MTG Veloci-Ramp-Tor Deck Fixes Common Dino Typal Issues!

Almost everyone loves Dinosaurs, Raptors most of all. So what happens when a Raptor leads your Commander deck? Veloci-Ramp-Tor is the answer. Let’s take a look at what this new pre-con brings to the table.

Double Dinosaurs

What’s better than one Dinosaur? It’s not a trick question as the obvious answer is two Dinosaurs! Pantlaza, Sun-Favored Pantlaza, Sun-Favored Whenever Pantlaza or another Dinosaur you control enters, you may discover X, where X is that creature's toughness. Do this only once each turn. (Exile cards from the top of your library until you exile a nonland card with that mana value or less. Cast it without paying its mana cost or put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom in a random order.) is easily going to turn the first Dinosaur you play each turn into a second Dinosaur. The very interesting thing about Discover, rather than Cascade, is that you can choose to put the card into your hand instead. So, if you happen to hit a removal spell when you don’t want to use, you simply don’t! Meanwhile, the other interesting thing about Pantlaza is how it interacts with a card like Wayward Swordtooth Wayward Swordtooth Ascend (If you control ten or more permanents, you get the city's blessing for the rest of the game.)
You may play an additional land on each of your turns.
This creature can't attack or block unless you have the city's blessing. . See, while Swordtooth only costs three mana it has toughness of five, so it discovers for five! Most of your Dinosaurs are better at discovering than cascading and that is obviously intentional. So yes, Pantlaza definitely ramps your board state tremendously and it likely turns every one of the more than 30 Dinosaurs in the deck into two. This is bonkers because Pantlaza is only five mana.

Wayta, Trainer Prodigy Wayta, Trainer Prodigy Haste
{2}{G}, {T}: Target creature you control fights another target creature. This ability costs {2} less to activate if it targets two creatures you control.
If a creature you control being dealt damage causes a triggered ability of a permanent you control to trigger, that ability triggers an additional time. is certainly an interesting alternate commander, but it’s much more of a “win more” card than a massive enabler like Pantlaza. The fight effect and double enrage trigger are both excellent, but there are very few Dinos with keyword Enrage in the stock deck. Modifying the deck forward and adding in more Enrage abilities would certainly make for a stronger case to using Wayta, but as is, Pantlaza is just cooler and stronger.

Nifty new Cards for all Decks

While this is short of being an instant typal staple card, it’s pretty close to one. There is a large trend of making three mana rocks that have compelling abilities and Progenitor’s Icon Progenitor’s Icon As this artifact enters, choose a creature type.
{T}: Add one mana of any color.
{T}: The next spell of the chosen type you cast this turn can be cast as though it had flash. is good. Being able to play your deck at instant speed is never a bad thing, and you can play around board wipes and sorcery speed removal most of the time. It also allows you to beat control by allowing you to cast while they are tapped out on anyone’s turn instead of just your own.

Card Draw in Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs have always had a bit of a struggle with card draw. Veloci-Ramp-Tor solves this in multiple ways. Not only does it have Commander staple cards like Return of the Wildspeaker Return of the Wildspeaker Choose one —
• Draw cards equal to the greatest power among non-Human creatures you control.
• Non-Human creatures you control get +3/+3 until end of turn. , but it also includes the excellent Curious Altisaur Curious Altisaur Reach, vigilance
Whenever a Dinosaur you control deals combat damage to a player, draw a card. . Props to Wizards for the name since Curiosity Curiosity Enchant creature
Whenever enchanted creature deals damage to an opponent, you may draw a card. is the effect of this Dino. It’s incredibly powerful in this deck because it has five toughness so, when paired with Pantlaza, you are discovering five for only four mana. It protects, it attacks with Vigilance, it ramps and it draws cards. This is a perfect card for this deck. There is also Earthshaker Dreadmaw Earthshaker Dreadmaw Trample
When this creature enters, draw a card for each other Dinosaur you control. , but it’s a bit awkward because it only draws cards for other Dinosaurs you control. Better than nothing but way more “win more” than the Altisaur here.

