Flash Foliage

Instant

Play Flash Foliage only during combat after blockers are declared.

Put a 1/1 green Saproling creature token into play blocking target creature attacking you.

Draw a card.

Tokens

• Saproling 1/1 G

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (11)

ellie-is on Ellie's Saprolings

3 years ago

HalbrechtHalbrecht: Thank you for the very detailed comment!!

Sprout is just sadly not good enough! I used to run it back when I also ran Parallel Lives and I think that's the only case where it's worth it - one mana for two creatures (making it slightly better than Tukatongue Thallid, which's that but over multiple turns). Otherwise, it's a 1/1 with flash and nothing else, which... Well, for comparison lets look at Spectral Sailor. It's blue, arguably the worst type for competitively costed creatures, and not only it has flash, but it also has flying, card draw, and two types with a lot of tribal support. And yet it's still a super cheap common that doesn't see play. So getting a card that does one third of that, in a green deck, not that great. If I'm making Saprolings I want to make more than one per card, so while Sprout is a nice card, it doesn't make the cut. (that said, I kinda wanna build a casual spirit deck with a playset of spectral sailor now)

You're right about Tukatongue Thallid's primary purpose, but it ended up not being relevant often enough to the point where I actually haven't missed it at all since I removed it! Which's why it's important that its replacement needed to be clearly doing more than it was.

I like Fists of Ironwood a lot, it's of course worse than Saproling Migration or even Krenko's Command, but it's what we have when we can get to make 2 Saprolings for 2 mana and have four migrations already, haha. Getting 2-for-1'd is definitely a risk, but I think it's worth it despite that, especially if I stick to my rule of never enchanting my own creature if I can help it. That said, as soon as they release something that can fulfill its purpose of getting as many Saprolings as possible out of a single card for a reasonable mana cost, I'll be sure to replace it.

I used to have Druid's Deliverance on the sideboard (and even the mainboard way back in the day), but it was just so rare for it to be giving me a significant enough advantage compared to other cards I could have. People tend to agree that Fogs aren't a good idea outside of casual environments and I have a hard time arguing with them (though I do love seeing a well played Fog in a kitchen table, lol). Populate is nice, but it ends up being a small bonus in a Saproling deck. You get a lot more out of it when you're doubling Rhinos or Wurms. (I do love that new art, though!)

Flash Foliage is a mix of Sprout and Druid's deliverance - but it's a weaker fog effect, and the saproling is almost always going to die. Drawing a card is nice, but the whole thing is a little too situational for me. Cards that require opponents to do a specific thing are a gamble, and they need a really good payoff to be worth it. And even if this let me make that Saproling and draw a card outside of combat, I'd probably not be sure about whether or not to run it, and that helps me realize that since it's worse than the hypothetical version I still might not run, I probably don't want to run it as it actually is.

Pallid Mycoderm is an interesting one! It's been so long since I gave spore counter fungus any consideration, that I hadn't thought about this particular card since before the deck was even white, haha. I'm going to do some serious thinking about it! I'm always wary of sacrificing tokens but it might be worth it.

Thanks again for everything! I'm always happy when people pay attention to my decks and look at them closely. And the world of Magic needs more unique builds, heh. Nothing wrong with wanting to win tournaments and play top tier decks, but... well, unique decks are a lot more fun!

HalbrechtHalbrecht on Ellie's Saprolings

3 years ago

As promised!

Honestly, I can tell you've put a lot of thought into working and reworking this deck a ton, so I don't really have much to add. I agree with your decision to avoid black, since there's only 2 maybe 3 saproling-specific cards that are worth running. I'm not sure it would actually improve the deck all that much.

I am curious, though: Perhaps I missed your reasoning in one of the archived comments (I only read through the ones currently on the page), but why aren't you running Sprout? I saw you mention it in a comment, so you've clearly already thought about it (how couldn't you have!). But you also mentioned wanting a replacement for Tukatongue Thallid, whose primary purpose I presume was to be an early blocker that resulted in the more relevant Saproling. Obviously, two creatures from one card is better than Sprout's one creature, but that one creature IS the desired creature, and you can get it at instant speed, which has its advantages in Modern. So feel free to point me to a previous comment if you've already detailed your reasoning, but if not, I'd love to hear it.

I'd personally consider trying Sprout in place of Fists of Ironwood. In the few playtests I did of this deck, the very issue you were concerned about with Fists kept happening. The target creature would get Path'd or Bolt'd in response to the aura, which was devastating tempo and card disadvantage. Getting two saprolings out of one card is better than one saproling from one card, but one saproling is better than zero saprolings. ;)

I'm also curious what your thoughts on Druid's Deliverance are as a sideboard card. I could see it being good against fast aggro decks. One issue in that matchup is having to use your early saprolings as blockers, keeping you from building up your saproling army. That also limits your ability to get ahead, since you rely on Convoke so heavily. Deliverance allows you to negate all that aggro damage (basically time walking your opponent in that style of deck) while also advancing your board. And since it doesn't prevent combat damage to creatures, you still have the option, if you decide to take it, of blocking a key creature to kill it off.

