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Wayward Swordtooth

Creature — Dinosaur

Ascend (If you control ten or more permanents, you get the city's blessing for the rest of the game.)
You may play an additional land on each of your turns.
This creature can't attack or block unless you have the city's blessing.

CMC
3
Mana cost
{2}{G}
Color identity
G
Rarity
rare
Set
Secret Lair Drop
Price
$20.03
EDHREC rank
#936
Buy on TCGplayer
Wayward Swordtooth card art
Wayward Swordtooth puts an extra land into play every turn — the kind of acceleration that compounds fast — but the ascend restriction means it's effectively a 5/5 body that can't attack or block until you hit ten permanents, which in most Commander games happens by turn four or five anyway. The payoff is real: landfall decks and Dinosaur synergy shells both want this, and the Glacial Chasm interaction (replaying it each turn to waive the upkeep cost) is a known engine. Owen Grady, Raptor Trainer // Blue, Loyal Raptor runs it in nearly two-thirds of all builds for good reason.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Owen Grady, Raptor TrainerBlue, Loyal Raptor

Owen Grady, Raptor Trainer // Blue, Loyal Raptor

64.1% of decks · synergy 0.58

Owen Grady, Raptor Trainer // Blue, Loyal Raptor wants every Dinosaur it can find, and Wayward Swordtooth pulls double duty as a tribe member that also accelerates into the deck's expensive curve — 64% inclusion rate makes it close to a staple.

02
Pantlaza, Sun-Favored

Pantlaza, Sun-Favored

69.2% of decks · synergy 0.57

Pantlaza, Sun-Favored's discover triggers get better the faster you flood the board with Dinosaurs, and Wayward Swordtooth's extra land drop each turn means you're casting discovered threats a full turn earlier than opponents expect.

03
Gishath, Sun's Avatar

Gishath, Sun's Avatar

61.5% of decks · synergy 0.49

Gishath, Sun's Avatar costs eight mana, so every source of acceleration is load-bearing — Wayward Swordtooth hitting the table on turn three means Gishath can arrive as early as turn five, and the 5/5 body is a legal Dinosaur for any tribal payoffs.

04
Ghalta, Primal Hunger

Ghalta, Primal Hunger

46.5% of decks · synergy 0.40

Ghalta, Primal Hunger's cost reduction cares about power on the battlefield, and Wayward Swordtooth contributes five power toward that discount the turn it lands, often shaving two or three mana off Ghalta's cost on its own.

05
The Gitrog, Ravenous Ride

The Gitrog, Ravenous Ride

33.5% of decks · synergy 0.32

The Gitrog, Ravenous Ride triggers on lands entering the battlefield, so Wayward Swordtooth's bonus land drop each turn is an extra trigger every upkeep — that steady card advantage stacks quickly over a long game.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

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

Wayward Swordtooth is legal in Commander, Legacy, Modern, Pioneer, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but Commander is where it actually sees play. In 60-card formats the ascend condition is a genuine liability — ten permanents is a late-game state, and a 5/5 that can't swing until then doesn't compete with the tempo Modern and Pioneer demand. Legacy and Vintage have access to faster and more broken land-acceleration engines, so Wayward Swordtooth doesn't crack those formats either. Commander is the natural home: games go long enough that city's blessing arrives quickly, the extra land drop is worth a card slot in any landfall or ramp shell, and the 5/5 body is relevant on a board crowded with permanents.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Budget Alternatives

Cheaper options that do most of the same work

Azusa, Lost but Seeking does the same extra-land-drop job without an ascend restriction, but she costs significantly more and is a smaller body that dies to a stiff breeze. If you want a budget path, Explore and Wayward Swordtooth are actually complementary rather than interchangeable — the closest true substitute is Loyal Warhound or Explore effects, but nothing in the sub-$5 range replicates a repeatable extra land drop on a 5/5 body; you're trading consistency for a lower price tag.

Price Context

Current price

$20.03 premium tier

At $20.03, Wayward Swordtooth sits firmly in premium single territory — expensive for a three-mana creature, but the Dinosaur tribal demand from multiple high-volume commanders keeps the floor elevated. It's a played card in a deep niche rather than a speculative spike, so the price reflects genuine demand rather than hype.

Explore

Sources

Mentioned

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