Gnarlwood Dryad
Creature — Dryad Horror
Deathtouch
Delirium — This creature gets +2/+2 as long as there are four or more card types among cards in your graveyard.
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- G
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Shadows over Innistrad Remastered
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #8423
Gnarlwood Dryad is a one-mana deathtouch creature that scales into a real threat once delirium is online, hitting as a 3/3 deathtouch for a single green mana. In Fynn, the Fangbearer decks, that combination of low cost and persistent deathtouch is exactly the engine piece the commander needs to close games fast.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Fynn, the Fangbearer
Fynn, the Fangbearer converts every deathtouch hit into poison counters, and Gnarlwood Dryad delivers deathtouch on turn one at the lowest possible cost — 66% of Fynn decks run it for exactly that reason.
Toski, Bearer of Secrets
Gnarlwood Dryad's deathtouch makes opposing blockers irrelevant, which is the exact condition Toski, Bearer of Secrets needs to keep connecting and drawing cards.
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 |
In Commander, Gnarlwood Dryad earns its slot almost exclusively in deathtouch-matters builds — Fynn, the Fangbearer chief among them — where a one-mana creature that threatens to become a 3/3 is worth the deckbuilding investment to enable delirium. In Modern and Legacy, it competes against a crowded field of efficient one-drops and rarely finds a home outside of niche deathtouch-synergy shells. Pioneer is a similar story: the card is legal but seldom sees play, since delirium enablement requires meaningful deckbuilding concessions in a format full of faster threats. Gnarlwood Dryad is ultimately a Commander card wearing competitive-format legality as a technicality.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Pricing data for Gnarlwood Dryad isn't currently available, so check Scryfall or your preferred retailer for the latest number. Given its narrow application and the volume of reprints green one-drops tend to accumulate, it's historically been an easy pickup.
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Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.