In a similar vein, there's Flash Foliage. Now, I don't actually think it's as good a card as the other options you have, but there is one niche case that's worth mentioning. If you find yourself facing decks with a lot of creatures you can't block (flyers, or outright "can't be blocked"), Foliage actually allows you to block them with the saproling (as long as they don't have hexproof/shroud, obviously). Since you're not actually declaring the saproling as a blocker, it's not illegal. It's also worth noting that if you don't want to lose the flashed-in saproling as a blocker, you can cast it in the "end of combat" step after damage has already been done, since whatever creature(s) was attacking you is still considered to be attacking. The only reason this card might even be a consideration for me is the "draw a card" clause, which is nothing to sneeze at.

Finally, one other honorable mention: 1x-2x Pallid Mycoderm (for its last ability, not the spore counters). I just like it as a finisher. Imagine you have 6 saprolings in play and one anthem effect, while your opponent has a couple blockers, then you play this dude and go to combat. Without Mycoderm, you'd get 4 2/2s through for 8 damage, but with Mycoderm out, you can sac the blocked saprolings to turn the others into 4/4s and push 16 damage through. Assuming they've fetched and shocked themselves once or twice, that's game-winning damage. At the very least, it makes combat math very difficult for your opponent, often giving them less good blocks.

Anyways, fun deck! It's cool to see unique builds like this! +1

xjewgambitx on Card creation challenge

3 years ago

Mirrored Combat

Instant

Cast this spell only during combat after blockers are declared.

Create a creature token that is a copy of target creature that is attacking you. The token blocks that creature. Exile the token at the end of combat.

---

I modeled this blue fight spell as a combination of Mirror Mockery and Flash Foliage.

Make a Green White Zombie commander

Doritoboy100 on Deck help Oko+Simic guild+simic mutology …

4 years ago

Hello all, I have been playing with the Oko structure deck, that I updated using Affinity For MTG's youtube video, and just bought the Simic Mutology structure deck as well as the Simic Guild Kit, as well as some booster pack cards. I'm trying to combine them into a 75 card deck, with 15 cards I know to take out for 60. Based off the cards in these 3 decks I'd like to build the deck around a constant flow of powerful monsters through the +1/+1 counters, as well as overloading on mana and drawing a lot. Some of the main points of damage right now are Oko who can just turn everything into a base 10/10 and distribute lots of +1/+1s, vorel who can double somethings counters, zegana who gives trample, galloping lizrog which can take all the +1/+1s and double them onto himself, nylea's forerunner for trample, progenitors mimic and miming slime to make clones, and wild born preserver for reach and his +1/+1s. But I also have things like coiling oracle/fathom mage to draw a lot, and gyre sage/maraleaf pixie for tons of mana. So I'd like to just find a good strategy in this mess lol.

The total card list of everything I will have is: (stuff with "x" seems important to me) Creatures: 1 Oko, the Tricksterx, 1 Vorel of the Hull Cladex, 1 Zegana, Utopian Speakerx, 1 Momir Vig, Simic Visionaryx, 2 Cloudfin Raptor, 4 Coiling Oraclex, 1 Cytoplast Root-Kin, 1 Elusive Krasis, 4 Faerie Vandalx, 1 Fathom Magex, 1 Frilled Mysticx, 1 Galloping Lizrogx, 1 Gyre Sagex, 4 Keeper of Fablesx, 3 Maraleaf Pixiex, 1 Nimbus Swimmer, 1 Nylea's Forerunnerx, 3 Paradise Druid, 2 Plaxmantax, 1 Progenitor Mimicx, 1 Protean Hulkx, 3 Spectral Sailorx, 4 Sphinx of Foresight, 2 Surveilling Sprite, 1 Trygon Predator, 2 Vigean Graftmage, 3 Vigean Hydropon, 1 Wildborn Preserverx, 2 Zameck Guildmagex,

Instants: 1 Applied Biomancyx, 1 Disdainful Strokex, 1 Gift of Strengthx, 2 Oko's Hospitalityx, 3 Optx, 1 Prying Eyes, 1 Quenchx, 1 Radical Ideax, 2 Rapid Hybridization, 1 Return of the Wildspeakerx, 1 Voidslime,

Sorcery: 2 Flash Foliagex, 1 Maximize Altitudex, 1 Miming Slimex, 1 Selective Snarex, 2 Shielding Plaxx, 1 Urban Evolutionx,

Enchantments: 3 Charmed Sleepx, 3 Frogifyx, 2 Setessan Trainingx,

Artifacts: 2 Simic Signet,

Land: 4 Simic Growth Chamberx, 4 Simic Guildgate, 4 Thornwood Fallsx, X Forestx, X Islandx

Thanks!

