Kesslerspatz, hello and welcome to the conversation. Random question - but are you German? I'm currently living and working in Germany so if you're in the Kaiserslautern area, let me know! Thank you for the nice compliment - this deck is definitely one of my babies.

I have to ask how your brawlers can protect themselves? The short answer is that if I can ramp early enough and get my Commander on the board then I can reasonably set my opponents back long enough to get my damage in and hope I draw into protection via Yavimaya Hollow, Teferi's Protection and the like. I also cannot understate the importance of Asceticism - that extra layer of protection goes a long way.

In my playgroup, a lot of removel and board wipes are played, which always blocks some slots in the deck for more protection. I've been flirting with the idea, but with the recent reprint of Flawless Maneuver in Phyrexia: All Will Be One Commander - I felt inspired by this statement to finally pull the trigger and get a copy of this for the deck. Protection for my creatures is paramount, especially when using the Enrage mechanic which focuses so heavily on dealing damage to my own creatures. Making my creatures indestructible can make for some very big turns. This card I definitely recommend for any deck that runs , and has alot of big creatures.

Do you have a decklist I can check out? What cards are you excited for in MOM? Are you excited for the upcoming return to Ixalan?

Mortlocke, ja bin ich^^ und Kaiserslautern ist von mir aus ca 45 Minuten entfernt und ich/wir spielen auch "regelmäßig" mit Freunden aus Kaiserslautern :-) sprichst du deutsch, wenn du momentan da wohnst? Oder bist du auf der Airbase stationiert? mein Englisch ist leider eher schlecht, aber google übersetzer hilft ein wenig :-)

So put a lot of pressure on quickly and hope for the best in an emergency :-) That's pretty much how my Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma deck plays.

No, I don't have a decklist yet because the idea came from the dinos recently. with each of my playgroups advising me against zacama and recommending Gishath, Sun's Avatar.

i generally like praetors and there were nice things in the set. Vorinclex  ^Flip immediately had to go into the Goreclaw deck, pay 3 mana, get 2 mana 6/6 trample and reach is already enormous, and the flip side in the best case 2 of my big cheats into play :-) I also took Tribute to the World Tree for my decks. I also really like Etali, Primal Conqueror  ^Flip, I thought it would fit into my Faldorn deck at first, but I still have to test it in game. Ayara, Widow of the Realm  ^Flip might also find in my chainer deck.

Ich freue mich schon auf Ixalan, wird bestimmt gut. ich aheb auch mit dem letzten ixalan Block mit Magic begonnen, was mich noch ein wenig mehr an die Plain bindet^^

Kesslerspatz, Sadly my German is non-existant and yes I do work at the Airbase. But language should never be a barrier to Magic. I'm roughly 30 minutes away from the base, but I plan on visiting Battle Bear Shop in the near future. Perhaps we can meet there and play a few games?

"So put a lot of pressure on quickly and hope for the best in an emergency :-)" Exactly. The idea is always having the best offense with Zacama at the front. As soon as she hits the board, all of the opponent's best Enchantments, Artifacts, even some creatures are just gone. With enough Mana open between turns you can actively shut down some decks at best, or make your opponents hesitant to play anything until Zacama is gone at worst.

"with each of my playgroups advising me against zacama and recommending Gishath, Sun's Avatar." Interesting. I found Gishath to be very one note - bland even. It pidgeon holes you into just "Turn right, win fight." The moment there's a bigger creature on board then your entire deck is just turned off until said creature is gone or if you get something to make Gishath unblockable. There's no flexibility with the game plan: no combos, no nuance. You'll be telegraphing every move you make - and everyone will know exactly what's coming every turn. There's no problem with that - big dumb battlecruiser has it's own unique charm. But i'm not that kind of player. Zacama offers the possibility of a big dumb battlecruiser - but with so much more. Infinite combos, an Enrage enabler, and with all of the removal options stapled to her body she is nothing but intimidating at the very least. Only you can decide what you want to build, and what will bring you the most joy when piloting it. Regardless of your choice, I hope you have fun playing it.

I too am a big fan of the Praetors, but I can only maintain and build so many decks at once. I plan on building a Sheoldred, the Apocalypse deck in the near future. If I actually can get around to constructing it is another question altogether (I do plan on proxying a good portion of it though).

I started playing magic back during the Apocalypse block, specifically - Apocalypse, then Odyssey, then the Onslaught block, then Mirrodin. Oh Mirrodin. That block was so dumb. But yeah, i've been playing off and on for years - now i've come to a point where I know i'm going to play this game til the end of my days for the most part. My only hope is that WOTC an HASBRO don't run this beautiful game into the ground with their greed. Oh well. Hopefully we can get together for some games at Battle Bear!

Mortlocke yes we can do that, I was planning to go to the Battle Bear Shop. At the moment it's a bit difficult, because Commander is played there on Thursdays and I have training there, but it will be possible by July at the latest, when there is a break in training. In the shop there is a judge named Michael and his wife Nele, very nice people and they are also the ones we often play with here. Talk to them when you're there, they always like to play a round.

