Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth + Living Lands + Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite

3-card combo · GW

Verdict

Yes — these three permanents together strip all opponent lands from the battlefield immediately and lock out every land drop they make afterward.

Cards required

Cheapest stack total

$21.10

Color identity

Popularity

265 decks

Format

Commander

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Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth makes every land a Forest, which lets Living Lands animate them all into 1/1 creatures. Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite then applies -2/-2 to every creature opponents control, dropping all those animated lands to -1/-1 and killing them as a state-based action — and any land an opponent plays from that point forward dies the same way on entry. This sits in green-white stax shells built around Sisay, Weatherlight Captain or Atraxa, Praetors' Voice, where all three pieces are tutorable and the lock closes games rather than just slowing them.

How it works

Prerequisites

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Steps

Yavimaya causes all lands to be Forests in addition to their other types, thus Living Lands causes all lands to be 1/1 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; anything that doesn't hit exactly -2/-2 to opponents' creatures leaves the lands alive as 1/1s. If the table answers Living Lands, Kormus Bell does identical work alongside Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth — swap the pair in if the enchantment slot is contested. The lock is total but doesn't kill opponents directly, so pair it with a clock like Serra Ascendant or Craterhoof Behemoth to actually close the game.

Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth + Living Lands + Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite

How it works

Cheaper, tighter, alternate lines

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