[Dinosaur Pack] A Primer on Gishath, Sun's Avatar

Commander / EDH* Aggro Casual Primer RGW (Naya) Theme/Gimmick

Keezypeasy

Dinosaur Entourage (39)

• 1x Ancient Brontodon
• 1x Burning Sun's Avatar
• 1x Cacophodon
• 1x Carnage Tyrant
• 1x Charging Monstrosaur
• 1x Charging Tuskodon
• 1x Cherished Hatchling
• 1x Colossal Dreadmaw
• 1x Colossal Majesty
• 1x Crested Herdcaller
• 1x Deathgorge Scavenger
• 1x Etali, Primal Storm
• 1x Frilled Deathspitter
• 1x Ghalta, Primal Hunger
• 1x Kinjalli's Sunwing
• 1x Majestic Heliopterus
• 1x Needletooth Raptor
• 1x Polyraptor
• 1x Raging Regisaur
• 1x Raging Swordtooth
• 1x Ranging Raptors
• 1x Regal Behemoth
• 1x Regisaur Alpha
• 1x Ripjaw Raptor
• 1x Ripscale Predator
• 1x Runic Armasaur
• 1x Siegehorn Ceratops
• 1x Silverclad Ferocidons
• 1x Snapping Sailback
• 1x Temple Altisaur
• 1x Territorial Allosaurus
• 1x Territorial Hammerskull
• 1x Thrash of Raptors
• 1x Thrashing Brontodon
• 1x Verdant Sun's Avatar
• 1x Wakening Sun's Avatar
• 1x Wayward Swordtooth
• 1x Zacama, Primal Calamity
• 1x Zetalpa, Primal Dawn

Fossil Fuels (37)

• 1x Bant Panorama
• 1x Blighted Woodland
• 1x Blossoming Sands
• 1x Canopy Vista
• 1x Cinder Glade
• 1x Circuitous Route
• 10x Forest
• 1x Graypelt Refuge
• 1x Grow from the Ashes
• 1x Growing Rites of Itlimoc  ^Flip
• 1x Jund Panorama
• 1x Jungle Shrine
• 1x Kazandu Refuge
• 1x Krosan Verge
• 1x Mossfire Valley
• 3x Mountain
• 1x Naya Panorama
• 3x Plains
• 1x Rootbound Crag
• 1x Rugged Highlands
• 1x Sungrass Prairie
• 1x Sunpetal Grove
• 1x Terminal Moraine
• 1x Warped Landscape

Lost Lands (6)

• 1x Cultivate
• 1x Explosive Vegetation
• 1x Farseek
• 1x Overgrowth
• 1x Rampant Growth
• 1x Thunderherd Migration

Commander (1)

Dinosaur Tamers (9)

• 1x Atzocan Seer
• 1x Domri Rade
• 1x Drover of the Mighty
• 1x Forerunner of the Empire
• 1x Huatli, Dinosaur Knight
• 1x Kinjalli's Caller
• 1x Knight of the Stampede
• 1x Otepec Huntmaster
• 1x Priest of the Wakening Sun

Evolution (8)

• 1x Bellowing Aegisaur
• 1x Berserkers' Onslaught
• 1x Imperial Aerosaur
• 1x Make a Stand
• 1x Naya Charm
• 1x Thundering Spineback
• 1x Tilonalli's Crown
• 1x Vanquisher's Banner

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This Primer is still under construction. Please be patient with me as I continue to write, edit, and update it. Thank you!

Introduction

Hello and welcome to my Primer on Gishath, Sun’s Avatar! Being fairly new to MTG, the casual nature of EDH drew me in. During my initial search for a commander, a few especially caught my eye; I decided that I wanted to play a tribal EDH deck. At one point, Edgar Markov , Najeela, the Blade-Blossom , and Krenko, Mob Boss , among many others were a serious consideration for me. I then discovered Gishath, Sun's Avatar . Something needs to be said about the simplistic beauty of smashing your opponents with giant, angry dinosaurs. Allow me to welcome you into the Thunderherd ( Thunderherd Migration ) where Dinosaurs rage, humans bow, and ancient lands produce ancient mana. But first, a disclaimer.

Flavor vs. Power Show

First and foremost, it needs to be said that I’ve built this deck to be as thematic as possible. Should I play Command Tower ? Probably, but what kind of dinosaur owns a tower? Could I play Herald's Horn or Lightning Greaves ? Sure, but a dinosaur wearing boots and blowing into a horn? That’s silly! You’ll notice that even the lands I’ve chosen remain mostly on-theme, especially in art.

The only exception I’ve made is for Vanquisher's Banner , simply because although silly, I can see a semi-intelligent dinosaur tribe waving around a crudely made flag. Now that I’ve proven how full of hot air I am, I’d just like to say one thing. I want this deck to be fun, thematic, and able to win games here and there. My one exception is there to provide just a little more synergy and power.

