Dryad of the Ilysian GroveHow it works & interactions with other cards

A Master of Mana Fixing

The primary draw of Dryad of the Ilysian Grove is its ability to turn every land you control into every basic land type: Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, and Forest. This effect is continuous as long as the Dryad is on the battlefield. Because these lands gain the basic land types, they automatically gain the associated intrinsic mana abilities, meaning any land you control can tap for any color of mana. Note that this does not change the land's name or its status as basic or non-basic.

Accelerating Your Turns

The first ability allows you to play an additional land during each of your turns. This is cumulative with other effects that grant additional land drops. If you control multiple copies of Dryad of the Ilysian Grove, you can play one additional land for each Dryad. This provides a massive tempo advantage, especially in decks that can keep their hand full of land cards.

Timing and Layering

When Dryad of the Ilysian Grove enters the battlefield, its land-type-changing effect applies in Layer 4. This means that lands you already control and lands that enter later will immediately have all five basic land types. If the Dryad leaves the battlefield, your lands immediately lose these additional types and the ability to tap for any color, unless they had those abilities naturally. Remember, this card only affects lands you control on the battlefield, not land cards in your hand, library, or graveyard.

Common Pitfalls

A common mistake is assuming that Dryad of the Ilysian Grove makes your lands 'Basic.' While your lands gain the types like 'Forest' or 'Swamp,' a non-basic land like a utility land remains non-basic. Additionally, playing an extra land is a special action that can only be done during your main phase when the stack is empty; you cannot use the extra land drop on an opponent's turn.

Interaction examples

Accelerating with the Tribe

Sakura-Tribe Elder

With Dryad of the Ilysian Grove on the battlefield, you can play two lands from your hand during your turn. If you then cast and sacrifice Sakura-Tribe Elder, you search your library for a basic land card and put it onto the battlefield. Because of the Dryad's static ability, that new land immediately becomes every basic land type, allowing it to tap for any color as soon as it untaps.

Double Land Drops and Artifact Value

Solemn Simulacrum

You have two lands in hand. During your main phase, you play your first land, then use the Dryad's ability to play your second land. Next, you cast Solemn Simulacrum. When it enters, you search for a basic land and put it onto the battlefield tapped. By the end of this sequence, you have increased your mana production significantly, and the land brought in by the Golem now counts as all five basic land types thanks to the Dryad.