Locations
Welcome back!
Today we're going to talk about some of the best animals to ever exist. Yes, I'm talking about Dogs! Good boys and girls, all of them!
Magic has had plenty of Dogs since the beginning, but they weren't always called dogs. They were Hounds back then, and actually until very recently. It wasn't until Core Set 2021 was released in July of 2020 that every Hound in the game was errata'd to be a Dog, so now we have Dogs! It's a similar story to how creatures were eventually errata'd to Dinosaurs. Apparently, it just takes a while to get some of the most beloved animals in the game.
According to my findings, there are 134 Dogs in the game and they're really spread out across a lot of different sets. There's never been a specific "Dog" set, or a set focused on Dogs the way there are sometimes sets focused on other creature types. Dogs have always been a more supplemental creature type, just like in life, as opposed to something like Merfolk or Vampires.
I've gone over all the Dogs, and now I want to talk about some of the best in the context of Magic history!
Let's begin!
Fallout Dogs: Dogmeat, Ever Loyal and Rex, Cyber-Hound
 |  |
I'm sure I've said it before, but Fallout is my favorite video game franchise, and I would be remiss if I didn't include the two quintessential Fallout dogs in this list. Unfortunately, Fallout was one of the sets that Wizards chose not to allow into formats like Pioneer or Modern, and the only popular formats you can actually play these cards in are Commander or Legacy.
I think Fallout was a pretty popular Commander set, but it would still be nice to be able to cast Dogmeat or Rex in the more competitive formats. I still find it very odd, the way Wizards chooses which Universes Beyond sets will be legal where. Final Fantasy? Standard legal! The Lord of the Rings? Modern legal! Everything else? Legal legal! ...but why?
Greater Tanuki
Greater Tanuki is a weird one. It's a Dog from Neon Dynasty that has had three printings since then, and is actually a Pioneer mainstay in the Quintorius Kand deck. Similar to cards like Spinewoods Armadillo and Beanstalk Giant, the Tanuki is a card that represents a six-mana casting cost, but has a three-mana ability that you can use rather than casting it. This is great with Quintorius Kand's discover four, allowing you to slide past the six-mana dog and hit the cards you really want to hit. (Usually clones.)
Regardless of the reason, Greater Tanuki is one of the most popular Dogs you can find at the moment.
Isamaru, Hound of Konda
Isamaru was an iconic Dog that was in nearly every White aggressive deck during the time he was legal. Isamaru was one of the first creatures to follow up the rare Savannah Lions, which had an overwhelming 2 power for one mana. Isamaru improved upon that for the first time ever, granting a second toughness. The downside to this was that Isamaru was legendary, so you couldn't flood the board with efficient 2/2's for one mana. As a rare, Isamaru also retained Savannah Lions original rarity as well.
While one-mana creatures have managed to outclass General Takeno's favorite pup since 2004, Isamaru would be in the 1-drop Hall of Fame if such a thing existed.
Kroxa and Kunoros
Kroxa and Kunoros is another card that sees play in a ton of formats, and is one of a cycle of two existing legendary creatures that have were combined in March of the Machine: specifically Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger and Kunoros, Hound of Athreos, both cards from Theros Beyond Death.
I'm a huge fan of sweet reanimation cards, and this definitely falls under that umbrella. You can reanimate something the turn it comes into play, as well as every future turn you choose to attack, assuming you have the cards in the graveyard the pair requires. Additionally, you're getting a six-mana 6/6 with vigilance, menace, and lifelink, which is crazy. There's just a lot going on here, and I love the flavor this card brings.
Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd
Phelia is great. Not only is she a quick pup with flash, but she also has a great ability that's very easy to exploit and build around, which has been done in Modern, Cube, and Commander formats. Phelia being able to exile both your opponent's permanents to do things like removing blockers, or your own permanents, to take advantage of their "enters" abilities and put +1/+1 counters on Phelia, makes her incredibly versatile. Even without other interactions, she's a 2/2 with flash for two mana at the very minimum, and sometimes that can be good enough.
Spirited Companion
Spirited Companion is another newer pup, but she's found a home in Pioneer, Pauper, and Standard at different points in time since her printing in Neon Dynasty. She doesn't have any complicated abilities like the Fallout pups. Just a good girl, doing her best Elvish Visionary impression, and sometimes that's all you need.
Wild Mongrel
Similar to Isamaru, Wild Mongrel was in nearly every Green deck while legal in the Odyssey Standard format. If a deck had either madness or flashback cards in it, you would typically find Wild Mongrel in that deck. Whether he was pitching and casting things like Arrogant Wurms and Basking Rootwalla, protecting himself from removal by making himself black, or pumping himself by throwing cards like Deep Analysis in the graveyard, only to be cast later.
At the time, it really felt like Wild Mongrel was able to do it all, and it was impressive that such a simple creature had such deep synergies with nearly every deck in the format.
Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful
Yoshimaru... best boy. While primarily a Commander card, especially with the partner mechanic and being printed in the Neon Dynasty Commander set, I have seen Yoshimaru appear in a handful of Legacy Boros decks where you're able to cast a good number of aggressive legendary creatures, which is all Yoshimaru wants: good friends!
Sometimes all you need is a furry Champion of the Parish that triggers off of legendary creatures rather than humans.
Anyway, thanks for reading and I'll catch ya next time!
Frank Lepore
