beets, i've been eyeing a number of cards from the Godzilla/Ikoria series but i'm having a difficult time finding a Dino that fits more than just generic "Dinosaur Tribal". I want dinos that either fit the Enrage subtheme or help enable an infinite combo like the Commander herself. Titanoth Rex is cool, but is geared more toward the psuedo-voltron theme of Mutate. I wanted to find a way to make Zilortha, Strength Incarnate work but it would have little impact on my deck - my creatures are THICC front and back. So, maybe there's something i'm missing? I wouldn't doubt it. But given what i'm looking for in a Dinosaur from ikoria is there anything that comes to mind?

not really! i rather like Titanoth Rex and making weird dinosaur beast tokens with Quartzwood Crasher sounds neat. but i was just wondering what your thoughts were for this set that's all :)

Maybe cut out Siegehorn Ceratops for Primal Might? I know the siegehorn comes out early and be a bigger creature later on, but its highly unlikely to trigger much cause it will probably just die.

ScionsStillLive, Siegehorn Ceratops does...kind of suck. I'll admit I wish I had a better dino for the slot. I think your suggestion is a good one, i'm just hesitant on making the swap because i'll be losing a dinosaur and i'll be losing a potentially great option for an Enrage Trigger. Honestly, I wish there were just more viable early game Enrage Dinos out there to choose from. Crazy idea...but what if I were to cut Kessig Wolf Run to make room for Primal Might? Both are sort of in the same slot in terms of functionality...but the land isn't quite as useful.

I feel like you have already cut out enough lands, I would cut out the dino though

ScionsStillLive, according to EDHREC the average number of lands in a Zacama deck is 36. Cutting down to 34 for a bit more interaction doesn't seem too detrimental. Yes, the Siegehorn Ceratops is a sad weak little poopoo saur, but until a better low cmc Enrage naya dino comes out itll keep its spot.

Do you have to do an enrage theme?

ScionsStillLive, Enrage is a sub-theme within the deck, having multiple creatures and enablers that make the subtheme a thing alongside Dino tribal. The main reason why I've stuck with Enrage is because of Polyraptor - it is a valid alternate wincon that can easily swarm and stomp the board with one of the many different Enrage enablers in the deck e.g. Huatli, Warrior Poet, Forerunner of the Empire...really you could just read my primer and get more than enough in terms of an explanation. The point is, it's a legit subtheme of this deck - and it would only benefit the deck more to have more spells that can help enable triggers in a reliable fashion. What would really be best is if Wizards printed mo' betta Dinosaurs with Enrage. But I won't hold my breath.

It doesn't mean that you have to have every card with enrage though.....

ScionsStillLive, i'll admit you do have a point but dropping to 18 creatures in a tribal deck seems like a rather low number. What Dino would you suggest replace Siegehorn Ceratops? It has to be relatively low cmc, and can't be a Generic Big Boi - it has to have some synergy with the themes of this deck.

Some people become too much of a slave to their theme, and that's not good.

ScionsStillLive, there is indeed a fine line there - keeping to a theme and being blinded by it. Right now, i'm happy with where the deck is. I think i'll at the very least experiment with what to keep and cut - but i've pretty much relegated myself to just waiting to see what Wizards will print next. The card i'm looking for doesn't exist...but one day it will.

Hope you find it someday!

+1 From Me!

Hi! I like your deck and explanation a lot. Not sure about the dino sub theme but i Think that's a personal preferance

guidoc93, appreciate the feedback. The Zacama based combos are quite complicated in terms of on the stop arithmetic - from my experience it's very important to show your work to your opponents so no one feels confused about my proving I have infinite mana/untap triggers/etc. Not so sure about the Dino tribal subtheme, huh? Well yeah, your assessment is correct - i'm running that theme due to my own personal preference - Dinos are just plain cool. As time goes on Wizards will hopefully print more (and hopefully powerful) Dinos for me to stomp on things with.

Anyway, thanks for commenting!

Mortlocke First of all, the deck is bad ass. So bad ass that I see you have converted the Gishath Jurrasic deck successfully into a same commander recently (your paint job there did the trick, lol!)

I have been building up my dino deck slowly and have used both yours and Jurrasic park as frameworks. Have to say your shell is def more powerful I have found

One suggestions/curiorsity: is Atla Palani, Nest Tender really productive in this deck aside from being on theme? I felt your deck is very light on recursion... and would swap Atali out for one of those Zendikar uncommon flip lands (Bala something) that is a 3mana regrowh / land.

Also, have to say you are 100000% correct on the Playmat! I bought one from Inked last week and it arrived in only 3-4 days. The mats are incredible! Got the same Zacalma as you did, please a Omnimath one. both absolutely gorgeous. highly recommended indeed. thanks for sharing that with us all!!

KevinLandonChanning, thanks for the words of praise! Zacama is definitely one of my favorite commanders - she offers a depth and complexity that in my opinion is not characteristic of Naya in general - she's just so much more than "turn right, win fight". I'm uh, not exactly sure what you mean by "converting" the deck you mentioned. Are you saying I inspired someone to change commanders? If so, could you link that deck?

