Cradle Guard
Creature — Treefolk
Trample
Echo 
(At the beginning of your upkeep, if this came under your control since the beginning of your last upkeep, sacrifice it unless you pay its echo cost.)
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- G
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- The List
- Price
- $0.12
- EDHREC rank
- #29757
Cradle Guard is a 4/4 trample for four mana with a relevant keyword, but the echo cost means you're paying eight mana over two turns to keep it — a brutal tax in a format where four mana already buys Grave Titan. It sees fringe play in niche undying and sacrifice synergy shells, but in most green decks there are cleaner options at every point on the curve.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Cradle Guard is a fringe inclusion — the echo cost is a real liability at a table where opponents can interact during your upkeep, and a 4/4 trample for four doesn't move the needle unless you're deliberately engineering sacrifice synergies. Legacy and Vintage both have access to it, but neither format gives Cradle Guard a serious role; fast mana and broken threats make a vanilla-ish four-drop with echo invisible in those contexts. Oathbreaker is legal but suffers the same problem: the format is faster than the Guard wants the game to be. The honest read is that Cradle Guard is a Commander-only card, and even there it earns its slot in maybe one deck in fifty.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.12 bulk tier
At $0.12, Cradle Guard is deep bulk — you'll find it in dollar boxes and bulk lots without looking hard. Demand is too narrow for the price to climb; pick it up if a specific sacrifice or undying build calls for it, but don't expect it to appreciate.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.