Ancient Greenwarden — ruling 1

Ancient Greenwarden doesn't change the times when you can play those lands. You can still play only one land per turn, and only during your main phase when you have priority and the stack is empty.

Ancient Greenwarden — ruling 2

Ancient Greenwarden doesn't allow you to activate abilities (such as cycling) of land cards in your graveyard.

Ancient Greenwarden — ruling 3

Ancient Greenwarden allows you to play a modal double-faced card's land face, but not a nonland face.

Ancient Greenwarden — ruling 4

Ancient Greenwarden's third ability affects a land's own enters-the-battlefield triggered abilities as well as other triggered abilities that trigger when that land enters the battlefield, such as landfall abilities. Such triggered abilities start with "when" or "whenever."

Ancient Greenwarden — ruling 5

Replacement effects are unaffected by Ancient Greenwarden's third ability. This includes any abilities that apply "as [this land] enters the battlefield" and any ability that says the land enters the battlefield with counters.

Ancient Greenwarden — ruling 6

Ancient Greenwarden's effect doesn't copy the triggered ability; it causes the ability to trigger twice. Any choices made as you put the ability onto the stack, such as modes and targets, are made separately for each instance of the ability. Any choices made on resolution, such as whether to put counters on a permanent, are also made individually.

Ancient Greenwarden — ruling 7

The trigger event doesn't have to specifically refer to "lands." For example, an ability that triggers "whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control" would trigger twice if the entering land is also a creature.

Ancient Greenwarden — ruling 8

An ability that triggers whenever you play a land won't trigger an additional time.

Ancient Greenwarden : règles, fonctionnement et interactions (MTG)

Ancient Greenwarden is one of those cards players keep asking about. Here is, in plain words, what its official text says, the rulings published by Wizards of the Coast, and the combos players actually run.

Official card text

Reach (This creature can block creatures with flying.) You may play lands from your graveyard. If a land entering causes a triggered ability of a permanent you control to trigger, that ability triggers an additional time.

Complete guide

Ancient Greenwarden is a powerhouse for land-based strategies, acting as both a recursive tool and a massive amplifier for your effects. By turning your graveyard into a second hand for lands and doubling your Landfall triggers, this Elemental ensures you never run out of steam. It provides a sturdy defense with Reach while setting up game-ending value loops.

Playing Lands from the Graveyard

The first major benefit of Ancient Greenwarden is the ability to play lands from your graveyard. This follows all normal timing rules for playing a land: you must be in your main phase, the stack must be empty, and you must have a land play available for the turn. It does not allow you to use activated abilities like Cycling from the graveyard, nor does it allow you to play the nonland side of a modal double-faced card.

Understanding the Trigger Doubler

The third ability causes triggered abilities that occur when a land enters the battlefield to trigger an additional time. This applies to the land's own 'enters-the-battlefield' abilities and any other permanents with Landfall. Note that this only affects triggered abilities (starting with 'when' or 'whenever'); it does not affect replacement effects like 'enters the battlefield tapped' or entering with counters. If you control multiple Greenwardens, the effect is additive: two Greenwardens result in three triggers total.

Common Mistakes

A common point of confusion is the difference between 'playing a land' and 'a land entering the battlefield.' Ancient Greenwarden only doubles triggers that look for a land entering. If an ability triggers specifically when you 'play' a land, it will not trigger an additional time. Additionally, remember that this ability is not a copy effect; you must choose targets and make choices separately for each of the two triggers put onto the stack.

When to Play It

Ancient Greenwarden is best deployed when you have already established a board of permanents with Landfall or when you need to recover utility lands from your graveyard. Because it has Reach and a high toughness, it can be played defensively to stabilize the board against flyers while you prepare to take over the game with superior resource generation.

Interaction examples

The Ultimate Landfall Chain

Avenger of Zendikar

With Ancient Greenwarden on the battlefield, you play a land from your hand or graveyard. This causes Avenger of Zendikar's Landfall ability to trigger twice. Instead of putting one +1/+1 counter on each of your Plant tokens, you will put two +1/+1 counters on each of them, doubling the efficiency of every land drop.

Reusing Utility Lands

If you have a Evolving Wilds in your graveyard, Ancient Greenwarden allows you to play it. When Evolving Wilds enters the battlefield, any Landfall triggers you control will fire twice. You can then sacrifice the Wilds to search for a basic land; when that land enters, your Landfall abilities will trigger two more times, providing massive value from a single graveyard recursion.

Synergy with Untap Effects

Seedborn Muse

While Seedborn Muse allows you to untap your permanents on every player's turn, it does not provide extra land plays. Even with Ancient Greenwarden, you are still restricted to your normal number of land plays during your own turn. The Muse helps you keep your Reach blocker ready and your mana open, but the Greenwarden's graveyard ability remains restricted to your own main phases.

Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.

How it works : Ancient Greenwarden

Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall

#1September 25, 2020· Wizards of the Coast
Ancient Greenwarden doesn't change the times when you can play those lands. You can still play only one land per turn, and only during your main phase when you have priority and the stack is empty.
No other card is named in this ruling.
#2September 25, 2020· Wizards of the Coast
Ancient Greenwarden doesn't allow you to activate abilities (such as cycling) of land cards in your graveyard.
No other card is named in this ruling.
#3September 25, 2020· Wizards of the Coast
Ancient Greenwarden allows you to play a modal double-faced card's land face, but not a nonland face.
No other card is named in this ruling.
#4September 25, 2020· Wizards of the Coast
Ancient Greenwarden's third ability affects a land's own enters-the-battlefield triggered abilities as well as other triggered abilities that trigger when that land enters the battlefield, such as landfall abilities. Such triggered abilities start with "when" or "whenever."
No other card is named in this ruling.
#5September 25, 2020· Wizards of the Coast
Replacement effects are unaffected by Ancient Greenwarden's third ability. This includes any abilities that apply "as [this land] enters the battlefield" and any ability that says the land enters the battlefield with counters.
No other card is named in this ruling.
#6September 25, 2020· Wizards of the Coast
Ancient Greenwarden's effect doesn't copy the triggered ability; it causes the ability to trigger twice. Any choices made as you put the ability onto the stack, such as modes and targets, are made separately for each instance of the ability. Any choices made on resolution, such as whether to put counters on a permanent, are also made individually.
No other card is named in this ruling.
#7September 25, 2020· Wizards of the Coast
The trigger event doesn't have to specifically refer to "lands." For example, an ability that triggers "whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control" would trigger twice if the entering land is also a creature.
No other card is named in this ruling.
#8September 25, 2020· Wizards of the Coast
An ability that triggers whenever you play a land won't trigger an additional time.
No other card is named in this ruling.
#9September 25, 2020· Wizards of the Coast
Look at each permanent as it exists on the battlefield, taking into account continuous effects, to determine whether any triggered abilities will trigger multiple times. For example, if you control Ashaya, Soul of the Wild, a nontoken creature entering the battlefield will cause any appropriate abilities to trigger an additional time.
No other card is named in this ruling.
#10September 25, 2020· Wizards of the Coast
If you control two Ancient Greenwardens, a land entering the battlefield causes abilities to trigger three times, not four. A third Ancient Greenwarden causes abilities to trigger four times, a fourth causes abilities to trigger five times, and so on.
No other card is named in this ruling.
#11September 25, 2020· Wizards of the Coast
If a land entering the battlefield at the same time as Ancient Greenwarden (including Ancient Greenwarden itself if an effect causes it to be a land) causes a triggered ability of a permanent you control to trigger, that ability triggers an additional time.
No other card is named in this ruling.