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Sylvan Safekeeper

Creature — Human Wizard

Sacrifice a land: Target creature you control gains shroud until end of turn. (It can't be the target of spells or abilities.)

CMC
1
Mana cost
{G}
Color identity
G
Rarity
rare
Set
Commander 2014
Price
$10.03
EDHREC rank
#777
Buy on TCGplayer
Sylvan Safekeeper card art
Sylvan Safekeeper turns excess lands into instant-speed hexproof for any creature you control, making it nearly impossible for opponents to land targeted removal at the right moment. The cost is real — sacrificing lands is not free — but in any deck that wants lands in the graveyard, like Titania, Protector of Argoth or anything running Shifting Woodland, that cost is a feature, not a drawback.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

02
Lumra, Bellow of the Woods

Lumra, Bellow of the Woods

73.5% of decks · synergy 0.63

Lumra, Bellow of the Woods cares deeply about lands entering the graveyard, and Sylvan Safekeeper converts a removal spell aimed at any key piece into free fuel for Lumra's mill-and-reanimate engine.

03
The Gitrog Monster

The Gitrog Monster

65.0% of decks · synergy 0.61

The Gitrog Monster draws a card for each land that dies, so Sylvan Safekeeper's activations chain directly into card advantage — and in the combo line, it's a critical piece for keeping the Monster alive through interaction.

04
Hearthhull, the Worldseed

Hearthhull, the Worldseed

61.0% of decks · synergy 0.50

Hearthhull, the Worldseed rewards piling lands into the graveyard, and Sylvan Safekeeper provides a low-cost repeatable way to feed that count while protecting whatever creature matters most at any given moment.

05
Hazezon, Shaper of Sand

Hazezon, Shaper of Sand

53.7% of decks · synergy 0.49

Hazezon, Shaper of Sand scales off Desert count and land drops, and Sylvan Safekeeper helps protect Hazezon itself from the targeted removal that would otherwise shut down the entire token engine before it generates value.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

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

Commander is the primary home for Sylvan Safekeeper — one-mana creatures that generate repeatable, instant-speed hexproof are exactly the kind of protection effect that multiplayer games punish you for not running. In Legacy, it sees fringe play in lands-based strategies and Maverick builds where protecting a threat while feeding the graveyard is worth a slot, though it competes hard for that space. Vintage is legal but the card is essentially irrelevant there — the format's threats and answers operate at a different axis entirely. Sylvan Safekeeper is not legal in Pioneer or Standard, and Pauper excludes it by rarity.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Budget Alternatives

Cheaper options that do most of the same work

Swiftfoot Boots and Lightning Greaves both grant hexproof at one or two mana without asking you to sacrifice lands, making them the most common substitutes when Sylvan Safekeeper is out of budget. The trade-off is significant though — neither triggers land-graveyard synergies, neither is a creature, and both require equipping rather than activating at instant speed from the battlefield, which means they're slower and easier to disrupt in the moment that matters.

Price Context

Current price

$10.03 mid tier

At $10.03, Sylvan Safekeeper sits in the mid tier — notable enough to budget for, not so expensive that it warrants a second thought if you're building a land-matters deck where it earns its slot. The card has a narrow but extremely loyal audience, which keeps the price stable; it's unlikely to spike or crater absent a major reprint.

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Sources

Mentioned

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