Pallid Mycoderm

Creature — Fungus

At the beginning of your upkeep, put a spore counter on Pallid Mycoderm.

Remove three spore counters from Pallid Mycoderm: Create a 1/1 green Saproling creature token.

Sacrifice a Saproling: Each Fungus creature and each Saproling creature you control gets +1/+1 until end of turn.

Tokens

• Saproling 1/1 G

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
Pauper	Legal
Pauper Duel Commander	Legal
Pauper EDH	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (28)

ellie-is on Ellie's Saprolings

3 years ago

HalbrechtHalbrecht: Thank you for the very detailed comment!!

Sprout is just sadly not good enough! I used to run it back when I also ran Parallel Lives and I think that's the only case where it's worth it - one mana for two creatures (making it slightly better than Tukatongue Thallid, which's that but over multiple turns). Otherwise, it's a 1/1 with flash and nothing else, which... Well, for comparison lets look at Spectral Sailor. It's blue, arguably the worst type for competitively costed creatures, and not only it has flash, but it also has flying, card draw, and two types with a lot of tribal support. And yet it's still a super cheap common that doesn't see play. So getting a card that does one third of that, in a green deck, not that great. If I'm making Saprolings I want to make more than one per card, so while Sprout is a nice card, it doesn't make the cut. (that said, I kinda wanna build a casual spirit deck with a playset of spectral sailor now)

You're right about Tukatongue Thallid's primary purpose, but it ended up not being relevant often enough to the point where I actually haven't missed it at all since I removed it! Which's why it's important that its replacement needed to be clearly doing more than it was.

I like Fists of Ironwood a lot, it's of course worse than Saproling Migration or even Krenko's Command, but it's what we have when we can get to make 2 Saprolings for 2 mana and have four migrations already, haha. Getting 2-for-1'd is definitely a risk, but I think it's worth it despite that, especially if I stick to my rule of never enchanting my own creature if I can help it. That said, as soon as they release something that can fulfill its purpose of getting as many Saprolings as possible out of a single card for a reasonable mana cost, I'll be sure to replace it.

I used to have Druid's Deliverance on the sideboard (and even the mainboard way back in the day), but it was just so rare for it to be giving me a significant enough advantage compared to other cards I could have. People tend to agree that Fogs aren't a good idea outside of casual environments and I have a hard time arguing with them (though I do love seeing a well played Fog in a kitchen table, lol). Populate is nice, but it ends up being a small bonus in a Saproling deck. You get a lot more out of it when you're doubling Rhinos or Wurms. (I do love that new art, though!)

Flash Foliage is a mix of Sprout and Druid's deliverance - but it's a weaker fog effect, and the saproling is almost always going to die. Drawing a card is nice, but the whole thing is a little too situational for me. Cards that require opponents to do a specific thing are a gamble, and they need a really good payoff to be worth it. And even if this let me make that Saproling and draw a card outside of combat, I'd probably not be sure about whether or not to run it, and that helps me realize that since it's worse than the hypothetical version I still might not run, I probably don't want to run it as it actually is.

Pallid Mycoderm is an interesting one! It's been so long since I gave spore counter fungus any consideration, that I hadn't thought about this particular card since before the deck was even white, haha. I'm going to do some serious thinking about it! I'm always wary of sacrificing tokens but it might be worth it.

Thanks again for everything! I'm always happy when people pay attention to my decks and look at them closely. And the world of Magic needs more unique builds, heh. Nothing wrong with wanting to win tournaments and play top tier decks, but... well, unique decks are a lot more fun!

HalbrechtHalbrecht on Ellie's Saprolings

3 years ago

As promised!

Honestly, I can tell you've put a lot of thought into working and reworking this deck a ton, so I don't really have much to add. I agree with your decision to avoid black, since there's only 2 maybe 3 saproling-specific cards that are worth running. I'm not sure it would actually improve the deck all that much.

I am curious, though: Perhaps I missed your reasoning in one of the archived comments (I only read through the ones currently on the page), but why aren't you running Sprout? I saw you mention it in a comment, so you've clearly already thought about it (how couldn't you have!). But you also mentioned wanting a replacement for Tukatongue Thallid, whose primary purpose I presume was to be an early blocker that resulted in the more relevant Saproling. Obviously, two creatures from one card is better than Sprout's one creature, but that one creature IS the desired creature, and you can get it at instant speed, which has its advantages in Modern. So feel free to point me to a previous comment if you've already detailed your reasoning, but if not, I'd love to hear it.

