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Forerunner of the Empire

Creature — Human Soldier

When this creature enters, you may search your library for a Dinosaur card, reveal it, then shuffle and put that card on top.
Whenever a Dinosaur you control enters, you may have this creature deal 1 damage to each creature.

CMC
4
Mana cost
{3}{R}
Color identity
R
Rarity
uncommon
Set
Rivals of Ixalan
Price
$1.31
EDHREC rank
#6263
Buy on TCGplayer
Forerunner of the Empire card art
Forerunner of the Empire tutors any dinosaur to the top of your library on entry, then pings every creature on the board each time a dinosaur enters — that combination of setup and board control in one three-mana body is the real draw. The cost is that the ping is symmetrical and mandatory, which matters until you're looping Polyraptor with Wayta, Trainer Prodigy and the "cost" becomes an infinite combo.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Wayta, Trainer Prodigy

Wayta, Trainer Prodigy

57.7% of decks · synergy 0.53

Wayta, Trainer Prodigy's ability to prevent damage to your dinosaurs turns Forerunner of the Empire's ping into a one-sided board wipe — and with Polyraptor in play, the two cards form a clean infinite loop that Wayta enables at no extra cost.

03
Gishath, Sun's Avatar

Gishath, Sun's Avatar

27.2% of decks · synergy 0.23

Forerunner of the Empire is one of the most consistent pieces in Gishath, Sun's Avatar decks because it guarantees Gishath hits the top of the library before combat, converting a swinging 8/8 into a reliable tutor.

04
Zacama, Primal Calamity

Zacama, Primal Calamity

15.6% of decks · synergy 0.11

In Zacama, Primal Calamity decks running enrage synergies, Forerunner of the Empire fetches the key dinosaurs while keeping the enrage engine primed with its enters trigger.

05
Atla Palani, Nest Tender

Atla Palani, Nest Tender

13.8% of decks · synergy 0.09

Forerunner of the Empire slots into Atla Palani, Nest Tender as redundant top-of-library setup, making sure the first dinosaur revealed off a dying egg is exactly the one you want.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern legal
pioneer legal
standard not legal
vintage legal
pauper not legal
oathbreaker legal

Commander is the only format where Forerunner of the Empire is genuinely powerful — the tutor effect scales with the density of dinosaur payoffs in the 99, and the ping becomes a combo enabler rather than a minor nuisance. In Legacy, Modern, and Pioneer it's legal but effectively unplayed; a three-mana 1/1 that only tutors creature types needs tribal density those formats rarely support at competitive tables. Oathbreaker is the one non-Commander sixty-card variant worth mentioning, since dinosaur-focused Oathbreaker builds can exploit the same Polyraptor loop in a shorter game, though the format's smaller cardpool limits how often that line comes together.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

4,051 decks
PolyraptorForerunner of the EmpireRite of Passage

PolyraptorForerunner of the EmpireRite of Passage

Infinite creature tokens; Infinite damage to all creatures; Infinite damage to creatures; Infinite death triggers; Infinite ETB; Infinite LTB; Infinite +1/+1 counters on creatures you control

View on Commander Spellbook ↗
118 decks
PolyraptorForerunner of the EmpireCathars' Crusade

PolyraptorForerunner of the EmpireCathars' Crusade

Infinite creature tokens; Infinite damage to all creatures; Infinite damage to creatures; Infinite death triggers; Infinite ETB; Infinite LTB; Infinite +1/+1 counters on creatures you control

View on Commander Spellbook ↗

Price Context

Current price

$1.31 cheap tier

At $1.31, Forerunner of the Empire is firmly budget — you're getting a tutor and a combo piece in one card for roughly the price of a draft common rare. That price is unlikely to spike dramatically given multiple printings, but it will stay in demand as long as dinosaur commanders remain popular.

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Sources

Mentioned

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Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.