RAWR | How to Build Your Pantlaza, Sun-Favored Commander Deck

Pantlaza, Sun-Favored is one of the most exciting red-white commanders. It perfectly sets you up to chain spells, create explosive turns, and attack with stompy stompy dinosaurs. Today we'll walk you through how to build a Pantlaza Commander deck that feels great to pilot—from early ramp to late-game dominance—and share five cards you absolutely want in your list.

Why Pantlaza Works So Well

Pantlaza rewards you for doing what Magic players love: playing big creatures and getting value. Once each turn, when a dinosaur enters the battlefield under your control, Pantlaza triggers discover X, where X is the dino's toughness.

That means you get to exile cards from your library and either cast them for free or put them into your hand. It’s like cascade, but smarter. And in a deck full of dinosaurs and power-packed creatures, you’ll be triggering it constantly.

Early Game: Set the Stage

In the early turns, your goal is simple: ramp and curve out. You want to drop Pantlaza on turn five or earlier, and you want creatures with power 3 or more on the battlefield before and after that moment.

Cards like Kinjalli’s Caller and Otepec Huntmaster help you cheat on mana and get those dinos out faster. Even a simple creature like Kinjalli's Sunwing can get the discover engine rolling early. Throw in cards like Farseek and Cultivate to search your library for that mana you may be missing.

Mid Game: Trigger the Engine

Once Pantlaza hits the field, the deck shifts gears. Every creature becomes a discover trigger, and you start chaining spells, building board presence, and refilling your hand. This is where the deck shines.

You’ll want to play creatures that bring friends with them, like Regisaur Alpha, which gives you a 3/3 token and haste for your dinos. That’s two triggers in one card. Blink effects, recursion, and token generators all help you keep the discover train moving.

Late Game: Close the Door

By the time you reach the late game, your board should be stacked. You’ll have a full grip of cards and a battlefield that demands answers.

This is when you drop finishers like Ghalta and Mavren or Quartzwood Crasher. These cards don’t just hit hard; they snowball. Ghalta creates lifelink vampire tokens or trampling dinosaur tokens, while Quartzwood turns trample damage into beast tokens that keep the pressure on. At this point, you’re not just winning, you’re overwhelming.

Five Must-Include Cards for a Pantlaza Commander Deck

When you're building around Pantlaza, Sun-Favored, you want cards that either trigger discover reliably, amplify your board presence, or help you close out games with style. These five picks do all of that—and more.

Zacama, Primal Calamity

What it is: A legendary Naya dinosaur with vigilance, reach, and trample. When it enters the battlefield, it untaps all your lands. It also has three activated abilities that let you destroy artifacts and enchantments, deal damage to creatures, and gain life.

Why it works: Zacama is a perfect top-end threat for Pantlaza Commander deck. It triggers discover, untaps your mana to keep the value flowing, and gives you flexible tools to control the board. It’s a one-card swing that can stabilize or end the game.

Roaming Throne

What it is: A four-mana artifact creature that lets you choose a creature type when it enters the battlefield. It copies all triggered abilities of creatures you control of that type.

Why it works: This is the ultimate synergy piece for Pantlaza. Choose Dinosaur, and every time you play a dino, you get two discover triggers instead of one. It turns your deck into a value engine and accelerates your board state dramatically.

Gishath, Sun’s Avatar

What it is: A massive 7/6 trampling, vigilant, hasty dinosaur that reveals the top cards of your library when it deals combat damage and puts any dinosaurs among them directly onto the battlefield.

Why it works: Gishath is a discover trigger, a board builder, and a win condition all in one. In a Pantlaza Commander Deck, it floods the battlefield with dinosaurs to overwhelm your opponent. It’s the kind of card that snowballs fast and demands an answer.

Etali, Primal Storm

What it is: A 6/6 legendary dinosaur that exiles the top card of each opponent’s library when it attacks. You can cast those cards for free.

Why it works: Etali fits perfectly into Pantlaza’s drop-and-cast theme. You are going to be attacking. Etali ensures that when you attack, you get some more free casts from all over the board. Drop extra dinos, cast spells, play that card your opponent was hoping to draw, the works.

Rhythm of the Wild

What it is: An enchantment that gives your non-token creatures riot, allowing them to enter the battlefield with either a +1/+1 counter or haste. It also makes your creature spells uncounterable.

Why it works: Rhythm of the Wild ensures your creatures hit the board fast and hard. Giving them haste means they get to do their stomps as soon as they enter. It also protects your game plan from control decks by shutting down counterspells. In a deck that relies on momentum, this card keeps you ahead.

Is a Pantlaza Commander Deck Right for You?

Building a Pantlaza Commander deck is all about gaining and maintaining momentum. You want to ramp early, trigger discover often, and close out with overwhelming force. It rewards smart sequencing, creative deckbuilding, and a love for big flashy plays.

So saddle up Pantlaza for a deck that can dominate from turn one to crushing victory.

And as always, all cards here can be picked up from our friends at TCG Player!.