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Putting all your Eggs in one Basket

Magic has a rich history with interesting eggs. Triassic Egg Triassic Egg {3}, {T}: Put a hatchling counter on this artifact.
Sacrifice this artifact: Choose one. Activate only if there are two or more hatchling counters on this artifact.
• You may put a creature card from your hand onto the battlefield.
• Return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield. took a bit but then cheated out a huge monster while Rukh Egg Rukh Egg When this creature dies, create a 4/4 red Bird creature token with flying at the beginning of the next end step. generated 4/4 tokens when sacrificed. It’s well established that Dinosaurs laid eggs and this one has an interesting mechanic. A throwback to Atla Palani, Nest Tender Atla Palani, Nest Tender {2}, {T}: Create a 0/1 green Egg creature token with defender.
Whenever an Egg you control dies, reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal a creature card. Put that card onto the battlefield and the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order. who generated eggs that eventually became Dinosaurs, the literal Dinosaur Egg Dinosaur Egg Evolve (Whenever a creature you control enters, if that creature has greater power or toughness than this creature, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.)
When this creature dies, you may discover X, where X is its toughness. grows larger with Evolve triggers and then, effectively, “hatches” when it dies, discovering something else.

It is a bit of a weird miss that Atla made eggs that had defender but this egg can attack. Yes, weird, but you want it to die to get value. Then again, there is something funny about potentially growing the egg so big it becomes a credible threat and you know someone is going to equip Field-Tested Frying Pan Field-Tested Frying Pan When this Equipment enters, create a Food token, then create a 1/1 white Halfling creature token and attach this Equipment to it.
Equipped creature has "Whenever you gain life, this creature gets +X/+X until end of turn, where X is the amount of life you gained."
Equip {2} and make a joke about attacking with Jurassic breakfast.

Maybe not one Basket

An interesting take on many other abilities, for example, unearth. From the Rubble From the Rubble As this enchantment enters, choose a creature type.
At the beginning of your end step, return target creature card of the chosen type from your graveyard to the battlefield with a finality counter on it. (If a creature with a finality counter on it would die, exile it instead.) gets back your best Dinosaur at the end of turn while adding a finality counter to it. If that Dinosaur would die, it gets exiled instead because of that finality counter. Cue cards like Nesting Grounds Nesting Grounds {T}: Add {C}.
{1}, {T}: Move a counter from target permanent you control onto a second target permanent. Activate only as a sorcery. , Fain the Broker Fain the Broker {T}, Sacrifice a creature: Put two +1/+1 counters on target creature.
{T}, Remove a counter from a creature you control: Create a Treasure token.
{T}, Sacrifice an artifact: Create a 2/1 white and black Inkling creature token with flying.
{3}{B}: Untap Fain. , Hex Parasite Hex Parasite {X}{B/P}: Remove up to X counters from target permanent. For each counter removed this way, this creature gets +1/+0 until end of turn. ({B/P} can be paid with either {B} or 2 life.) or Power Conduit Power Conduit {T}, Remove a counter from a permanent you control: Choose one —
• Put a charge counter on target artifact.
• Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature. to completely remove that downside while also getting an upside, and you have a card with excellent potential. But in Veloci-Ramp-Tor as is? This gets back your best Dinosaurs until they are absolutely removed and it’s good enough here even if both high mana cost and slow. Still, not as good as some kind of board wipe prevention which the deck very much lacking except for one card.

Dinosaur Double

For a deck that is all about cheating in big monsters, you also have Sunfrill Imitator Sunfrill Imitator Whenever this creature attacks, you may have it become a copy of another target Dinosaur you control, except its name is Sunfrill Imitator and it has this ability. at only three mana. It’s easy to cast and a 3/3 is a big enough body that it can stick around a while. It only has to stick around long enough to attack once you have a bigger Dino on the field, because then the Imitator becomes a copy of that big Dinosaur and not until end of turn. That’s right, it’s a copy until you turn it into something else, and it retains the ability.

This is very cool because you can get lots of value out of this. First, if you copy something with an attack trigger, you can attack and put that trigger on the stack while also putting the copy ability on the stack. So you turn into something even better but also get an “extra” attack trigger. At three mana, this is a bargain for this deck.

