Saproling

Saproling
Creature Type
(Subtype for creature/tribal cards)
Statistics	84 Saproling creation cards 3.6% 3.6% 3.6% 1.2% 57.1% 3.6% 6% 9.5% 1.2% 7.1% 2.4% 1.2% as of March of the Machine
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type:"Saproling"

Saproling is a creature type that is only used for tokens that depict cultivated, fungus and/or plant-based, green-aligned lifeforms.

Description

Though capable of reproducing by spontaneous generation, Saprolings are usually created by thallids or treefolk. "Saproling" seems to be a generic term for small plant/fungus creatures rather than a specific species. Sapro-ling means "putrid thing" or "thing from rot" from Ancient Greek σαπρός sapros (rotten, putrefied) and "-ling", the Middle English denotation for diminutives.

Dominaria

Sarpadia

The first known saprolings on Dominaria were native to Sarpadia. They shared a symbiotic relationship with the thallids and spread rapidly by feeding off of the deaths resulting from the thallid rebellion against the elves. These early Dominarian saprolings had a long serpentine body and vicious fangs.

Yavimaya

The saprolings of Yavimaya shared ties with the treefolk of the forest. They proved remarkably effective against undead during the Phyrexian Invasion, as they would drop out of the trees and burst open, spreading rotting agents over the Phyrexian zombies that would cause them to rapidly decay. As Yavimaya had been heavily involved in preparation for the invasion, it may be that their saprolings were specifically bred for that purpose.

In the present, saprolings are raised and herded by thallids, who utilize them as a food source. These saprolings resemble fungi and have a great number of tentacles, which are used for locomotion as well as feeding.

Rift Era

After decades of Dominarian desolation, the saprolings of Dominaria were different than those previously described. They were creatures made of thick kudzu vines, moss, algae, and fungi.

Ixalan

Saprolings mainly exist in the jungles of Ixalan, where they are tended by dryads and sometimes even develop on dinosaurs. They resemble flowers that move about in a manner similar to insects.

Alara

Saprolings are also present on Jund, one of the shards of Alara. They are created of plant matter, usually fungal, and have a strong connection with rotting corpses. Alaran saprolings have something resembling a shell with oversized fungal hyphae.

Ravnica

Saprolings exist in the urban environments of Ravnica as well. They are particularly common in the Selesnya Conclave, where they bond with the guild's root-kin elementals. Selesnya's saprolings are much more plant-like than the fungal Dominarian saprolings, resembling crystals enveloped in floral tendrils. The Golgari Swarm's saprolings are made of the bond between plants and rotting flesh that the guild seems to exemplify and have a gnarled, root-like appearance, while saprolings created by those of the Gruul Clans are fierce and resemble multiheaded centipedes.

Tokens

Token Name	Color	Type Line	P/T	Text Box	Source	Printings
Saproling	Green	Creature — Saproling	1/1		Aether Mutation Artifact Mutation Aura Mutation Bramble Elemental Death Mutation Deathbloom Thallid Deathspore Thallid Supply Dreampod Druid Druidic Satchel Elvish Farmer Erhnam Djinn Avatar Fertile Imagination Fists of Ironwood Flash Foliage Fungal Infection Fungal Plots Fungal Rebirth Fungal Sprouting Ghave, Guru of Spores Golgari Germination Grand Ossuary Greener Pastures Jade Mage Jund Battlemage Korozda Guildmage Last Stand Morbid Bloom Mycologist Mycoloth Necrogenesis Nemata, Grove Guardian Nemata, Primeval Warden Night Soil Overgrown Armasaur Pallid Mycoderm Pollenbright Wings Psychotrope Thallid Rith, the Awakener Rith's Charm Roots of All Evil Saproling Cluster Saproling Infestation Saproling Migration Saproling Symbiosis Sarpadian Empires, Vol. VII Savage Thallid Scatter the Seeds Seed Spark Selesnya Evangel Selesnya Guildmage Slimefoot and Squee Slimefoot, the Stowaway Spontaneous Generation Spore Burst Spore Swarm Sporemound Sporeweb Weaver Sporesower Thallid Sporogenesis Sporoloth Ancient Sprout Sprout Swarm Sprouting Thrinax Tana, the Bloodsower Tendershoot Dryad Thallid Thallid Devourer Thallid Germinator Thallid Shell-Dweller Thelonite Hermit Tukatongue Thallid Ulasht, the Hate Seed Undercellar Myconid Utopia Mycon Verdant Embrace Verdant Force Verdeloth the Ancient Vitaspore Thallid Vitu-Ghazi, the City-Tree The Weatherseed Treaty Yavimaya Sapherd
	Green	Creature — Saproling	*/*	This creature's power and toughness are each equal to the number of fade counters on Saproling Burst.	Saproling Burst
Phyrexian Saproling	Green	Creature — Phyrexian Saproling	1/1		Blightsower Thallid

Trivia

• Sprout from Time Spiral was originally a Saproling with flash called Sap-rise! R&D changed it to make a token because they decided that they liked Saprolings better as a token-only type.
• Saproling Burst is the only Saproling maker that produces tokens with sizes other than 1/1.
• Blightsower Thallid is the only Saproling maker that gives them a quasi-class type in Phyrexian.
• Vindictive Mob is an anti-Saproling creature.

Gallery

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  Ninth Edition

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  Rivals of Ixalan