I'd personally consider trying Sprout in place of Fists of Ironwood. In the few playtests I did of this deck, the very issue you were concerned about with Fists kept happening. The target creature would get Path'd or Bolt'd in response to the aura, which was devastating tempo and card disadvantage. Getting two saprolings out of one card is better than one saproling from one card, but one saproling is better than zero saprolings. ;)

I'm also curious what your thoughts on Druid's Deliverance are as a sideboard card. I could see it being good against fast aggro decks. One issue in that matchup is having to use your early saprolings as blockers, keeping you from building up your saproling army. That also limits your ability to get ahead, since you rely on Convoke so heavily. Deliverance allows you to negate all that aggro damage (basically time walking your opponent in that style of deck) while also advancing your board. And since it doesn't prevent combat damage to creatures, you still have the option, if you decide to take it, of blocking a key creature to kill it off.

In a similar vein, there's Flash Foliage. Now, I don't actually think it's as good a card as the other options you have, but there is one niche case that's worth mentioning. If you find yourself facing decks with a lot of creatures you can't block (flyers, or outright "can't be blocked"), Foliage actually allows you to block them with the saproling (as long as they don't have hexproof/shroud, obviously). Since you're not actually declaring the saproling as a blocker, it's not illegal. It's also worth noting that if you don't want to lose the flashed-in saproling as a blocker, you can cast it in the "end of combat" step after damage has already been done, since whatever creature(s) was attacking you is still considered to be attacking. The only reason this card might even be a consideration for me is the "draw a card" clause, which is nothing to sneeze at.

Finally, one other honorable mention: 1x-2x Pallid Mycoderm (for its last ability, not the spore counters). I just like it as a finisher. Imagine you have 6 saprolings in play and one anthem effect, while your opponent has a couple blockers, then you play this dude and go to combat. Without Mycoderm, you'd get 4 2/2s through for 8 damage, but with Mycoderm out, you can sac the blocked saprolings to turn the others into 4/4s and push 16 damage through. Assuming they've fetched and shocked themselves once or twice, that's game-winning damage. At the very least, it makes combat math very difficult for your opponent, often giving them less good blocks.

Anyways, fun deck! It's cool to see unique builds like this! +1

king-saproling on Naya Token - All the tokens

3 years ago

I know your heart might be set on Rith, but Tana, the Bloodsower and Bruse Tarl, Boorish Herder are great generals for this strategy. Giving Tana doublestrike while she has a Bravado effect is really powerful (her first hit makes saps, which makes her twice as big, so the second hit makes her 4x as big: exponentially increasing damage + saproling output). Here's a budget list with them if you're curious: https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/wide-tall-super-budget/

These cards might catch your eye: Betrothed of Fire, Hope Against Hope, Mantle of Leadership, Fanatical Devotion, Perilous Forays, Pollenbright Wings, Storm the Citadel, Five-Alarm Fire, Keeper of Fables, Requiem Angel, Fungal Plots, Utopia Mycon, Eidolon of Countless Battles, Ivy Lane Denizen, Rapacious One, Pallid Mycoderm

OrsettoMorbido on List of Color Pie Breaks/Bends

3 years ago

Some of these might not actually be breaks or bends, but i'll put them here anyway, since they're worth discussing. Thanks for this list btw, i wanted to create a pentacolor break/bend edh list in forever! Ephemeron, Phyrexian Tribute, Broken Visage, Artifact Possession, Curse Artifact, Catacomb Dragon, Grave Robbers, Burden of Greed, Guardian Beast, Haunting Wind, Phyrexian Gremlins, Priest of Yawgmoth, Relic Bane, Soldevi Adnate, Spoils of Evil, Warp Artifact, Xenic Poltergeist, Presence of the Master, Mudslide, Soulflayer, Rishadan Cutpurse, Rishadan Footpad, Rishadan Brigand, Sea Drake, True-Name Nemesis, Serendib Djinn, Parallax Tide, Uktabi Drake, Propaganda, Mirri's Guile, Sylvan Library, Drop of Honey, Elvish Spirit Guide, Jabari's Influence, Barbed Foliage, Storm Front, Recycle, Storm Seeker, Null Profusion, Illusionist's Gambit, Overtaker, Reins of Power, Ray of Command, Prodigal Sorcerer, Instill Energy, Fire and Brimstone, Pallid Mycoderm, Mycologist, Orcish Spy, Killer Bees, Visions, Emerald Dragonfly, Arboria, Demonic Torment, Shade of Trokair, Vivisection, Slith Strider, Midnight Charm, Keen Sense, Simoon, Goblin Spy.

Joe_Ken_ on My Saproling EDH deck

3 years ago

I'm going to try and list cards that I can find on online shopping sites like TCGplayer for under $2-$3 to help with the budget.

