(Ellie and Alan, Paleontologists | Art by Zoltan Boros)

Dino DNA

Welcome to Too-Specific Top 10, where if there isn’t a category to rank our pet card at the top of, we’ll just make one up! (Did you know that Tetzimoc, Primal Death is the only mono-black, legendary Dinosaur?)

Dinosaurs. The realm of Naya, now and forever.

Or are they? Released alongside The Lost Caverns of Ixalan, the Jurassic World Collection brought us several different options for Dinosaur commanders that were outside the more well-represented Ixalan color combination.

Of these, the most popular commander currently is Indominus Rex, Alpha, weighing in at 4,778 decks. It's not strictly what you'd call a Dinosaur commander, however, especially since it can't play some of the best Dinosaurs there are when it comes to keywords because of its Sultai color combination.

The most popular Dinosaur commanders of the Jurassic Park persuasion, then? Owen Grady and Blue, who strangely also have a fascination with counters. And then stuck in the middle is my favorite, Ellie and Alan, Paleontologists.

They also aren't strictly a Dinosaur commander, given that they don't say the word "Dinosaur" anywhere on them, but given the giant Dino skull in their art and the ability to cheat huge creatures into play, I think the intent is clear.

Jurassic Park doesn't provide the only contenders for non-Naya Dinosaur commanders, however.

If you wanted to go full five-color, for instance, then Morophon, the Boundless can provide Dino goodness across the board, making them cheaper as you go. Who wants all the options when you can only have some of them, though?

Keruga, the Macrosage lives that life, with only Simic Dinosaurs available, and the ability to draw a card for almost every one of them you get into play.

Finally, Mutate can be a bit distracting, but Illuna, Apex of Wishes can cheat Dinosaurs into play in much the same fashion as Pantlaza or Ellie and Alan.

The real question is... Are there enough good Dinosaurs outside of Naya to play them?

Top 10 Non-Naya Dinosaurs

While the best Dinos are and always have been green, there are a couple in red that actually top the list of most-played.

Top 10 Dinosaurs

1. Etali, Primal Storm
2. Ghalta, Primal Hunger
3. Etali, Primal Conqueror
4. [REDACTED] (On actual list)
5. Wayward Swordtooth
6. Topiary Stomper
7. Ghalta, Stampede Tyrant
8. Apex Altisaur
9. Zetalpa, Primal Dawn
10. Zacama, Primal Calamity

Well, sort of. Etali, Primal Storm is all red, all the time, but Etali, Primal Conqueror actually falls within the Gruul color identity. Which is pretty common, when it comes to Dinosaurs. Green is the king of the castle, and will often be included in a Dinosaur's color identity as a matter of course.

With that in mind, then, we want to make sure that while we look for the best blue and black Dinos, we don't want to exclude the Dinosaurs that may still be playable in the larger Temur, Bant, Sultai, or five-color options.

Criteria: Dinosaurs that include a blue or black color identity. As is tradition, all results are ordered by EDHREC score.

Seems simple enough! Let's get to the list.

10. Indominus Rex, Alpha

(Helms 4,778 Decks, Rank #287; 1,289 Inclusions, 0% of 384,119 Decks)

As far as Dinosaur commanders go, Indominus Rex, Alpha fits the bill technically, being a Dinosaur you can play as a commander, but that's really about as far as you can take it. If you wanted to give it a shot, however, there are 53 Dinosaurs and Changelings that have these keyword abilities on them in Sultai. Of those, most aren't anything to write home about, however several of them do have more than one keyword, which is what you're really looking for in an Indominus Rex, Alpha deck.

It's also worth noting that while 53 sounds like a lot, a full 28 of those have trample, meaning that it's going to be more difficult to double up as you will probably have multiples of Dinos with the same keyword in your hand.

With all that said, however, Indominus Rex is a fine inclusion in your five-color Dino decks, where it's likely that you'll have a few of the keyword soup Dinos on deck. It's also an excellent keyword commander in its own right, allowing you to dig deep into your deck while putting reanimator targets in your graveyard.

9. Tetzimoc, Primal Death

(Helms 90 Decks, Rank #2,387; 7,308 Inclusions, 0% of 2,506,857 Decks)

Several years ago now, lamenting the death of battlecruiser EDH, I put together what I dubbed my "Elder Dinosaur Highlander" battle box, a collection of five budget decks tuned to the same low power level, each helmed by one of the mono-color Elder Dinosaurs.

