Premodern Oath of Druids Deck Guide (2026)
Premodern Oath of Druids (Oath Ponza) is a green-white prison deck: Sphere of Resistance and Wasteland squeeze the mana, and Oath finds Terravore for free. Rishadan Port, Thermokarst and Winter's Grasp complete the prison, and in most lists Terravore is the only creature. That separates it from Terrageddon, which also plays Terravore and Mox Diamond but runs a dozen creatures and Armageddon. Since September Oath holds about 5 percent of the MTGTop8 lists (lists up to October 20, 2026), eighth among the decks with a guide here. Claire Ackerman reached the top four of the North American Championship at Lobstercon in May, Victor Silotto the top eight of the 225-player Brazil Nationals on August 23, and Shroomboy won the 125-player Buckeye Brawl II in Columbus, Ohio, on September 12 with the Cataclysm build.
How the deck wins
- Attack the mana first. Sphere of Resistance makes every spell cost {1} more, yours too, but it hurts you less: your manlands attack without casting a spell, and Oath puts Terravore onto the battlefield without casting it. Rishadan Port taps one of their lands for {1}, and together with Sphere it can keep an opponent off three-mana spells for several turns, while Wasteland takes their best nonbasic land.
- Oath of Druids triggers on each upkeep and targets a player who controls more creatures than the active player, so with only four creatures in the whole deck it is almost always live for you against creature decks, and live for them only once you control more creatures, usually after your Terravore is out. Elephant tokens from a main-deck Call of the Herd count as creatures too. The trigger is optional: you may reveal cards until you reveal a creature card, put it onto the battlefield and put the rest into your graveyard.
- Terravore is the payoff: its power and toughness each equal the number of land cards in all graveyards. The lands Oath reveals, your own fetch lands and Wastelands, the land discarded to Mox Diamond and the opponent's destroyed lands all count, so it keeps growing while the prison holds.
- Against opponents with no creatures, Oath of Druids does nothing, so the manlands and a cast Terravore have to win. After boarding most players take the Oaths out for Call of the Herd and Glowrider, since with their own creatures out, Oath would trigger for the opponent.
- Most lists are green-white with Mox Diamond, Windswept Heath and often Brushland, and about half add a main-deck Naturalize. Since September about a fifth splash black for Vindicate off Gemstone Mine and City of Brass, and just as many play Cataclysm and Call of the Herd instead of Sphere of Resistance and the land destruction, about half of them with Quiet Speculation for the flashback cards. A cheaper build without Mox Diamond plays Wild Growth and Smokestack, since September mostly in green-white with Swords to Plowshares, sometimes in red-green with Karplusan Forest and Earthquake.
Core cards
- 4 Oath of Druids
- 4 Terravore
- 4 Sphere of Resistance
- 4 Mox Diamond
- 4 Swords to Plowshares
- 4 Thermokarst
- 4 Winter's Grasp
- 3 Sylvan Library
- 4 Wasteland
- 4 Rishadan Port
- 4 Treetop Village
- 4 Mishra's Factory
- 4 Windswept Heath
- 4 Brushland
Key cards
- Oath of Druids: Cast on turn two, or on turn one with Mox Diamond, it can put Terravore onto the battlefield in your next upkeep, and on average about eleven other cards go to your graveyard with it, roughly half of them lands. It only targets an opponent who controls more creatures than the player whose upkeep it is, which is why the deck runs almost none.
- Terravore: In more than four of five lists the only creature: a three-mana trampler whose power and toughness equal the number of land cards in all graveyards, so every land Oath reveals, every fetch land, Wasteland and land destruction spell makes it bigger.
- Sphere of Resistance: Every spell costs {1} more for both players, so play Mox Diamond before it, and under your own Sphere Thermokarst and Winter's Grasp cost four. It still hurts the opponent more, since your manlands and the Terravore that Oath finds need no spell.
- Mox Diamond: Costs no mana but a land card from your hand, so a land and a spare land become a turn-one Oath or Sphere, and the discarded land grows Terravore. In nearly nine of ten lists, on the Reserved List and by far the most expensive card in the deck.
