Pantlaza, Sun-FavoredPantlaza, Sun-Favored | Art by Sam Burley

This week on Commander Makeover, where I discuss new cards to play with older commanders, we return to yet another deck that focuses on creature types. This time, we're going with with everyone's favorite overgrown reptiles that are totally not Dragons. That's right, it's time for Dinosaurs to shine with Pantlaza, Sun-FavoredPantlaza, Sun-Favored!

DaydreamDaydream

Our one card from Secrets of Strixhaven isn't a bad card by any means. A Blink deck is something that could sound feasible with our commander, but perhaps as a side theme. We can pay the flashback cost to use this a second time if we can afford to pay it.

That said, we're also forced to cast this at sorcery speed, making it useless in protecting a key piece on the board. We're really just Daydream to get more discover triggers.

Chronicle of VictoryChronicle of Victory

I've covered this card a bunch of times in this series, so rather than beating a dead horse (who knew creature type decks would be this popular?), I'm just going to say that, while this card has merit here, it's also at its best if we're frequently dropping Dinosaurs out of the skies like meteorites (too soon?).

Otherwise, the anthem's pretty neat, but don't expect too much card draw. To maximize the value from this artifact, be prepared to ramp, and ramp hard (which you should be doing in this deck anyway).

Evendo, Waking HavenEvendo, Waking Haven

I typically don't cover lands with each commander (spoilers: there'll be a couple more further on), but this card might be worth including. If the board has a bunch of Dinosaurs, then this will not only produce a lot of mana once stationed, it'll be easy to get there anyway. Even if the board's wiped, we could still tap Evendo for a green mana, so it's not entirely useless.

It's best to be prepared to station this to full, especially if our commander's out.

Regal ImperiosaurRegal Imperiosaur

All hail Muraganda! I'd love a set from that plane, complete with vanilla creatures and support, including our mandatory five-color vanilla commander (so there's no need to Rule Zero Fusion ElementalFusion Elemental as the commander)...oh, wait. We're talking about Dinosaurs, and I got carried away!

All things considered, while this card has a minute effect, it's got a cheap casting cost. Dinosaurs tend to be expensive to cast, but Imperiosaur tends to be one of the few that can be cast for three mana or less. Such options are valuable for that reason to shore up our defenses early in the game.

Fanatic of RhonasFanatic of Rhonas

One of the few non-Dinosaurs that would be worth including, it's easy to meet the ferocious criteria. Even Pantlaza, Sun-FavoredPantlaza, Sun-Favored fulfills it by itself! Early on, this card will be just like any other creature akin to Llanowar ElvesLlanowar Elves, but once you get ferocious active, we're kicking into overdrive.

If we choose to eternalize it, it can tap for four by itself. Is it worth it? I'll leave it up to you.

Parting GustParting Gust

I like the flexibility this instant brings. Either we give an opponent a fish to exile a troublesome threat, or we don't gift said fish, and instead blink one of our own creatures for Pantlaza, Sun-FavoredPantlaza, Sun-Favored's trigger. The double white can be annoying, but there's always worse. This can also be cast at instant speed, unlike DaydreamDaydream. That said, Parting Gust can only be used once, so therein lies the answer to deciding which one to use: Why not both?

Stump StompStump Stomp

Considering how big our creatures will be, this will take out quite a few targets. Perhaps take out a pesky planeswalker that refuses to die. The best part is that, because of how the card's worded, it's not a fight, so no damage will be done to our creature. Just beware of instant-speed removal, because if the creature gets removed, the spell will fizzle.

All this being said, if you're having mana issues, this can always be played as a land instead.

Monstrous VortexMonstrous Vortex

Perhaps my favorite card from Modern Horizons 3, there's a good chance that you'll reap a lot of value from this card sticking around. Doubly so if our commander's on board, too. We just need to make sure that we meet the criteria for the enchantment to do its thing.

It's worth noting that we can hit this off of our commander's discover ability, allowing us to bypass the technical drawback of paying four mana to cast it.

Three Tree CityThree Tree City

Since we're playing a Dinosaur deck, Three Tree City will be worth an include. Like with a few of the cards above, assuming we can get a large enough board state, this will make a lot of mana.

However, it'll take some work to get us there. We have to have three Dinosaurs on board before we can begin netting positive on that ability. I'm sure our commander can help get us there in no time.

Patchwork BannerPatchwork Banner

I know, we're in green, but at least this mana rock gives our Dinosaurs a small boost, and even that can matter when the combat math kicks in (like with Chronicle of VictoryChronicle of Victory. The wider we go, the stronger this will be (admittedly debatable, but it's still something).

Probably one of the only mana rocks, barring Sol RingSol Ring and Arcane SignetArcane Signet, I'd recommend here.

Arena of GloryArena of Glory

I'll be upfront with you: I'm not big on exert without a way to untap it. Sure, we could run some in the 99, but that'd be dead weight a lot of the time. On the other hand, it's ramp, and it gives the creature haste, so it can attack right away. An even better use is to spend that mana across two creatures, so both of them will have haste.

That, to me, is worth the drawback of it not untapping the following turn.

Herd HeirloomHerd Heirloom

There's a lot to like about this artifact. It costs two, it makes mana, and it can draw us cards. That's not mentioning that it also gives trample to the creature we choose.

That said, it requires us to tap it for both abilities, so we're forced to make a choice with it each turn. Do we need the mana that turn (we can only use it to cast creature spells, by the way), or do we want the trample and draw? Choose wisely.

Leaving Ixalan Park

I acknowledge that there has been a lot of Typal commanders in this series, but it is a very popular deck archetype. What I might do is mix things around so we can have a break from it. Next week we return to my Precon Remastered series with a deck that I have many fond memories of. So tune in to see what that deck might be.