Locations
Welcome back!
As usual, if you missed the first part of the Dinosaur list, definitely go back and check it out! After all, DInosaurs are cool. Which is why we're going over nine more today. Usually I try to keep each list to eight creatures, because you know, "Top 8" and all that. However this time, I just couldn't narrow down the list enough, and considering I added what could be considered two meme entries in the first list (Colossal Dreadmaw and Grimlock, Dinobot Leader), it felt like I had a little more leeway.
Let's begin!
Keruga, the Macrosage
Keruga is one of the few companions that is both balanced and playable, which is shocking when you consider how busted that entire mechanic and cycle ended up being. But Keruga ends up seeing a ton of play in a variety of formats, including Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, and Commander.
Nezahal, Primal Tide
I have always had a soft spot for expensive, Blue, control deck finishers. Cards like Pearl Lake Ancient, Aetherling, or even Morphling, for example.
Back in 2018, Nezahal was a legitimate finisher in numerous Standard control decks, both in sideboards and main decks. I thought after that era that the Elder Dinosaur wouldn't be seeing as much play as it used to, however I realized I was quickly mistaken when I noticed that it still had a $14 price tag! Presently, the Primal Tide sees play in numerous Commander decks, and regularly in Pioneer as well, which is nice.
Rampaging Ferocidon
Boy, was Rampaging Ferocidon a nuisance in Standard back in the day. So much so it was actually banned in 2019 in the same banning that included Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis and Faithless Looting being banned in Modern. Stoneforge Mystic was also unbanned, so this was a pretty memorable announcement. Despite its hostility in Standard, it doesn't see an excessive amount of play in other competitive formats these days, but despite that, it still has a good amount of printings, including a cool Jurassic Park Secret Lair printing and a borderless Special Guests printing!
Rotting Regisaur
Rotting Regisaur is an interesting one, but one that has lent itself to reanimator strategies everywhere. If you need a discard outlet for any reason, it might as well be attached to a huge body for an extremely low cost. It also sees an absolute butt ton of play in Legacy Oops, All Spells! decks as well. Since its release in Core Set 202, however, it's only been reprinted one time, and that was a The List printing. For such a unique card, I'm surprised it hasn't been thrown into more sets, but the cost of having to discard a card every turn isn't a minor one if you don't have a beneficial use for it.
Shifting Ceratops
Shifting Ceratops reminds me of a baby Carnage Tyrant. Its casting cost is two less. Its power and toughness are two less. It doesn't have hexproof, but it does have protection from Blue. And for the mere cost of one Green mana, you can give it your choice of reach, trample, or haste until the end of turn! Or any combination thereof! There were only five Dinosaurs in Core Set 2020, and both Rotting Regisaur and Shifting Ceratops were two of them. That's a pretty successful rate of play for the Dinos.
Thrashing Brontodon
Funny enough, Thrashing Brontodon was another one of the five Dinosaurs in Core Set 2020! For those who remember Viridian Zealot, the Brontodon is just an upgraded Viridian Zealot, with a higher mana cost, higher stats, and lower activation cost. The only problem I have is that I like creatures that don't have to sacrifice themselves in order to get the destroy effect a bit more, like Reclamation Sage. However, if there's no target on board when you want to cast the Brontodon, the benefit goes to the Brontodon, as you can get them in play without having to wait for a juicy target. And with a larger creature, maybe that's a benefit.
Vaultborn Tyrant
Vaultborn Tyrant was one of my favorite creatures in Outlaws of Thunder Junction, although I guess technically it's from The Big Score set. Any huge creature that has an ability that keeps recurring in the later turns is great, and opponents having to kill the Tyrant twice because it makes a copy of itself upon dying is really what gives it its effectiveness! So, you know, that's pretty cool, and also explains why it still commands a price tag between $25 and $60, depending on version.
At the very least, you're drawing two cards and gaining six life off of the Vaultborn Tyrant, before any other creatures enter the equation, making it a solidly juiced up Mulldrifter or Thragtusk.
Zacama, Primal Calamity
Zacama is an interesting one. You wouldn't expect a nine-mana Dinosaur to see much play in competitive formats, but here we are. Zacama is a huge part of the Lotus Field decks in Pioneer; it's used as a sideboard card to finish the game once you grab her with Mastermind's Acquisition and have infinite mana for all her activated abilities.
Zetalpa, Primal Dawn
Zetalpa is a pretty comical Dinosaur. It has five abilities, it costs eight mana, and it has a ridiculous 14 printings. And in all of those printings, it has the exact same art. It has zero alternate arts, it's never been in a Secret Lair or in a Special Guests set. Just reprint after reprint in Commander set after Commander set.
Considering how expensive she is to cast, along with the fact that the best use I've ever had for her is combining her with Soulflayer, I'm surprised she just keeps showing up in so many Commander sets, but she does, and people must love it, because she was just added to Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander, and was literally in Foundations before that, so Standard legal!
Fun Fact: There are only eight different Elder Dinosaurs in the game, and six of them made these lists!
Anyway, thanks for reading and I'll catch ya next time!
Frank Lepore