ClockworkSwordfish on how does Menace interact with …

4 years ago

This is also why Trap Runner or even Flash Foliage can still stop Greven! Menace means it takes two blockers for the opponent to declare "I block him" the old-fashioned way, but as soon as that point has successfully passed, he is considered blocked from that point on. Thus, anything that circumvents the usual Declare Blockers step will work just fine.

SniperFrog on Oh God All These Weeds

6 years ago

Ok. Looks like you are on a budget, so I will break down suggestions based on price. I like what you have so far, and the number one place you could work on is in the lands, I think. I recommend dropping Vivid Grove and Vivid Marsh. They are much too slow and in 2 colors i think that the fixing isnt really that important. I also recommend dropping Terramorphic Expanse, Evolving Wilds, Golgari Guildgate, Jungle Hollow. Like I said before, these are maybe too slow. Id almost play basics over most of these. Imagine having the best hand ever. Turn 4 win. But two tap lands. Thatd ruin the experience. Try something like Woodland Cemetery, City of Brass, Mana Confluence, Command Tower, Exotic Orchard, Overgrown Tomb, Llanowar Wastes, Twilight Mire, and Tendo Ice Bridge could even be options for you. Most of these are not that high priced right now, with exception to Twilight Mire and Overgrown Tomb, and could easily be fit into your budget. My earliest mistake was thinking that my mana base could be upgraded later and I just wanted sweet new cards.

Now I think Ill make a few general suggestions as far as a cutlist goes:

I think Flash Foliage, while being a mainline on flavor, is a not great card with limited use. You need to have a creature attacking you to even cast it, so I feel it will be dead almost 98 percent of the time. Maybe something like Harmonize, to get that extra card advantage, could be something to replace it with.

Sprout has the same fantastic flavor that I think you're looking for, but it falls short in a couple ways. It's important to remember that sacrifices will need to be made in the flavor department in order to tune you deck to a more competitive state. While I would cut this one myself, I can see it if you had wanted to keep it. I think if it was up to me, I'd look at something like Awakening Zone or Ophiomancer. Not on your flavor, but cheap and efficient token generators that can generate lots of value. And value wins games. Shoutout to non budget Bitterblossom, one of the best cards in this category ever printed. Highly recommended.

A few cards are awesome, but I feel there could be a few upgrades made. Id cut Shapers' Sanctuary, Morbid Bloom, Verdeloth the Ancient, Wretched Confluence, Viridian Emissary, maybe Eldrazi Monument,and terastadon. I'd be looking at options like Fecundity, Parallel Lives, Night's Whisper, Protean Hulk, Beast Within, Pernicious Deed, I personally love Imp's Mischief, Crop Rotation, Fellwar Stone, Thran Dynamo is a card, Ashnod's Altar should def be here. I could keep going, but I built that deck already, lol.

Other suggestions are Mana Vault, Chrome Mox, and Dark Ritual if you are feeling cheeky. Just for some more fast mana. Less budget, but very good. I alsrecommend adding the Rings of Brighthearth+Basalt Monolith infinite mana combo, as it generates infinite tokens with ol' mushroom mouth.

I hope you find this helpful and I'm sorry if I came off too strong there. Love the deck though, that flavor is on point. +1 my friend. I hope you have fun with it when ol' boy is released. Look at my deck here for more ideas.

Tyrant-Thanatos on How would a card with …

6 years ago

Yeah, creatures that are entering the battlefield via Ninjutsu are already entering the battlefield tapped, Sunwing won't do anything to change that.

The thing is, a creature has to be untapped in order to be declared as an attacker, but it does not have to be untapped to be attacking. (Same for blocking), any sort of effect that causes a creature to be attacking or blocking will not care if the creature is tapped or not. Another example would be say, you have a Sunwing out, you attack, and your opponent casts Flash Foliage. Their saproling would enter the battlefield tapped, but it would still be blocking, because they didn't actually declare it as a blocker, an effect caused it to be blocking.

Conflykt on Rith Asks You for Another Playmat

6 years ago

My opinion, mana flexibility and sac outlet is better than a one shot saproling and card draw. That being said, I'd swap out Flash Foliage. To me, the card didn't age well. Other cards costing similar can do much more. If the card created a token for each creature attacking you or attacking any opponent and not specifically you... I'd be more on the fence about it.