Rootborn Defenses

Instant

Populate. Creatures you control are indestructible this turn. (To populate, create a token that's a copy of a creature token you control.)

Discussion (51)

Joe_Ken_ on Emmara Jank

2 days ago

Presence of Gond may be good to tap your commander and have it make 2 tokens instead of the one.

Beastmaster Ascension will quickly build up counters with all the tokens you have so they will all quickly start to hit like trucks.

To protect from board wipes Make a Stand , Unbreakable Formation , Rootborn Defenses , and Dauntless Escort will all save you from most board wipes.

There is also Heroic Intervention but I’m mostly trying to recommend cards that aren’t so pricy.

Chaostrash on Self Replicating Ally Token Army!

3 weeks ago

Don't mean to pry, and I realize this is a few days after, but on the Advertise your Commander Deck thread, you were supposed to leave a constructive comment on my decklist: Legendary Come Backs | Primer

While I'm here, have you considered some of the populate options? Things like Sundering Growth, Selesnya Eulogist, and Rootborn Defenses can help the deck protect itself while also making tokens. Just a thought.

multimedia on Alela Faerie Tribal Budget

1 month ago

Hey, nice start and budget version of Alela.

Bident of Thassa is a very good budget card with lots of flying tokens. Bident with attacking Faeries can get you far ahead in a game with card draw and gives you resiliency to come back from board wipes. Diabolic Tutor is a budget tutor that can tutor for Bident. Oona's Blackguard is a two drop Faerie who has a good combat damage ability since there's many other Rogue Faeries in your deck. Rootborn Defenses protects all your creatures from a board wipe that destroys and you get free Faerie token.

For voltron Cranial Plating is a reason to go more artifacts than enchantments with Alela. Plating can be a busted card for voltron because you can keep equipping it to your Faeries. Seat of the Synod, Vault of Whispers and Darksteel Citadel are budget artifact lands that count for Plating. Two drop mana rocks are good with Alela such as Orzhov Signet, Azorius Signet, Dimir Signet, Mind Stone, Prismatic Lens, etc. Two drop mana rocks help to cast Alela turn three and the faster you can get Alela onto the battlefield the better your Faerie army will be. Paradoxical Outcome and Rebuild are budget mass bounce effects for artifacts and Outcome includes enchantments as well as draws you a card for each permanent you bounce. Bounce artifacts and cast them again to create more tokens.

Exotic Orchard, Arcane Sanctum, Esper Panorama, Ash Barrens, Caves of Koilos, Opal Palace are budget lands to consider adding.

Good luck with your deck.

Azeworai on Big Tokens

2 months ago

Ah, tokens! Initiate the throng, then fulminate as such.

I have many suggestions.

Now, typically I am an advocate for running fewer lands in decks, however, this deck has an excruciatingly low amount of card draw. Either make way for lands or add a half-dozen cantrips.

Some of my favourite draw spells you could use are Once Upon a Time, Skullclamp, Adventurous Impulse, and Oath of Nissa. These dig for lands whilst having value late-game.

You have many anthems, some of which are quite lacking in my opinion. Syr Alin, the Lion's Claw, Kongming, "Sleeping Dragon", Selesnya Guildmage, Oakhame Ranger, Ahn-Crop Champion, Cultivator of Blades, Valor in Akros, Spear of Heliod, and Dragon Throne of Tarkir are all quite mana-hungry and little impact. They depend on a board state to work, and without one they verge on useless. I would like to call out Call for Unity in particular as being incredibly slow and capricious.

Haazda Marshal, Recruit the Worthy, and Oakhame Ranger are quite halacious in the aspect that they do not much.

Avoid Fate is interesting, but it doesn't do a lot. Many of the cards in here are restrictive depending on board state, thus I would cut this.

Painter's Servant is cute with your effects that care about colour, but I believe this to be rather inconsistent. Without Lifeforce or Order of the Sacred Torch, it's a two-mana 1/3.

I am unsure as to why Reito Lantern is even here. If you seek graveyard hate, Ground Seal replaces itself, Relic of Progenitus is awesome, as is Remorseful Cleric. Night Soil is on theme.

For what I would include, Rootborn Defenses defends the board, Druids' Repository adds far too much mana, Aura Shards and Aura Mutation shatter and batter, Hour of Reckoning kills many things, Increasing Devotion allows for rebounding eftsoons wrath, Master of the Wild Hunt is one I particularly enjoy, Sprout Swarm is difficult to interact with, Sigarda, Heron's Grace has early and late-game potential, and Devout Invocation creates tokens abound. Triumph of the Hordes can just wipe out an entire table.

This deck has almost no card draw. Mentor of the Meek, Skullclamp, and Huatli, Radiant Champion can draw many, many cards. When you get to it, Sylvan Library is fantastic. Harmonize, Slate of Ancestry, Shamanic Revelation, Collective Unconscious are ways to refill in preparation of a board wipe.

Beast Whisperer is just good value.

Swords to Plowshares, Kenrith's Transformation, and Path to Exile get problematic permanents out of the way at an excessively cheap cost.

I would recommend far more ramp. Llanowar Elves, Avacyn's Pilgrim, Fyndhorn Elves, Elvish Mystic, and/or Birds of Paradise. Incredibly quick if you get them out turn one, and oft set you far ahead enough that it doesn't matter when you get wrathed.

That shall be all from me. If you so wish, I have two swarm decks that you could reference for honing your build, each of which have tested well for the years I have had them.

The decklists: Eladamri, Leader of Skyshroud Beseeming Perfection

May fortune betide you, and the tokens your enemies. Farewell!

GreenHamma on Wurms Over the Rainbow

2 months ago

usaDiabetic well thank you kind sir.

I like the protection, it was actually something I had in before. I dropped all protection when I seen a combo I made accidentally, and went balls in with more creatures.

Cards in before Boros Charm, plus all the white all creatures gain indestructible ... Like Rootborn Defenses that you put.

These we're mainly in there because I was planning bad things with Worldslayer hahaha.

Good adds to consider. If you were to add in what would you remove?

usaDiabetic on Wurms Over the Rainbow

2 months ago

You have my undying admiration for building this, you hero.

Thoughts on the white protection spells? Teferi's Protection, Rootborn Defenses, ect?

Valius on Tap Tap Repeat

2 months ago

I think I actually might have a copy. That’ll be one I’ll have to think about, because I just see Rootborn Defenses as being the slightly better card here, even if it is for 1colorless more (which is honestly no big deal for the mana generation of this deck).

Valius on Tap Tap Repeat

2 months ago

I’m more apt to run Rootborn Defenses in this type of deck, but boardwipe protection is a fantastic idea and I’ve been meaning to add it in. I’d love to just drop money for Heroic Intervention or Teferi's Protection eventually.

I do like that Trostani, but I’m not too sure if she has enough of an impact with regards to other cards already in the deck. Perhaps make a case for what to remove to put her in?