Ranging Raptors – Ixalan – MTG Card of the Day – Raptor Week

David
Fanany
Player
since
1995

This is possibly the most exploitable and – dare I say – underrated Ixalan card with the enrage ability. You can look at it as a tribe-shifted, stronger-in-combat version of Sakura-Tribe Elder and Viridian Emissary, and that’s already worth playing on its own. But then you start looking at combining it with the ever-popular repeatable damage cards in casual formats, and noticing that each activation of Pyrohemia gets you another land you can use to activate Pyrohemia more in the future – not to mention that three toughness is enough to survive Volcanic Fallout – and it looks even better, if such a thing is possible.

Constructed: 4/5
Casual: 5/5
Limited: 4/5
Multiplayer: 4/5
EDH/Commander: 4/5

King Of
Hearts

You know what Naya dinosaurs like? Mana fixing and ramp. If only there was a way to repeatedly Rampant Growth. Although not the most exciting of cards, Ranging Raptors is a good “cement” to hold your deck together. I feel like Savage Stomp is almost a must with this card. For a single green mana you get a land, a creature kill, and most importantly, you increase its toughness to 4 so it can survive a Sweltering Suns, Lightning Strike, Burning Sun’s Avatar, etc. My only real gripe this this card is the art. The focus is on the parasaurolophus instead of the raptors. Look at how angry that parasaur is, I bet he’s fetching a bunch of lands everytime he is attacked by a raptor. What i’m saying is I want a parasaur in Rivals of Ixalan. 

Constructed: 4
Casual: 5
Limited: 4
Multiplayer: 4
Commander (EDH): 4

A 3-mana 2/3 is serviceable enough in Limited, but Ranging Raptors has an excellent Enrage trigger to go on top of it. You get to Rampant Growth every time they take damage, which is far nastier than it sounds, since Dinosaurs have high mana costs. This is one of the cards that can help kickstart the deck’s early game and bridge its transition into casting the more formidable creatures it has to offer. It’s best early, since you don’t want to be stuck with it late-game when your mana is pretty much all on the board, but it’s an excellent early-game creature in Limited and potentially Standard. EDH may also like having another way to churn out mana fast.

Constructed: 3.5
Casual: 4.25
Limited: 4.75
Multiplayer: 3.75
EDH/Commander: 4.25