Tendershoot Dryad MTG Card


Tendershoot Dryad - Rivals of Ixalan
Mana cost
Converted mana cost5
RarityRare
TypeCreature — Dryad
Abilities Ascend
Released2018-01-19
Set symbol
Set nameRivals of Ixalan
Set codeRIX
Power 2
Toughness 2
Number147
Frame2015
LayoutNormal
BorderBlack
Illustred byYongjae Choi

Key Takeaways

  1. Generates 1/1 Saproling tokens each upkeep, consistently increasing creature count for overwhelming strategies.
  2. Ascend enhances Saprolings with +2/+2 buffs, converting them into formidable forces when achieving the city’s blessing.
  3. Despite a mana-heavy cost and green dependency, its board presence and synergy potential make it highly valuable.

Text of card

Ascend (If you control ten or more permanents, you get the city's blessing for the rest of the game.) At the beginning of each upkeep, create a 1/1 green Saproling creature token. Saprolings you control get +2/+2 as long as you have the city's blessing.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Tendershoot Dryad effectively creates a 1/1 Saproling token at every upkeep, swelling your board presence consistently. This consistent token generation ensures you’re never at a loss for creatures and provides the potential to overwhelm your opponents with sheer numbers.

Resource Acceleration: Each Saproling token produced can be a crucial resource for strategies that benefit from having many creatures on the field, enabling powerful synergies with convoke or ascend mechanisms. Moreover, with the city’s blessing, the Saprolings become a significant force, serving as a reliable and recurring form of power acceleration.

Instant Speed: While Tendershoot Dryad itself doesn’t operate at instant speed, the tokens it generates at each upkeep can have an instantaneous impact on the game state, providing blockers or enabling surprise attacks as soon as they’re on the field, especially if the dryad was brought into play just before your turn.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Tendershoot Dryad doesn’t have a direct discard requirement, its potential reliance on other cards to enhance the saproling production can lead to situations where a player’s hand is depleted more quickly than anticipated. This can be a setback when trying to maintain card advantage.

Specific Mana Cost: Tendershoot Dryad has a specific mana cost that requires three generic and two green mana. This commitment to green can be restrictive for multi-color decks that might struggle to consistently produce the necessary green mana, especially in the early game phase.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a total casting cost of five mana, Tendershoot Dryad is an investment. When considering the speed of certain formats, the cost can be prohibitive, as it may be too slow against more aggressive decks that aim to win before Tendershoot Dryad’s value is fully realised on the battlefield.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Tendershoot Dryad can seamlessly adapt to various deck types, excelling in token strategies and any build focusing on making the most of creature synergies. Its ability to consistently produce Saproling tokens every upkeep makes it a dynamic and persistent threat on the board.

Combo Potential: This card can be a linchpin in combos, especially with cards that capitalize on creature count or sacrifice for greater benefits. The Saprolings it creates can fuel convoluted engines or simply overwhelm opponents through sheer numbers.

Meta-Relevance: In a game state where board presence is paramount, Tendershoot Dryad shines by offering both a robust board state and an escalating threat if left unchecked. Its relevance increases in environments where creature-based strategies dominate, making it a formidable addition to any collector’s arsenal.


How to Beat Tendershoot Dryad

Tendershoot Dryad is a formidable green creature that can quickly overwhelm opponents by creating Saproling tokens during each upkeep. If you’re facing this card, timing and removal are key factors to consider. Since the dryad has the potential to escalate the board state in favor of your opponent, it’s essential to remove it swiftly. Direct removal spells like Murder or Path to Exile can efficiently handle the threat by targeting Tendershoot Dryad directly.

Additionally, board wipes such as Wrath of God or Damnation are highly effective since they clear all creatures, including the spawned Saprolings. If removal isn’t an option, control through counter spells or preventing the dryad from hitting the board in the first place are viable strategies. This approach requires a keen sense of anticipation and your deck should be ready to handle fast-growing threats. In essence, quick responses and preemptive tactics significantly improve your chances against a card with the token-generating prowess of Tendershoot Dryad.


