Legendary MTG dinosaur avatar stomps into reanimation Standard typal decks

A return to the plane of Ixalan is set to showcase a Magic: The Gathering dinosaur avatar called Gishath, Sun’s Avatar, revealed during Wizards of the Coast Lost Caverns of Ixalan spoilers on Oct. 24. 

Reanimation decks across multiple MTG formats have thrived since the launch of Atraxa, Grand Unifier through ONE. Starting with the release of Lost Caverns of Ixalan (LCI) on Nov. 17, dinosaurs will get a chance to take over reanimation strategies through Gishath, Sun’s Avatar. The Legendary creature is more than a big stompy dinosaur as it supports Dinosaur typal in the Commander format, along with other MTG formats. It’s also a reprint from the original Ixalan set.

Gishath, Sun’s Avatar

Gishath, Sun’s Avatar is an eight-drop with the colors RGW (Red, Green, and White) that wants to end up in the graveyard, only to get reanimated at a cheaper rate than its casting cost. 

• Mana cost: 5RGW
• Type: Legendary Creature—Dinosaur Avatar
• Rarity: Mythic Rare
• Stats: 7/6
• Keywords: Vigilance, Trample, and Haste
• Ability: Whenever Gishath, Sun’s Avatar deals combat damage to a player, reveal that many cards from the top of your library. Put any number of Dinosaur creature cards from among them onto the battlefield and the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order. 

Upon reanimation or casting, Gishath, Sun’s Avatar can immediately deal damage to an opponent through Haste. Opponents can try to block the avatar but it has Trample, leaving removal as the only option to prevent a floodgate of dinosaurs from potentially ending up on the battlefield. And with a baseline power of seven, it’s likely that Gishath, Sun’s Avatar can find at least one or two dinosaurs through its ability. 

Players can test out Gishath, Sun’s Avatar when Lost Caverns of Ixalan drops into local game stores on Nov. 10 or through the global release that takes place on Nov. 17.