Live Play Data

Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth

Legendary Land · Modern Horizons 2 (MH2)

Live Inclusion

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Times Brought

701

Decks Running

387

Median Cast Turn

5.0

Drawn → Played

78%

Format

Multiplayer 1v1

78% of drawn Yavimaya copies are played before the game ends, and decks that resolve it win 33% of the time versus 23% when it never leaves the library.

Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth sits in 7% of tracked Commander decks on Playgroup Live. It appears in 387 of the 5381 distinct decks that have logged a game, making it a niche but deliberate inclusion rather than a format-wide staple.

The most striking number is draw-to-play rate. 78% of drawn Yavimaya copies reach the battlefield before the game ends. That is one of the higher rates you will see for any land. The median first-cast turn is 5.0, but the distribution is broad: a strong cluster of early drops (turns 1-2, often an opening-hand keep) and a long tail stretching to turn 10. Players who find it early play it immediately. The 59% same-turn play rate confirms that when Yavimaya hits a hand, it rarely waits.

The card's ability, making every land a Forest, is colorless in identity and slots into any green shell. Its widest application is mana-fixing for multi-color green decks and enabling Forest-tribal synergies like Forestwalk or cards that count Forests. The dataset shows a spread across Golgari, Simic, Gruul, and Jund commanders, which tracks with that flexibility.

At a glance

7% of tracked Commander decks include Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth
78% of drawn copies reach the battlefield before the game ends
T5.0 median first-cast turn across all tracked games
89% battlefield stickiness once Yavimaya resolves
285 distinct players have brought this card to a tracked game

First-cast turn

n=140

16%

12%

13%

34%

T6-9

T10+

Median 5.0 P25 2 · P75 7 · max 13

Cast same turn as drawn 59%

The "good card" funnel

703 brought · 285 players

Brought to game

703

Ever drawn

180

Reached battlefield

140

Still on board at game end

126

78%

Of 703 Yavimaya copies brought to games, 180 were drawn, and 140 of those were played, showing one of the highest draw-to-cast conversion rates among tracked lands.

≥ +1.9pp

Players who cast this card win 33% of the time (n=139) , vs 23% when it never left the library (n=484).

When players drew this card but left it in hand, they won 28% (n=38) — about the same as leaving it in the library. Those players survived long enough to draw it, so the gap above is about the card resolving, not just about surviving.

Observed gap +9.8pp; 95% confidence interval +1.9pp to +17.7pp. Correlational, not causal: powerful payoffs also get cast more often in games you are already winning.

Final zone distribution

192 instances

5.2%

Library

65.6%

Battlefield

10.9%

Graveyard

5.2%

Exile

The overwhelming majority of Yavimaya copies observed end the game on the battlefield, a sign that once it resolves it almost never gets removed. Most copies in the dataset never entered play at all, which is expected for any singleton in a 100-card deck.

Commanders that played this card

in tracked games

1 Toph, the First Metalbender 9 decks
2 Gishath, Sun's Avatar 8 decks
3 Witherbloom, the Balancer 7 decks
4 Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait 6 decks
5 Chatterfang, Squirrel General 6 decks
6 Henzie "Toolbox" Torre 6 decks
7 Lumra, Bellow of the Woods 6 decks
8 Flubs, the Fool 5 decks
9 Hearthhull, the Worldseed 5 decks
10 Indoraptor, the Perfect Hybrid 5 decks

The top commanders each appear in only 5-6 decks, so no single archetype dominates. Green is the constant thread, but the spread across Simic, Golgari, Gruul, and Jund commanders reflects how broadly any green deck can use a free Forest-granting land.

Frequently Asked

How often is Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth drawn in a Commander game?

Across 615 tracked games where Yavimaya was in the deck, it was drawn 26% of the time. That is consistent with a singleton in a 100-card deck. Of 180 drawn instances, 78% were played before the game ended.

What turn does Yavimaya typically hit the battlefield?

The median first-cast turn is 5.0, but the spread is wide. The mode is turn 1, reflecting copies kept in opening hands and played as soon as possible. The distribution runs all the way to turn 10, so the average is pulled upward by late finds. Players who draw it early slam it: 59% of casts happen on the same turn the card was drawn.

Does casting Yavimaya actually improve your win rate?

In 139 tracked participations where Yavimaya resolved, the win rate was 33%. In participations where it never left the library, the win rate was 23%. That is a +9.8 percentage-point gap. Both sample sizes are large enough to treat this as a directional signal, though the dataset is still growing and we do not claim statistical certainty.

How sticky is Yavimaya once it resolves?

89% of resolved Yavimaya copies remain on the battlefield at end of game. As a legendary land with no intrinsic sacrifice clause, it survives most board wipes and is rarely targeted. The main ways it leaves play are land destruction spells, which see limited play in most pods, and concessions.

Is Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth legal in Commander?

Yes. Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth was printed in Modern Horizons 2 and is legal in Commander, Legacy, Modern, Vintage, Historic, Timeless, and several other formats. It is not legal in Standard, Pioneer, Pauper, or Pauper Commander. It has no Commander-specific ban.

Which commanders most often run Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth?

The top commanders in the tracked dataset are green-identity commanders with a particular interest in land synergies or mana acceleration, including Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait and Toph, the First Metalbender. The distribution is spread across 285 distinct players, with no single player accounting for more than 26% of tracked instances, which suggests the data reflects genuine cross-archetype adoption rather than a single prolific contributor.