There, I said it. It needed to be said. I personally needed to admit it and quite honestly so did a lot of you. I put it on the proverbial wax. It can never be taken back now.

There are two camps of folks out there. The group that agrees with this statement and at this point are probably saying, “But Alex, we already knew that.” Believe it or not there are some folks out there that still believe that Dragonlord Ojutai is better than Trawler. I know right. How is this possible? No clue.

The other group of folks do in fact believe Ojutai is still better. I know what everyone in the camp of Ojutai will say; “Alex, Ojutai digs deeper, and has better card selection.” Obviously there’s no disputing that. However that’s about the only spot where Ojutai out-performs Trawler.

It’s time to stop living in the past. I understand where you’re coming from. It’s hard to admit one of your favorite cards has been outclassed. Power creep is real. This is a perfect example of it.

Some argue that Ojutai is a better blocker because it can stay back and always has Hexproof. Though that is true, I would argue that having Lifelink makes Trawler a much better blocker because there’s value in blocking with it over Ojutai. With Ojutai you have to attack to get the Anticipate trigger and then, not only is it tapped it, no longer has Hexproof. Where as with Trawler, you can pass turn and block to gain some life. Yes, it costs one more mana to cast, no it doesn’t matter.

Lifelink is one of the biggest advantages Trawler has over Ojutai. You can just cast it against a Mono-Red opponent and keep it up as a blocker to buy time against opposing creature threats while they try to figure out how to get around it.  It’s just so good at blocking its taken place of Lyra Dawnbringer in Azorius Control Pioneer decks and has even taken over Baneslayer Angel’s spot in some Modern Control lists. It’s also the only win con in the Azorius Control deck in Standard that Zach Allen and Corey Baumiester have been crushing the SCG Open Series with.

Austin Bursavich who was the only player piloting Azorius Control to make the Top 8 Players Tour Phoenix also had three copies of Dream Trawler in it which is a huge feather in Trawler’s cap.

Trawler not being Legendary is also immensely important when comparing the two. You can jam three or even four of them in your seventy-five and be perfectly happy drawing them in multiples. If you can get two of them onto the battlefield at the same time it’s pretty impossible for your opponent to win.

In Standard, the only thing that can realistically kill it is Shatter the Sky and Time Wipe. Pioneer has similar limitations given that Supreme Verdict is really the only mass removal spell that is being played that can kill it.

As for Modern It’s a bit more vulnerable, but that speaks more to the power level of the removal in the format rather than Dream Trawler. Things like Liliana of the Veil and multiple Path to Exiles are a few of the ways to get it off the battlefield.

Dream Trawler Decks

Below are just a few examples of Dream Trawler just starting to dominate in Azorius Control decks. It’s certainly proving itself to be a multi-format staple for any and all Azorius Control decks.

Austin Bursavich’s (Pioneer) Azorius Control [PT Phoenix 5/8th Place]

Zachary Barash’s (Pioneer) Azorius Control [MF Phoenix PTQ 3rd/4th]

Dream Trawler has made an impact in Standard as well…

Zach Allen’s (Standard) Azorius Control [SCG Open: Philly 1st Place]

Corey Baumeister’s (Standard) Azorius Control [SCG Open: Richmond 1st Place]

These lists are just a sample of what is out there. In my mind, it’s not even a discussion. At first I was skeptical, too. But in the end, Dream Trawler is better than Dragonlord Ojutai. 

For more of my content on Control be sure to listen to my weekly podcast “Control Freak” or check out  my stream on Twitch.

If you have any questions, just want to talk more about magic, or try and convince me why Ojutai is better than Dream Trawler reach out to me on Twitter (@LessAlex).