Everybody Walk the Dinosaur

When it was announced that we'd be going back to Ixalan, it was easy to predict what was going to be in the set: Vampires, Merfolk, Pirates, and, of course, Dinosaurs. These predictions came true; The Lost Caverns of Ixalan is a heavily typal-focused set, once again with these four creature types. 

It could also be predicted, in the era of every set having Commander decks, that each of these creature types would get its own deck. Again, we weren’t wrong. So today we’re doing our EDHREC review of the deck filled with everyone’s favorite extinct animal. If, like me, you’re a millennial who watched Jurassic Park dozens of times on VHS, or even saw it in the theater, jaw agape with wonder, then today’s deck is for you. 

It’s Veloci-Ramp-Tor, led by Pantlaza, Sun-Favored.

Pantlaza, Discovered

Pantlaza is a 4/4 Dinosaur (just a Dinosaur - I’m looking forward to the set that makes them intelligent enough to hold down a job, giving us Dinosaur Wizards and Dinosaur Advisors) for five mana that Discovers X when it or another Dino enters your battlefield, where X is equal to that Dino’s toughness. Sadly, but probably necessarily, the Discover ability only triggers once per turn. 

Discover is a new mechanic from Lost Caverns. Similar to Cascade, it digs through your deck until it hits a card at or below a certain mana cost and casts it for free from exile. Pantlaza is one of only two cards in the deck with Discover, but there needn’t be more. With as many Dinos as the deck has, Pantalaza is going to trigger often - as long as you can keep it on the board.

The backup commander for the deck is Wayta, Trainer Prodigy, a 1/5 Human Warrior with haste. This bellicose creature can be activated for three mana to make two creatures fight each other. The cost is reduced by two if both creatures are yours. Wayta also doubles all triggered abilities caused by your creatures being dealt damage.

So why is this decidedly non-Dinosaur creature here? Because of the Enrage ability, of course. From the original Ixalan block, Enrage was an ability held by many Dinosaurs that triggers when they’re dealt damage. The effects are different for every creature, from dealing out more damage, to fetching basic lands, to exiling creatures. Sadly, this ability is nowhere to be found in the new set, not even on a new card in this deck. We have to settle for reprints.

Here's the full decklist for Veloci-Ramp-Tor:

Dino DNA

What does the deck do? Obviously, it Dinos. Veloci-Ramp-Tor is packed with 41 creatures, 35 of which are Dinosaurs (these are the kind of numbers we want to see in a good typal deck). And since Dinosaurs aren’t intelligent enough to be Clerics or Assassins, we know they have just one task: eat opponents’ faces. 

Pantlaza’s Discover ability makes it so your Dinos will frequently bring a friend. This is perfect, because overwhelming opponents with your army of teeth and claws is how you win. To assist you with that, the deck includes combat finishers like Return of the Wildspeaker and Akroma’s Will. But you don’t have to go wide to be victorious. Single creatures can be devastating as well, like Zetalpa, Primal Dawn when it’s pumped by Xenagos, God of Revels.

To help your feathered (some believe) friends reach their target, the deck is overstuffed with removal - 14 cards, to be exact. Many of these removal pieces are Dinos themselves, such as Wakening Sun’s Avatar, Bronzebeak Foragers, and Apex Altisaur. But there’s a problem with the removal suite. In fact, it’s a problem with the whole deck. And that’s the mana cost. 

We’re sporting a distended average mana value of 4.08. The removal suite in particular is slow as a sloth, with high-mana cards like Chandra’s Ignition and Scion of Calamity, and only two pieces that work at instant speed (Path to Exile and Generous Gift).

To counteract the bloating in the higher end of the mana curve, the precon comes with a massive ramp suite of 16 cards, most of which cost three or fewer mana. There’s a nice variety of ramp methods, with obligatory precon rocks (Sol Ring and Arcane Signet), land fetchers (Migration Path and Thunderherd Migration), Human mana-makers (Atzocan Seer and Drover of the Mighty), and cost reducers (Marauding Raptor and Otepec Huntmaster). 