- Rishadan Port: For {1} and a tap it taps one of their lands; do it in their upkeep, after they untap, so the land stays tapped for their turn. Together with Sphere of Resistance it can keep an opponent on two or three usable mana for several turns.
- Wasteland: Answers Serra's Sanctum, the Urza lands, Gaea's Cradle and every nonbasic in the format, and together with the land it destroys it puts two more land cards into graveyards for Terravore.
- Swords to Plowshares: Answers Phyrexian Dreadnought, Exalted Angel face up or face down, and a reanimated Akroma or Phantom Nishoba. Use it carefully, since removing the opponent's last creature switches off your own Oath.
- Sylvan Library: In almost every list, usually three copies, and the deck's main card selection: draw two extra cards each turn and pay 4 life for each one you keep, or put it back. It digs for the missing Oath, Sphere or land destruction spell.
Mulligan guide
Keep
- Two lands plus Mox Diamond with a third land to discard, and Oath of Druids or Sphere of Resistance to cast on turn one.
- Land-heavy hands with two land destruction spells and a Rishadan Port, even with no Oath, since the prison can win without it.
- Three lands and Sylvan Library, which finds the missing pieces quickly.
Ship
- Oath of Druids with no Sphere, no land destruction and no second green source: a lone Oath against a creatureless opponent is a dead card.
- One-landers unconditionally, even with two Mox Diamond, because Mox Diamond needs a spare land to discard and a one-lander cannot pay it.
- Five or more lands with no action: there is no card advantage engine here beyond Sylvan Library.
Judge a hand by what it does to their mana on turns two and three: one that starts attacking lands on turn two is almost always a keep, with or without Oath.
Play tips and sequencing
- Against a deck without creatures, Oath of Druids on turn two does nothing and only draws out a counterspell or enchantment removal. Cast Sphere of Resistance first and hold Oath until they have a creature.
- Against blue decks, resolve Sphere of Resistance before Oath, so their counterspells cost one more, Daze and Foil included. Under your own Sphere Oath costs three, so cast it when they are low on untapped mana.
- Oath of Druids works for both players: in their upkeep it triggers for them if you control more creatures. Once your Terravore is out, a creature-light opponent gets the trigger in each of their upkeeps and can reveal into their own threat, so against decks with a few big creatures, such as Reanimator, Landstill and BW Control, make sure Terravore wins the race or the Oath is gone. Do not animate a manland while your own Oath trigger is on the stack if they would then no longer control more creatures than you: the trigger checks that again when it resolves.
- Hold Swords to Plowshares until after your upkeep trigger has resolved. Killing their only creature first turns your own Oath off, and they can also stop the trigger by sacrificing their last creature in response.
- Play your Mox Diamond before Sphere of Resistance lands, because the Sphere taxes you too.
- Terravore can shrink: Tormod's Crypt exiles a whole graveyard, Phyrexian Furnace and Withered Wretch exile one card at a time, and with no land card left in any graveyard it dies as a 0/0. Pernicious Deed for three, Smother and Snuff Out kill it at any size.
- The trigger is optional, so decline it when you do not need another Terravore. If no creature card is left in your library, you reveal the whole library, all of it goes to your graveyard, and you lose the next time you would draw.
Matchups
- Stiflenought (even): Sphere of Resistance makes every cantrip and free spell they cast cost one more, and you hold four Swords to Plowshares, but Wasteland is blank against their basic Islands, they counter heavily, and most of their sideboards have Back to Basics for your nonbasic lands. MTGDecks (Oath Ponza): 49 percent over 156 matches.
- Goblins (favorable): Sphere of Resistance taxes every Goblin they cast, Oath of Druids triggers in your upkeep as long as they control more creatures, and Terravore, which grows with every land in the graveyards, blocks and kills one Goblin each combat. Their green lists can destroy Oath with Naturalize or Tranquil Domain, and Goblin Tinkerer or Overload destroys Sphere. MTGDecks (Oath Ponza): 65 percent over 68 matches.
