If you like to grow an army of Plants and flourish where others perish, then Desert Plant Tribal is the right deck for you! Let’s see how we can win a survival game!
I love tribal decks because they combine synergy and flavor and of course power. On top of that you can find many unique cards that support a tribe and can be great budget options as those cards work only on a specific tribal deck and are bad to unplayable to any other deck. That’s why I will try building and presenting a series of decks for all those who share the love for tribal decks.
Plant is a creature type used for cards that depict organisms that produce their food from inorganic matter by the process of photosynthesis and that have more or less rigid cell walls containing cellulose. This definition includes mosses but excludes fungi. Sapient trees are classified as Treefolk. (source MTG Wiki)
Desert is a nonbasic land type used for cards that depict a sandy or rocky region that is arid because of little rainfall and supports only sparse and widely spaced vegetation or no vegetation at all. (source MTG Wiki)
With the release of Outlaws of Thunder Junction, Yuma, Proud Protector came to MtG, offering us a great commander that cares for Deserts and Lands in graveyard, while at the same time he creates an army of Plant Warriors. Although he costs 
, he costs 
less for each land card in our graveyard so his actual cost is much less with a proper build. On ETB trigger and on attack trigger we may sacrifice a land and draw a card, something that is fitting our Land recursion strategy. Whenever a Desert card is put into our graveyard from anywhere, we create a 4/2 green Plant Warrior creature token with reach. That last ability is able to let us grow a Plant army to dominate the hazardous deserts and our opponents!
Although you can call it a precon upgrade, my build is more a precon remake than an upgrade so you can start from zero and buy singles. The optimal building option depends on the price and availability of the cards.
Synergy Diagram
I always like to make a simple synergy diagram in order to deeply comprehend the potential and the strategy areas that are supported by the commander when I choose top-down building. But in some cases, I do a mix of top-down and bottom-up building.
Let’s analyze the main goals of the deck:
- Add all the Deserts available to our Naya ()color identity.
- Add the best Plants. Our priority is to add the ones that have synergy with Mill and/or Landfall strategies.
- Add Plant and Desert Tribal support. Cards that create Plants or have Plant and/or Desert Tribal synergy are great additions for our build.
- Add mill strategy cards and cards that recur Lands from our graveyard. Since our Desert Plant build needs us to put Deserts in our graveyard, we need Mill cards to fill our graveyard and Land recursion to recur our Deserts into play.
- Add Land sacrifice outlets. Recycling our Deserts can give us multiple value and some sacrifice outlets are needed to return our recurred Deserts into our grave.
- Add cards that synergize with our strategies. To make the best out of our strategies, we can further amplify them by adding cards that support many of our strategies.
For the sake of flavor some of the choices are not optimal, but are (usually budget friendly) alternatives that greatly fit the Desert Plant Tribal theme.
The deck:
Desert Plant Tribal
Comparative Analysis
Let’s see how the deck compares to the general ratios of my deckbuilding guide.
36 Lands
27 Ramp: Splendid Reclamation, Wreck and Rebuild, Arcane Signet , Sol Ring , The Mending of Dominaria , Dryad of the Ilysian Grove , Azusa, Lost but Seeking , Aftermath Analyst , Sand Scout , World Shaper , Topiary Stomper, Titania, Nature’s Force, Desert Warfare, Spelunking, Hour of Promise, Tato Farmer, Vengeful Regrowth, Cataclysmic Prospecting, Worldsoul’s Rage, Undergrowth Recon, Outcaster Trailblazer, Mina and Denn, Wildborn, Map the Frontier, Oracle of Mul Daya, Ancient Greenwarden, Ramunap Excavator, Titania, Protector of Argoth
9 Target Removal: Grasping Dunes , Desert (ping damage), Wreck and Rebuild, Warstorm Surge , Borborygmos Enraged , Seismic Assault , Aura Fracture , Worldsoul’s Rage, Bovine Intervention
2 Board Wipes: Cataclysmic Prospecting , Descend upon the Sinful
4 Graveyard Recursion: The Mending of Dominaria, Bristlebud Farmer, Life from the Loam (Lands), Kirri, Talented Sprout
1 Graveyard Hate: Scavenger Grounds
4 Tutors: Crop Rotation (Land), Elvish Reclaimer (Land), Outcaster Greenblade (land), Colossal Rattlewurm (Desert)
1 Protection: Sylvan Safekeeper
12 Card Draw: Yuma, Proud Protector , Desert of the Fervent (1/2), Desert of the Indomitable (1/2), Desert of the True (1/2), Scattered Groves (1/2), Sheltered Thicket (1/2), Nahiri’s Lithoforming , Spelunking (1/2), Sprouting Goblin , Nissa, Voice of Zendikar, Tadeas, Juniper Ascendant, Magmatic Insight, Valakut Exploration, Outcaster Trailblazer, Garruk’s Uprising
2 Finishers/ Surprise /Alternate win conditions: Tadeas, Juniper Ascendant , Rumbleweed
As we see from the comparative analysis, the rates per category are good except in ramp category where we see an extreme peak with 27 cards. That happens because we count as ramp the cards that let us play lands from graveyard. There is no score below the optimal low average while three categories are above the optimal max average.
