"Sun-Crowned Hunters: Dino Torture for the Win Part 1"
by:
Virgilio F. De leon Jr. MD
One of the common cards that stood out for me was the dinosaur Sun-crowned hunters. While I do not condone the torture of animals or humans in real life , there seems to be a subtheme in magic that benefits players for poking dinosaurs and so this article that takes advantage of this particular poking as a finishing move.
Time to look at the card. Sun-Crowned Hunters is a 6 mana creature , 4 colorless and 2 red. You get a 5/4 dino and those stats would be important for the tech.
So it has Enrage - whenever Sun-crowned Hunters is dealt damage , it deals 3 damage to target opponent.
When you look at it this normally would act as a deterrent for opponents not to burn it to death since it will still deal 3 damage even if it dies.
Weaker blockers 3 power or less may stop it from hitting the opponent but Enrage acts like a Semi-afflict here , the dino gets damage and it gives a snapping beak bite for 3 damage. You make it angrier , it bites hard.
Of course you don't want a strategy to be dependent on your opponent so what if you could deal damage to your dino and have it deal 3 damage to your opponent instead? Sounds interesting right?
Magic has an abundance of spells that could do just that but I would like to focus on those that just deal 1 damage. We don't want the dino to die. We want it to be angry.
So for part 1 let us look at the sorceries and instants that would work well if we already have Sun-crowned hunters already in play:
1 damage spells:
Instants:
Gut shot(Instant) - You could pay 1 R or two life and in return 3 damage to an opponent. Sounds like a good trade off.
Lava dart(Instant) - A red mana to ping 1 and then you sacrifice a mountain for it's flashback and ping once more. Smells like 6 damage to me.
Spark spray(Instant) - R and Cycling!
Geistflame(Instant) - R (with 3R flashback too).
Searing Touch(Instant) - R and 4 for Buyback. It reads a 5 mana ping each end of turn.
Release the Ants(Instant) - 1R , 1 damage and then clash! The joy of flipping a coin and probably getting this card back.
Spark Jolt(Instant) - 1R instnat , scry 1. To set up your next burn.
Sorceries:
Scorching Spear (Sorcery) - R for 1!
Flame jab (Sorcery) - R and Retrace! Retrace of a land to the graveyard and R! Just perfect for when the board is a bit locked.
Zap (Sorcery) - 2R , 1 damage Draw a card. The card replenishes itself even if it is a bit expensive.
Ok then. You have enough burn spells here to have a dino barbecue but be sure that you just make it angry and not totally cook it ok? With enough stimulation Sun-crowned Hunters would win the game for you. One ping at a time.
Next article we look at Creatures that you could do the actual prodding with.
Keep on prodding. I mean brewing and reading.
