This card is one of the most powerful one-drop green enchantments, competing with Manabond, Elephant Grass, Mirri's Guile, and Exploration.
Root Maze hoses decks that use fetchlands like Arid Mesa or Windswept Health to retrieve mana-producing lands. Their fetchland enters play tapped. When they get to crack their fetchland next turn, the retrieved land enters play tapped. It's not until two turns after they play a land that they can get mana from it. Combine with a well-timed Wasteland to wreck any dual land like Taiga, and Root Maze becomes a one-card 1cc soft lock.
Meanwhile, you can play lands which normally come into play tapped but which produce additional mana, or which offer other nice effects. Specifically, use in conjunction with Cloudpost and Vesuva (and now ... (see all)
Posted By:
Salient
(9/4/2011 11:20:41 AM)
Much better than Kismet since it hardly matters if most creatures come into play tapped or not. Works with a lot of things, and punishes fetchlands doubly.
Posted By:
Auteur
(8/25/2010 5:48:00 AM)
Solid Sideboard card, for the most part - I'm also guessing it was printed in the same set as Choke for a reason.
Posted By:
Kirbster
(4/3/2011 1:07:58 PM)
Severely underrated.
This is an evil card to combine with Stasis.
Stasis decks have a bunch of cards worth considerung, such as Elvish Spirit Guide, Wall of Roots, Garruk Wildspeaker, and regarding removal Krosan Grip. You'll get Compost for your sideboard, too.
Posted By:
Mode
(11/7/2009 5:38:46 AM)
why is this card rated so low?
Posted By:
DrZygfryd
(7/1/2010 6:14:53 PM)
and patron of the orochi and seedborn muse.
Posted By:
Teotanek
(6/3/2010 8:39:01 PM)
Anyone try this with Amulet of Vigor? Sounds like a nice, early shutdown.
Posted By:
BorosRecruit
(4/25/2011 2:29:17 PM)
This card heavily counters one of green's biggest assets: fast mana.
It is not a regularly intuitive card to play.
Posted By:
AmericanVigor
(11/30/2010 12:54:10 AM)
@Vigor--
Most of greens mana acceleration comes from tutoring lands into play, usually tapped. This will slow a green deck down a bit, yes, but it will slow every one else don a bit more.
I do run it with amulet of vigor in my mayael edh to slow everybody up a little bit before i stabilize and start cranking fatties out.
Posted By:
orisiti
(9/24/2013 9:00:03 PM)