Yavimaya Elder MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 13 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityCommon
TypeCreature — Human Druid
Power 2
Toughness 1

Key Takeaways

  1. Provides card and land advantage by fetching lands and drawing a card upon death.
  2. Instant speed activation allows flexibility and strategic resource management.
  3. Demands specific mana investment which can be challenging in multi-color decks.

Text of card

When Yavimaya Elder is put into a graveyard from play, you may search your library for up to two basic land cards, reveal them, and put them into your hand. If you do, shuffle your library. , Sacrifice Yavimaya Elder: Draw a card.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Yavimaya Elder is a staple in many decks for its ability to provide card advantage. Upon death, it gives you the opportunity to draw into more land cards ensuring a steady flow of resources.

Resource Acceleration: With its ability to search for not one, but two basic land cards and place them directly into your hand, Yavimaya Elder serves as a great tool for resource acceleration. This can be crucial for ramping up your mana availability faster than your opponents.

Instant Speed: The Elder’s abilities can be activated at instant speed, offering you the flexibility to use them during your opponent’s turn. This mechanic allows you to keep mana open for responses while still benefiting from the Elder’s land-fetching capability if no immediate threats present themselves.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Although Yavimaya Elder allows you to draw a card upon its death, it requires you to discard as part of the cost to activate this ability. This can be a disadvantage when your hand is already scarce in options, potentially forcing you to lose valuable cards.

Specific Mana Cost: The Elder demands a specific mana investment, including both green and generic mana. In decks that heavily rely on multicolor strategies, meeting this cost can sometimes be challenging, especially in the early game when mana resources are limited.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of three mana, Yavimaya Elder’s ability to tutor for basic lands may come off as rather steep compared to other ramping options available. This might make it a suboptimal choice in decks where speed and efficiency are critical to the strategy.


Reasons to Include Yavimaya Elder in Your Collection

Versatility: Yavimaya Elder, known for its flexibility, integrates seamlessly into a variety of deck archetypes. This card ensures land consistency by allowing players to search their library for essential lands, making it a staple in decks that require specific mana combinations.

Combo Potential: Upon death, Yavimaya Elder provides an opportunity to draw a card. This ability can be exploited in decks designed to capitalize on creature sacrifice, ensuring you gain maximum advantage from your plays.

Meta-Relevance: Given how mana ramp and card draw are crucial in many formats, this card’s natural inclusion in a strategy keeps it relevant. It’s particularly potent in formats like Commander, where accessing the right mana source at the right time can tilt the game in your favor.


How to beat Yavimaya Elder

Yavimaya Elder sits comfortably in the roster of utility creatures in Magic: The Gathering, offering both card advantage and mana fixing. This versatile creature provides its controller with the ability to draw and thin their deck by searching for two basic land cards when it dies. Despite its usefulness, there are effective strategies to mitigate the advantage Yavimaya Elder can bring to an opponent’s table.

One effective method is resource denial. Since Yavimaya Elder needs to be sacrificed to initiate its land-fetching ability, cards that restrict or negate activations can hinder its utility. Players could use cards like Leonin Arbiter or Aven Mindcensor, which make it cost-prohibitive or difficult for the opponent to search their library. Furthermore, utilizing graveyard disruption like Tormod’s Crypt or Relic of Progenitus can prevent the additional draw effect from Yavimaya Elder’s second ability and thereby contain the card advantage it provides.

Countering Yavimaya Elder’s impact demands a tactical approach, interrupting its activation or preventing its effects from fully resolving. By doing so, you can substantially diminish its potency and maintain an upper hand in the resource battle that often defines Magic: The Gathering games.


BurnMana Recommendations

Mastering the art of MTG involves much more than just playing powerful cards; it’s about understanding synergies and deck dynamics. Yavimaya Elder is a testament to this, offering nuanced gameplay through strategic land-fetching and card draw. Whether you’re ramping up your mana or crafting the ideal card sequence, this creature can be a linchpin in your deck. Interested in perfecting your mana curve or seeking ways to optimize card advantage? Delve deeper with us, and enhance your MTG deck-building skills while exploring the various facets of Yavimaya Elder’s potential in your game strategy.


Cards like Yavimaya Elder

Yavimaya Elder holds a unique place within the realm of Magic: The Gathering cards designed for resource advancement. Mirroring its effectiveness, cards like Sakura-Tribe Elder offer similar qualities, both allowing players to search their library for a basic land card. However, Yavimaya Elder presents an added value by enabling the drawing of a card upon its departure from the battlefield, a feature not seen on the Sakura-Tribe Elder.