I'm grateful that you used my deck as a reference for your own, I hope my deck page/explanation of combos are of use to you. As for Atla Palani, Nest Tender, her inclusion is solely to take advantage of Marauding Raptor's deal 2 damage... ability. The two cards essentially guarantee that for each Atla activation I get a new creature into play for only once per turn. (I call the combo "The Marauding Nursery"). Plus there are other cards that can be swapped in for Marauding Raptor, namely Huatli, Warrior Poet and Pyrohemia. So I guess what i'm trying to say is that Atla is well within a subtheme of her own - cheating big creatures into play.

You're right that my deck is really light on recursion. The only option that's within theme is Atzocan Seer. But, i'm having a hard time figuring out where to put it. It's a decent mana dork, but it's primary function late game is to help me retrieve a big dino. I think i'll likely swap it in for one of the Talismans.

I'm glad you bought a Playmat! Rachel Weeks is an amazing artist and member of the Magic: The Gathering Community. I'm just happy to support her.

Hey, just letting you know I ran a variant of your built at my (non-US) LGS this week. Both games it was superbly tuned and powerful. I had subbed out some pure power dinos (Ghalta for example) and put in Terror of the Peaks and the Dryad from Theros. Terror of the peaks can still be on theme (looks like a flying dino), and it's creature power etb damage trigger is huge. I used it with Polyrapotor trick to win the game and highly recommend you to incorporate this dragon dino.

Dryad is amazing for the color fixing, but I understand if you don't want non-theme cards.

I replaced Temple Altisaur & That's for the 2 creatures previously mentioned.

As for Sword/Equip, I used Sword of the Animalist instewd of offense. The land ramp is extremely helpful for this deck's needsm.

Hey KevinLandonChanning, again I appreciate the words of praise! I'm grateful that you designed and built your own deck - taking inspiration from my own, that's awesome. Terror of the Peaks is a cool Dragon, and aesthetically I see what you mean but unfortunately due to it lacking the Dinosaur creature sub-type means that it won't have much synergy overall in the deck and will only be of any real relevance when Polyraptor hits the field. I'd prefer the inclusion of cards that can manage to both play into common strategies as well as stand out on their own within the deck.

Never considered Dryad of the Ilysian Grove , as it does suffer from being super easy to remove. I think i'll stick with my mana rocks to try and fix my mana pool. Honestly, i'm just hoping for Wizards to print more Dinosaurs - specifically dinos that are low CMC (1 or 2) that can also function as mana dorks in some unique fashion that incorporates a cool Enrage trigger that nets mana. For now I haven't seen anything printed to give me pause, but i'm always paying attention to spoilers. Sword of the Animist is pretty interesting. Never considered it before, but i'll give it some thought. Thanks again for posting, I wish you all the success and luck with your Zacama deck!

This brew is gorgeous, you have the soul of a poet, thank you so much for sharing it with me!

Love the deck and love the formatting you do to your deck pages, very impressive! Perhaps the answer to this is buried somewhere in your edit logs, but just wondering if you ever considered Seedborn Muse? While certainly not a dinosaur or enrage-y, I use her in my Atla Palani, Nest Tender deck in which Zacama is usually the first target to cheat in. The value of getting all your mana back during every opponents' turn to feed to Zacama can't be understated. Perhaps worth considering for this deck!

LandoLRodriguez, as much as I ask people to engage with me on these deck pages I don't check the comments section often enough. Sorry for leaving you hanging so long! Thanks for the compliment on the deck page formatting - I honestly thought that people either didn't care for it and that I was the only one enjoying it. Seedborn Muse is a curious card to me - truly a green staple but is only good in decks that can regularly play on other player's turns using cards like Flash. In the case of my own deck, it's great when Zacama, Primal Calamity is on the field but wouldn't make much of an impact otherwise. Previously I had Atla Palani, Nest Tender in the deck but after a few games I quickly determined it's not a great fit. With Atla on the field the Eggs serve as a great deterrent but don't do anything else without Zacama or maybe Pyrohemia on the field. Currently i'm thinking of focusing on an ETB subtheme in this deck with the upcoming inclusion of Etali, Primal Conqueror  ^Flip and Sword of Hearth and Home as the focus of this sub-theme. Of course this year also holds a new Ixalan set so there will be even more Enrage Dinos to consider in the future. Thanks for bringing suggestions though, please feel free to comment on any proposed swaps I have planned for the deck and thanks again for swinging by.

Hi, I like your deck about Zacama very much, I also want to build a Zacama deck this year and since you seem to play yours regularly, I have to ask how your brawlers can protect themselves? Or is that not very necessary because of the way of playing? In my playgroup, a lot of removel and board wipes are played, which always blocks some slots in the deck for more protection. At least I've obviously found little to protect the creatures or give them haste to move quickly.