This deck has gone evenly against decks anywhere from a Casual to a Mid-High level deck. I’ve become the Archenemy at the table with over 10+ dinos at my command for multiple games. This being said, if you are looking for a High Power Gishath deck, please feel free to check out “References and Inspirations” below for a link to Leuname’s “Gishath, Elder Dinosaur Highlander” deck that they’ve been working on a lot longer than I have.

Deck Archetype

Aggro is the main focus here. Early game ramp to get Gishath out, and repeatedly deal commander damage to build the board. Keep getting your dinos out, and use the overabundant dinosaur synergy to control the boardstate.

Deck Strengths

• Highly synergistic
• Powerful, hard-hitting creatures mean aggro is the way to go
• The best defense is the strongest offense

Deck Weaknesses

• Very few Dinos have Flying or Reach
• Need to be able to get Gishath out onto the battlefield
• Not strong in 1v1 matchups

Strategy and Gameplan

In the mind of the Beast

In all representations, an apex predator doesn’t just run everywhere, killing everything with no abandon. They wait patiently for the perfect time to strike. Every move is calculated, planned. Prey is analyzed, just as a cheetah would hunt an elderly or impaired antelope, you too, must point Gishath at an opponent that can’t stop you. There are just over 40 dinosaurs in the deck. This means that every time Gishath hits an opponent for her full seven damage, you are statistically guaranteed at least 2-3 dinosaurs you get to bring out for free. Don’t be overly aggressive. Plan. Calculate. Hunt. In the words of Jeff Goldblum, “Clever girl”.

Mulligan

You should aim to have an opening hand that really pushes you ahead. Look for cards like Otepec Huntmaster , Kinjalli's Caller , or Knight of the Stampede to reduce the cost of your dinos. Make sure you have either ample lands or the means to ramp quickly. The goal here is to get Gishath onto the battlefield and reignite the age of the dinosaurs. Cards like Cultivate or Thunderherd Migration fix your manabase. Runic Armasaur is a great early game card draw/advantage to look for.

Early Game

Your focus early game is to fix your mana and ramp as quickly as possible. Dig deep for your basic lands. Kinjalli's Caller , card:Aztocan Seer, and Wayward Swordtooth are all great early drops. The goal here is to get Gishath out as early as possible.

Mid Game

The aim mid game is to get Gishath out and keep her alive. By turn 5 or 6, Gishath should have hit once, and by turn 7, you can expect someone to try and play a board wipe. Keep your dinos hitting the battlefield and strike when the time’s right.

Late Game

At this point, you have a sizeable board state of 5+ dinos and your biggest fear is a board wipe. Always remember to stay patient and rebuild. You should also have a sizeable manabase to play with. This is where Lieutenant Zacama, Primal Calamity comes in. Use and abuse his abilities, and focus on those key synergies and your opponents will succumb to your Dino-might! (sorry had to drop that pun at least once)

Enrage

Allow me to digress for a brief moment to discuss a core mechanic in the deck, Enrage. Out of the 40+ dinosaurs present, a whopping 11 have the keyword. What does Enrage do? Well, unless specified otherwise, whenever a creature is dealt damage, if it has Enrage, an ability will trigger. An important thing to note here; it doesn’t have to survive. Any singular instance of damage will trigger the ability. However, if multiple sources would deal damage at the same time, such as in the case of multiple defenders, it only would trigger once.

An example: Say you dropped Bellowing Aegisaur , and during your next main phase you pinged it with two separate abilities for 1 damage each. In this situation, we would give it two +1/+1 counters.

Later during combat, your 5/7 Aegisaur is blocked by two creatures dealing 8 damage total to it. In this situation, since the damage is dealt at the same time, only one +1/+1 counter gets added, and unfortunately Bellowing Aegisaur dies this turn.

Remember, during the hunt, the goal is to survive and sustain yourself. Think before rushing in.

Notable Combos

Card Discussions

References and Inspiration

• Seth Dracovitch’s “A Guide to Gishath's Prehistoric Menagerie” https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/commander-edh/multiplayer-commander-decklists/783415-a-guide-to-gishaths-prehistoric-menagerie
• Leuname’s “Gishath, Elder Dinosaur Highlander” https://deckstats.net/decks/65493/809518-gishath-elder-dinosaur-highlan/en
• MTG Muddstah’s “Titania vs Olivia vs Gishath vs Zurgo EDH / CMDR game play for Magic: The Gathering” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-kR5z3zVTg&list=WL&t=0s&index=2

Date added	5 years
Last updated	5 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	5 - 0 Mythic Rares 28 - 0 Rares 32 - 0 Uncommons 17 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	4.42
Tokens	City's Blessing, Copy Clone, Dinosaur 3/3 G w/ Trample, Emblem Domri Rade, The Monarch