Bonehoard Dracosaur – The Lost Caverns of Ixalan
Date Reviewed: November 27, 2023
Ratings:
Constructed: 4.13
Casual: 4.63
Limited: 5.00
Multiplayer: 3.88
Commander [EDH]: 4.25
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
I was recently part of a group discussing whether this card is more like a large Ragavan, or a Baneslayer Angel with card-drawing capabilities. It was one of the most intense Magic conversations I’ve been part of in years. For the record, I think we should focus more on the fact that it’s a tyrannosaur-sized rhamphorhynchus. Is such a thing even possible?
To be fair, that last question is the kind of thing people were probably saying when they saw its game text. I for one think the craziest thing is not even that you get an automatic impulse draw every upkeep, but that you get bonus tokens whether or not you actually play the cards. That means you might come out ahead even when you don’t play anything, and that when you do you might come out insanely far ahead. I’d call it all upside, but I guess the fact that you have to wait a turn and it can be targeted by everything means opponents have a chance. Although I should point out that the same is true of Consecrated Sphinx – how does that usually go again?
Constructed: 4
Casual: 4.5
Limited: 5
Multiplayer: 4
Commander [EDH]: 4
One part engine and one part finisher, Bonehoard Dracosaur is actually a pretty synergistic set of things going on. It’s an evasive threat to close out a game (and can help fend off attackers that turn), and it helps put fuel out to push the game farther. Drawing two extra cards (even as red’s “impulse draw”) is excellent, and you even get an added benefit on top of those cards in the form of a way to help cast them or another body.
Honestly, this thing screams “kill me now or lose”; it’s very good at snowballing a lead, and it even can help you get back into the game as long as it does’t immediately eat a kill spell. While that’s certainly tragic to have happen, it’s still a card that’s hard to out without a kill spell, thanks to first strike and flying, and it’s further proof of how swooping is, indeed, bad.
Constructed: 4.25 (no legs outside of Standard, but this should do a lot of work there)
Casual: 4.75
Limited: 5
Multiplayer: 3.75
Commander [EDH]: 4.5
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