Deck Highlights, synergy and flavor options:
Ramp
Sand Scout is perfect for our Desert Plant Tribal as it works wonders in a build where we can manipulate the number of our Lands on the battlefield (by sacrificing some only to get them back later), so we can easily get a tutor effect for a Desert. Moreover, it has synergy with our Putting Lands in Graveyard strategy as it produces Sand Warrior creature tokens (with a limit of one trigger per turn). A must-have card for our deck!
Topiary Stomper is a great addition for our Desert Plant Tribal as it has a Rampant Growth effect (on ETB) attached on a 4/4 body with Vigilance, while the fact that it needs 7 or more Lands to attack or block, will not be a problem for our build. Moreover, it is a Plant, so it fits both the flavor and our Plant Tribal synergy.
Spelunking is an important utility card for Desert Plant Tribal as it helps our build in many ways. Firstly, (we count 12-13 Lands that enter tapped which is no small number) it fixes our taplands. Secondly, many of our ramp effects, including the ones that return Lands from the Graveyard, return those Lands tapped, so we get extra value. Last, but no least, with our cards that sacrifice lands for value, we cycle cards from and to graveyard very often so these ETB effects have multiplying value. Add to that its own ramp and card draw on ETB and we have an amazing card for our deck.
Hour of Promise is a great in our Desert Plant Tribal, as it can fetch us Deserts and ot top of that it produces two 2/2 black zombie tokens with great consistency in our build.
Map the Frontier is also able to fetch us Deserts so it really helps our build with consistency.
Playing Lands from Graveyard : 14 cards
As we see, Playing Lands from Graveyard is a dominant strategy in our build. Ancient Greenwarden deserves a special mention as it doubles Land ETB triggers.
Playing additional Lands on a turn : 4 cards
Dryad of the Ilysian Grove also offers us color fixing, Azusa, Lost but Seeking let us play 2 additional Lands on our turn, Mina and Denn, Wildborn for can return a Land in our hand giving a creature Trample until end of turn and Oracle of Mul Daya let us play Lands from the top of our Library.
Target Removal
Worldsoul’s Rage ranks high in synergy with our Desert Plant Tribal as it acts both as target removal and ramp (and the latter can be either from hand or from graveyard).
Seismic Assault let as repeatedly Shock any target as long as we have a Land to discard. In our Desert Plant Tribal it works both as removal and filling our graveyard with lands so we get double value.
Aura Fracture let as repeatedly sacrifice a Land to destroy target Enchantment. In our Desert Plant Tribal it works both as removal and filling our graveyard with lands so we get double value.
Borborygmos Enraged costs a lot but it has high symergy with our Desert Plant Tribal as we can get repeatable target removal and land discard. With a 7/6 body, Trample and a player combat damage trigger that potentially refills our hand with Lands, he fuels himself and our strategy. A cool pick for our build!
Desert and Grasping Dunes can do minimum damage, but that can be important too and even remove small threats. Of course they are must-have cards to our Desert Plant Tribal build because they are Deserts.
Board Wipes
Cataclysmic Prospecting is a board wipe with Desert Tribal synergy as it also help s with ramp by letting us create a treasure token for each mana spend by a Desert to cast it.
Descend upon the Sinful is a board wipe with Graveyard synergy, as it has a Delirium ability that can be easily activated in our Desert Plant Tribal and we can create a 4/4 white Angel with flying as a nice extra.
Graveyard Recursion
The Mending of Dominaria has amazing synergy with our Desert Plant Tribal as at I and II it help us Mill and returns a creature card from our graveyard to our hand, while at III it returns all Land cards from our Graveyard to the battlefield.
Kirri, Talented Sprout is the alternate commander of Desert Bloom precon for a good reason. It is a card that greatly supports Plants and Treefolk by acting as a Plant/Treefolk Lord buffing both tribes with +2/+0, but also is a great graveyard recursion engine for Plants, Treefolk and Lands. So it supports fully our Desert Plant Tribal! One of the best cards of our deck!
Life from the Loam is a great card for Land recursion to our hand and also has Dredge 3 so it helps us Mill. A great utility card that fits our Desert Plant Tribal.
