by Johnny Cycles, July 1st, 2025

Hello! July is a busy month for me, but I’m excited to highlight one of my favorite tribal decks in Commander. Dinosaurs! As you can see from the above pic, my choice for legendary creature isn’t even a Dinosaur. Stay tuned for all the reasons Huatli, Poet of Unity is the right choice to helm a Dinosaur Tribal deck looking to play creatures up the curve and turn them sideways.

Otherwise, I’m still testing out Lightning, Army of One in Modern in my Boros Blasphemous Act deck. It’s been fun, even if the new Final Fantasy mythic hasn’t done much for me other than draw out a kill spell.

For this month’s Dragons in Modern (or Pioneer, I haven’t decided yet), one of my all-time favorite janky cards is making a reappearance. Up from the depths of the deep dark ocean comes Dragon Turtle!

I still haven’t exhausted the cards I’m excited about from Tarkir: Dragonstorm. And it’s these two cards that are the real reason Dragon Turtle is getting another shot. I’m currently testing out an Azorius build in Pioneer, but I also want to explore a tweaked version of my Dimir Dragons deck in Modern.

So far in Pioneer, the deck has drawn a ton of cards, which is great, but it hasn’t translated much into victories. The testing continues.

Schedule

July 4th – Off – Happy 4th of July to my U.S. audience!

July 11th – Commander – Dinosaur Tribal with Huatli, Poet of Unity

July 18th – Keeping Modern Janky – I’m currently testing Lightning, Army of One, but I may switch it up to something else. I still want to make Kiora, the Rising Tide work. It’s the Fable of the Mirror-Breaker!

July 25th – Dragons in ??? – Azorius or Dimir Dragons in Modern or Pioneer.

The Usual  Blurb

My goal is to publish an article between Wednesday and Friday every week. I am a stay-at-home dad of three with a part-time job, though, so there may be weeks that life gets in the way. Whenever possible, I’ll publish articles and videos when they’re ready. Published articles with edited game play are pretty time-intensive, hence the once-a-week-schedule. However, I’ll publish videos of unedited practice matches to my YouTube channel when I can and when it makes sense. Be sure to check there if you’re looking for a match but it isn’t yet on the site.

If there is a topic you want me to write about, a deck you want me to try out, or if you want less of one thing and more of another, let me know in the comments or email me: johnnycycles16@gmail.com. If you enjoy the site, please let your friends know via word of mouth or social media or messenger pigeon, if that’s your preference. This is a relatively new site that needs all the clicks it can get!

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About Me

I’m a former Russian literature professor who specialized in 19th-century Russian literature. I love Dostoevsky more than Tolstoy, but both will change your life. I’m currently a stay-at-home dad of three with a part-time job. I love fantasy fiction, mysteries, and horror movies. If you’re surprised at the length of my articles, hopefully my history as an academic plus my love of fantasy help explain it…

Thanks for reading! I look forward to reading your comments on my articles, Russian literature, or the best fantasy series ever written (Tolkien, Jordan, Sanderson?).

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