This week I posted a YouTube video covering unpopular mana dorks, but I held back on one category: green creatures. There are so many great and underplayed green mana dorks that they could easily fill an entire video on their own.
With that being said, I saved one of my all time favorite mana dorks to share with you in this email. Introducing Runadi, Behemoth Caller!
Runadi, Behemoth Caller 15,600 decks, or 0.45% of decks that can play it.
I have personally played Runadi as a commander, but it also puts in a lot of work in any deck built around big creatures or +1/+1 counters. To give a creature haste without any additional support, the creature needs to cost 7 mana, which results in three +1/+1 counters.
Here’s why I think this creature is an underrated mana dork in the 99 of many decks:
Runadi doesn’t have to give the counters:
If you play this in a deck that already distributes a lot of +1/+1 counters, your creatures will still gain haste even when Runadi is not the one providing those counters.Hydra decks: Zaxara, the Exemplary is the top commander running Runadi, and it is easy to see why. Hydras are usually 0/0 creatures that enter with +1/+1 counters, so even a simple 3/3 Hydra will gain haste, even if its mana value is below 5.
Synergy with other ETB strategies:
If you run cards like Tribute to the World Tree, Railway Brawler, Arwen Weaver of Hope, or Thunderous Velocipede, you are already most of the way toward giving any creature haste when it enters the battlefield. This works for creature tokens and for Runadi itself!Unique haste enabler in mono green:
I’m a firm believer that haste is one of the strongest keywords you can give to a creature that does not naturally have it. Outside of Surrak and Goreclaw, Ulvenwald Behemoth, Crashing Drawbridge, and Concordant Crossroads, there are very few ways to grant haste to an entire team in mono green.
As a 3-drop, Runadi brings so much to the table for any deck with green that is playing large creatures or dishing out +1/+1 counters. Throw this in a Ghalta and Mavren deck to attack with a 15/15 the turn it comes down, or Gargos Vicious Watcher to attack with massive hydras that now have haste. I’d love to hear if you have tried this card out, and if so, what you think of it!
This Week’s Reader Pet Card Highlight
This week’s Reader Pet Card / Unpopular Card Highlight comes from Jason, who shared Scouting Trek ($0.76) as a favorite underrated card that not enough people play, and Public Enemy ($0.11) as their pet card.
Here’s what Jason had to say about these picks:
Scouting Trek: “It is the only such effect in the game. I use it in Choco, Seeker of Paradise as a finisher since I can guarantee 4+ land drops for all my land landfall for cards like Felidar Retreat. Can also see use in decks with Hedge Shredder or other self mill land decks.”
Public Enemy: “I love politics decks but often people wont attack a combo player or the person I feel most threatened from. It can also be used as creature removal since the owner would rather trade it away than be attacked by the rest of the pod. When I eventually become the threat I can also use it to keep everyone off my back so that I can win in the next turn.”
I have never seen Scouting Trek before, but what an epic find. It’s cool to hear your use-cases for the card, and I’m sure brewers reading this already have other ideas coming to mind!
Get highlighted: Each week, I’ll feature one reader’s favorite underrated card and/or pet card. Want to share yours or know a friend who would? It only takes a minute 👉 Submit your favorite card here
Jumps of the Week
Here were the three biggest price increases in the MTG world this week, in case you missed them:
Longshot, Rebel Bowman: jumped from $0.58 → $11.90 (+1,952%)
Twinning Staff: jumped from $7.34 → $38.00 (+418%)
Ashling, Flame Dancer (Borderless): jumped from $10.30 → $49.99 (+385%)
Did You Buy Anything for Black Friday?
TCGPlayer is well known for offering 10% back in store credit during their Black Friday sale. Did you pick up anything fun this year? I bought a Collector Box of Edge of Eternities that I plan to use for my monthly patron giveaways, along with prize packs for future deck building competitions.
I also grabbed a Beyond Booster box of Assassin’s Creed. I have never opened any AC packs before, but a lot of people in my YouTube comments have said the set is underrated, so I want to check it out myself! What about you? Did you treat yourself to anything for Black Friday?
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