[Primer] Dino DNA!

Commander / EDH Creature Cheat Cycling Dinosaurs Exile GWU (Bant) Primer

IXALAN_Crazy

Creature (46)

• 1x Aeve, Progenitor Ooze
• 1x Angel of the Ruins
• 1x Apex Altisaur
• 1x Bramble Familiar
• 1x Colossal Skyturtle
• 1x Crashing Drawbridge
• 1x Dinosaur Egg
• 1x Eagles of the North
• 1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
• 1x Elvish Aberration
• 1x Eternal Dragon
• 1x Fauna Shaman
• 1x Generous Ent
• 1x Ghalta, Stampede Tyrant
• 1x God-Eternal Oketra
• 1x Goring Ceratops
• 1x Greater Sandwurm
• 1x Gwenna, Eyes of Gaea
• 1x Hullbreaker Horror
• 1x Imoti, Celebrant of Bounty
• 1x Imposing Vantasaur
• 1x Jungle Weaver
• 1x Keruga, the Macrosage
• 1x Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
• 1x Krosan Tusker
• 1x Lunar Hatchling
• 1x Marauding Brinefang
• 1x Mirrorshell Crab
• 1x Monstrosity of the Lake
• 1x Nezahal, Primal Tide
• 1x Nurturing Bristleback
• 1x Regal Behemoth
• 1x Runic Armasaur
• 1x Soaring Sandwing
• 1x Striped Riverwinder
• 1x Sun Quan, Lord of Wu
• 1x Surrak and Goreclaw
• 1x Thrashing Brontodon
• 1x Thrasta, Tempest's Roar
• 1x Titanoth Rex
• 1x Topiary Panther
• 1x Waker of Waves
• 1x Wirewood Guardian
• 1x Yoked Plowbeast
• 1x Zetalpa, Primal Dawn
• 1x Zopandrel, Hunger Dominus

Land (31)

• 1x Argoth, Sanctum of Nature  ^Meld
• 1x Bant Panorama
• 1x Blighted Woodland
• 1x Breeding Pool
• 1x Canopy Vista
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Dryad Arbor
• 1x Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 2x Forest
• 1x Geier Reach Sanitarium
• 1x Hallowed Fountain
• 1x Hedge Maze
• 1x Irrigated Farmland
• 2x Island
• 1x Lush Portico
• 1x Meticulous Archive
• 1x Misty Rainforest
• 1x Mosswort Bridge
• 1x Myriad Landscape
• 1x Overgrown Farmland
• 1x Path of Ancestry
• 2x Plains
• 1x Rivendell
• 1x Seaside Citadel
• 1x Spara's Headquarters
• 1x Temple Garden
• 1x Windswept Heath

Instant (2)

• 1x Beast Within
• 1x Swords to Plowshares

Commander (1)

Artifact (8)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Dino DNA
• 1x Illusionist's Bracers
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Patriar's Seal
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Thousand-Year Elixir

Sorcery (7)

• 1x Approach of the Second Sun
• 1x Austere Command
• 1x Boon of the Wish-Giver
• 1x Hypergenesis
• 1x Lorien Revealed
• 1x Savage Order
• 1x See the Truth

Enchantment (5)

• 1x Garruk's Uprising
• 1x New Perspectives
• 1x Retreat to Coralhelm
• 1x Survival of the Fittest
• 1x Up the Beanstalk

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My homage to Jurassic Park, in EDH form!

Important notice: This deck and the Dryad Arbor + Hypergenisis + Commander is loosely based on an amazing deck made by EDHRec, which you can find here: https://commandersherald.com/how-they-brew-it-ellie-and-alan-paleontologists-the-cycle-of-life/?utm_source=edhrec&utm_medium=article_preview

I love dinosaurs inside and outside of MTG, but I feel like the typical Gishath build, while being cool, wasn't something I could really make my own. When I saw that my favorite film franchise was partnering with my favorite game and that Ellie and Alan, Paleontologists was a card that exists, I knew I wanted to build this deck immediately. While this deck could certainly be more powerful, I wanted to make it as flavorful as possible and include as many Jurassic Park cards that could possibly go in this build.

Manabase

Nothing too fancy, tried to build this deck on a budget but if you don't have fetches/shocks these can easily be swapped for more budget-friendly choices. {G} is the most important source here, as most of our pips include it and, after all, where else would dinosaurs in JP hang out?? (Sorry to leave you out, Nezahal, Primal Tide)

Gameplan

Our only way to win is through combat damage, as thats how my playgroup agrees is the most fun. We want to amass the biggest boardstate somewhat quickly, and our commander is a pivotal part of securing the win. Spend your first couple turns cycling all that you can, so we can abuse the discover mechanic as quickly as possible. We mostly run high CMC cards to hit, but the deck does include protection so we can resolve our abilities effiecntly. If a boardwipe does resolve, we aren't in too much trouble as long as its not exile removal.

This deck also includes 2 combos which can be potentially game-winning:

Apex Altisaur + Savage Order = Destroy opponents creatures

Commander Ability exiling Dryad Arbor: Discover into Hypergenesis which is almost always in your favor due to the high average cmc of the deck.

There are a few ways to get Dryad Arbor into your graveyard, with the most effective being chump blocking and discarding to hand size. There are also a few discard-draw mechanics such as Geier Reach Sanitarium, so always prioritize discarding Dryad Arbor over something else. This is because to get the most value out of Hypergenisis, we ideally want a filled hand (though only a couple big mana cyclers will give you value)

Conclusion

My goal of this deck was to almost make it feel as if you yourself were a paleontologist. Digging through your library to find an ancient, undiscovered monster of the past will take your opponents by surprise. While this is a casual deck, i'm building it more on the high-powered casual side of things. Any suggestions both mechanic and/or flavor wise would make my day.

Date added	6 months
Last updated	1 month
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	9 - 0 Mythic Rares 45 - 0 Rares 21 - 0 Uncommons 18 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	5.22
Tokens	Bear 2/2 G, Beast 3/3 G, Copy Clone, Dinosaur 3/3 G, Food, The Monarch, Zombie Warrior 4/4 B
Folders	1. Good Decks