By far the biggest struggle to brew around of the five was Tetzimoc, Primal Death. Despite the challenge presented by Tetzimoc's ability not working from the command zone, however, the black deck actually ended up being my favorite of the bunch.

It turns out that you can make a pretty darn good Aristocrats deck just by returning creatures to your hand from your graveyard, rather than directly to the battlefield, and those same recursion spells will also allow you to play down your commander in the late game, sacrifice it, and return it to your hand to remove everyone else's threats.

Most folks aren't looking to jump through all those hoops for a mediocre deck, however, and are just playing Tetzimoc in the 99. That's something I can easily endorse, as removing the biggest threats on the board while you simultaneously end up with a 6/6 deathtoucher is a pretty good deal.

8. Kalamax, the Stormsire

(Helms 7,029 Decks, Rank #152; 2,308 Inclusions, 0% of 534,584 Decks)

Kalamax just isn't a Dinosaur commander, no matter how you stretch it. It's also not that good in your average Dino deck, being entirely devoted to instant spells.

With all that said, however, it is still an amazing commander in its own right, letting you sling and copy spells to your heart's content, and ending up a huge threat if you can't win with all that copying on your own.

7. Keruga, the Macrosage

(Helms 123 Decks, Rank #2,207; 10,117 Inclusions, 1% of 1,092,359 Decks)

While not my favorite of the Companions, Keruga is a close second, and is easily one of the best of them. In fact, the first cEDH deck I ever made, that I still play to this day, has Keruga as a companion, in addition to its two commanders.

Why? Because even with the completely-undeserved-in-EDH nerf that Companions received, Keruga is an insane piece of late-game card advantage.

The eight mana required to put it into your hand and then play it down onto the battlefield can be split over two turns if necessary, and usually results in drawing a whole new hand if you've got a board full of expensive pieces.

Well, it turns out that Dinosaurs are often expensive pieces. And for that reason, if I was looking to build a non-Naya Dinosaur deck, Keruga would be high on my list of who to brew it with, even with the two-color restriction making things a little bit harder.

6. Illuna, Apex of Wishes

(Helms 2,918 Decks, Rank #500; 7,365 Inclusions, 1% of 534,584 Decks)

As previously mentioned, Illuna, Apex of Wishes actually makes for a decent Dinosaur commander, solely because of its ability to cheat Dinosaurs onto the battlefield. Of the three Dino commanders that all Cascade in some variety, however, I think that Illuna is actually the worst of them.

With Illuna's Mutate ability costing an arm and a leg, you really would want a guarantee that you're going to end up with (another) huge threat when you do play it down. Combine that with Dinosaurs typically being huge threats, rather than a measly utility 2/2 you can make huge with Mutate, and Illuna just feels a bit awkward.

None of which is to say that it's not an amazing include in a Dino deck. Whether it's five mana for a 6/6 Flampler or six mana for the same with a friend, that's just great value.

5. Spitting Dilophosaurus

(10,814 Inclusions, 1% of 1,700,946 Decks)

Pretty much all of Spitting Dilophosaurus' 10,000 inclusions are in -1/-1 counter decks, and that shouldn't come as much of a surprise. Three mana for a 3/2 which kills a 1/1 isn't good enough, as there are several one mana creatures that can do the same thing.

So, to actually utilize Spitting Dilophosaurus, you need a deck that is centered around spreading -1/-1 counters, so you can take advantage of its anti-blocking ability.

As for Dilophosaurus in Dinosaur decks, it's not what you'd call a complete win, but it is a Dinosaur that is also removal. Combine that with it having a decent body for the price, and it probably gets the nod more often than not.

4. Compy Swarm

(11,098 Inclusions, 2% of 705,634 Decks)

Aristocrats decks are an old archetype at this point, and they go something like this:

1. Acquire creatures.
2. Sacrifice creatures for an effect.
3. Acquire more creatures.
4. See step two.

This makes Compy Swarm an amazing card for these decks, as it will automatically make more creatures whenever you sacrifice creatures to your Viscera Seer or Phyrexian Plaguelord on your turn. Not only that, it will go exponential when doing so. The first turn, you'll make a second Compy Swarm.

The second turn, your two copies will make two more. Those copies will make four more on turn three, and after that, you've got to start remembering your old Nintendo systems.

The pace is a little slower than you see with Scute Swarm in a lands deck, but the Compy are bigger. Combine that with your average Aristocrats deck not also being a lands deck, and this is probably the better inclusion for the archetype. When it comes to Dinosaurs, however, Compy Swarm probably feels a little bit underwhelming.

