EXPLODING VEGAN DINOSAURS

[Diz]

So, this deck's name is a little bit of an inside joke. The short version is that I refer to Explosive Vegetation as "Exploding Vegans", and, while this deck does not run that card, it does run a plant (a pet card of mine, actually), dinosaurs, and some ramp, so, it seemed like a silly enough name to give to the deck, especially given how ridiculously it played when I had initially built it. The original deck was RBG, with Pestilence and Last Laugh, but, while exponentially explosive when it went off, the manabase was too inconsistent to justify keeping the third color in - thus, it was simplified to RG.

Here's what we have:

Exploding Vegan Dinosaurs

DecklistCMCManaPricesChartsDraw 7

Creatures

4 Frilled Deathspitter

4 Ranging Raptors

4 Forerunner of the Empire

4 Ripjaw Raptor

4 Overgrown Armasaur

4 Sprouting Phytohydra

4 Yidaro, Wandering Monster

Other Spells

4 Commune with Dinosaurs

4 Impact Tremors

2 Goblin Bombardment

2 Pyrohemia

Lands

4 Rootbound Crag

4 Cinder Glade

7 Mountain

5 Forest

Approximate Total Cost:

I really wanted Polyraptor in this deck (for what I hope are obvious reasons), but it was just too mana-intensive. Something I've noticed is that it feels bad any time I draw a Goblin Bombardment while I already have one out, and the same is true for Pyrohemia (though that one is less so if I'm out of creatures - that said, that doesn't happen all that often, so...). I gave it some consideration, and I think I could probably take out 2 of each without damaging the effectiveness of the deck, and Raging Regisaur could be slotted in, in their steads? Sun-Crowned Hunters is really good, here, but unfortunately, anything over 5 mana is too expensive to be able to use consistently. There are some other things that have caught my eye, such as Yidaro, Wandering Monster, but I think Regisaur is the best option for keeping things efficient, consistent, and streamlined.

Thoughts?

[Diz]

Update: I've made the change I mentioned above, where I swapped out 2 Bombardment and 2 Pyrohemia for 4 Raging Regisaur, and while I haven't had an opportunity to test it, it already feels like this is a correct change to make, despite my heartbreak over losing consistent access to Pyrohemia. I may have to adjust the land ratio, given that we just went down by 2 R mana symbols and up by 4 G mana symbols, but whenever I do draw Pyrohemia, having access to more R (both to cast and activate) feels much better - plus, with Call and Raptors, I can generally fix my mana problems with ease.

Edit: Regisaur is dope.

[Diz]

It was the correct change to make.

[The Fluff]

I like the addition of Pyrohemia on an enrage deck. Would agree that two each of these enchantments are enough. You need creatures, and the Raging Regisaur slots in just fine.

Armasaur and Phytohydra as token producers. Hmm, seems good.

do you not run into mana problems? only 20 land on a deck loaded with twelve 5 cmc and eight 4 cmc cards feels rough, even if there's commune with dinosaurs.

[Diz]

I like the addition of Pyrohemia on an enrage deck. Would agree that two each of these enchantments are enough. You need creatures, and the Raging Regisaur slots in just fine.

Armasaur and Phytohydra as token producers. Hmm, seems good.

do you not run into mana problems? only 20 land on a deck loaded with twelve 5 cmc and eight 4 cmc cards feels rough, even if there's commune with dinosaurs.

I never, ever have mana problems with this deck since dropping it down to 2 colors. Between Commune and the Enrage trigger on Ranging Raptors, I am never short on mana - though if the deck were built any differently, I likely would!

(Also, I posted a 5th Casual-60 deck, too. Go check it out!)

[The Fluff]

realized that your deck is two colors. Fair enough, 20 land should work.

my dino deck is rug, blue is added to be able to use Illuna, Apex of Wishes. So I have a little more land, and have tri lands.

[Diz]

Yeah, that makes sense.

I miss turning everything into a massive combustion reaction with Last Laugh, but the deck is definitely more consistent since striking down that third color.

[Diz]

I got to play this deck, yesterday. Of the 4 Casual-60 decks I still have (the other 3 being CRAB BATTLE!!!, Blightning Tribal, and Dragonsong), I would say this one pretty definitively has the least power from among them. I sold my Achromatic Barrens to a friend, and he used that against this when we played, yesterday. I won the first game with 3 Impact Tremors and some silly token-making with Raging Swordtooth and Pyrohemia (I had out a Sprouting Phytohydra, as well), but it was a close one. This deck doesn't have anything that can deal with a Walker of the Wastes once it comes out! The second game, he got out 2 Walkers, and I got Trampled over. There's a part of me that wants to think of a way to involve Omnath, Locus of Rage and maybe Titania, Protector of Argoth? Perhaps a Veteran Explorer engine to fuel it out? But I can't help but feel I'd have to restructure the entire deck to make that work, and, as fun as it would be, I'm actually somewhat okay with having a mid/low-power Casual-60 deck for certain occasions. After all, I have to incentivize my friends to keep playing with me by not winning all the time, right? ;P

[The Fluff]

three Impact Tremors (lol). That's brutal. Glad to hear you won.

huge walker of the wastes, yeah that's difficult for a deck with no removal. Only way to win is to have an already superior board position when those things start coming out. Or opponent is low enough to be nuked by bombardment,

[Diz]

If I had enough turns, I could potentially build up an army of Overgrown Armasaur Saprolings/Sprouting Phytohydras by pinging them with Goblin Bombardment, but given that my opponent would have no incentive to wait for me to do so (short of some Yu-Gi-Oh! anime-style drama %$#%$#%), I don't foresee that being an option, haha.

[Diz]

Do we want Yidaro, Wandering Monster as a 2-of in here?

[Diz]

After some considerations, I'm going to try the following changes:

4x Raging Regisaur → 4x Yidaro, Wandering Monster
4x Raging Swordtooth → 4x Ripjaw Raptor

I feel like this may not be what the deck wants, but I'm willing to give it a shot.

Will report back with results once I can test.

[The Fluff]

those look like positive additions to the deck,

Ripjaws would make a the deck a little more aggressive. I assume you mostly play against other creature decks, so the card draw would be triggering a lot.

not sure what to say on Yidaro, but would like to know how often you get the big guy out. Free 8/8 haste with trample is fun.

[Diz]

Had two play sessions in the past month with this deck involved across 5 or 6 games. In the first or second one, I was able to get Yidaro to hit the board. Turns out Forerunner of the Empire combos quite well with him, though it's not the most optimal strategy, since you often have to Cycle Yidaro in favor of using your mana elsewhere. That said, he was significant when he hit the board. I've not seen too much value off the Ripjaw Raptors since putting them in other than as a beatstick, which the Regisaur was fully capable of being. I've drawn maybe 2 or 3 cards off of them? People just apparently don't like blocking them, or maybe I just have them out at the wrong time - I dunno. The deck seems mostly to win off of attrition - burn damage from Impact Tremors and/or Deathspitters is my most frequent win condition. Lately, however, I've had a few moments where I've gone infinite with Sprouting Phytohydra + Goblin Bombardment + Impact Tremors, which is, of course, death for my opponent. Casual-60 feels like the ideal environment for wonky-ass combos like that, even if they don't always see the light of day. Either way, I'm not dissatisfied with where the deck currently is, though I may swap the Ripjaws back for Regisaurs, depending on whether or not they continue to underperform.

[Diz]

I have given this deck to a friend. We had a good run!