Yes, I understand what you mean, I also had the experience, at least at Mtg Arena, I built a Gishath deck and had the same experience. and i think your idea with the enrage enablers is also very good, i'll probably go to zacama too, especially since he has 3 heads, that's always good :-)

I built a Sheoldred, the Apocalypse deck, you can have a look at my decks. I think the deck is good, but you always have a crosshair on your forehead, which means that you are either taken out of the game very quickly if you don't have an optimal start, or that you win very quickly, there is no middle ground. i guess to keep up the fun with sheoldred it makes more sense to play her in the 99 instead of as a commander, but it's also fun as a commander, at least for you, the opponent not so much :-) I'm considering remodeling her in the long run and K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth playing as commander and putting sheoldred in, but we'll see.

Hi Mortlocke, I just had to recreate your version of the deck to test it in my playgroup, I hope you're ok with it. I want to see how the deck works in practice, especially when a combo is prevented.

Kesslerspatz, I have no issues with you playing the deck. Please share with me your experience and thoughts! Also if any of the combo descriptions are confusing, let me know and I'll try and explain it better!

I recently brewed an Indoraptor, the Perfect Hybrid combo type deck. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts!

Indoraptor Combo

Commander / EDH Epoe5000

SCORE: 4 | 3 COMMENTS | 767 VIEWS | IN 1 FOLDER

Hello, my fellow deck builder! First I want to say that I love your page and deck dedicated to Zacama - a three headed T-Rex is the best thing in existence in my opinion. However I do feel that I should give you a warning. I see that you play Marauding Raptor together with Polyraptor. I apologise if I sound like an impudent, condescending harpy, but are you aware of the inifinite combo that will cause you to lose the game if these two cards are the only creatures on your field?

Not lose it, but if nobody has a removal spell to stop the combo, the game ends in a draw.

Ravenrose,

Have you been playing Baldur's Gate 3 as well? And yes, I'm well aware of the Infinite loop that ends the game in a tie when Polyraptor and Marauding Raptor interact. I have 2 combos listed in my deck primer under "Tooth and Nail" - The Raptor Breeder and The Herald of Raptors each detailing that a third option is needed to break the loop once enough Raptors are generated.

@ plakjekaas, have you noticed any other odd interactions or possible nonbos in the deck?

Not really, except maybe Polyraptor + Forerunner of the Empire + Heroic Intervention giving the same non-stoppable loop. That's hard to do on accident though. Some sort of Impact Tremors effect or Goblin Bombardment could turn these into actual wins, but these combo's probably aren't the focus of the deck, you're probably fine.

plakjekaas,

If you read Forerunner of the Empire's 2nd paragraph - it's a "may" ability - so I can choose to have his Dino ETB trigger simply not. Thanks for yet another combo to add to the list though, didn't catch that one. I think I need to do a re-write when it comes to Polyraptor infinite combos just to keep track of them all.

+1 awesome deck!! BRAVO! I have never seen that Fellwar Stone it is amazing - definitely going to look into picking one up!

You might want to include up the beanstalk

8-16-08-decimus,

I would include Up the Beanstalk, but it only triggers off of 17 cards in the deck (including my commander). Sure, once I go infinite and get infinite cast triggers it would end the game, but there are better options in what's already included namely - Elemental Bond and Garruk's Uprising. Would you cut Elemental Bond for Guardian Project?

Hello, dropping you some feedback from the advertise thread as feel you didn’t really get it when you posted!

I really like the deck, I’ve actually already upvoted so can’t do that again.

I appreciate Finale of Devastation offers some recursion, but I prefer Chord of Calling, it’s a pip more expensive but can be made much cheaper with creatures and is also instant speed, which can come in very useful.

Wilderness Reclamation could also be very good, as could Seedborn Muse, although the latter is probably the better card the former may be more flavourfully fitting. Lastly Greater Good could get you out of any top deck issues as you’re running a lot of big creatures.

Hope these suggestions are useful!

Poly_raptor,

Thanks for the feedback, I really appreciate it. That last guy on the forum didn't even look at my deck page let alone give feedback. My goal is to try and address some gaps I see with the deck which come from a lack of consistent draw. At the moment I'm considering Elemental Bond vs. The Great Henge. Bond triggers off of 100% of the creatures in and produced by the deck namely tokens that can be produced by Huatli, Warrior Poet and your namesake Polyraptor. Henge on the other hand seems a little less consistent. It doesn't trigger off tokens, and if I don't have a big enough creature on the field then it's effectively a dead card. Please remind me why this card is so good? I have one, but feel hesitant to include it. The overall CMC for the deck is pretty high...

I would definitely opt for Elemental Bond over The Great Henge based on your comment. Sounds like it ticks every box.

I can’t really think of a better option, you could alternatively look at “when you attack with” triggers draw but that doesn’t sound as consistent. Would only net 1-2 draw a turn but if Elemental Bond could get a lot more.

Poly_raptor,

Correction - Elemental Bond triggers off of all but 5 creatures in the deck. But I'm still moving forward with it. The Great Henge is big and flashy but I feel like it's a Red Herring or a false positive in the context of this deck. It's too high risk high reward when all I want is a nice flat consistent draw effect. Only time will tell if it's the right choice.

Separately, I've finally found an artist who could build the deck box of my dreams for this deck. As it comes closer to getting finished I'll share photos. Do you have any custom deck boxes?

It sounds as if Elemental Bond is still the better choice… I always imagine Henge to pop off with some form of dork heavy deck like Chulane.

I don’t, I’d love to design my own one day, or a playmat.