Sometimes Enrage triggers do get out of hand to the point of killing the Dinos that are doing them, but overall, Dinosaurs just don't have much interest in sacrificing their friends.

3. Rotting Regisaur

(13,985 Inclusions, 1% of 2,506,857 Decks)

Similarly, if you're not trying to fill your graveyard, then Rotting Regisaur isn't for you. I know, I know, it's a 7/6 for three mana. It also doesn't trample or have any other evasion, so it's likely you'll be trading in a card every turn for the ability to get chump blocked by someone else's token.

There is, however, a Dinosaur commander that does care about discard in Indominus Rex, Alpha. This isn't necessarily a slam dunk in there, as it doesn't have any of the keywords that Rex is looking for.

With that said, if you go deep enough into the Reanimate and graveyard effects, there could be a little slice of a specific deck that this makes the cut in.

2. Gold-Forged Thopteryx

(29,804 Inclusions, 3% of 936,315 Decks)

While the flying and the lifelink is neat, there's no question that the real reason folks are playing Gold-Forged Thopteryx is the ward ability. Whether it's because your entire deck is full of legendaries, or because your commander was born with a target on its back, a little extra protection never hurt anybody.

With that said, the color combination here has us talking about one Dinosaur commander, and one Dinosaur commander only: Ellie and Alan, Paleontologists.

And well, there's no question that if you've got a full graveyard, people are going to be looking at removing them. The only question is: How bad will it feel to flip this over instead of the huge 7/7 Dinosaur you were expecting?

1. Nezahal, Primal Tide

(Helms 618 Decks, Rank #1,319; 87,863 Inclusions, 4% of 2,411,787 Decks)

Speaking of huge 7/7 Dinosaurs, Nezahal, Primal Tide sits atop our rankings, and for good reason. Nezahal is everything a control deck has ever wanted in a finisher. It protects itself, is huge, and draws cards.

That combination of quality has even landed it in a few cEDH decks, albeit usually behind the likes of Hullbreaker Horror and Consecrated Sphinx.

Does Nezahal hold up for Dino decks, however? You betcha! Dinosaur decks don't bat an eye at seven-mana creatures, and they often need more cards in the late game as they start catapulting huge bodies onto the battlefield. Nezahal can easily fill that space and keep your hand fresh while swinging in alongside your other archaic monstrosities.

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Honorable Mentions

First off, a lot of our top ten ended up being more niche Dinos than we would've liked. So, with that in mind, let's expand the list out a bit, shall we?

Top 25 Non-Naya Dinosaurs

11. Indoraptor, the Perfect Hybrid
12. Vadrok, Apex of Thunder
13. Snapdax, Apex of the Hunt
14. Labyrinth Raptor
15. Cresting Mosasaurus
16. Marauding Brinefang
17. Phantasmal Dreadmaw
18. Akim, the Soaring Wind
19. Grim Giganotosaurus
20. Rampaging Spiketail
21. Blue, Loyal Raptor
22. Wingfold Pteron
23. Sinuous Benthisaur
24. Putrid Raptor
25. ...

And it turns out, the well isn't that deep, with only 24 total non-Naya Dinosaurs (not counting Changelings). In other words, you'd have to be crazy to make a non-Naya Dinosaur deck, right?

Okay, okay, I may have given away some of my delight in immediately being unable to not brew Ellie and Alan, Paleontologists. The Discover ability being free each turn (or each untap) is just way too fun, and there were enough Dinosaurs in Bant to make it more than viable as an actual Dinosaur deck.

As for how it plays? It's extremely commander dependent, as without them, all of the self-mill is for naught. Even a single turn with them untapped and a full graveyard could swing a game in your direction, however, especially if you can use something like Reinforcements to put something like Nezahal, Primal Tide on top for the Discover.

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Nuts and Bolts

There always seems to be a bit of interest in how these lists are made (this seems like a good time to stress once again that they are based on EDHREC score, NOT my personal opinion…), and people are often surprised that I’m not using any special data or .json from EDHREC, but rather just muddling my way through with some Scryfall knowledge! For your enjoyment/research, here is this week’s Scryfall search.

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What Do You Think?

Dinosaurs have been an exciting brew ever since we saw the huge insurgence of them in the game in original Ixalan. For myself, then, I was surprised to see that they were still so light in the non-Naya colors. What about you?

And finally, what is your favorite Dinosaur that has blue or black on it somewhere? Do you have a non-Naya Dinosaur deck?

Let us know in the comments, and we'll see you at the ancient table that was just revealed from the depths of history. They finished dusting it off, should be fine to play on.