Combos Browse all Suggest
Legality
| Format | Legality |
| 1v1 Commander | Legal |
| Archenemy | Legal |
| Block Constructed | Legal |
| Canadian Highlander | Legal |
| Casual | Legal |
| Commander / EDH | Legal |
| Commander: Rule 0 | Legal |
| Custom | Legal |
| Duel Commander | Legal |
| Highlander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Leviathan | Legal |
| Limited | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Planechase | Legal |
| Premodern | Legal |
| Quest Magic | Legal |
| Tiny Leaders | Legal |
| Vanguard | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
Spreading Algae
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant Swamp
When enchanted land becomes tapped, destroy it.
When Spreading Algae is put into a graveyard from play, return Spreading Algae to its owner's hand.
lukecwolf on Colorshift Land Control
7 months ago
In my games, 3x Spreading Algae sideboard has been game breaking, but only because of the decks I am weak against. I play a Bant Elf Tempo Deck, and Black decks like Scam or Discard have been my weak point. Algae disrupts tempo so much that destroying just one swamp can end game. And given people play the tri color lands with the leylines, it's always come up.
Blood Moon like cards from my experience have been more good when you know you're going before your opponent, which is something that happens in games like YugiOh or formats like Vintage. As others have mentioned, changing one or two lands might not do much, and most decks still run a few basics.
I'm genuinely interested in seeing how this works as an entire strategy. Blue Moon is a solid legacy deck, but it leverages enough control and flying to win the game. Focusing on color denial and a Yawgmoth like lock seems viable but has its weakpoints against faster decks.
sergiodelrio on Colorshift Land Control
7 months ago
Just came here to throw in the cute Spreading Algae + Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth interaction which I, myself never really got a consistent grip on, but it's kind of a thing of its own, and rarely talked about.
Ev1_ on Does Rancor go to hand …
1 year ago
With Mazzy, Truesword Paladin on the board, can i choose to exile Rancor and Spreading Algae?
Yesterday on Spreading algae orb of dreams
2 years ago
It won't. Spreading Algae has a triggered ability (recognisable by beginning with the words when/whenever/at). Its ability will only trigger if its condition is met. In this case, it will only trigger when the permanent that it's attached to becomes tapped. The enchantment doesn't otherwise care about whether the Swamp is tapped or untapped, or how long it's been in that state, or whether it entered the battlefield tapped due to Orb of Dreams.
poulak on
Modern Problems Require Modern Solutions
2 years ago
Love the Spreading Algae synergies, how well does it work against the current meta top decks?
Noku269 on
Zendikar Alive
2 years ago
You don't have to add all of these, but I would consider looking into each one. Trace of Abundance Throes of Chaos Nissa, Who Shakes the World Moraug, Fury of Akoum Journey of Discovery Ghirapur Orrery Explore Ashaya, Soul of the Wild Genju of the Cedars Genju of the Fields Genju of the Spires Bear Umbra Living Terrain Consecrate Land Destiny Spinner Footfall Crater Nessian Wanderer Nissa's Zendikon Spreading Algae Guardian Zendikon
If you made a Commander/EDH version I would add Burgeoning
MagicMarc on Spreading Algae Deck
3 years ago
The real problem, like Flooremoji pointed out, is that you cannot force them to tap their land unless you add more cards. To stall your game plan, they just need to not tap the land enchanted with Spreading Algae. Once you start losing more card slots just to make it work then it starts looking like a bad combo.
Instead, try something like Kormus Bell + Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth and Cower in Fear. You can replace Cower in Fear with a lot of other cards like Doomwake Giant, Ethereal Absolution, Festering March, Profit / Loss, Make Obsolete, Plague Mare, Zealous Persecution and even Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite.
Though, I am guessing, a deck built like this wouldn't be popular with the people you play with.
Flooremoji on Spreading Algae Deck
3 years ago
I have seen that combo floating around for a while, (and even tried to make it work myself) but in general it's pretty meh. Urborg is a okay card by itself, (not amazing but okay) but when you add in mostly dead tutors outside of your combo you end up with a ton of bad draws. Spreading Algae however is increddibly weak unless you play against a deck that went turn one swamp and didn't Thoughtseize or Inquisition of Kozilek Algae away. I can even see scenarios where they don't take Algae because it's so underwhelming. At the end of the day, the combo gives your opponents fetch lands the ability to tap for mana and gives you a 1 mana LD spell. Unless you add in somthing that can force them to tap their land (Icy Manipulator maybe? That makes an already bad two card combo a worse three card one) it's just a 'this land can't tap for mana spell' but worse since when they need it they can sac the land for the mana. Devoting card slots to dead cards and tutors for LD is really bad, some decks will have already devoloped their board by the time you start Algaeing their lands. Even worse, if they start stockpiling fetchs (that can now tap for black mana) algae is useless because they can crack in response to algae and it will fizzle and not return, preventing you from locking most decks out of black mana.
Basically you have to play 1 card that is dead in most matchups and 1 okay card, it's mostly limited to Golgari colors, it dosen't win you the game (far from it in fact), and isn't consistent enough to just 'stumble' upon without devoting slots to tutors for again, a combo thats rather underwhelming.
All that said, it's certainly a fun little combo that I would love to see do something.