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Nemata, Grove Guardian

Legendary Creature — Treefolk

{2}{G}: Create a 1/1 green Saproling creature token.
Sacrifice a Saproling: Saproling creatures get +1/+1 until end of turn.

CMC
6
Mana cost
{4}{G}{G}
Color identity
G
Rarity
uncommon
Set
Commander Masters
Price
$0.34
EDHREC rank
#8623
Buy on TCGplayer
Nemata, Grove Guardian card art
Nemata, Grove Guardian floods the board with Saproling tokens and pumps them for a mana apiece — the payoff is real, but six mana is a steep entry fee in a format where threats compete at every cost. In dedicated token shells, especially those built around Shroofus Sproutsire or Yedora, Grave Gardener, Nemata earns every penny of that cost by turning a wide board into a lethal one.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Shroofus Sproutsire

Shroofus Sproutsire

56.3% of decks · synergy 0.54

Shroofus Sproutsire generates a continuous stream of fungus and Saproling tokens, and Nemata, Grove Guardian converts that mass directly into a pump effect — every spare green mana becomes a +1/+1 across the board, turning Shroofus's horizontal growth into a credible kill threat.

02
Slimefoot, the Stowaway

Slimefoot, the Stowaway

33.8% of decks · synergy 0.33

Slimefoot, the Stowaway already wants to produce and sacrifice Saprolings for value, and Nemata, Grove Guardian adds a second axis by letting that same token army threaten lethal combat damage whenever the sacrifice plan isn't optimal.

03
Fangorn, Tree Shepherd

Fangorn, Tree Shepherd

12.1% of decks · synergy 0.10

Fangorn, Tree Shepherd builds boards full of large Treefolk and plant tokens, and Nemata, Grove Guardian slides in as a Saproling producer that adds to the creature count while offering a mana sink to convert battlefield width into raw power.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern not legal
pioneer not legal
standard not legal
vintage legal
pauper not legal
oathbreaker legal

Commander is where Nemata, Grove Guardian actually lives — the six-mana cost is sustainable over a longer game, and the combination of token production and pump has a genuine ceiling in a multiplayer environment where going wide can threaten the whole table at once. In Legacy and Vintage, Nemata is technically legal but practically invisible; six mana for a slow-building token engine simply doesn't compete with what those formats are doing on turns two and three. Oathbreaker offers a middle ground where Nemata could theoretically serve as a win condition in a Saproling-focused shell, though the faster pace of the format makes the six-mana ask harder to justify.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

80 decks
Intruder AlarmNemata, Grove Guardian

Intruder AlarmNemata, Grove Guardian

Infinite LTB; Infinite ETB; Infinite sacrifice triggers; Infinite death triggers; Infinite creature tokens; Infinite untap of creatures; Infinite mana creatures you control can produce; Infinite power and toughness for certain creatures until end of turn; Infinite untap of creatures you control

View on Commander Spellbook ↗

Price Context

Current price

$0.34 bulk tier

At $0.34, Nemata, Grove Guardian is firmly bulk — easy to pick up in trade binders or as a throw-in. Bulk rares with clear Commander homes tend to hold a floor around this price rather than crater further, so there's no reason to hesitate on acquiring copies.

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Sources

Mentioned

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Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.