Grove of the Guardian
Land
: Add 
.
, , Tap two untapped creatures you control, Sacrifice this land: Create an 8/8 green and white Elemental creature token with vigilance.
- CMC
- 0
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- GW
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- GRN Guild Kit
- Price
- $0.30
- EDHREC rank
- #10848
Grove of the Guardian taps two creatures to put an 8/8 vigilance token onto the battlefield — that's a massive threat for zero mana once you're set up. The cost is real: it enters tapped, it asks you to tap two other creatures, and you only get one use, so Trostani, Selesnya's Voice decks are the natural home where that token immediately gains you 8 life and fuels populate.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Trostani, Selesnya's Voice
Trostani, Selesnya's Voice gains 8 life the instant Grove of the Guardian resolves, then populate effects duplicate that 8/8 token over and over — the land effectively doubles as a life-gain trigger and a populate target in one.
Ghired, Conclave Exile
Ghired, Conclave Exile's attack trigger populates, so Grove of the Guardian's 8/8 vigilance token is one of the best populate targets in the format — swing with Ghired, copy the token, swing again.
Ghired, Mirror of the Wilds
Ghired, Mirror of the Wilds cares about having powerful tokens to copy and attack with, and the 8/8 vigilance creature Grove of the Guardian produces is exactly the kind of high-power token worth duplicating.
Rhys the Redeemed
Rhys the Redeemed's six-mana activated ability doubles every token you control, so Grove of the Guardian's 8/8 becomes two 8/8s with a single activation — the land slots naturally into Rhys's token-doubling endgame.
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 |
Grove of the Guardian is a Commander card through and through — the tempo loss of an enters-tapped land is trivial over a 100-card, multiplayer game, and the payoff of a free 8/8 vigilance token late in a game is substantial. In competitive formats like Modern or Legacy, it's legal but essentially unplayable: entering tapped is a serious liability, and tapping two creatures for a single token is far too slow against decks that win on turns three and four. Pioneer is the same story. Commander is where Grove of the Guardian earns its slot, specifically in token and populate strategies where the token's size and vigilance keyword generate immediate board impact and ongoing value.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.30 bulk tier
At $0.30, Grove of the Guardian is bulk — easy to pick up in any collection trade or bulk bin. The price is stable given its narrow Commander appeal and multiple printings; don't expect movement in either direction.
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Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.