to EACH opponent, still seems worth a consideration - especially if you can get it out with Gishath.

Yidaro, Wandering Monster? This one's a little more on the "meh" side, but the fact that it gets shuffled back in once you cycle it allows you to shove it right back into your deck for potential Gishath fodder.


I've played dinos a lot in 60-card formats (I actually currently have a Casual-60 RG dino deck, and ran a dino version of Sneak & Breach in Legacy before I had the current version of the deck built - it utilized Gishath, Burning Sun's Avatar, and Carnage Tyrant!), so, take my suggestions with a grain of salt, but it does feel like your deck could benefit from at least a few of the above cards!

User avatar
RowanKeltizar
Firemind
Posts: 531
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him
Location: New Mexico
Contact:

Post by RowanKeltizar » 1 year ago

Thanks for the reply! All of the dinos you mentioned have been in the deck at one point or another but they all got cut because they just weren't doing enough for me. Generally, I find myself needing more draw, more tutors, more ramp, more protection, and more spot removal. So all of these dinos got cut for those things which ultimately proved to be more reliable and castable.

That said, I am definitely too lean on dinos for Gishaths trigger. There are times when I totally whiff. So I do want to add a couple more. Tyrranax Rex is definitely going in because it puts a player on a poison clock.



Carnage Tyrant falls into the category of being a vanilla beatstick which I don't really need. Gishath himself is so powerful that I tend to push a lot of damage through with him alone. Having another beatstick on the field isn't always that helpful.

Runic Armasaur yes, at first glance this does seem like an autoinclude however my experience it just doesn't draw enough cards. For the mana, I'd rather have something like Hunter's Insight or Elemental Bond or Sylvan Library which are far more reliable draw spells.

Silverclad Ferocidons - I like this card, especially if you can trigger the enrage ability yourself, but I'm not actually building around enrage since there aren't as many creatures in the deck that have good enrage abilities. Pyrohemia is probably the best enrage enabler. Anyway, I think this just came out for a board wipe. Lets say Farewell or Austere Command which are great panic buttons when I need them. Silverclad Ferocidons suffers from just being too slow to be considered removal. People can always sac tokens.
WRBKaalia, Zenith Seeker - Certified Air Raid Material
WBElenda, the Dusk Rose - Drain and Gain
WRAurelia, the Warleader - Tokens/Equipment
URNiv-Mizzet, Parun - Controlled Burn primer
BRGHenzie, "Toolbox" Torre - Creature Feature
BRGSoul of Windgrace - Lands Matter
RGWGishath, Sun's Avatar - I'M YOUR DADDY
GWUBAtraxa, Praetors' Voice - Artifact Stax Beatdown
Budget Starter Decks
UBSygg, River Cutthroat
WU Shorikai, Genesis Engine
Image

User avatar
Diz
Griever
Posts: 266
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: she / her
Location: Lionheart

Post by Diz » 1 year ago

Fair enough! In that case, good luck, and I hope your tuning goes well.

User avatar
RowanKeltizar
Firemind
Posts: 531
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him
Location: New Mexico
Contact:

Post by RowanKeltizar » 8 months ago

Bunch of new cards incorporated from recent sets plus some philosophy changes.

If someone noticed something good that I missed, please give a shout out!

Most importantly, we got some great new functional dinos. I'm still struggling to find room for dinosaurs in the deck however. I'd like to get to around 20 dinos in total because I think that would really help make those Gishath triggers more consistent.

Generally, I find this deck to be pretty good, however the commander has the major drawback of not providing any early draw or ramp. Stalling the faster decks is super important. Drawing a lot of cards early is also pretty important so you have options later and ways to protect Gishath and push damage through.

Steely Resolve is still a card I think might be worth getting. I'm not too keen on using my precious protection spells to save my dinos. It also protects against a lot of other forms of interaction like copying or stealing or bouncing.


CHANGELOG

Idyllic Tutor ==> Enlightened Tutor Not room enough for both unfortunately. Enlightened Tutor is just so much better. I picked up 3 copies after the reprint for the price of one!

Worldly Tutor ==> Scroll Rack A hard swap to make, but I realized that the early game card quality that scroll rack can offer is much more important than getting any specific creature into play. Scroll can also do something that very few cards can and that is put dinos from my hand back on top of my library for Gishath's trigger.

Magmaquake ==> Spiteful Banditry This was a super easy swap to make. I like Magmaquake, but Banditry is just amazing

Aura Shards ==> Kogla and Yidaro - Another feel good swap. I feel this dino is a perfect card for the deck.

Regal Behemoth ==> Etali, Primal Conqueror // Etali, Primal Sickness - So this is an interesting one. Regal Behemoth I decided was a trap card. On paper it looks great, but in reality the Monarch seems to always get taken away or the dino spot removed. It just wasn't consistent enough. Etali I think is exactly the kind of dino I want to be playing. That ETB is just phenomenal.

