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Ghalta and Mavren for Siegehorn Ceratops - Siegehorn was one of the very few creatures that Marauding Raptor actually kills which is unfortunate. As it fills a "beatstick" role, Ghalta and Mavren can also fill that role but I believe it fills it better. The extra mana I feel is justified.
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Aggravated Assault for Garruk's Uprising - With Gishath's ability to rain dinosaurs from my library when damage is dealt to a player, having cards in hand is not as important as I initially thought. Aggravated Assault will provide me the ability to force extra combats to trigger Gishath more often as the expense of less cards in hand.
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Etali, Primal Conqueror
for Rhythm of the Wild - Originally ran primarily for anti-counter for my creature spells, countering creatures is pretty rare at my LGS so I will drop this for another tribal dinosaur that can essentially become Blightsteel Colossus.
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Strionic Resonator for Naya Charm - Naya Charm has merit but has pretty limited utility at only being only to tap out a single players creatures, which was primarily used it for. The ability to double Gishath's triggered ability with Strionic Resonator is just better in my opinion.
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Steely Resolve for Mountain - With all the ramp and deck acceleration, I decided I could reduce the number of lands as the ability to force them or make do without is very high. In exchange, giving all my dinosaurs Shroud makes them very difficult to remove and does not really affect me much as there is almost no targeted abilities or cards in this deck.
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Clever Concealment for Boros Charm - Boros Charm is a great utility card, which I primarily use for granting Gishath double-strike or granting my creatures indescructible at instant speed all for only 2 CMC; however, Clever Concealment can potentially be cast for free and protects against
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Selvala, Heart of the Wilds for Augur of Autumn - Selvala has the potential to grant up to 12 mana with this deck and really accelerations the deck. Augur of Autumn was handy for getting lands off the top of the deck but that is an easy exchange for one of the best dorks in the game.
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Boseiju, Who Endures for Bonders' Enclave - Bonders' Enclave is a great way in this deck to get a draw if needed but I am finding that when this deck is working, draw is not something I need considering as Gishath is usually raining dinosaurs. Boseiju is just a phenomenal land with little downside.
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Minas Tirith for Terramorphic Expanse - The aggressive nature of this deck has a lot of synergy with Minas Tirith for cheap card draw while the amount of ramp, dorks, and acceleration should be enough to speed up the deck and fix my mana base.
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1x Cavern of Souls (LCI:345) for Evolving Wilds - 1x Cavern of Souls (LCI:345) provides a phenomenal protection against countering creatures while also helping me fix my mana base for at least getting Gishath, Sun's Avatar out.
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Urza's Incubator for Shaman of Forgotten Ways - As much as I love the idea of using Shaman of Forgotten Ways's formidable ability to potentially seal a game, the primary reason it is included is for the ramp. Urza's Incubator accomplishes that role in aces in comparison.
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Akroma's Memorial for Spidersilk Armor - Spidersilk Armor provided this deck some much needed answer for Flying but only as a defensive card. Akroma's Memorial provides a similar but also has an offensive capability while also providing some protection form and . The converted mana cost of 7 is very steep in comparison but only time will tell if it is worth it.
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Tranquil Frillback *f-etch* for Thrashing Brontodon - Thrashing Brontodon provided a dinosaur deck one of its few nature answers to artifact/enchantment hate. Tranquil Frillback *f-etch* provides a similar role with the upside of being able to destroy multiple at the expense of only as an ETB.
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Bonehoard Dracosaur for Zetalpa, Primal Dawn - Bonehoard Dracosaur adds so much with the potential for card advantage and ramp each turn at the expense of losing a good dino beatstick.
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Palani's Hatcher for Shifting Ceratops - Palani's Hatcher provides a potential small army of dinosaurs at the expense of losing a good dino beatstick.
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Wrathful Raptors for Swords to Plowshares - Swords to Plowshares is a classic removal staple for the commander format but I love the idea of being able to cause fear with Wrathful Raptors with cards like Forerunner of the Empire. Even blocking becomes a decision with Wrathful Raptors in play!
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Ravenous Tyrannosaurus for Giant Cindermaw - Giant Cindermaw is a great way to shut down lifegain decks but other than that, it is somewhat lackluster. Ravenous Tyrannosaurus is a force to recon with some removal built in to boot!
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Ghalta, Stampede Tyrant for Ghalta, Primal Hunger - Ghalta, Primal Hunger is a great card as I can consistently drop a 12/12 for 2 but otherwise, it fulfills no actual role. With this deck focusing around Gishath's ability, being able to be cast for cheap is not very important unless it helps me cast Gishath. Ghalta, Stampede Tyrant still gives me the 12/12 body with some extra utility.
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Intrepid Paleontologist for Atzocan Seer - Swicthing out a mana dork with a graveyard recursion element for another mana dork with lower converted mana cost and a wider graveyard hate/recursion ability sound like a solid plan.
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Curious Altisaur for Kinjalli's Sunwing - The utility Kinjalli's Sunwing brings to the table is beneficial in slowing down opponents but is more of a annoyance than anything else. I am hopeful that given this deck is built around dinosaurs dealing combat to players, Curious Altisuar (LCC:58) will help me keep cards in my hand to add a finishing blow, protect my boardstate, etc.
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Savage Order for Eladamri's Call - Unlike Congregation at Dawn that tutors to the top of the library for Gishath, Sun's Avatar to drop, Eladamri's Call tutors to my hand which is less helpful. Savage Order is harsh in that I have to sacrifice a creature with power 4 or greater but being able to tutor for a creature directly to the battlefield is powerful, especially with powerful cards like Apex Altisaur for a quick multi-creature boardwipe.
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Poetic Ingenuity for Smothering Tithe - This may seem like an odd switch but Smothering Tithe gets a lot of attention while Poetic Ingenuity slides under the radar in terms of making me a target early. Its ability to generate Treasure Tokens for each attacking dinosaur is a powerhouse plus it can create dinosaur tokens as well! In most decks Smothering Tithe is the obvious choice but not for here.
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Welcome to ...
for Kodma's Reach - Jurassic Park has the upside of being removal and ramp compared to only ramp for the same mana cost.
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Curious Altisaur for Runic Armasaur - Curious Altisaur just has additional upside plus has Reach, which this dech badly needs.
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Sunfrill Imitator for Plains - I hate to drop my land count but Sunfrill Imitator has the ability to copy other big creatures like Gishath, Sun's Avatar and do some serious damage. Each time I have played this, it has done work.
Flip