Oftentimes, Yavimaya Elder is also measured against Farhaven Elf, another creature that fetches lands from the library. While Farhaven Elf guarantees the land enters the battlefield upon casting, Yavimaya Elder’s ability is trigged upon death, demanding added strategizing. Moreover, Yavimaya Elder provides card draw, giving it multifaceted utility and setting it apart from the simpler utility of Farhaven Elf.

Identifying comparable Magic: The Gathering cards is instrumental in building effective decks. Such assessments divulge that Yavimaya Elder excels due to its ability to obtain land while also replenishing the hand, making it a valuable asset for players looking to sustain momentum and options throughout their game.

Sakura-Tribe Elder - MTG Card versions
Farhaven Elf - MTG Card versions
Sakura-Tribe Elder - Junior Super Series (PSUS)
Farhaven Elf - Shadowmoor (SHM)

Cards similar to Yavimaya Elder by color, type and mana cost

Cat Warriors - MTG Card versions
Rysorian Badger - MTG Card versions
Sabertooth Cobra - MTG Card versions
Quirion Druid - MTG Card versions
Hungry Hungry Heifer - MTG Card versions
Titania's Chosen - MTG Card versions
Taoist Mystic - MTG Card versions
Femeref Archers - MTG Card versions
Steel Leaf Champion - MTG Card versions
Realmwalker - MTG Card versions
Topiary Stomper - MTG Card versions
Territorial Scythecat - MTG Card versions
Wirewood Savage - MTG Card versions
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Pincher Beetles - MTG Card versions
Awakener Druid - MTG Card versions
Brindle Boar - MTG Card versions
Wood Elves - MTG Card versions
Rot Wolf - MTG Card versions
Cat Warriors - Legends (LEG)
Rysorian Badger - Homelands (HML)
Sabertooth Cobra - Mirage (MIR)
Quirion Druid - Visions (VIS)
Hungry Hungry Heifer - Unglued (UGL)
Titania's Chosen - Urza's Saga (USG)
Taoist Mystic - Portal Three Kingdoms (PTK)
Femeref Archers - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Steel Leaf Champion - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Realmwalker - The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander (LCC)
Topiary Stomper - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Territorial Scythecat - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Wirewood Savage - Onslaught (ONS)
Reki, the History of Kamigawa - Saviors of Kamigawa (SOK)
Timberwatch Elf - Salvat 2005 (PSAL)
Pincher Beetles - Tenth Edition (10E)
Awakener Druid - Magic 2011 (M11)
Brindle Boar - Magic 2011 (M11)
Wood Elves - New Capenna Commander (NCC)
Rot Wolf - Duel Decks: Mirrodin Pure vs. New Phyrexia (TD2)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Yavimaya Elder MTG card by a specific set like Urza's Destiny and Duel Decks: Phyrexia vs. the Coalition, 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 Elder and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Yavimaya Elder Magic the Gathering card was released in 13 different sets between 1999-06-07 and 2021-09-24. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
11999-06-07Urza's DestinyUDS 1241997normalblackRay Lago
22010-03-19Duel Decks: Phyrexia vs. the CoalitionDDE 442003normalblackMatt Cavotta
32010-11-08Magic Online Theme DecksTD0 A921997normalblackRay Lago
42011-06-17Commander 2011CMD 1792003normalblackMatt Cavotta
52014-06-16Vintage MastersVMA 2402015normalblackMatt Cavotta
62018-06-08Commander Anthology Volume IICM2 1492015normalblackMatt Cavotta
72018-08-09Commander 2018C18 1662015normalblackMatt Cavotta
82019-11-07Mystery BoosterMB1 13792015normalblackMatt Cavotta
92020-09-25Zendikar Rising CommanderZNC 872015normalblackMatt Cavotta
102020-09-26The ListPLST C18-1662015normalblackMatt Cavotta
112020-11-20Commander LegendsCMR 4412015normalblackMatt Cavotta
122021-06-18Modern Horizons 2MH2 2882015normalblackMatt Cavotta
132021-09-24Midnight Hunt CommanderMIC 1472015normalblackMatt Cavotta

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Yavimaya Elder has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PauperLegal
PremodernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Yavimaya Elder 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 If you activate Yavimaya Elder's last ability, its triggered ability will trigger and go on the stack. It will resolve first, meaning you'll do the search and shuffle before drawing a card.

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