Bristlebud Farmer is a Plant Druid with great stats for its mana cost and Trample but can also help us Mill recur a permanent from those cards Milled to our hand. Although it is commonly played in Food builds, being a Plant, Mill and recursion earns it a place on our Desert Plant Tribal.
Graveyard Hate
Scavenger Grounds is a staple for graveyad hate and it has optimal synergy in our Desert Plant Tribal since it is a Desert and can be fetched by our tutors and some of our ramp spells.
Tutors
Crop Rotation is a cheap spell that can tutor a Desert by sacrificing a Land, something that synergizes with our Lands in Graveyard strategy, so we get optimal value.
Elvish Reclaimer by paying 
,
becomes a creature that can unleash a Crop Rotation every turn with a 1/2 body that can easily get buffed and become 3/4 with our build. A great pick for out Desert Plant Tribal.
Outcaster Greenblade is a Desert tutor (to our hand) so it helps our deck consistency. In addition it gets +1/+1 for each Desert we control so it can get a respectable buff in just a few turns with our Desert Plant Tribal build.
Colossal Rattlewurm is a great inclusion for our Desert Plant Tribal. Great stats for its mana cost, Trample and Flash as long as we control a Desert make it consistently an extra creature removal option. Moreover, if we exile it from our graveyard and pay it can become a Desert tutor.
Protection
Sylvan Safekeeper by sacrificing a Land it protects target creature by giving it Shroud until end of turn. It is very important to protect our key cards and by doing so, we send our lands to the graveyard, getting optimal benefit with our Desert Plant Tribal build.
Card Draw
Yuma, Proud Protector let us draw a card on ETB and on attack trigger (if we choose to sacrifice a Land), so he greatly help us with card draw. Moreover, he has synergy with himself, triggering his last ability if that Land is a Desert,which is very consistent with our build.
Nahiri’s Lithoforming seems like a card made for our Desert Plant Tribal build. It can fill our Graveyard with X Lands, let us draw X cards and play that much additional lands this turn. Combined with an effect that let us play lands from Graveyard, it has nothing but value for our build, cycling Deserts and getting optimal value.
Sprouting Goblin if it was kicked on ETB, let us search for a basic Land and put it into our hand. Its last ability is much more important for our Desert Plant Tribal, as we can pay , and sacrifice a Land to draw a card. Once again we can get pure value over time, by filling our Graveyard with Deserts and drawing cards.
Nissa, Voice of Zendikar seems like a perfect card for our Desert Plant Tribal, as we can create Plant tokens (Tribal synergy), we can buff our creatures with +1/+1 counters and her ultimate can net us a respectable number of cards, as it let us draw X cards where X is the number of lands we control and our build ensures this number will be high.
Valakut Exploration has great synergy with our Desert Plant Tribal. Having a Landfall trigger, means we can get multiple triggers with our build and that translates into a great amount of impulse draw and it also can help us fill our graveyard while at the same time it drains our opponents.
Outcaster Trailblazer is a card draw engine for our Desert Plant Tribal since Plant Warriors created by Yuma, Proud Protector have 4 power. Having a Plot ability and the fact that it can be used as ramp on ETB is a nice extra.
Garruk’s Uprising and Outcaster Trailblazer are card draw engines for our Desert Plant Tribal since Plant Warriors created by Yuma, Proud Protector have 4 power. Outcaster Trailblazer has a Plot ability and the fact that it can be used as ramp on ETB is a nice extra.
Finishers/ Surprise /Alternate win conditions
Tadeas, Juniper Ascendant works wonders with our build. He makes creatures with Reach unblockable by creatures with greater power and our Plant Warriors created by Yuma, Proud Protector have Reach so they become hard to deal with. On top of that they get untapped, so we can use them for blocking later. In addition he is a card draw engine as we draw a card whenever a creature we control deals combat damage to a player and having a build-in protection (hexproof as long as he’s not attacking) and Reach make him durable and effective. A great utility card for our Desert Plant Tribal!
Rumbleweed is an ideal Finisher for our Desert Plant Tribal. It is an 8/8 Plant with Vigilance, Reach and Trample, it has Land synergy (costs less to cast for each Land card in our Graveyard) and on ETB it buffs our other creatures with +3/+3 and Trample until end of turn. One of the top cards of our deck!
Other synergy pieces
Great Plants
Bristly Bill, Spine Sower is great for any build with +1/+1 counters, but in our Desert Plant Tribal it has extra synergy as it is a Plant and it has a Landfall trigger. By paying 
and doubling the +1/+1 counters on creatures we control, it can become a hidden finisher.
Dune Chanter is one of the best cards of our Desert Plant Tribal, supporting all of our of our strategies. Converting all our Lands into Deserts is alone insane for our build. Then, it color fixes our Lands making them produce mana of any color. Last but not least, it help us Mill which is very important for our build. Being a Plant means it also has Plant Tribal synergy. A must-have.