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Big Removal

Certainly Path to Exile Path to Exile Exile target creature. Its controller may search their library for a basic land card, put that card onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle. is a solid removal card and it is in the deck. However, Bronzebeak Foragers Bronzebeak Foragers When this creature enters, for each opponent, exile up to one target nonland permanent that player controls until this creature leaves the battlefield.
{X}{W}: Put target card with mana value X exiled with this creature into its owner's graveyard. You gain X life. is a Dinosaur based version and it does quite a bit of work. Sure, it costs more mana but it hits up to three targets, and not just creatures. Furthermore, if you have the mana, you can put the exiled card into their graveyard so it won’t come back if they deal with the Foragers. For that effort, you get a little bit of life gain which is always nice. Finally, it’s a Dinosaur! So, of course, it works with your commander. All in all a good card that earns its spot for only four mana.

Naturalize? We don’t need Naturalize

Why destroy just one artifact or enchantment when you can potentially destroy three? The Scion of Calamity Scion of Calamity Myriad (Whenever this creature attacks, for each opponent other than defending player, you may create a token copy that's tapped and attacking that player or a planeswalker they control. Exile the tokens at end of combat.)
Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, destroy target artifact or enchantment that player controls. allows you to do just that by having both myriad and a combat damage trigger from old school EDH favorite Trygon Predator Trygon Predator Flying
Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, you may destroy target artifact or enchantment that player controls. . A 5/5 body is relatively large, so it comes down to a choice of chump block or lose your artifact or enchantment. In a multiplayer game, though, it’s unlikely that everyone will always have blockers, so you’re going to be able to chip away at their permanents each and every turn. These types of effects are always better on a big Dino body, and the myriad effect automatically turns on Mosswort Bridge Mosswort Bridge Hideaway 4 (When this land enters, look at the top four cards of your library, exile one face down, then put the rest on the bottom in a random order.)
This land enters tapped.
{T}: Add {G}.
{G}, {T}: You may play the exiled card without paying its mana cost if creatures you control have total power 10 or greater. as just one synergistic example of many in this deck.

The Latest Wrath Card

Call me a traditionalist, but I think they should have called this “Wrath of Raptors” as a reference to WoG because this can easily clear the board or the entire game. Boros Reckoner Boros Reckoner Whenever this creature is dealt damage, it deals that much damage to any target.
{R/W}: This creature gains first strike until end of turn. was heavily played in Standard in its day. Spiteful Sliver Spiteful Sliver Sliver creatures you control have "Whenever this creature is dealt damage, it deals that much damage to target player or planeswalker." is equally powerful in Sliver decks. Wrathful Red Dragon Wrathful Red Dragon Flying
Whenever a Dragon you control is dealt damage, it deals that much damage to any target that isn't a Dragon. does the same for Dragon decks. Wrathful Raptors Wrathful Raptors Trample
Whenever a Dinosaur you control is dealt damage, it deals that much damage to any target that isn't a Dinosaur. , though, are clearly better because they have Trample and they don’t fly, so you force interaction easier. When you combine this with a damage effect as part of an Enrage build, or have Wayta, Trainer Prodigy Wayta, Trainer Prodigy Haste
{2}{G}, {T}: Target creature you control fights another target creature. This ability costs {2} less to activate if it targets two creatures you control.
If a creature you control being dealt damage causes a triggered ability of a permanent you control to trigger, that ability triggers an additional time. there’s little chance you aren’t winning on the spot. Funnily enough, this card was built to NOT interact with Polyraptor Polyraptor Enrage — Whenever this creature is dealt damage, create a token that's a copy of this creature. .

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Missing Cards

It is a literal Raptor, why is Polyraptor Polyraptor Enrage — Whenever this creature is dealt damage, create a token that's a copy of this creature. not in the deck? Sure, “easy” infinite combos. Right. But they just added extra turn cards in Commander Masters and Doctor Who pre-cons. Not including Sliver Hive Sliver Hive {T}: Add {C}.
{T}: Add one mana of any color. Spend this mana only to cast a Sliver spell.
{5}, {T}: Create a 1/1 colorless Sliver creature token. Activate only if you control a Sliver. in a Sliver deck is a pretty bad move, but not including Polyraptor in a Dinosaur based, enrage sub-theme deck that has Raptor in its name is worse in my opinion. Also, it would be the perfect time to reprint this rather unusually expensive, niche card. Yes, it got a reprint in the Special Guests slot, but c’mon.