- Sligh (slightly favorable): Terravore blanks their creatures but not their burn, and your Brushlands, fetch lands and nonbasic manlands feed Price of Progress. Sphere of Resistance taxes every burn spell, and Zuran Orb, Sphere of Law and Warmth come in after boarding, though Sulfuric Vortex, main deck in about two thirds of their lists, stops the life from Orb and Warmth. Cursed Totem turns off Grim Lavamancer and Mogg Fanatic. MTGDecks (Oath Ponza): 55 percent over 106 matches.
- Enchantress (favorable): Wasteland on Serra's Sanctum, Thermokarst and Winter's Grasp on the lands under Wild Growth, Rishadan Port and Sphere of Resistance attack their mana, and Aura of Silence and Naturalize come in after boarding. Solitary Confinement prevents all damage from Terravore and its shroud stops Oath of Druids from targeting them, so destroy Confinement first. MTGDecks (Oath Ponza): 60 percent over 78 matches.
- Landstill (favorable): Both decks win with manlands, and only you play land destruction, but their Dust Bowl, in most lists, destroys your nonbasic lands too. Standstill does little against manlands, which attack without casting a spell, and Sphere and Port keep their counter mana short. Their main-deck answers are Disenchant for Oath and Sphere, Powder Keg for Mox Diamond and Sphere, and Humility, in about half their lists, which makes Terravore a 1/1, though a manland you animate after it keeps its size; their Exalted Angel and Decree of Justice tokens turn your Oath on. After boarding expect Meddling Mage and Teferi's Response, which counters land destruction or a Wasteland or Port activation and destroys that Port. MTGDecks: 61 percent over 51 matches.
- Elves (slightly favorable): Wasteland takes Gaea's Cradle, their creature count turns Oath of Druids on in almost every upkeep, and Terravore soon outgrows anything Survival finds, though Masticore, in most lists, can block it and regenerate. Nantuko Vigilante in the main deck, and Naturalize and Tranquil Domain after boarding, answer Oath. Cursed Totem after boarding stops Llanowar Elves, Wirewood Symbiote, Quirion Ranger and Masticore. Limited data: 48 percent over 23 matches.
- Mono Black (favorable): They play creatures, so Oath of Druids puts a Terravore onto the battlefield for you in each of your upkeeps in which they control more creatures, and Sphere of Resistance, Wasteland and Rishadan Port slow their Dark Ritual starts. Their answers are Duress and Cabal Therapy for Oath, Smother, Snuff Out and Diabolic Edict for Terravore, and main-deck Withered Wretch, which exiles land cards to shrink it; against Edict, animate a manland in response and sacrifice it instead. Their Wasteland hits your nonbasic lands, and after boarding Dystopia makes you sacrifice a green or white permanent in each of your upkeeps; animate Treetop Village in response and sacrifice it to keep Oath, Terravore and Sylvan Library. MTGDecks: 58 percent over 74 matches.
- UG Madness (favorable): Terravore grows with every land card in a graveyard, including the lands they discard to Wild Mongrel and Careful Study, and Sphere of Resistance makes every spell cost one more, Basking Rootwalla's madness cost and Daze included. After boarding Cursed Totem shuts off Wild Mongrel and Aquamoeba, their discard outlets for madness, though Careful Study, Frantic Search and Survival of the Fittest still discard. Limited data: 65 percent over 23 matches.
- Replenish (unfavorable): They run no main-deck creatures, so Oath of Druids stays off until Opalescence animates their board. Sphere of Resistance and Wasteland on Ancient Tomb delay Replenish, but they can still go off through your land destruction. Naturalize answers Opalescence or Parallax Wave, and after boarding Aura of Silence and Tormod's Crypt join it; their Tsabo's Web, in most sideboards, keeps your Rishadan Port, Mishra's Factory and Treetop Village tapped. Board the Oaths out. MTGDecks: 20 percent over 46 matches.
