Dinosaurs Score Big in the Vaults of Thunder Junction!

Rotation-proof deck with dino mayhem!

Introduction

This is a Gruul dinosaurs deck, with no cards from the sets rotating on July 30, 2024. It focuses on cheap mana creatures to ramp up to big dinosaurs. As a new card from The Big Score set, the deck features Vaultborn Tyrant as a top-end threat. It is a real value engine in mid-range fights.

Format

• The deck is for the Standard format with Outlaws of Thunder Junction and The Big Score being the last legal sets.
• The deck is probably Tier 1.5 or Tier 2 caliber.
• The deck can be played in both Bo1 and Bo3.
• The deck is pretty fast, and thus it's suitable for quickly grinding a large number of wins in the MTG Arena ladder.
• The deck is rotation-proof and it can be played after the rotation on July 30, 2024.

Source

The deck is inspired by:

• Gruul Dino Aggro by HelloGoodGame
• Gruul Dino Deck Guide by HelloGoodGame

Previous Versions

• Gruul Fast Dinosaurs v2
• Gruul Fast Dinosaurs

Strategy

Mulliganing Aggressively

Because the deck has several big mana cards and not so many 1 and 2 mana cards, you need to mulligan your hand, if you don't have low mana cards, especially if you are on the draw.

Cavern of Souls

There are only two types of creatures in the deck: Dinosaurs and Druids. Therefore, if you draw two copies of Cavern of Souls, you have all your creature cards covered and made uncounterrable.

Ixalli's Lorekeeper, Gwenna, Eyes of Gaea, and Trumpeting Carnosaur

You can use mana from Ixalli's Lorekeeper and Gwenna, Eyes of Gaea, to channel Trumpeting Carnosaur, because it is a creature card and a dinosaur source.

Mana Base Statistics

Overview

Lands

• Total of 24 lands

Mana Color Produced

• 16 lands producing green mana
• 15 lands producing red mana
• 4 lands producing colorless mana, or mana of any color, with restrictions

Land Types

• 4 dual-color fast lands
• 4 dual-color pain lands
• 3 dual-color tapped man-lands
• 4 special lands producing colorless mana, or mana of any color, with restrictions
• 9 basic lands

Mana Creatures

• Total of 10 mana creatures
• 4 mana creatures of mana value 1
• 4 mana creatures of mana value 2
• 2 mana creatures of mana value 3

Starting Hand Probabilities

Land Count

Bo3 = No Hand Smoothing

• At least two lands: 85.7 %
• At least three lands: 58.5 %
• At least four lands: 27.9 %

Mana Creature Count

• At least one mana creature: 74.1 %
• At least one mana creature of mana value 1: 39.9 %
• At least one mana creature of mana value 2: 39.9 %
• At least one mana creature of mana value 3: 22.1 %

Color Count

Bo3 = No Hand Smoothing

• At least one green mana: 90.1 %
• At least one red mana: 88.2 % 

Probabilities on Later Turns

Probabilities are on the play / on the draw.

Land Count

With Any Starting Hand

• At least 3 lands on turn 3: 78.9 % / 85.6 %
• At least 4 lands on turn 4: 63.2 % / 72.6 %
• At least 5 lands on turn 5: 46.7 % / 57.3 %
• At least 6 lands on turn 6: 31.9 % / 42.0 %

Color Count

With Any Starting Hand

• At least two green mana on turn 4: 81.7 % / 86.2 %
• At least two red mana on turn 5: 83.1 % / 87.1 %

Mana Creature Count

With Any Starting Hand

• At least 1 mana creature of mana value 2 on turn 2: 44.5 % / 48.8 %
• At least 1 mana creature of mana value 3 on turn 3: 28.0 % / 30.8 %

Change Log

4th September, 2024

• -2 Hard Hitting Question
• +2 Tail Swipe