New Dinosaur shreds MTG planeswalkers and Battles within March of the Machine

Players within Magic: The Gathering might get Questing Beast triggers through the upcoming March of the Machine set thanks to Rampaging Raptor, a Dinosaur in Red. 

Scheduled to drop into local game stores on April 14 through prerelease events, the March of the Machine (MOM) set is packed with Battle cards. The new MTG mechanic is a Double-Faced card that features Defense counters and a powerful backside. To flip the card though, players must defeat their own Battles. Wizards of the Coast has included several spells that can target Battles in the upcoming set, along with Rampaging Raptor, a MOM spoiler shared by Jim Davis.

Rampaging Raptor

The new four-drop in Red slots into aggressive and Midrange builds that want value and power from an MTG card that costs 2RR to cast. Rampaging Raptor has Questing Beast vibes that are catered to the MOM’s main mechanic, Battles. 

• Casting cost: 2RR
• Type: Creature—Dinosaur
• Rarity: Rare
• Keywords: Trample and Haste
• Stats: 4/4
• Activated ability: Pay 2R—Rampaging Raptor gains +2/+0 until the end of the turn
• Ability: Whenever Rampaging Raptor deals combat damage to an opponent, it deals that much damage to target planeswalker that player controls or Battle that player protects. 

Unlike Questing Beast, Rampaging Raptor has an Instant activated ability that can get paid multiple times, increasing the dinosaur’s total power. The dinosaur also isn’t a legendary creature, allowing players to have up to four regular copies of the card on the battlefield at one time. 

Hitting Battles for damage is a bonus on Rampaging Raptor, making it a bomb within the MOM Limited format. The dinosaur will get play time in Standard, just for being a four-drop with Haste and Trample that has an activated ability pumping up its power level.  

Mono-Red Aggro and Big Red decks will want at least a couple of copies of Rampaging Raptor, giving the archetype another way to deal with planeswalkers while also chipping life damage away from an opponent. And even Gruul or Boros decks have a good probability of including the dinosaur in future builds.

Players can test out the power of Rampaging Raptor through the digital release of MOM on April 18 or through prerelease events that start on April 14.