Dinotaurs [Master's]

This deck aims to play overstatted units all up the curve. Then, take advantage of their inevitable tragic deaths plus the extra copies of Unleash cards that go to the void in order to cheat out an affordable Valles Rex.

Game plan:

It's often best to continue playing lower-value units even if you have enough power to plop down a 5-drop. Our threats are generally enough to push opponents into using removal/control, so we want to finish with our best units after they're spent. We do NOT want opp controlling our Blackmaw Carnosaur. Unleash cards should typically be played on curve, without waiting for a bigger turn with more power. Get their stats on the board and get that discount for Rex into the void. Sometimes when I have a clear path to 6, I'll hold a Golden Horn Security, otherwise slam 'em down.

Card choices:

It's influence-thirsty even at low power, so Seek Power is important and there are some tough decisions about whether to inscribe. Hitting 4 and 5 power in tempo is very valuable, but so is wiping out a critical enemy threat with Call The Hit. Cards we hate include Feln Adept, Huntmaster Vikrum, and Black Book, Pit Boss. Call takes care of them all, so hoard it carefully against Shadow and leave one power open when Argenport is about to hit 5 or Black Book will discard your Call.

Stutterstep has proven valuable as a one-of. We suffer from the same board wipes that are out there hunting hordes of unleashed units. Being able to have our best unit dodge it is often enough for the win. Outside that scenario, it's still rarely a dead card. We face lots of double-blocks and removal spells where this card shines.

Waystone Ignitor and Minotaur Lighthoof are important to answer Dino Nests and Poacher's Menagerie which gum up the board. I usually hold up Ignitor on turn one and wait to see which version of it will be more powerful. I'll play it as a turn one 4/3 if I have more relic hate in my hand or opponent has played fire influence (making the need for Ignitor's relic removal less likely.)

Kickflip Monk used to be Dino Nest, but Monk has won out in the current meta as a way to temporize until we get to what we really want to do. Monk is better against Zido, Feln Adept, Lunar Claw, Crownwatch Paladin, Battlefront Dasher... the list goes on. And it leaves us with no targets for relic hate. But if you want to play with Nest, it'll highroll for you sometimes and the Dino bonus, if it lives that long, hits several other cards in your deck anyway.

Shrivel, Toxicology, and Belltower Shot are part of a flexible pool you can change based on what opponents are doing that gives you problems. I'm considering increasing Shot right now to ferret those board wipes out of opponent's hand. It's perfectly okay to spend turn 3 doing this and see opponent's game plan instead of developing the board. Note that Toxicology can discard one of the temporary cards that comes from Unleash.

Hexavore will make you smile when opp plays Zido.

The Unblockable on Minotaur Lighthoof can also be a very valuable choice to finish a game or to get an opponent low enough for our Overwhelm or even a Toxicology to do the job.

Blackmaw Carnosaur was one of the inspirations for this deck because it looks like it does so much, but if you want to tinker I think I'd take this out first. We're often NOT behind or board or life, so its special activations aren't relevant. Krogar has been doing a ton of work as a backup against the hate list if we don't have a Call, and Cloudscraper also has a chance to affect the board immediately.

Finally, Valles Rex typically gets ambushed in at a cost of 4-6 against an opponent who's removal has already been under heavy pressure. He eats an attacker -- sometimes a really big attacker -- and then swings back looking for dessert. The deck can win without him, but it also stacks up stuff on the board giving us time to find him.

I hope some people have fun with this, and I would love to hear tweaks that people find effective. Good luck out there!