While the deck is comprised of mostly Dinosaurs, there are a few non-Dinos mixed in. Arguably the best one? Forerunner of the Empire Forerunner of the Empire When this creature enters, you may search your library for a Dinosaur card, reveal it, then shuffle and put that card on top.
Whenever a Dinosaur you control enters, you may have this creature deal 1 damage to each creature. is both a tutor and Enrage enabler and will obviously be added into close to 100% of modified Veloci-Ramp-Tor decks, so why is not in here? Maybe Wizards has balance concerns with the level of power of pre-cons, but they are continually increasing in power and it would not be too much to include Forerunner.

While it does include an excellent and valuable reprint in Akroma’s Will Akroma’s Will Choose one. If you control a commander as you cast this spell, you may choose both instead.
• Creatures you control gain flying, vigilance, and double strike until end of turn.
• Creatures you control gain lifelink, indestructible, and protection from each color until end of turn. it’s a bit tough to celebrate the inclusion of this particular card. Akroma’s offers game ending power if you control your commander on the offensive side. But Dinosaurs are usually pretty powerful and don’t need that much help when it comes to offense. It’s the defensive side that is lacking.

When you need something to protect your commander or not lose your board, two mana for Heroic Intervention Heroic Intervention Permanents you control gain hexproof and indestructible until end of turn. is significantly easier than needing to keep up four mana for Akroma’s Will. It feels like this card was selected purely to fill a “valuable reprint” slot rather than a deck slot. They should have reprinted Polyraptor here and put in Heroic Intervention or Boros Charm Boros Charm Choose one —
• Boros Charm deals 4 damage to target player or planeswalker.
• Permanents you control gain indestructible until end of turn.
• Target creature gains double strike until end of turn. which I’m sure many, many players will include once this deck is released.

Some Numbers, Reprint List and Looking Ahead

This deck has the most expensive cards and highest mana curve of all the Lost Caverns pre-cons. It compensates for this fact by also running the most lands at 39. The problem is, your commander doesn’t really care about land or mana to work. In this case, I feel like the land base itself probably could be significantly altered more so than the other decks. When you run cards like Descendants’ Path Descendants’ Path At the beginning of your upkeep, reveal the top card of your library. If it's a creature card that shares a creature type with a creature you control, you may cast it without paying its mana cost. If you don't cast it, put it on the bottom of your library. , it’s simply more important to have a cheap drop in play that helps you cheat out your next one.

Furthermore, there are some interesting ideas to explore because of this. Let’s say I have a 5/5 Dinosaur enter the battlefield. With the Pantlaza trigger on the stack, I respond with a Giant Growth Giant Growth Target creature gets +3/+3 until end of turn. . Now my Dino is an 8/8! So when the trigger resolves, I can discover eight instead of five. This leads to a bunch of cool ideas for the deck going forward. The end result, however, is that you cheat out big cards, so, why so many lands? I can already think of many silly combos involving Sigarda’s Aid Sigarda’s Aid You may cast Aura and Equipment spells as though they had flash.
Whenever an Equipment you control enters, you may attach it to target creature you control. and Colossus Hammer Colossus Hammer Equipped creature gets +10/+10 and loses flying.
Equip {8} ({8}: Attach to target creature you control. Equip only as a sorcery.) among other equipment and those cards only cost one.

While there are nonbos like Wakening Sun’s Avatar that is only a one sided wipe if you cast it from your hand alongside the relatively weak board protection, it’s still an interesting take on a non-mana based ramping strategy. There is a lot of potential to craft a ridiculous Dino deck built around Pantlaza and it does it in an entirely new way, as long as you consider discover different enough than cascade.

As far as this Raptor, though, it’s decidedly the most clever attempt yet to make a deck like this function.

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