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Pojo's Magic The Gathering
Card of the Day

Daily Since November 2001!

Ivy Lane Denizen
Image from Wizards.com

 Ivy Lane Denizen
- Gatecrash

Reviewed March 7, 2013

Constructed: 2.63
Casual: 3.50
Limited: 3.25
Multiplayer: 3.13

Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale
1 being the worst.  3 ... average.  
5 is the highest rating

Click here to see all of our 
Card of the Day Reviews 

BMoor

Ivy Lane Denizen

Green in this block is all about the +1/+1 counters. The Simic love to throw down counters when creatures enter the battlefield, but this doesn't work with Evolve as well as you may think. You certainly can use Ivy Lane Denizen's ability to put a counter on the green creature that just came into play, but the game will still see its original power and toughness, so you can't use the Denizen to trigger Evolve when it otherwise wouldn't trigger. You could load up extra counters onto a Gyre Sage or Simic Manipulator, or just watch it grow itself as a poor man's Juniper Order Ranger.

Any deck able to get good use out of this would have to be monogreen, and mid-range or control since it's not aggro enough. In Commander, decks like Ghave, Guru of Spores and Chorus of the Conclave can easily make room for this guy.

Constructed- 2
Casual- 4
Limited- 3
Multiplayer- 3.5

David Fanany

Player since 1995

Ivy Lane Denizen

This guy is exactly the kind of card that makes me wish that there weren't cards that were pushed so hard for constructed. By almost any assessment, giving a creature a permanent bonus when doing something that you wanted to do anyway is good. If he ends up being overshadowed, it's not his fault. Then again, all Huntmaster of the Fells does is beat down (literally and figuratively); this guy comes basically pre-printed with friends and combo pieces all across Magic. Try him with Rampaging Baloths.

Constructed: 2/5
Casual: 3/5
Limited: 3/5
Multiplayer: 3/5

Michael "Maikeruu" Pierno

Today's card of the day is Ivy Lane Denizen which is a four mana Green
2/3 that puts a +1/+1 counter on a target creature whenever another Green creature enters the battlefield under your control. The cost is a little high, but this can support Simic, Selesnya, or many token themes with even moderate mana acceleration. The main benefit is how this can combine with other effects that either work with counters, produce tokens, or both. For competitive decks this probably won't see much play and instead it will be seen more in Casual or Commander builds.

In Limited this can be surprisingly effective card for the Simic guild as it is large enough to trigger creatures when it comes into play and can feed counters on to effect creatures or help power up a potential finisher. The cost is not unmanageable and the one Green is flexible for decks with more than two colors, though the value decreases with every non-Green creature. While not a first or second pick in Booster it is a decent supporter that should be picked up when on color and should always be included in heavily Green decks in Sealed.

Constructed: 2.5
Casual: 3.0
Limited: 3.0
Multiplayer: 3.0

John
Shultis
Phoenix
Gaming

Welcome back to green week here at Pojo.com's Card of the Day section. We have been reviewing some green themed cards all week to bring in March, and we continue today with Ivy Lane Denizen from Gatecrash. Ivy Lane Denizen is a common green creature elf warrior that costs three generic and one green mana for a 2/3. Ivy Lane Denizen says that whenever another green creature enters the battlefield under your control, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature.

Ivy Lane Denizen is just incredible, but perhaps not so spectacular in Standard. While in Standard, it is amazing. Being able to pump your Evolve creatures or pump another colored creature that is bigger, and bigger is better. Cards such as Gyre Sage and Fathom Mage love having Ivy Lane Denizen to target them. And even Primordial Hydra would enjoy getting another counter or two to double again next turn.

But the true reason I love Ivy Lane Denizen is for one reason only. And this should blow your mind! One word. Mycoloth. With Mycoloth, you devoured some creatures when you played him, got some +1/+1 counters on him, and then at the beginning of your turn, you gain 1/1 green Saproling creatures equal to the number of +1/+1 counters on him. You see where this is going, right? If not, I'll explain. That is a lot of GREEN creatures entering the battlefield. And Ivy Lane Denizen triggers for each of them. So that is a lot of +1/+1 counters to put somewhere. I think that Mycoloth is a good target. Now next turn, you get twice as many 1/1 GREEN Saprolings, which means twice the activation's for Ivy Lane Denizen. And now I'm sure you see where this is going.

For added shenanigans, if running a Legacy Simic deck is your idea of fun. Take the combo above a step further by adding in Paradox Haze and really watch your opponent cringe!

Constructed: 4/5
Casual: 4/5
Limited: 4/5
Multiplayer: 3/5


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