Verdeloth the Ancient is a creature that can be at your top end for the deck that can help you flood the board with saporlings and gives them all a nice boost.

Fungal Sprouting will help populate your board with saporlings.

Nemata, Grove Guardian gives you a mana sink to make saporlings with any extra mana you have and gives you a sac outlet that will pump all of your other saporlings.

Thelon of Havenwood and Sporoloth Ancient are good with the spore counter creatures below making them produce faster.

Psychotrope Thallid will slowly produce saporlings, but this card I listed since it will let you sac saporlings for card draw.

Savage Thallid is in the same boat except his sac ability will help some of your board survive some board wipes.

Pallid Mycoderm is once again another slow rolling spore counters for saporlings, but the sac boost can help you secure a kill.

Sporecrown Thallid is a cheap creature that will give your fungus and saporlings a boost.

Thelonite Hermit can be another creature to boost your board and can be used to make some saporlings.

Part 1/2

awatts30 on Rainy Day Mushroom Mayhem!

4 years ago

I was actually just designing a deck much like this a few days ago, although I was looking at GW because I considered Pallid Mycoderm to be superior to Deathspore Thallid (-1/-1 one of their creatures vs. +1/+1 all of mine). White also gives you access to Selesnya Evangel , although Night Soil may be better in many situations.

If you do stay with black, I would consider adding Fungal Infection as a cheap chump blocker removal that also gains you a Saproling, vs. Deathspore which costs you one. I would also consider Tukatongue Thallid as an early two-for-one.

As far as lands, dual lands should help make your mana base more reliable. I’d recommend Jungle Hollow or Golgari Rot Farm . If you’re looking for ETB effects, you could try Khalni Garden , Turntimber Grove , Fertile Thicket , Gingerbread Cabin , Bojuka Bog , Mortuary Mire , and Witch's Cottage .

xDr_Schnugglesx on Fun guy

5 years ago

Hi.

Cuts

Avacyn, Angel of Hope doesn't seem super on theme or really that useful. I mean, yeah, it's really good. But it's also 8 mana and for 8 mana I feel like you should be winning the game. Not just protecting your 1/1s or whatever you have out.

Pallid Mycoderm, Rot Shambler, Savage Thallid, Sporecrown Thallid, Sporemound, Sporesower Thallid, and Sporoloth Ancient. I think all of them are either overcosted for what they offer, or don't offer enough. I think the best out of these is Sporemound, but I'm not sure it's good enough. You don't really ramp all that hard, and you'll have so many 1/1s anyway that I don't think it'll matter if you get a couple extra. I think these could all be replaced by more 'value' oriented cards.

Verdant Force is simply overcosted. Remove.

Trostani, Selesnya's Voice is out of place. Populating a 1/1 for 3 mana and a tap is a bad feeling, and gaining 1 life from each is trivial and could be done with Suture Priest or any soul sister (and better too). Also Trostani's mana cost is steeper than it seems (from experience).

Death's Presence is extremely overcosted for what it's trying to do here. You already have Mazirek and Cathars' Crusade for your combo win. This is worse than both.

Fungal Plots is just kinda weak. I'm super against self-gy hate, and this is no exception. You're paying 4 mana and a card for a 1/1, and then you can maybe sac 2 more creatures for some life and a draw. There are much better options for card advantage AND tokens (I'll get into it later).

Grave Pact OR Dictate of Erebos, but not both. I vote Dictate because of the easier mana cost and also Flash (plus $$$$).

Intangible Virtue is out of place. An army of 2/2 vigilance's isn't amazing, especially because your saprolings WANT to die (to slimefoot and Blood Artist and others), so tapping to attack isn't an issue. You already have other, better, team buffs so I don't really think this fits.

Night Soil is just kinda meh. It's a tougher restriction than it seems (both from the same yard).

Along with this, I don't like Necrogenesis in general, but at least it gy-hates opponents and is something you can do if you have mana left up. An early cut if you still wanna cut some stuff, but fine to leave.

Primal Vigor can backfire hard. I don't think it's worth tbh. Also the mana cost is steep for something that doesn't do anything by itself.

True Conviction is just super out of place, and that mana cost is super rough. Absolutely cut. If you were gonna have a mana cost with WWW, it's gonna be Avacyn (but it's gonna be neither).

Verdant Embrace is just too costly for what it does and what you need. If it was like 3 mana and didn't give the +3/+3, that would work, but as is it's too costly and you'll almost certainly not get a lot of value from it because people will murder the creature it's on immediately.

