Elder Land Wurm
Creature — Dragon Wurm
Defender, trample
When this creature blocks, it loses defender.
- CMC
- 7
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Legends
- Price
- $17.55
- EDHREC rank
- #29174
Elder Land Wurm is a 5/5 trampler with defender that sheds defender the first time it blocks — a clunky design that front-loads irrelevance and back-loads power too slowly. Seven mana for a vanilla-ish beater that has to sit on the bench first is not a competitive rate in any format.
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 |
Elder Land Wurm is legal in Commander, Legacy, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but legal and playable are different things. In Commander, the only real home is an Arcades, the Strategist deck, where defender creatures draw cards and the Wurm's size is genuinely relevant. Legacy and Vintage have access to every creature ever printed — a seven-mana defender that needs to block before it can attack competes against Griselbrand and Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, which ends the conversation immediately. Oathbreaker shares Commander's singleton structure and the same narrow defender-tribal logic applies.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
If you want a big defender that pulls weight without the setup requirement, Assault Formation and High Alert let any toughness-heavy creature attack freely for two or three mana — they don't replace Elder Land Wurm directly, but they make the entire gameplan function without relying on one seven-drop to eventually unlock itself. Wall of Blossoms or Arcades-staple bodies like Tasseled Dromedary cost a fraction and still trigger the commander's draw ability, which is the actual engine you're trying to feed.
Price Context
Current price
$17.55 mid tier
At $17.55, Elder Land Wurm sits in mid-tier pricing driven almost entirely by Reserved List scarcity rather than demand. That price is unlikely to collapse, but you're paying a collector premium — the card's gameplay ceiling doesn't justify the cost outside of a completion-focused Arcades build.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.