- The Rock (even): Pernicious Deed for three sweeps Terravore, Oath, Sphere and Mox Diamond in one card, and Smother kills Terravore whatever its size; against Diabolic Edict, animate Mishra's Factory or Treetop Village in response and sacrifice it instead. Their Walls and threats keep your Oath of Druids live, but you win mostly by attacking their mana: Wasteland, Rishadan Port and Thermokarst hit Llanowar Wastes and Treetop Village, and every land in a graveyard grows Terravore. Limited data: 50 percent over 30 matches.
- Psychatog (unfavorable): A resolved Psychatog switches your Oath on, so they fight the enchantment first: Duress and Counterspell answer Oath of Druids and Sphere of Resistance, and so does Annul, in about a quarter of their main decks and almost every sideboard. Rishadan Port and land destruction punish a deck that plays around twenty lands, mostly basics, so Wasteland finds little beyond Underground River. Smother kills Terravore, and after boarding Control Magic can take it and Tormod's Crypt shrinks it; a big Terravore still outsizes a Psychatog that has not eaten their graveyard. Limited data: 31 percent over 35 matches.
- Reanimator (even): They reanimate on turn two or three, a turn faster than your best draw, but Sphere of Resistance taxes Reanimate, Exhume and Lotus Petal, Wasteland hits City of Brass, Gemstone Mine and Underground River, and their reanimated creature switches your Oath on. Once your Terravore is out and they have no creature, your Oath triggers for them, and their library is full of Akroma and Phantom Nishoba. Swords to Plowshares answers either. After boarding more than half of them bring their own Oath of Druids, which does the same from their side, and you bring Tormod's Crypt. Limited data: 67 percent over 15 matches.
- Tron (favorable): Wasteland destroys an Urza land, Rishadan Port taps another, and Sphere of Resistance taxes their expensive spells, though Tsabo's Web, main deck in about half of the few recorded lists, keeps your Port, Wasteland and manlands from untapping. Their creatures, Decree of Justice tokens and Masticore, turn your Oath on, and Disenchant, Swords to Plowshares and Wrath of God answer Oath and Terravore; after boarding expect Teferi's Response, which counters land destruction or a Wasteland or Port activation and destroys that Port, and Sacred Ground. No match data.
- Clerics (favorable): Their creature count turns Oath of Druids on in almost every upkeep, and Terravore outsizes the tribe, but Duress and Cabal Therapy take Oath before it lands, Smother and Snuff Out kill Terravore, and main-deck Withered Wretch exiles land cards to shrink it. Their Rishadan Port slows your mana, and after boarding Gloom makes Swords to Plowshares cost four and Dystopia makes you sacrifice a green or white permanent in each of your upkeeps, Treetop Village included if you animate it in response. No match data.
- The Solution (even): Their creatures switch Oath on, but they hold Swords to Plowshares for the Terravore it finds, counters and a Meddling Mage that can name the enchantment. Your Wasteland, Rishadan Port, Winter's Grasp and Thermokarst hit their painlands, Shivan Reef and Gemstone Mine, your own Swords handles Lightning Angel and Exalted Angel, and after boarding Cursed Totem stops Mother of Runes and Pyroclasm kills her and Meddling Mage. No match data.
- Dromar Control (even): Their painlands and fetch lands are easy targets for Wasteland and Rishadan Port, but Vindicate, Swords to Plowshares, Mana Leak, Counterspell and Duress answer Oath, Sphere and Terravore, and Meddling Mage can name Oath of Druids. Their Exalted Angel and Meddling Mage turn your Oath on. No match data.
- Deadguy Ale (even): Vindicate and the Disenchant in about half their main decks decide game one, and they will not cast Exalted Angel into an active Oath unless they can answer the Oath first. Swords to Plowshares answers Terravore, Withered Wretch, main deck in most lists, shrinks it, and their Wasteland hits your nonbasic lands. After boarding Seal of Cleansing, more Disenchant, Tormod's Crypt and Aura of Silence arrive; Dystopia, which forces sacrifices without targeting, is rare in their lists and costs them their own white permanents too. No match data.
