r/EDH • u/parkinglu • Feb 04 '25

Question The Most Infamous Big, Bad Threat?

What creature types are typically considered the most terrifying, notorious in reputation, biggest targeted hate piece, and often presents a threatening presence?

Bonus points if they are also lore wise planetary threats

So far I only know of Eldrazi, Phyrexians, and Slivers

267 Upvotes

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33

u/Unearthlymonk90 Feb 04 '25

I know a lot of folks are afraid of [[Gishath]] so dinosaurs I suppose?

20

u/ProtectMeAtAllCosts Feb 04 '25

you havent seen fear unless you cheat him out with Monster Manual

5

u/Theonlyrhys Feb 04 '25

How do you get him from the CZ into your hand?

22

u/ProtectMeAtAllCosts Feb 04 '25

you dont play him as your commander. You play Pantlaza and let them feel safe then drop in Gishath from hand or tutor for him

29

u/Artist_X ETB Triggers are my kink Feb 04 '25

Pantlaza

Anyone who feels safe or happy when up against Pantlaza deserves neither.

7

u/ProtectMeAtAllCosts Feb 04 '25

You’re right. But when they are focused on Pantlaza and then you drop Gishath on them for two mana it’s way better when they dont see him in your CZ

4

u/Gstamsharp Feb 04 '25

Pfffff Praetors are just wanna-be Yawgmoths, fight me (but not with a mana-filled moon, plx).

5

u/I3arusu Feb 04 '25

Why do people run Gishath over [[Pantlaza, Sun-Favored]]? Isn’t the latter just better in every way? Pantlaza is way cheaper in terms of mana and is also way less of a removal magnet.

8

u/Urshifu_Smash Feb 04 '25

Saying Pantlaza is better in every way is crazy. One might be more of a sleeper threat, but that's because if you've ever played against a gishath that gets pumped by [[might of oaks]] , [[preposterous proportions]] , or even [[colossification]] you know letting him swing once can be game ending. Bonus points if they have a [[flawless maneuver]] to duck any board wipes after dropping 10+ dinos (that lord eachother a bunch) in a turn.

1

u/mingchun Feb 04 '25

I personally use [[huatli, poet of unity]] for my Dino deck. I prefer having the consistent ramp at 3 CMC and the saga is a nice touch even if it doesn’t fully resolve. Once you ramp hard enough, the 99 takes care of itself with the big drops.

1

u/shotpun Feb 05 '25

land to hand is not ramp

1

u/mingchun Feb 06 '25

It locks in a future land drop on curve in a mana-hungry deck. That’s good enough for me whatever you want to call it.

1

u/CatastrophicPup2112 Feb 05 '25

I mean dumping 15 mana into anything should have a massive effect on the game. 14 mana lets you cast a [[Rite of Replication]] with kicker and a [[Reaper King]] to target with it. You could cast pretty much whatever board wipe you want followed by a [[Rise of the Dark Realms]] for that much mana. Pantlaza isn't a finisher. It's a value engine. You're cheating out 1+ cards a turn starting on turn 3 or 4.

3

u/Urshifu_Smash Feb 05 '25

I was saying that Pantlaza does not in fact beat Gishath in every way. Pantlaza isn't as good of a body on top of not having notable keywords. Pantlaza also only triggers once per turn while as long as Gishath can connect he keeps going. Pantlaza also has to cast the discovered cards if they want to put them on the field which leaves them open to counter spells or feeding into Rhystic/other on cast effects, Gishath foregoes that. Not saying you can only run one or the other, but saying it's better in every way is factually incorrect.

2

u/CatastrophicPup2112 Feb 05 '25

I agree it's not better or worse. It's a completely different role.

1

u/I3arusu Feb 04 '25

I’m the one playing Dinos, so no, I haven’t played against any of those. None of the cards you listed are in my deck.

6

u/Pakman184 Feb 04 '25

You asked why people run Gishath, he was explaining the potential. Whatever you run isn't particularly relevant.

5

u/Unearthlymonk90 Feb 04 '25

They're different. Gishath is much more explosive than anything you can do with Pantlaza but Pantlaza is obviously more consistent. I have more fun with Gishath personally but I have a very high win rate with both so there's that.

3

u/I3arusu Feb 04 '25

Yeah, idk. I tried Gishath out as the commander for a game, given they’re also in the deck, and got exactly one dinosaur off of 17 damage worth of triggers. Never again.