Marauding Raptor ==> Ghalta and Mavren - Another swap I feel pretty good about. We want all of our dinos to be hard hitters that can turn the tide of battle on their own. There's not enough room for smaller utility dinos unless they are doing something really fantastic.

Austere Command ==> Sarkhan's Unsealing - This is just too good not to play IMO. It's a repeatable board wipe as long as it stays on the field. It also clears the field for Gishath's swing eliminating smaller blockers.

Elemental Bond ==> Viridian Revel - I actually noticed that I'm barely drawing any cards from Elemental Bond (and Garruk's Uprising )compared to some of my other draw spells. It also doesn't help me in the slightest if I find myself in a vacuum. Similar to Compost I know Virdian Revel has the potential to do nothing, but I do think that most games I will be drawing cards. I feel I'm starved for early non-creature dependent draw in these colors. Yeah, I know there is a bunch of instant and sorcery based draw but I feel like I'm spinning my wheels with those cards here. I like things that stick around and accrue value.

Garruk's Uprising ==> Last March of the Ents - Just a blowout draw spell. Sure, it's not great early game but this should be win on resolution most of the time, or the turn after.

Wakening Sun's Avatar ==> Tyrranax Rex - Wakening Sun's Avatar has actually been out of the deck for a while. I just can't reliably cast it. It costs a ton of mana and more often than not it was getting flipped off Gishath's Trigger. Now, I don't normally find room for beatsticks but Tyrranax Rex can be the exception. It puts a player on a pretty quick clock even if they have a lot of life.

Skyshroud Claim ==> Mana Reflection - I have found that I win most games I can manage to stick a mana doubler. With the loss of Regal Behemoth, I felt it was time to slot this in. For 2 mana more than Skyshoud claim I can make more of an impact to the field.

Exotic Orchard ==> Prismatic Vista - Just a little land optimization here. With things like Scroll Rack in the deck its important to shuffle. There is the land thinning aspect as well.

Goring Ceratops ==> Uncivil Unrest - I've found that reliably boosting Gishaths attack the turn he comes out is super important. To this end I've made this swap. I know Goring Ceratops is pretty good and is a dino, but consistency is still super important. Unrest is under Gishath in curve and is just much easier to hard cast.
WRBKaalia, Zenith Seeker - Certified Air Raid Material
WBElenda, the Dusk Rose - Drain and Gain
WRAurelia, the Warleader - Tokens/Equipment
URNiv-Mizzet, Parun - Controlled Burn primer
BRGHenzie, "Toolbox" Torre - Creature Feature
BRGSoul of Windgrace - Lands Matter
RGWGishath, Sun's Avatar - I'M YOUR DADDY
GWUBAtraxa, Praetors' Voice - Artifact Stax Beatdown
Budget Starter Decks
UBSygg, River Cutthroat
WU Shorikai, Genesis Engine
Image

Blaze
Posts: 7
Joined: 2 months ago
Pronoun: he / him

Post by Blaze » 2 months ago

Have you updated for the new ixilan set?

User avatar
RowanKeltizar
Firemind
Posts: 531
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him
Location: New Mexico
Contact:

Post by RowanKeltizar » 2 months ago

Blaze wrote:
2 months ago
Have you updated for the new ixilan set?
No, definitely not. I'm now using Pantlaza, Sun-Favored instead and have made a bunch of swaps. I bought all the new dinos to see which ones I want to stick with for the long haul. This is quickly becoming one of my favorite decks to play especially with the new commander. I may write up a primer if there appears to be enough interest.

But yeah, I'm still figuring things out though before I fully update the list as it's a major overhaul. I need to try Lurking Predators and see how well blink effects work Ephemerate or Eerie Interlude. Roaming Throne is currently in transit to me. I'm sure it's an autoinclude, but want to fully test things out. Pantlaza basically freed up a bunch of space in the deck for a higher concentration of dinos since the discover ability allows you to cast 2 spells for the price of one, basically giving you both card advantage and free mana.
WRBKaalia, Zenith Seeker - Certified Air Raid Material
WBElenda, the Dusk Rose - Drain and Gain
WRAurelia, the Warleader - Tokens/Equipment
URNiv-Mizzet, Parun - Controlled Burn primer
BRGHenzie, "Toolbox" Torre - Creature Feature
BRGSoul of Windgrace - Lands Matter
RGWGishath, Sun's Avatar - I'M YOUR DADDY
GWUBAtraxa, Praetors' Voice - Artifact Stax Beatdown
Budget Starter Decks
UBSygg, River Cutthroat
WU Shorikai, Genesis Engine
Image

Post Reply Previous topicNext topic

Return to “Decklists”