Incubation Druid – MTG Ravnica Review

David
Fanany
Player
since
1995

I like mana-producing creatures pretty much automatically, and there are some extra elements to Incubation Druid that make it even more interesting. For one thing, if you get even one +1/+1 counter on it – it doesn’t have to come from its own ability – it turns into a super-ramp card, letting you throw down early Banefires and Warp Worlds with abandon. It also becomes a pretty decent attacker and even better blocker once you activate its adapt ability, which shores up a traditional weakness of mana-producing creatures. Adapt is a good ability in general, but especially for a Llanowar Elves variant which can help pay for the cost itself.

Constructed: 3/5
Casual: 4/5
Limited: 4/5
Multiplayer: 3/5
EDH/Commander: 3/5

Incubation Druid is a pretty interesting sort of mana dork; seven mana, split over two installments, gets you effectively a Gilded Lotus. Which is pretty interesting, but more interesting is the wording on Incubation Druid’s mana ability. Specifically, it only cares that it has a +1/+1 counter, regardless of the source, and Simic does love to move around counters. Between the old Graft cards (like Llanowar Reborn, to name one), it’s possible to make Incubation Druid a massive shot of mana acceleration. It is fairly fragile without ways to protect it, but it’s a large shot of mana (imagine being able to use 6 mana on turn 3!), and I think it’s likely to see some play in Simic/Sultai shells for that reason. It’s also an Elf, and Elves are known for playing well with one another.

Constructed: 3.25
Casual: 4
Limited: 3.75
Multiplayer: 3
Commander: 3.25