Wormwood Dryad MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 3 |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Creature — Dryad |
| Released | 2006-10-06 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | Time Spiral |
| Set code | TSP |
| Power | 3 |
| Toughness | 1 |
| Number | 233 |
| Frame | 2003 |
| Layout | normal |
| Border | black |
| Illustred by | Warren Mahy |
Key Takeaways
- Wormwood Dryad offers tactical flexibility with instant speed forestwalk or swampwalk, impacting board state on the fly.
- Deck specific: best suited for green decks or those that can handle its specific mana cost and discard requirement.
- Despite its cost, it remains a versatile MTG card for metas dominated by forests or swamps, often outperforming expectations.
Text of card
: Wormwood Dryad gains forestwalk until end of turn and it deals 1 damage to you. : Wormwood Dryad gains swampwalk until end of turn and it deals 1 damage to you.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: This verdant creature can turn the tide by seamlessly blending into various game environments. This allows for tactical flexibility, giving players a lead in resource availability which translates to a stronger hand over time.
Resource Acceleration: Wormwood Dryad can be instrumental in faster deck deployment. It acts as an enabler for other cards in your deck by providing essential forestwalk or swampwalk abilities, thus ensuring your creatures can attack unblocked and potentially accelerating your resource gain.
Instant speed: With the ability to gain swampwalk or forestwalk at a moment’s notice, Wormwood Dryad offers the advantage of instant speed reaction. Employ this tactical gameplay to outmaneuver your opponents, making your creatures elusive when it’s most advantageous for you.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Wormwood Dryad may sometimes require you to discard another card when using its abilities. This can force difficult decisions, especially during crucial moments where every card in hand is valuable.
Specific Mana Cost: The Dryad has a specific mana cost that includes green, which may not seamlessly fit into all deck types. This can limit its versatility, confining it to green-based or multicolor decks that can accommodate the mana requirement.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a mana cost that’s considered high for its base stats and abilities, Wormwood Dryad might not be the most efficient choice compared to other creatures in the same cost bracket. Players often look for cards that can make an immediate impact on the game, and the Dryad’s cost-to-effectiveness ratio could be a deterrent.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: The Wormwood Dryad is a Swiss army knife, fitting snugly into a variety of green decks. Its ability to gain forestwalk or swampwalk enhances its adaptability on the battlefield, slipping past defenses based on the terrain it treads.
Combo Potential: This card has latent synergy with land-altering effects that turn your opponent’s lands into forests or swamps, enabling it to become unblockable. It pairs well with other cards that benefit from forest or swampwalk as well, offering interesting strategic layers to your game.
Meta-Relevance: If you’re facing a lot of decks that are heavily reliant on forests or swamps, Wormwood Dryad can become an unexpected MVP. In metas where land types are strategically important, having a creature that can exploit this is a clever inclusion, helping to give you an edge over opponents.
How to beat
The Wormwood Dryad, a notable creature nestled within the Magic the Gathering universe, poses a unique challenge with its transformative camouflage ability and the capacity to become unblockable through its forestwalk attribute. To outmaneuver the deceptive Dryad, it’s crucial to employ a strategy that either prevents it from attaining its unblockable state or mitigating its impact once it does.
One effective technique involves the removal of forests from your side of the battlefield, thereby nullifying the forestwalk advantage. Cards such as Ghost Quarter can disrupt the Dryad’s path, while targeted removal spells—like Path to Exile—can exile it before it presents a threat. Additionally, utilizing instant-speed spells that can destroy or boot the creature during your opponent’s turn can prove invaluable. Cards like Fatal Push or even broader removal spells like Wrath of God can clear the Dryad from the board before it can deal its damage. It’s essential to maintain board control, keeping the path clear of stealthy threats like the Wormwood Dryad.
Outwitting this creature demands keen awareness and the right countermeasures. By adapting your tactics and having the appropriate answers at your disposal, you can ensure the Wormwood Dryad remains a card of minimal concern during your Magic the Gathering confrontations.
Cards like Wormwood Dryad
Wormwood Dryad, a versatile creature in Magic: The Gathering, offers a unique blend of abilities that can be compared to other creatures within the game. Its function is reminiscent of the Sylvan Caryatid, which also provides a mana ability. However, Wormwood Dryad takes it a step further by offering tactical adaptability. It can become a creature type of your choice, which can be invaluable for combat and synergy with other tribal cards.
Another comparable card is Elvish Mystic, which, like Wormwood Dryad, is a one-mana creature that helps ramp up your mana pool. However, the comparison ends there, as Elvish Mystic does not provide the flexibility of changing creature types. There’s also the Oasis Ritualist which similarly ramps mana and allows for a change in colorless mana production, but lacks the straightforward usability and lower cost of Wormwood Dryad.
Critical analysis of the value that Wormwood Dryad offers reveals its capacity to fulfill multiple roles on the battlefield. From accelerating your mana to aligning with tribal decks, its myriad of strategic applications makes Wormwood Dryad a card that stands out among those with parallel functionalities in Magic: The Gathering.
Cards similar to Wormwood Dryad by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Wormwood Dryad MTG card by a specific set like Time Spiral, 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 Wormwood Dryad and other MTG cards:
- eBay
- TCG Player
- 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 Magic products
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Wormwood Dryad has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