- Aluren (slightly favorable): Sphere of Resistance makes every creature they cast through Aluren cost one, which breaks their free loops, and Wasteland, Rishadan Port and land destruction hit their green mana. Their creatures turn Oath on for you whenever they have more of them on the battlefield. Once Aluren is out, Swords to Plowshares on a loop creature works best while a Cavern Harpy spell is on the stack. At any other moment Harpy, returned to hand for 1 life and recast, returns Man-o'-War to their hand before Swords resolves, and a recast Man-o'-War returns any other creature, though with Sphere out every recast costs them one mana. Man-o'-War returns your Oath creature and their combo never needs to attack; after boarding expect Naturalize, Uktabi Orangutan and Tsabo's Web. Very limited data: 80 percent over 5 matches.
- Terrageddon (slightly unfavorable): Both decks play Terravore, Mox Diamond, Wasteland and Rishadan Port, so the Terravores are always the same size. Oath is at its best here because they run a dozen creatures, which is why they kill it with Naturalize or Disenchant before committing more. Once Oath is gone, their Armageddon hits a deck whose threats are mostly manlands. MTGDecks (Oath Ponza): 43 percent over 56 matches.
- MUD (unfavorable): Your Wasteland and Rishadan Port hit all 21 of their nonbasic lands, but Mind Stone and Thran Dynamo keep making mana for the lock. Oath is live whenever they deploy a Goblin Welder, which hands you a Terravore at your next upkeep, so they will keep their creature count low. Aura Flux and Shattering Pulse after boarding answer Oath and Sphere. MTGDecks (Tinker Welder): 33 percent over 12 matches, limited data.
- Full English Breakfast (favorable): Sphere of Resistance, Rishadan Port, Wasteland and land destruction meet a five-color mana base of 22 nonbasic lands, and their creature-heavy deck turns Oath of Druids on for you in almost every upkeep. Tormod's Crypt, Aura of Silence and Cursed Totem, which stops Hermit Druid, Wall of Roots and Phyrexian Devourer, come in after boarding, next to your main-deck Swords to Plowshares; expect Naturalize, Uktabi Orangutan, Ray of Revelation and Monk Realist from them. Their Eladamri's Vineyard, main deck in about a quarter of their lists, helps you more than them, so they board it out. Limited data: 64 percent over 39 matches.
- Stasis (unfavorable): Oath of Druids never triggers against a creatureless deck, and land destruction is slow against a deck that returns its own Islands to hand. Your outs are Wasteland on Forsaken City, Rishadan Port on their untapped Island before their upkeep and Sphere of Resistance, which makes Stasis cost three and adds {1} to their Gush, Thwart, Daze and Foil, plus Naturalize, main deck in about half your lists, and Aura of Silence after boarding. MTGDecks (Oath Ponza): 22 percent over 23 matches, limited data.
- White Weenie (favorable): Their creature count turns Oath of Druids on for you every upkeep, and Sphere of Resistance, Thermokarst, Winter's Grasp and Swords slow the rest. They must answer Oath at once with Seal of Cleansing, Disenchant or Aura of Silence, and their Armageddon only makes Terravore bigger. Very limited data: 71 percent over 7 matches.
- BW Control (favorable): Sphere of Resistance, Wasteland, Rishadan Port, Thermokarst and Winter's Grasp keep them short of the six or seven mana Decree of Justice and Eternal Dragon want. Their Exalted Angel turns your Oath on, and Oath works for them too: with Terravore out and no creature of their own, their upkeep can reveal into Exalted Angel or Eternal Dragon. Their Dust Bowl and cycling lands feed Terravore, but Swords to Plowshares, Wrath of God and Vindicate answer it, Vindicate answers the Oath, and Phyrexian Furnace, in most main decks, shrinks Terravore. Expect Aura of Silence, Seal of Cleansing, Tormod's Crypt and Sacred Ground after boarding. MTGDecks (Oath Ponza): 62 percent over 21 matches.
