Kinjalli's Dawnrunner
Creature — Human Scout
Double strike
When this creature enters, it explores. (Reveal the top card of your library. Put that card into your hand if it's a land. Otherwise, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature, then put the card back or put it into your graveyard.)
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- The Lost Caverns of Ixalan
- Price
- $0.08
- EDHREC rank
- #21997
Kinjalli's Dawnrunner slows every opponent's dinosaur down by requiring an additional mana to activate abilities — a niche tax that only matters in dedicated Dinosaur mirrors or specific creature-heavy metas. A 2/3 for three mana with a situational hate effect is not a card you run outside of tribal Dinosaur builds, and even there it rarely makes the cut.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Kinjalli's Dawnrunner sees essentially no play outside of Commander, where Dinosaur tribal builds occasionally slot it as a mirror-hate piece. In competitive formats like Modern, Pioneer, or Legacy, the effect is too narrow and the body too underpowered to justify a slot — Dinosaurs aren't a dominant enough presence to tax. In Commander, where Dinosaur tribal is a real archetype, it functions as a low-priority include that punishes opponents running the same creature type, but most lists cut it for more universally impactful cards.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.08 bulk tier
At $0.08, Kinjalli's Dawnrunner is deep bulk — you're paying nearly nothing for what the card offers. Bulk commons and uncommons at this price point don't hold or gain value, so there's no reason to think twice about the buy-in if the effect suits your build.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.