Honestly, I've never liked Second Harvest. It's a terrible card if you're losing and if you cast it and win, you probably would've already won anyway. It seems like win-more to me. Most cards that do nothing on their own I think are kinda meh.

I have no idea how to feel about Vona's Hunger. I'd consider removing just because if you're using this to clear a board, they're gonna keep their best shit anyway, and this is pretty trash against other token decks. The mana cost and instant speed is a nice +, but I'm not sure it's enough here.

Akroma's Memorial should be Eldrazi Monument full-stop. Giving 1/1s a bunch of keywords is useless unless those keywords are either infect or indestructible. This gives neither.

You have a lot of lands. I like running fewer lands (35) but having about ~10 sources of ramp. I'll try to figure some out as we progress.

Fungal Sprouting does nothing on it's own and I am having a tough time envisioning it being really useful. Getting 5 1/1s is great for Ghave, but for 4 mana and sorcery speed, I feel you could be doing more. It's fine for now, but consider it an early cut if needed.

Saproling Symbiosis is a hard no. It's a worse Second Harvest and I hate that card too.

Thelonite Hermit is a no. You're paying 8 mana over 2 turns for 4 1/1s that will be 2/2s for like 2 seconds. Hornet Queen is cheaper and gives you better tokens.

Glare of Subdual. This is a tough one. On the one hand, tapping down the voltron player (Seth's cats or my dragons or Zac's Tuvasa) is super dope. On the other hand, tapping is not removal and it relies on you having a creature to spare to tap. It's also 4 mana. I'd probably remove. If it was 1WG, I'd think it was good.

Growing Rites of Itlimoc  ^Flip is a tough one too. I think if you end up with 30+ creatures, then absolutely go for it. Any less and I think you can do better.

I strongly recommend not having more than 8 enchantments. You have 16 right now and that's just too many without some heavy enchantment recursion.

Okay. We got through it boys. Let's go to our suggestions and recommendations. This next section will include cards in your maybe board that I think are good and should go to mainboard.

Suggestions

Anafenza, the Foremost, because who doesn't like incidental GY hate on an aggressively costed body. 3 mana for a 4/4 that GY hates is something that your opponents need to answer, and more often than not their removal will be worth more to them than Anafenza is worth to you.

Elenda, the Dusk Rose is a card I've always wanted to work and this might be it. Being able to sac a huge board and then herself seems like great value. The issue with Elenda is that she can be exiled, but your commander is a sac outlet which protects against that. I think she could be a powerhouse in this deck ESPECIALLY because her tokens have lifelink. Never underestimate lifelink on tokens.

Juniper Order Ranger is just gravy. 5 mana for a boi that gets progressively larger and boosts your board is something that needs to be answered to. This will either force a boardwipe or spot removal and honestly either a win for you.

Shalai, Voice of Plenty is good. Really good. I don't think it's bad to put it in this deck.

Spike Weaver is a 100% must include. Spore Frog for 1 mana at instant speed multiple times? It's just bonkers (and this is coming from experience).

Retribution of the Ancients is super interesting and could be a powerhouse. I'm inclined to include it as instant speed removal that works on indestructible things at a minimum cost to yourself seems very good. Sure, you'll be using 3-5 counters each time, but ideally that won't be an issue since. Also it's at a mana cost price you just can't do better than.

Everything from maybeboard I didn't mention is a no.

End of Maybeboard Recommendations

Uhh, where's my babe Elspeth, Sun's Champion at?? 6 mana for either a conditional boardwipe that won't hit you that often, or for 3 token bois seems like a good deal. And if you manage to ult, you win. No one can stop a flying army of 3/3s.

Eldrazi Monument. We already talked about it but just wanna have it written down here.

Pir, Imaginative Rascal. Fucking gravy. Works with Ghave super well but also Elspeth and also your dudes who put spore counters on themselves. This is a must include. I'm kind of surprised he wasn't already in the list tbh.

Fecundity can be absolutely nutty. Sure, it helps your opponents, but it is very unlikely it'll help them more than it helps you. Also a may trigger so it won't hurt you if you don't want it to.

Dark Prophecy is also insane, tho the self damage could become hazardous. I'll recommend some things to combat this as the card is a powerhouse, even with the BBB mana cost. Remember, being at 5 life and winning is the same as being at 40 life and winning.

Loyal Guardian is a new card which could do work. Early cut, but I'll put it here if you need to fill out your creatures.

Eternal Witness is good. It's a staple. I hate that it's so important, but it just is. Consider also Skullwinder if you just wanna be different.

Heroic Intervention is the single best protection spell in green. It's basically a green Teferi's Protection for your turn and it cannot be overstated how good it is at the right time. It is the difference between "I win next turn" and "Man nice boardwipe, GG." And for 2 mana too. It's bonkers. Must include.

