Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 10 setsSee all
RarityRare
TypeLegendary Land

Key Takeaways

  1. This card excels in decks emphasizing Forest count, boosting play with cards like Nissa and Dungrove Elder.
  2. It facilitates green mana acceleration, allowing earlier and consistent play of demanding green spells and creatures.
  3. Yavimaya ensures access to green mana for instant-speed interactions, giving players a crucial competitive edge.

Text of card

Each land is a Forest in addition to its other land types.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth shines in decks that prioritize land synergies. By transforming all lands into Forests, it subtly enhances strategies that capitalize on the number of Forests in play. More specifically, the card lends itself to decks using cards like ‘Nissa, Who Shakes the World’ or ‘Dungrove Elder’, as these cards reward you for each Forest you control. This passive ability may not directly translate to drawing more cards, but it amplifies the value of each Forest-related card in your deck.

Resource Acceleration: The true power of Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth lies in its ability to expedite mana development, giving it a level of resource acceleration that few other lands can boast. With every land now a potential source of green mana, teams with intensive green mana demands become significantly easier to assemble. This paves the way for more consistent and earlier deployment of high-cost green creatures or spells, ensuring you’re always at an advantage when it comes to resource availability.

Instant Speed: While Yavimaya itself does not operate at instant speed, it enables a plethora of green spells that do. By guaranteeing green mana, it ensures that your instant-speed interaction and creature plays are always on the table. In the ever-shifting landscape of a match, having quick access to green can mean the difference between responding effectively during an opponent’s turn or being left in the dust.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: The Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth card does not come with the direct disadvantage of having to discard other cards; however, it necessitates careful consideration of hand management to ensure that playing this legendary land will be advantageous at any given point in the game.

Specific Mana Cost: As a land card, Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth doesn’t have an explicit mana cost, yet it’s important to acknowledge that its inclusion in a non-green deck may be less beneficial, as its primary function is to turn all lands into Forests in addition to their other types.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: While not applicable in the traditional sense for a land card, players must evaluate the opportunity cost of including this specific land in their deck. Given that it occupies a land slot that could be used for other utility lands or dual lands, the deck builder has to weigh the benefits of its unique ability against the potential for a more versatile land base.


Reasons to Include Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth in Your Collection

Versatility: As a card that can turn all lands into Forests, Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth is a prime candidate for decks aiming to optimize their mana base. It’s a strategic enhancer in mono-green builds or multicolor decks requiring green mana consistency.

Combo Potential: This card creates fascinating interactions with land-centric abilities and effects that count on forests being in play. It elevates strategies that leverage the type—forest, augmenting the synergy with land-related abilities like landfall or forestwalk.

Meta-Relevance: It’s increasingly significant in metagames where mana fixing is crucial. Its passive ability is a game-changer for decks that rely on green mana or benefit from having an expanded count of forests. Furthermore, it can frustrate opponents’ strategies by potentially disrupting nonbasic land abilities, which may rely on specific land types.


How to beat

Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth paves the way for a wide array of strategic plays on the battlefield, transforming all lands into Forests in addition to their other types. This land is a boon for players wielding green-centric decks or those looking to capitalize on the synergy with Forest-related abilities and bonuses. It’s especially powerful in mana-ramp strategies or decks that trigger effects when Forests come into play.

However, this card is not without its weaknesses. Cards that counteract land-based strategies can be potent – think Blood Moon and its ability to nullify those game-changing land types. Non-basic land disruption is a surefire method to destabilize decks reliant on Yavimaya’s effect. Artifact-based strategies, undeterred by land types, also sidestep its influence. Furthermore, concentrated land destruction tactics can upend a Yavimaya-enhanced board, disrupting the harmonious growth it aims to cultivate. Players should exploit these weaknesses to dismantle Yavimaya strategies efficiently and keep the game’s balance in check.


Cards like Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth

Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth is an intriguing land card in the vast array of lands available in Magic: The Gathering. It’s quite similar to the iconic card Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth in function. Both have the unique ability to change the land types across the board. Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth turns all lands into forests, much like Urborg makes all lands swamps. This can be a massive game-changer, enabling the use of forest-related abilities and mana fixing.

Analogous to Prismatic Omen, Yavimaya also provides a sense of versatility with lands, although Prismatic Omen affects only the lands you control and offers a wider range of mana possibilities. Meanwhile, a card like Blood Moon, while not creating forests, impacts the game by restricting players to basic land types, showcasing another angle of how land type modifiers can be employed strategically.

Assessing Yavimaya against its counterparts, it’s clear that its ability to universally alter land types is both a strategic asset and an enabler of forest-themed synergies, solidifying its place in any deck looking to capitalize on such interactions.

Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth - MTG Card versions
Prismatic Omen - MTG Card versions
Blood Moon - MTG Card versions
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth - Planar Chaos (PLC)
Prismatic Omen - Shadowmoor (SHM)
Blood Moon - The Dark (DRK)

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Cathedral of Serra - Legends (LEG)
Mishra's Factory - Dominaria Remastered (DMR)
Bad River - Mirage (MIR)
Griffin Canyon - Visions (VIS)
Ice Floe - Fifth Edition (5ED)
Ghost Town - Tempest (TMP)
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Hall of Tagsin - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
City of Brass - World Championship Decks 2002 (WC02)
Bloodstained Mire - World Championship Decks 2003 (WC03)
Zoetic Cavern - Future Sight (FUT)
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Rupture Spire - Magic Online Theme Decks (TD0)
Terramorphic Expanse - Commander 2018 (C18)
Tectonic Edge - Zendikar Expeditions (EXP)
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx - Theros (THS)
Buried Ruin - Commander 2014 (C14)
Wasteland - Zendikar Rising Expeditions (ZNE)
Eldrazi Temple - Duel Decks: Zendikar vs. Eldrazi (DDP)
Maze of Ith - Eternal Masters (EMA)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth MTG card by a specific set like Magic Online Promos and Modern Horizons 2, 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 Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth Magic the Gathering card was released in 5 different sets between 2021-06-18 and 2023-06-23. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12002-06-24Magic Online PromosPRM 914092015normalblackSarah Finnigan
22021-06-18Modern Horizons 2MH2 4802015normalblackSarah Finnigan
32021-06-18Modern Horizons 2MH2 2612015normalblackSarah Finnigan
42021-06-18Modern Horizons 2 Art SeriesAMH2 662015art_seriesborderlessSarah Finnigan
52021-06-18Modern Horizons 2 Art SeriesAMH2 66s2015art_seriesborderlessSarah Finnigan
62021-06-18Modern Horizons 2MH2 4411997normalblackSarah Finnigan
72021-06-19Modern Horizons 2 PromosPMH2 261s2015normalblackSarah Finnigan
82023-06-23Tales of Middle-earth CommanderLTC 4072015normalborderlessErikas Perl
92023-06-23Tales of Middle-earth CommanderLTC 407z2015normalborderlessErikas Perl
102023-06-23Tales of Middle-earth CommanderLTC 3772015normalborderlessErikas Perl

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

DateText
2021-06-18 Land cards not on the battlefield aren't Forests while Yavimaya is on the battlefield.
2021-06-18 Yavimaya's ability causes each land on the battlefield to have the land type Forest. Any land that's a Forest has the ability ": Add ." Nothing else changes about those lands, including their names, other subtypes, and whether they're legendary, basic, or snow.
2021-06-18 Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth isn't a Forest while it's not on the battlefield.

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