Magic: the Gathering

Deck Guide

Upgrading Commander Precon - Veloci-Ramp-Tor (Pantlaza, Sun-Favored)

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In today's article, we chose the Dinosaur precon deck from Lost Caverns of Ixalan, Veloci-Ramp-Tor. We'll bring you some fast upgrades to improve this deck even more, alongside a guide to the new cards!

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translated by Joey Sticks

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revised by Tabata Marques

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Introduction

The one thing that couldn't be missing from these precon decks is what stands out the most in Ixalan: Dinosaurs! Lost Caverns of Ixalanlink outside website brought us several new Dinosaurs, and many of them are in Veloci-Ramp-Tor.

This deck comes in the Naya Magic Symbol R Magic Symbol G Magic Symbol W color combination, focuses completely on Dinosaur type creatures and support cards for them, and also works with the new ability: Discover.

Getting to Know the Deck

This deck is quite truthful to its name, Veloci-Ramp-Tor, because it focuses on ramping as soon as possible so you can play gigantic Dinosaurs that are very problematic to your opponents.

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This list counts with great, essential Dinosaurs, but we'll add others that didn't show up and might cause even more chaos.

Veloci-Ramp-Tor Decklist

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Particularly, I was surprised to see cards such as Zacama, Primal Calamity and Akroma's Will in a precon deck, because they really raise the game's power level. We also count with new Dinosaurs, such as Scion of Calamity and Sunfrill Imitator.

The Upgrade and Its Reasons

Despite its name, this deck has too many lands. So, we removed a few of them, among other cards, which means we ended up changing 12 total cards. We'll keep Pantlaza, Sun-Favored as the commander so we can take advantage of its Discover effect with Dinosaurs.

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Removed Cards

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Besides 4 basic lands, we also removed a few Dinosaurs that are more basic, such as Itzquinth, Firstborn of Gishath, Majestic Heliopterus, Bellowing Aegisaur, and Raging Regisaur, and even some others that are more iconic, such as Shifting Ceratops and Dinosaur Egg.

Then, we needed new spaces for the new Dinosaurs with more potential, and, therefore, we chose these cards to come out and create space for new possibilities.

Wayta, Trainer Prodigy also comes out as it is better highlighted as a commander. We'll have a list dedicated to this card at the end of this article, as an alternative list.

Ramp, Protection and Removal

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As we need every single ramp card in this list, we added two more: Nature's Lore and Kodama's Reach. They're similar to the ones that already come in this deck, Farseek and Cultivate respectively, but we don't need to worry about redundancy much, as early on we'll try to ramp as soon as we can.

For removals, and also similar to a card that already comes in this deck (Generous Gift), we added Beast Within, because, like ramp, every removal tool is welcome.

As a global removal and curiously also as a win condition, we added Blasphemous Act, with the goal of not only clearing the board when the situation is dire, but also using it with Wrathful Raptors, allowing you to kill all opponents at once depending on the number of Dinosaurs that are on the board.

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Moving to the complete opposite direction, besides removing things, we also need to defend ourselves from removals. For that, we use Heroic Intervention and Boros Charm, which, besides protecting us, can be a possible finisher with its Double Strike option.

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New Dinosaurs

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Starting with the non-Dinosaurs, we couldn't forget Huatli, Poet of Unity. Its creature side isn't all that interesting, considering it only searches for a basic land, but what matters to us is its transformed side, Roar of the Fifth People. It has 4 incredible effects: it creates two Dinosaurs, increasing your board, transforms your creatures into Mana Dorks, searches for a Dinosaur and can even be a finisher with its last effect with Double Strike and Trample. It is basically a must in this list.

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Now, speaking of Dinosaurs, let's start with the legendaries: Ghalta, Primal Hunger, Ghalta and Mavren and Etali, Primal Conqueror. Both Ghaltas are great as they have a much lower cost than their power, and can possibly Discover 12 alongside the commander, not to mention Ghalta and Mavren's potential when it comes to growing your board even more with tokens.

Etali, Primal Conqueror is incredible, even more because, besides having Discover 7, it also brings the effect of casting up to 4 spells as soon as it goes on the battlefield. It also counts as a possible finisher thanks to its transformed side, Etali, Primal Sickness.

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Finally, we have the non-legendary Dinosaur Palani's Hatcher, which works as a source of Haste for our Dinosaurs and can also bring more Dinosaurs to increase our board even more. We also have Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, which provides +1/+1, Vigilance and Trample to your Dinosaurs. It is important to note that it can also create up to 4 2/2 Dinosaurs with Flying and Haste if it has been Suspended.

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Upgraded Veloci-Ramp-Tor Decklist

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This is how the final decklist turned out with all the upgrades! We have several new Dinosaurs that are very resistant and can trigger our commander well, and we also have several new answers, besides a new win condition.

We made just a few changes, but I'd say they were essential to make this deck even stronger and more consistent.

Alternative List with Wayta, Trainer Prodigy

As said previously, we also have an alternative list with Wayta, Trainer Prodigy as the commander, focusing on its ability, with more creatures and cards that support this strategy.

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Final Words

This new commander is quite interesting and is very different from what we're used to with Gishath, Sun's Avatar. The new cards are fascinating as well, and this deck was surely a nice gift for every Dinosaur fan.

Did you like this list? Do you prefer the alternative one? Would you use Gishath anyway? Tell us all about it in the comment section!