Anguished Unmaking. You're in Orzhov colors so you need to use them. Maybe the best spot removal ever printed, barring Assassin's Trophy from GRN.

Cryptolith Rite is disgusting. You've played slivers so you know how good Gemhide is. This is too. I think this is a must.

Zulaport Cutthroat is nice redundancy for your combo win and also nice incidental lifegain (which helps counteract Dark Prophecy's life cost).

Forgotten Ancient is bonkers. Will always become a threat and require removal. It's just good.

Hangarback Walker is solid. Dump whatever mana you have into it, gives you something to do EoT, and you'll almost always get the death trigger since your commander is a sac outlet.

Rishkar, Peema Renegade is basically a second Cryptolith Rite. It's just good and low mana cost.

Scavenging Ooze. Graveyard hate is good, and incidental synergy with counter is even better. Just a super efficient card and usually comes something that needs to be removed sooner rather than later. Using the ability as an instant in response to a 'return from graveyard' spell is a joy.

Abzan Charm is good at any point of the game. Removal, counters, card advantage. Maybe the best charm out of all of them. Cannot be overstated. This is a must include.

You have no boardwipes. What the hell. You need at least 4 in almost every deck, but you will be fine with 3 here since you have Elspeth and Dictate of Erebos. I recommend Day of Judgment, Merciless Eviction (best boardwipe ever printed ever), Austere Command (wipe everything but your 0 CMC tokens and you'll usually open a board up for swings) and Living Death. More on Living Death below.

Living Death is a pet card of mine. Mostly because of how bonkers it is. 5 mana for a boardwipe that makes everyone sac their hexproof/indestructible creatures, and then get's you everything you need back. Ideally you'll have something like Aura Shards or Dictate out as you cast this to thin your opponents board afterwards. Also, with Anafenza, Necrogenesis, Scavenging Ooze and Bojuka Bog, you should be getting more value back than anyone else consistently.

Dread Return is good. 4 mana to bring something back is the going rate and saccing 3 creatures to bring something back is double upside since more often than not saccing creatures is good. With Blood Artist that gains you 3 life and someone loses 3, with Fecundity or Dark Prophecy, you just drew 3 cards for FREE. Stupid.

Mikaeus, the Unhallowed if you have the money. Mikaeus, the Lunarch if you don't. Neither are super required, but both are good.

Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite is always always always a powerhouse. Clears the board and puts you absurdly far ahead in terms of board presence. If you have the money, put it in.

I know you're not huge on tutors, but Razaketh, the Foulblooded and Sidisi, Undead Vizier are good. Can help find answers or just combo pieces to close out a long game. If you only want one, put Razaketh because at the end of the day, an 8/8 flample for 8 is good.

Carrion Feeder is good because instant speed sac outlets with incidental counter value is good. Sac a creature, get a counter, remove counter to get another creature is good. Essentially, with Fecundity/Dark Prophecy, Ghave, and Carrion Feeder out, they read "Pay 1 mana, draw a card" and that's good. Add in Blood Artist and it's even better, and add in Pir and Ashnod's and you win. 5/6 card combos are still combos. Also Carrion is a 1 mana sac outlet and that's really good.

Requiem Angel is a card I've always wanted to use but never found the place. This might be it, chief. Essentially doubling your token count for ability activations and sac triggers, plus turns your measly 1/1 saps into 1/1 fliers, which is a huge boost.

I'd remove Aura Mutation and replace it with both Putrefy and Mortify. The reason is that I often find myself holding onto Aura Mutation hoping to get good value from it, but oftentimes I should just use it on a 2 drop enchantment like Cryptolith Rite or something. Mortify and Putrify also double as modal cards, making them never a dead card if you draw them.

You need more ramp. There is no way around it. But you need more. Cultivate, Kodamas, Nature's Lore, Farseek, etc etc. No mana rocks besides Sol Ring. You're green, use it. You could also run things like Primal Druid that give value when they die, since this is a sacrifice deck. I'd scryfall "dies/enter search library land battlefield" and choose your favorite.

Mindless Automaton just seems fun. Depending on how easy it is to put counters on stuff, this may work. Early cut for sure.

Thats all I got for now. I'll comment again if I think of more.

legendofa on Mushrooms and trees, forest themed

5 years ago

Adding ramp is putting in cards that help advance your mana, either by producing mana themselves or by searching for lands.

Fungal Behemoth can spread some counters around. Pallid Mycoderm can give temporary buffs. Maybe also take a look at Golgari Germination?