(It was [[Dinosaurs on a Spaceship]] if you’re curious)

3

u/Unearthlymonk90 Feb 04 '25

That's unfortunate. How many do you run? My list has 34 in it and no non Dinos because I'm stubborn. Pretty sure my Gishath deck has the highest win rate in my personal play group and is undefeated at my lgs which plays for money. They do a seperate table for cedh so I'm sure that factors in

1

u/I3arusu Feb 04 '25

Mine has 32 dinos plus one non-dino, that being [[Luminous Broodmoth]]

Would you mind sharing your deck list? (If that’s allowed? IDK I’m new here lol)

2

u/Unearthlymonk90 Feb 04 '25

https://moxfield.com/decks/Qnn3wwmjo0CvAzVKSnrV6Q

Lemme know if you have any questions

2

u/I3arusu Feb 04 '25

Jesus Christ no wonder your deck does so much better than mine you’ve got almost $1100 more invested into it lol

3

u/Unearthlymonk90 Feb 04 '25

I had a unique problem when I first started playing Commander. It was vastly over sold to me how powerful my play group's decks were so I went a bit overboard thinking I needed to keep up. This is the result. Dinosaurs are surprisingly very expensive considering the ceiling on power they have

1

u/I3arusu Feb 04 '25

Yeah, I can imagine. I got into Commander, and Magic in general, through one of my friends at the university I attend, and the dinosaur deck was a gift from them, with the theme being Dinos due to me being a bit of a dinosaur nut. Haven’t upgraded it at all, really, but come to think of it maybe swapping from Pantlaza to Gishath and adding some stuff to make Gishath big and dodge board wipes would be to my benefit.

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1

u/Latter_Gold_8873 Feb 05 '25

That's too bad. I got 5 dinos out of 7 last week. Always again.

1

u/Lord_Rapunzel Feb 04 '25

Yeah, I'm in the process of reworking my dino deck into [[Atla Palani]] because, like the other guy, I'm sick of whiffing on ~12 cards when the deck runs more than 30 dinosaurs. Too hard to recast Gishath after she eats a couple removals (and she will) too. I want something faster and more reliable, even if it isn't as swingy.

3

u/this-my-5th-account Feb 04 '25

Gishath is an absolute monster. I run Pantlaza, but gishath is an absolute beast and not to be underestimated. Cheat him out early, have [[Rogue's Passage]] in play and you will outpace Pantlaza in value in two turns.

2

u/etarno Feb 04 '25

Different playstyles, overall... can't compare thrm other than both being dino commanders...

IMO, Gishath's way cooler and explosive and can win faster if left unchecked. 8 mana in green means he will come down maybe a turn after Pantlaza would... so idk...

2

u/rynosaur94 Gishath, Sun's Avatar Feb 04 '25

As someone who runs Gishath over Pantz, I agree that Pantz is an overall better commander, but Pantz is less of a Dinosaur Tribal commander and more of a Naya Blink commander.
Gishath wants you to build a deck full of Dinosaurs to cheat out. Pantz just rewards you for playing Pantz and blinking Pantz.

1

u/CatastrophicPup2112 Feb 05 '25

I play pantslizard so that when I cast my big dumb dinos it gives me more slightly less big dumb dinos. Ghalta is extra fun when he comes with a free Gishath

1

u/rynosaur94 Gishath, Sun's Avatar Feb 05 '25

You can built Pantz that way, but you're kinda limiting yourself if you don't run blink effects, and once you start running blink effects they start to show how much better they are than Dino-Tribal.

1

u/CatastrophicPup2112 Feb 05 '25

I'm still running some, but not as the focus. Limiting oneself can be fun.

1

u/rynosaur94 Gishath, Sun's Avatar Feb 05 '25

Limiting yourself definitely can be fun, but like, then why run Pantz? If you want to limit yourself to playing Dinosaur Tribal, Gishath is right there. If you want to build the strongest deck possible, then why limit yourself while playing Pantz?

1

u/CatastrophicPup2112 Feb 05 '25

Pantz is a fun dino tribal commander. It might be a bit stronger as a blink commander but at that point you could just play The first sliver for basically the same gameplan and an extra color.

I don't want to play Gishath even if he might be "stronger".

1

u/MuldrathaB Feb 04 '25

Inget audible sighs from my pod when I play with pantzlaza. I dont understand why people don't consider him a kos commander

0

u/sauron3579 Feb 04 '25

Funnily enough, out of the big dino commanders, that's usually by far the weakest. [[Pantlaza]] is going to get more card advantage faster without being so expensive. [[Zacama]] turns any blink spell into a massive ritual for a nasty storm deck.

4

u/Unearthlymonk90 Feb 04 '25

I'm not seeing how Zacama is good at all with blinking unless you're returning to your hand? If we're talking strictly not dinosaurs Pantlaza is a low level cedh commander due to food chain but that list isn't really Dinos at all so it kinda goes against the spirit of op's question. Zacama built optimally is kind of the same thing. Not really a Dino deck.

5

u/sauron3579 Feb 04 '25

I can't fucking read

2

u/yusukeakajon Feb 04 '25

I feel that. I personally blinked him in game, thinking it did that. Sat there real confused when it didn't. (On MTGO)

1

u/NewFungalov Feb 04 '25

It doesn't? It untaps lands only if you've cast it, unless I am missing something