Omnivorous Flytrap has a Delirium ability which spread two +1/+1 counters and has the potential to become a mini doubler (affecting up to two creatures). Being a Plant and having synergy with Graveyard, makes it a nice choice for our Desert Plant Tribal.
Cactusfolk Sureshot is a great support card for our Desert Plant Tribal since it is a Plant with Reach and Ward and it provides Trample and Haste to other creatures with power 4 or greater. Our Plant Warriors (by Yuma, Proud Protector) have 4 power so it fits perfectly to our build.
Other
Avenger of Zendikar and Phylath, World Sculptor are Elementals but they are great Plant token producers and Plant token support cards. Both have a Landfall trigger, Avenger of Zendikar supports going wide, while Phylath, World Sculptor supports going tall. Both work great in our Desert Plant Tribal.
Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth and Dryad of the Ilysian Grove help us by making all our Lands Forests and that is crucial for Titania, Nature’s Force to work properly.
Titania, Voice of Gaea and Argoth, Sanctum of Nature merge into Titania, Gaea Incarnate which is a real manifestation of nature’s power and can really shine in our build as it cares about Lands, it recurs all Lands from Graveyard on ETB and can be a real monster with high stats combined with Vigilance, Reach, Trample and Haste. An amazing hidden finisher.
Creature Token Producers : 20 cards
Let’s see the cards who spread the seeds for our Plant army to grow. They’re accompanied by brave Sand Warriors and powerful Elementals.
Sand Scout, Hazezon, Shaper of Sand, Scute Swarm, Turntimber Sower, Hour of Promise, Titania, Protector of Argoth , Phylath, World Sculptor, Titania, Nature’s Force, Avenger of Zendikar, Omnath, Locus of Rage, Yuma, Proud Protector, Nissa, Voice of Zendikar, Descend upon the Sinful, Vengeful Regrowth, Crawling Sensation, Desert Warfare, Argoth, Sanctum of Nature, Cradle of the Accursed, Dunes of the Dead, Lazotep Quarry
Cards that fill our graveyard : 37 cards
Let’s see the cards who either Mill cards or help us fill our Graveyard with any way (such as sacrifice and discard).
Elvish Reclaimer, Sylvan Safekeeper, Aftermath Analyst, Sprouting Goblin, Dune Chanter, Tato Farmer , Turntimber Sower, Bristlebud Farmer, World Shaper, Titania, Nature’s Force, Borborygmos Enraged, Yuma, Proud Protector, Crop Rotation, Magmatic Insight, Life from the Loam, Nahiri’s Lithoforming, Wreck and Rebuild, Zuran Orb, Aura Fracture, Crawling Sensation, Seismic Assault, Valakut Exploration, The Mending of Dominaria, Arid Archway, Conduit Pylons, Cradle of the Accursed, Desert of the Fervent, Desert of the Indomitable, Desert of the True, Grasping Dunes, Hashep Oasis, Lazotep Quarry, Ramunap Ruins, Scattered Groves, Scavenger Grounds, Shefet Dunes, Sheltered Thicket
Let’s see some more statistics about our deck. Some important info to care about is the mana curve and the card type distribution, as it can help us understand better our deck and may indicate where there is space for improving it.
Mana Curve
The mana curve seems a bit different from average but not something very abnormal. There is a great spike at position 3 and an absence of many 1-2 drops. With our Desert Plant Tribal, our extreme ramp strategy makes our gameplay quite different and the mini spikes from positions 6, 8 and 10 reflect that we need more high drops than average to be able to take advantage of our available mana.
Card Type Distribution
The Desert Plant Tribal Card Type Distribution shows the dominant creature-heavy theme with 37 creatures. All other categories have a much smaller presence with Instants at 2, Enchantments at 10, Sorceries at 11, Artifacts at 3 and Planeswalkers at 1. No Battles are present for the time.
Of course statistics and comparative analysis are great tools but they don’t always tell the whole truth, since many factors like synergy and combo pieces are hard to be measured numerically. For example in this deck, with our commander Yuma, Proud Protector, all cards that help fill our Graveyard with Deserts cause Plant token production so the value we get from those cards, cannot be measured correctly and our build is much deeper and consistent than it seems at first glance.
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If you liked the deck, don’t forget to revisit the article after every major new release as I will try to keep my decks updated and examine any potential upgrades. If you want to keep being updated, you can follow mtgbudgetcommander.com on social media (facebook, twitter, instagram, pinterest, linkedin, reddit, tumblr, medium).
If you like my tribal series, you can check my other tribal decks.
