Dormant Grove // Gnarled Grovestrider
Enchantment // Creature — Treefolk
At the beginning of combat on your turn, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control. Then if that creature has toughness 6 or greater, transform this enchantment.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- G
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Innistrad: Double Feature
- Price
- $0.47
- EDHREC rank
- #9353
Dormant Grove // Gnarled Grovestrider flips into a 0/6 vigilance land that taps for two mana — the back half alone justifies the three-mana front half in any deck that cares about toughness. In Doran, the Siege Tower builds, a 0/6 attacking for 6 with vigilance is simply a threat, and the mana it produces keeps the engine running.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Doran, the Siege Tower
Doran, the Siege Tower turns the Gnarled Grovestrider's 0/6 body into a 6-power attacker with vigilance, meaning it swings every turn without tapping — Dormant Grove // Gnarled Grovestrider is pulling double duty as a mana source and a credible threat in the same card.
Fangorn, Tree Shepherd
Fangorn, Tree Shepherd cares about Forests and large toughness creatures, and Dormant Grove // Gnarled Grovestrider delivers a Forest land that produces two mana and a body large enough to trigger or feed Fangorn's synergies reliably.
Doran, Besieged by Time
Doran, Besieged by Time leans on high-toughness permanents throughout its game plan, and Dormant Grove // Gnarled Grovestrider offers a zero-power creature with 6 toughness attached to ramp — exactly the kind of efficient, multi-role card that toughness-matters decks want at every stage of the game.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Dormant Grove // Gnarled Grovestrider is legal in Commander, Legacy, Modern, Pioneer, Vintage, and Oathbreaker — broad availability, but competitive Constructed play has shown little interest. In Modern and Legacy, a three-mana enchantment that takes additional turns to transform is too slow against the format's clock, and the payoff doesn't compensate. Commander is where Dormant Grove // Gnarled Grovestrider actually earns its slot: the 100-card singleton format gives it time to transform, and toughness-matters commanders extract real value from the back half. In Oathbreaker the same logic applies in miniature — playable, but only in the right shell.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.47 bulk tier
At $0.47, Dormant Grove // Gnarled Grovestrider sits firmly in bulk territory, which makes it an easy inclusion in any toughness-matters Commander build. Bulk rares with niche synergy rarely spike without a new commander printing that breaks them open, so treat this as a cheap role-player rather than a spec.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Doran, the Siege Tower
- Fangorn, Tree Shepherd
- Doran, Besieged by Time
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.