- Gro-a-Tog (favorable): Sphere of Resistance taxes a deck of one-mana spells, Daze and Gush included, and Wasteland, Rishadan Port, Thermokarst and Winter's Grasp go after City of Brass and Gemstone Mine, their only sources for most colors. Their creatures turn Oath of Druids on early, and their Armageddon, main deck in about two thirds of their lists, only makes Terravore bigger. Their outs are Counterspell, Daze or Meddling Mage on the Oath and Swords on Terravore, and after boarding Ray of Revelation, Seal of Cleansing and Tsabo's Web. Limited data: 64 percent over 14 matches.
- Pit Rack (favorable): Their creatures turn Oath of Druids on early, and in game one a mono-black deck cannot destroy the enchantment once it resolves. Sphere of Resistance taxes their cheap spells, and Terravore outsizes everything they play, but Smother and Diabolic Edict kill it, Withered Wretch in some lists shrinks it, and their Wasteland hits your nonbasic lands. After boarding Dystopia makes you sacrifice a green or white permanent in each of your upkeeps; animate Treetop Village in response and sacrifice it to keep Oath, Terravore and Sylvan Library. MTGDecks (Oath Ponza): 74 percent over 19 matches, limited data.
- Rebels (favorable): Their creatures turn Oath of Druids on early, and Terravore usually outsizes what they search for, though Swords to Plowshares exiles it and Defiant Vanguard destroys it when it blocks. Their answers to Oath are Disenchant and Seal of Cleansing, and the blue lists add Counterspell and Mana Leak, so cast Oath when they are tapped out, and let Wasteland, Rishadan Port, Thermokarst and Winter's Grasp cut off the mana their searches need. Expect Aura of Silence after boarding. No match data.
- Contamination (even): Cast Oath of Druids before Contamination: their Nether Spirit and Zombies turn it on, and Terravore usually outsizes everything they have, though Smother and Innocent Blood kill it and Phyrexian Furnace, in most main decks, shrinks it. Under the lock, Oath, Terravore, Swords to Plowshares, your land destruction and Treetop Village need green or white mana that only Mox Diamond still makes, while Mishra's Factory keeps attacking. Sphere of Resistance, Wasteland and Rishadan Port slow their lock down, but their own Wasteland and Port hit your lands too, and their Powder Keg answers Mox Diamond and Sphere. After boarding expect Dystopia. No meaningful match data.
- Turbo Lands (favorable): Wasteland, Thermokarst and Winter's Grasp destroy Glacial Chasm, Rishadan Port taps their green mana, and Sphere of Resistance taxes Exploration, Horn of Greed and Seismic Assault. Every land card they discard to Seismic Assault feeds Terravore. Oath of Druids does nothing while they have no creatures, so cast Terravore yourself, but after boarding most of them bring their own Oath of Druids, which then finds Ancient Hydra or Ancestor's Chosen for them, and Sacred Ground. No match data.
- Fluctuator (slightly favorable): Your land destruction is at its best here: Wasteland and Rishadan Port hit every land they own, Thermokarst and Winter's Grasp take their black source, and Sphere of Resistance makes Fluctuator and Songs of the Damned cost one more. Sphere does not tax cycling, which is an ability, and every land they cycle grows your Terravore. You have no counters, so attack their mana early; Naturalize and Aura of Silence answer Fluctuator after boarding. No match data.
- RG Zoo (favorable): Zoo has to commit creatures, so Oath of Druids is live from the turn it lands, and Sphere of Resistance doubles the cost of their one-drops. Their outs are speed and main-deck Naturalize, two in most lists, for Oath or Sphere; Treetop Village attacks without being a creature in your upkeep, and their burn goes to your face, where Brushlands, fetchlands and Sylvan Library help them. Cursed Totem stops Mogg Fanatic and Grim Lavamancer, and Zuran Orb comes in against the burn; expect Tranquil Domain and Hull Breach. MTGDecks (Oath Ponza): 64 percent over 33 matches.
