Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth + Life and Limb + Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite

3-card combo · GW

Verdict

Yes — this 3-card lock strips every land from opponents' boards and prevents them from playing new ones.

Cards required

Cheapest stack total

$20.06

Color identity

Popularity

320 decks

Format

Commander

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Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth makes all lands Forests, which feeds Life and Limb's static ability to turn every land into a 1/1 Saproling creature. Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite then hands every creature opponents control -2/-2, dropping all their lands to -1/-1 and killing them as state-based actions — including any land played afterward. Green-white stax and hatebear shells running Sisay, Weatherlight Captain or Atraxa, Praetors' Voice have the easiest time assembling and protecting all three pieces.

How it works

Prerequisites

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Steps

Yavimaya causes all lands to be Forests in addition to their other types, thus Life and Limb causes all lands to be 1/1 Saproling creatures.
Because Elesh Norn gives all creatures your opponents control -2/-2, they die as a state-based action due to having less than zero toughness.
Whenever an opponent plays a land, it will also die as a state-based action.

Result

Destroy all lands opponents control; Destroy all lands that enter the battlefield under an opponent's control; Lock; Mass Land Denial

Cheaper, tighter, alternate lines

Elesh Norn is the hardest piece to replace since the -2/-2 anthem is load-bearing; Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines doesn't replicate it. Massacre Girl or Overrun effects won't lock the board the same way, so treat Elesh Norn as non-negotiable here. The combo wins through land denial, not direct damage — a closer like Triumph of the Hordes or Craterhoof Behemoth finishes the game once opponents are mana-starved.

Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth + Life and Limb + Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite

How it works

Cheaper, tighter, alternate lines

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