Thrash of Raptors – Ixalan- MTG Card of the Day – Raptor Week

David
Fanany
Player
since
1995

If you think all the way back to the Alara block, you’ll recall that “thrash” is also the term used for a group of Jund’s viashino. I wonder if its reuse here is supposed to be a hint at a common ancestry between viashino and dinosaurs, or if it was just supposed to sound cool (and maybe they forgot). Thrash of Raptors here is a pretty good indication of what dinosaurs can do in groups, and specifically of raptors’ skill at social organization. The wrinkle is that four mana does get you other powerful dinosaurs, notably Ripjaw Raptor (though that requires a different configuration). Still, I don’t think anyone would ever be ashamed to cast this card.

Constructed: 2/5
Casual: 3/5
Limited: 4/5
Multiplayer: 3/5
EDH/Commander: 3/5

King Of
Hearts

We conclude Raptor week with Thrash of Raptors. This is one of the cards where its either terrible or great depending on if you can meet the conditions. Fortunately, its easy to accomplish in any dinosaur deck. The problem is the it’s a bit expensive for Red White aggro (Kinjalli’s caller helps though) and you’ll probably be running Ripjaw Raptor instead if you have green in your dino deck. In limited this guy is pretty solid and will be able to get in a few good hits, especially if you have the tools to give it haste. I have a feeling we’ll see more 4 drop dinosaurs in Rivals of Ixalan, pushing this card further into obscurity. 

Constructed: 2

Casual: 3

Limited: 4

Multiplayer: 2

Commander (EDH): 2

A 4-mana 3/3 is not so hot; it’s been borderline playable in Limited forever as your 23rd card, but you’d never want to run it with better options. A 4-mana 5/3 with trample is better; the good news is that Thrash of Raptors can turn into the latter fairly easily, asking for nothing more than another dinosaur friend to accompany it. How good this winds up being will depend on how routinely you can make it a 5/3; it’s a solid supporting card in Limited if you can keep it there, but other Dinosaurs usurp it in other formats.

Constructed: 2
Casual: 2.5
Limited: 3.5
Multiplayer: 2
EDH/Commander: 2.25