- Zombies (favorable): They nearly always control more creatures, so Oath of Druids can put a Terravore onto the battlefield in each of your upkeeps, and Sphere of Resistance makes their one-drops cost two. Their answers are Duress and Cabal Therapy for Oath, Snuff Out for Terravore and Withered Wretch, which exiles land cards to shrink it. Terravore walls the ground, so expect them to finish with Shepherd of Rot and Gempalm Polluter, which make you lose life without attacking. After boarding, Dystopia makes you sacrifice Oath, Terravore or Sylvan Library in each of your upkeeps, so keep Naturalize for it. No match data.
Sideboard guide
- vs Creatureless control and combo: Replenish, Landstill, Stasis and Tron: Call of the Herd, Glowrider. Against these four, take out every Oath of Druids and bring creatures: with Elephant tokens or Glowrider on your side, your own Oath would trigger for them, and Landstill and Tron, like Replenish after boarding, have Exalted Angel or Masticore to find. Call of the Herd, in about seven of ten sideboards and in the main deck of some lists, makes two 3/3s from one card. Glowrider makes every noncreature spell cost one more, your own included: Call of the Herd, Swords to Plowshares and the land destruction, though not Terravore.
- vs Enchantment and artifact decks: Enchantress, Replenish, Stasis and MUD: Naturalize, Aura of Silence, Tranquil Domain. Naturalize is in four of five sideboards on top of the main-deck copies. Aura of Silence makes their artifacts and enchantments cost two more and sacrifices to destroy one. Tranquil Domain destroys every non-Aura enchantment at instant speed, including your own Oath and Sylvan Library.
- vs Sligh and burn: Zuran Orb, Sphere of Law, Warmth. Zuran Orb is in more than half of sideboards: sacrifice a land for 2 life, and every land you sacrifice grows Terravore. The white builds add Sphere of Law and Warmth. Sulfuric Vortex stops the life from Orb and Warmth, but each land you sacrifice still grows Terravore.
- vs Creature decks with activated abilities: Goblins, Elves, UG Madness, Clerics and Sligh: Cursed Totem, Pyroclasm. Cursed Totem stops every activated ability of a creature: Goblin Sharpshooter and Siege-Gang Commander, Grim Lavamancer and Mogg Fanatic, the mana elves and Wirewood Symbiote, Dark Supplicant, and above all Wild Mongrel and Aquamoeba, UG Madness's creature discard outlets, which leaves them Careful Study, Frantic Search, Foil in some lists and, in the Survival lists, Survival of the Fittest. It turns off Psychatog's pump too. Pyroclasm is for the red builds only. Keep every Oath in these matchups.
- vs Graveyard decks: Reanimator and Full English Breakfast: Tormod's Crypt. In about a third of sideboards. Point it carefully: exiling lands out of a graveyard shrinks your own Terravore.
Budget and upgrades
Typical cost: $1,400–$6,200. The reference list (bocci, 5-0 in an MTGO Premodern League, 21 September) costs about $5,100 with its sideboard at the Premodern-era printings tracked here, and three Mox Diamond are $3,360 of that. Lists with the fourth Mox cost about $6,200. Mox Diamond is on the Reserved List, so it will not be reprinted.
- The engine costs about $30 a card: four Oath of Druids about $127, four Terravore about $107, four Sphere of Resistance about $141, three Sylvan Library about $103.
- The cheapest competitive build is red-green without Mox Diamond: Wild Growth for acceleration, Smokestack and Earthquake, Karplusan Forest and Wooded Foothills. werdwood93 reached the Top 4 of an MTGO Premodern Challenge with it on 19 September for about $1,890 with sideboard.
- Play basic Forests instead of Wooded Foothills (about $120 each) and that build costs about $1,400. Since September the same plan also runs in green-white, with Brushland, Windswept Heath and two or three Swords to Plowshares: Risto Sarja made the top eight of the 61-player Finland Nationals with it on October 3, for about $1,620.
- Keep Rishadan Port (about $105 each) and Wasteland (about $47 each), since the prison depends on them.
- For the green-white build add Windswept Heath (about $86 each) and Mox Diamond (about $1,120 each) last.
Every deck that costs under $500 with reprints is on our budget decks page, priced from a real tournament list.