How to Play the Dino Way

Exactly one quarter of the deck has mana value of five or higher. Because of this, you’ll need to mulligan often. In playtesting, I frequently had hands with three lands (thanks to the 39 in the deck), but no spells under four MV. Even with the large ramp suite, you won’t often hit a good curve in your opening hand. 

Although your high average MV makes you slow, there are a few cards in the deck looking to speed up your Dinos once they arrive. Rhythm of the Wild, Otepec Huntmaster, and Regisaur Alpha are all looking to make your Dinos hit the ground running.

A serious drawback to the deck is the lack of recursion (ways to get your Dinos back when they die). In fact, there's just one: From the Rubble. With decks like these, you need ways to gain your strength back after a board wipe, because wiping the board is what your opponents will have to do to stop you. 

Sadly, all the best typal recursion spells are outside of our colors (Return from Extinction, Patriarch's Bidding, Haunting Voyage). But still, the designers could’ve given us a few more ways to Pet Sematary our Dinos. They don’t even give us much to protect them when they’re alive, aside from Temple Altisaur, which doesn’t stop destruction effects, and Akroma’s Will, which we’d much rather hold onto for an alpha strike. There aren’t even single-creature protection cards that we typically find in Commander decks, like Swiftfoot Boots and Lightning Greaves. Those are probably thematic exclusions, though. Dinos can’t wear boots. Although, Pantlaza is clearly wearing armor, so…

All of this is to say, don’t over-commit to the board. I know this will be hard to do, especially with Pantlaza wanting you to drop Dinos every turn, but you don’t want to give your opponents no choice not to Wrath. 

New Toys

We’ve seen what the deck does, now let’s look at the most important thing about precons for us seasoned players: the new cards! In addition to the two lead singers, this precon comes with eight new toys to play with. 

We'll start with the Dinos. Wrathful Raptors is one after my Brash Taunter-loving heart, as it turns all of your Dinos into pseudo-Brashy T’s. They might be even better than the Goblin, as they don’t just hit players, although they're strictly relegated to Dino typal decks.

Dinosaur Egg, the only card with Discover in the deck besides Pantlaza, is reminiscent of Chasm Skulker or one of Atla Palani, Nest Tender's Eggs. Sunfrill Imitator is reminiscent of…other Dinosaurs. Because that’s what it becomes.

There are two removal Dinos, Bronzebeak Foragers and Scion of Calamity. Foragers’ activated ability is a pretty unique effect, and an interesting way to get around opponents getting their creatures back if it leaves the battlefield. Scion is a three-for-one (unless someone has died already) for five mana. And it blows up pesky things like Smothering Tithe when it hits a player. Sadly, it’s missing some crucial evasion.

Last is Curious Altisaur, which is just a great card draw engine for Dino decks.

For the non-Dino cards, we’ve got the mana rock Progenitor’s Icon, which will be great for pulling off surprises with typal decks. And there’s the previously mentioned From the Rubble. I’m not a huge fan of Finality counters, but I suppose it’s better than not getting your creatures back at all. Seems pretty great with Nesting Grounds or blink effects.

Dino-Score

So what’s the final verdict on Veloci-Ramp-Tor? 

B-

While the deck is a lot of fun once it gets going, getting going can take far too long. And the lack of recursion and protection means a board wipe can take you right out of the game. However, there is definitely some value in the deck. The reprint quality is really high, with standouts like Akroma’s Will, Descendants’ Path, and Rhythm of the Wild. Zacama, Primal Calamity would’ve been massive if we hadn’t just seen it in Commander Masters a few months ago. The new cards, however, aren’t pulling any big prices at this point. The highest is Wrathful Raptors, which makes sense considering how much fun it looks. The other cards newbies aren't terribly interesting outside of Dinosaur decks.

For a new player picking up the deck because of the Dinos, it’s a solid entry into the game. It’s full of cool, massive creatures that you turn sideways, which is what new players, especially youngsters, are really looking for. Old-timers like me, with fond memories of Shivan Dragon and Craw Wurm, can’t help but appreciate that.

Check back soon for more precon reviews and my upgrade guide for Veloci-Ramp-Tor.

More Precons:

Precon Primer - Explorers of the Deep

Precon Upgrade Guide - Explorers of the Deep