Deepwood Legate
Creature — Shade
If an opponent controls a Forest and you control a Swamp, you may cast this spell without paying its mana cost.
: This creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Mercadian Masques
- Price
- $0.18
- EDHREC rank
- #23357
Deepwood Legate is a free 2/2 with forestwalk whenever an opponent controls more forests than you — a zero-mana body that punishes green-heavy tables while threatening unblockable damage. The condition is easy to meet in Commander, where mono-green and Landfall decks flood the board with basics, making this a near-automatic include in any green aggro or elf shell.
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, Deepwood Legate is at its best — green is the most-played color in the format, so tables routinely have at least one opponent ahead on forest count, and the free-cast condition triggers often enough to make this a reliable zero-mana threat. Legacy allows it, but free creatures have a much higher bar there and forestwalk is irrelevant in a format where opponents rarely run basics at all. Vintage is technically legal but the card is nowhere near that power level. Deepwood Legate is a Commander card through and through: it exploits the specific landscape of four-player pods where green decks are everywhere and a free 2/2 with evasion is a real incremental advantage.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.18 bulk tier
At $0.18, Deepwood Legate is deep bulk — you'll find it in a commons box or a bulk lot, not on a singles list. It's unlikely to appreciate given its narrow application, but at this price the question isn't value, it's just whether you want the effect.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.