BurnMana Recommendations

Mastering MTG requires both strategy and knowledge of powerful cards that can tip the scales in your favor. With a deeper understanding of Tendershoot Dryad’s strengths and weaknesses, you’re well-prepared to build decks that leverage its token-generating capabilities or counter it effectively. Embrace the chance to diversify your collection and strategies by considering this card’s synergy with your play style. To further refine your MTG prowess and discover new deck-building insights, journey with us at BurnMana, where we dive into the complexities of MTG and help you achieve victory with every draw. Learn more with us and take your game to new heights.


Cards like Tendershoot Dryad

Tendershoot Dryad serves as a powerful engine in token strategies within Magic: The Gathering. This card bears resemblance to cards such as Verdant Force, which is also known to create Saproling tokens during each upkeep. Yet, what sets Tendershoot Dryad apart is its ability to consistently bolster your forces with a Saproling each upkeep, plus it grants them a significant +2/+2 buff if you have the city’s blessing.

Exploring further, Mycoloth offers a different but related approach to token generation. By devouring other creatures, it has potential to spawn an even greater number of Saprolings, albeit at the cost of sacrificing resources upfront. Conversely, Tendershoot Dryad requires no such sacrifice and works steadily to grow your board presence. Doubling Season is another notable parallel, especially when paired with token-generating cards, as it can exponentially increase the number of tokens you produce, although it’s not a creature itself and doesn’t contribute to board state directly.

When we analyze gameplay dynamics and synergy potentials, Tendershoot Dryad emerges as a formidable choice within token-generating cards due to its consistent performance and the substantial boost it gives to Saproling tokens in MTG.

Verdant Force - MTG Card versions
Mycoloth - MTG Card versions
Doubling Season - MTG Card versions
Verdant Force - MTG Card versions
Mycoloth - MTG Card versions
Doubling Season - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Tendershoot Dryad MTG card by a specific set like Rivals of Ixalan, 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 Tendershoot Dryad and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Tendershoot Dryad has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
GladiatorLegal
PioneerLegal
CommanderLegal
ModernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
PennyLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

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

Date Text
2018-01-19 A permanent is any object on the battlefield, including tokens and lands. Spells and emblems aren’t permanents.
2018-01-19 Ascend on a permanent isn’t a triggered ability and doesn’t use the stack. Players can respond to a spell that will give you your tenth permanent, but they can’t respond to getting the city’s blessing once you control that tenth permanent. This means that if your tenth permanent is a land you play, players can’t respond before you get the city’s blessing.
2018-01-19 Because damage remains marked on a creature until it’s removed as the turn ends, nonlethal damage dealt to a Saproling you control may become lethal if Tendershoot Dryad leaves the battlefield during that turn.
2018-01-19 If you cast a spell with ascend, you don’t get the city’s blessing until it resolves. Players may respond to that spell by trying to change whether you get the city’s blessing.
2018-01-19 If you control ten permanents but don’t control a permanent or resolving spell with ascend, you don’t get the city’s blessing. For example, if you control ten permanents, lose control of one, then cast Golden Demise, you won’t have the city’s blessing and the spell will affect creatures you control.
2018-01-19 If your tenth permanent enters the battlefield and then a permanent leaves the battlefield immediately afterwards (most likely due to the “Legend Rule” or due to being a creature with 0 toughness), you get the city’s blessing before it leaves the battlefield.
2018-01-19 Once you have the city’s blessing, you have it for the rest of the game, even if you lose control of some or all of your permanents. The city’s blessing isn’t a permanent itself and can’t be removed by any effect.
2018-01-19 Some cards get power, toughness, and/or abilities once you have the city’s blessing. If another card has an ability that triggers when creatures with certain characteristics enter the battlefield (such as Mentor of the Meek or Elemental Bond do), use the entering permanent’s characteristics after you have the city’s blessing to determine whether those abilities trigger. This is true even if the entering permanent is your tenth permanent.

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