Grove of the Burnwillows MTG Card
2007-05-04 - Number 176
2012-08-31 - Number 8
2017-11-17 - Number 238
2020-09-25 - Number 25
| Card sets | Released in 4 setsSee all |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Type | Land |
Text of card
: Add to your mana pool. : Add or to your mana pool. Each opponent gains 1 life.
Spring is the most beautiful season in the grove, when the new leaves open from their ember-buds in a race of leaping flames.
Cards like Grove of the Burnwillows
Grove of the Burnwillows is a versatile land card in MTG that stands out for its ability to tap for colorless mana or provide a combination of red and green mana without any life cost to its controller. This quality aligns it closely with cards such as Karplusan Forest, which also produces red or green mana. However, unlike Grove of the Burnwillows, Karplusan Forest causes its controller to take damage, reflecting a significant drawback for players prioritizing life preservation.
Another comparable card is Stomping Ground. As a shock land, it can be fetched by certain land search cards and offers the possibility to come into play untapped at the expense of two life. Here, Grove of the Burnwillows provides a gentler alternative; it comes into play untapped without that life cost. Additionally, Horizon Canopy shares the trait of generating multiple mana colors but with an evident downside—it sacrifices itself to draw a card.
While each of these lands has its own strategic benefits, Grove of the Burnwillows provides a balanced solution for players seeking mana flexibility without the downside of self-inflicted damage, making it a distinct and valued piece in many MTG decks.
Cards similar to Grove of the Burnwillows by color, type and mana cost
Decks using this card
MTG decks using Grove of the Burnwillows. Dig deeper into the strategy of decks, sideboard cards, list ideas and export to play in ARENA or MOL.
| # | Name | Format | Archetype | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Lands | Legacy | Lands | Legacy Preliminary 2024-04-15 |
 | Mono-Green Hardened Scales | Modern | Hardened Scales | Modern Preliminary 2024-04-26 |
 | Naya Depths | Legacy | Selesnya Depths | Legacy Preliminary 2024-04-18 |
 | BRG | Legacy | Legacy League 2024-04-18 | |
| Gruul Hardened Scales | Modern | Hardened Scales | Modern League 2024-04-16 |
| Naya Lands | Legacy | Lands | Circuito Legacy Catarinense | Temporada 2024 | Etapa 4 |
Card Pros
Card Advantage: While Grove of the Burnwillows doesn’t directly add cards to your hand, it allows for seamless mana generation without the setback of entering the battlefield tapped. This efficiency can lead to card advantage as you cast more significant spells ahead of schedule or deploy multiple spells in one turn, potentially drawing into more options with cards like “Ancient Stirrings” thanks to the color fixing it provides.
Resource Acceleration: A key feature of the Grove is its ability to produce both red and green mana, which is pivotal for resource acceleration in multicolored decks. It’s a nonbasic land that dodges the common restrictions faced by other similar lands, allowing for smoother and faster development of your board state—the foundational step towards winning.
Instant Speed: While the Grove itself is a land and not used at instant speed, the mana it provides can be leveraged at instant speed to react to opponents’ moves. This flexibility can be game-changing, enabling you to efficiently manage your resources while keeping options open for reactionary plays or end-of-turn shenanigans.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: While Grove of the Burnwillows doesn’t directly demand discarding cards, its value is inherently tied to your deck’s mechanism to benefit from granting opponents life. If those synergies are absent, the card might not perform optimally in your deck.
Specific Mana Cost: The mana provided by Grove of the Burnwillows is color-specific, adding either red or green to your mana pool. This can be less versatile for decks that require a broader range of mana colors and might not fit into every deck’s mana base.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: Despite its unique function, there are situations where the land’s drawback—giving your opponent life—could be a significant disadvantage, especially in games where every point of life matters. Other lands offer utility without such a drawback, potentially being more appealing in a competitive setting.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Grove of the Burnwillows is a land card that can be included virtually in any deck requiring color fixing for red and green mana. Its capability to tap for colorless or to provide you with the needed red or green mana without coming into play tapped makes it a dependable choice in a variety of deck builds.
Combo Potential: This land synergizes well with cards that benefit from life gain or utilize enemy life gain for strategic advantages. It can power up strategies that thrive on opponents having higher life totals, such as leveraging the card Punishing Fire for recurring damage.
Meta-Relevance: Regardless of shifting metagames, a land that offers smooth mana accessibility while imposing minimal drawback to the user remains a staple. As metas often fluctuate, having Grove of the Burnwillows ensures your mana base can adapt to include top red and green spells that may become essential in new prevalent deck-types.
How to beat
Grove of the Burnwillows presents a unique challenge in Magic: The Gathering due to its ability to produce mana of different colors without the downside of coming into play tapped. However, one must strategize efficiently to gain the upper hand against this land card’s subtle power boost to the opponent by granting them life.
Contesting the Grove’s advantage can be accomplished by implementing land destruction cards, which dismantle the mana base it supports. Constructing a deck with options like Ghost Quarter or Field of Ruin can disrupt the Grove’s utility. Targeted removal like Assassin’s Trophy offers flexibility in removing troublesome lands while simultaneously maintaining pressure with your own strategy.
It’s also worth considering the use of life reduction strategies to counteract the life-gain aspect. Cards like Skullcrack can prevent the health gain, ensuring that your opponent doesn’t benefit from the Grove’s effect. Integrating these methods into your game plan can decisively neutralize Grove of the Burnwillows, ensuring your path to victory remains unencumbered by your rival’s land assets.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Grove of the Burnwillows MTG card by a specific set like Future Sight and From the Vault: Realms, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.
For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.
Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.
Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Grove of the Burnwillows and other MTG cards:
BUY NOW BurnMana is an official partner of TCGPlayer
- eBay
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
- MTGO Traders Magic Online
See MTG Products
Printings
The Grove of the Burnwillows Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 2007-05-04 and 2020-09-25. Illustrated by 3 different artists.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2007-05-04 | Future Sight | FUT | 176 | future | Normal | Black | David Hudnut | |
| 2 | 2012-08-31 | From the Vault: Realms | V12 | 8 | 2003 | Normal | Black | Cliff Childs | |
| 3 | 2017-11-17 | Iconic Masters | IMA | 238 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Cliff Childs | |
| 4 | 2020-09-25 | Zendikar Rising Expeditions | ZNE | 25 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Donato Giancola |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Grove of the Burnwillows has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |