Tier roguemidrange

Tradewind Survival

Survival Toolbox

Featured list~$8748FNM Bazaar of Baghdad (Argentina)

Overview

"Tradewind Survival is a URG Survival of the Fittest control deck built around Tradewind Rider tempo and value creatures. Birds of Paradise and Llanowar Elves accelerate into Survival of the Fittest, which fetches Wall of Roots, Spike Feeder, and Uktabi Orangutan, while Tradewind Rider bounces the opponent's permanents and Genesis plus Squee, Goblin Nabob grind out inevitable card advantage."

Game Plan

Establish Survival of the Fittest and Tradewind Rider, repeatedly bounce the opponent's lands and threats to lock them out, then grind to victory with Genesis recursion and Deranged Hermit tokens.

Key Cards

Core engine & flex

Signature

Birds of Paradise

$18.82

TCG MP CK

Survival of the Fittest

$385.40

TCG MP CK

Wall of Roots

$0.63

TCG MP CK

Squee, Goblin Nabob

$30.74

TCG MP CK

Deranged Hermit

$83.96

TCG MP CK

Wall of Blossoms

$4.75

TCG MP CK

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Sample Decklists

Sort By

FNM Bazaar of Baghdad (Argentina)

1st PlaceApr 5, 2024

Demian Vernieri

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Demian Vernieri

TCG

Mainboard (60)

$8507

Creature (32)

$288

$4.123R

$7.373GG

$2.12G

$75.28G

$1.201U

$83.963GG

$9.76G

$7.744G

1Kamahl, Fist of Krosa

$3.244GG

$0.72G

$42.634

$0.28GG

$4.86G

$30.742R

$4.563U

$4.751G

$2.521G

$1.49G

$0.292G

Instant (3)

$6.93

3Frantic Search

$6.932U

Enchantment (4)

$1542

4Survival of the Fittest

$15421G

Land (21)

$6671

$63.78

$4.55

$6019

$2.91

$0.82

$446

$134

Sideboard (15)

$241

2Blue Elemental Blast

$3.14U

$6.822G

$0.12G

$1891U

$4.44U

$6.481G

$0.841GG

$2.620

$1.852G

$25.542

Est. Total$8748

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Side Event 7P @ Singleton World Championship

1st PlaceJul 16, 2023

Ruben Hervas

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Ruben Hervas

TCG

Mainboard (60)

$5743

Creature (34)

$401

$4.123R

$75.28G

$6.822G

$83.963GG

$7.744G

$0.72G

$0.272U

$42.634

$103WU

$0.231W

$14.42W

$2.43G

$0.841GG

$30.742R

$9.123U

$1.852G

$2.531G

$9.501G

$2.521G

$2.713W

$0.292G

Enchantment (4)

$1542

4Survival of the Fittest

$15421G

Land (22)

$3800

$4.40

$63.78

$114

$3.64

$3010

$2.91

$0.82

$0.47

$355

$112

$134

Sideboard (15)

$355

$15.031U

$34.122

$7.742B

$68.18W

$1891U

$34.24WU

$0.231W

$4.321G

$0.351W

$1.852G

Est. Total$6098

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Express´22 @ Moscow (Russia)

1st PlaceOct 30, 2022

Grigory Kievsky

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Grigory Kievsky

TCG

Mainboard (60)

$5643

Creature (36)

$410

$4.123R

$75.28G

$1683GG

$7.744G

$34.462R

$1.44G

$0.272U

$42.634

$0.231W

$4.86G

$0.173W

$0.841GG

$4.992GG

$30.742R

$9.123U

$1.852G

$19.001G

$2.521G

$1.49G

Enchantment (4)

$1542

4Survival of the Fittest

$15421G

Land (20)

$3691

$95.67

$5.46

$3010

$0.82

$446

$134

Sideboard (15)

$91.94

$6.822G

$51.182

$23.222B

$6.481G

$0.173W

$0.841GG

$0.61G

$2.620

Est. Total$5735

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Archetype Anatomy

Based on 45 decks with known dates2021-05-30 to 2026-05-23

Mana Base

Average20.3lands

Median20lands

Range18–23lands

Spells39.7avg non-land

Based on 45 decks (All-time)

core Cards(>80%)

Birds of Paradise

100%

4.0x

Survival of the Fittest

100%

4.0x

Wall of Roots

100%

3.7x

Squee, Goblin Nabob

100%

1.0x

Wall of Blossoms

98%

3.3x

Deranged Hermit

98%

1.5x

Yavimaya Coast

96%

3.8x

Tradewind Rider

96%

3.5x

Gaea's Cradle

96%

2.0x

City of Brass

93%

2.6x

Quirion Ranger

93%

1.6x

Llanowar Elves

91%

3.1x

Genesis

84%

1.0x

Uktabi Orangutan

82%

1.0x

Spike Feeder

80%

1.0x

flex Cards(30-80%)

Anger

73%

1.0x

Wooded Foothills

71%

3.7x

Masticore

69%

1.0x

Gilded Drake

69%

1.0x

Man-o'-War

64%

1.0x

Monk Realist

64%

1.0x

Yavimaya Granger

64%

1.0x

Wirewood Symbiote

60%

1.0x

Goblin Sharpshooter

53%

1.0x

Seedborn Muse

40%

1.0x

fringe Cards(<30%)

Auramancer

29%

1.0x

Spike Weaver

29%

1.0x

Caller of the Claw

24%

1.0x

Basking Rootwalla

22%

3.2x

Fyndhorn Elves

22%

2.2x

Opposition

22%

1.9x

Radiant's Dragoons

22%

1.0x

Mystic Snake

20%

1.0x

Windswept Heath

16%

3.4x

Brushland

16%

2.0x

Winter Orb

16%

1.9x

Priest of Titania

16%

1.0x

Recurring Nightmare

13%

1.2x

Multani's Acolyte

13%

1.0x

Meddling Mage

11%

2.0x

Merfolk Looter

11%

1.0x

Yavimaya Elder

11%

1.0x

1.8x

1.8x

1.3x

1.0x

1.0x

1.0x

1.0x

1.0x

3.7x

2.3x

1.3x

1.3x

1.3x

1.0x

Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary

1.0x

1.0x

1.0x

1.5x

1.0x

1.0x

1.0x

1.0x

1.0x

1.0x

1.0x

1.0x

4.0x

4.0x

4.0x

3.0x

2.0x

2.0x

1.0x

1.0x

1.0x

1.0x

1.0x

1.0x

1.0x

1.0x

1.0x

1.0x

Kamahl, Fist of Krosa

1.0x

1.0x

1.0x

1.0x

1.0x

1.0x

1.0x

Thornscape Battlemage

1.0x

Thran Quarry

1.0x

Treetop Village

1.0x

Undiscovered Paradise

1.0x

Volrath's Shapeshifter

1.0x

Werebear

1.0x

Sideboard Anatomy

core Sideboard Options(>80%)

Naturalize

93.9%

2.8x

flex Sideboard Options(30-80%)

Tormod'S Crypt

79.6%

1.9x

Spore Frog

51.3%

1.0x

Uktabi Orangutan

49.9%

1.0x

Caller Of The Claw

45.1%

1.0x

Annul

37.1%

1.6x

Engineered Plague

35.1%

2.0x

fringe Sideboard Options(<30%)

Xantid Swarm

29.9%

1.4x

Spike Feeder

29.8%

1.0x

Hydroblast

28.2%

1.4x

Radiant'S Dragoons

27.8%

1.0x

Blue Elemental Blast

26.9%

1.8x

Defense Grid

22.8%

2.6x

Masticore

21.7%

1.0x

Phyrexian Furnace

21.7%

1.4x

Mana Leak

19.3%

2.8x

Chill

18.3%

2.4x

Gilded Drake

18.1%

1.0x

Swords To Plowshares

16.4%

2.5x

Zur'S Weirding

16.1%

1.0x

Monk Realist

14.2%

1.0x

Druid Lyrist

12.9%

1.0x

Goblin Sharpshooter

11.9%

1.0x

Ray Of Revelation

11.8%

1.0x

Arcane Laboratory

11.6%

2.0x

Winter Orb

11.6%

2.3x

Aura Of Silence

10.5%

1.0x

Genesis

9.4%

1.0x

Tsabo'S Web

1.5x

Gaea'S Blessing

8.9%

1.5x

Compost

8.3%

1.0x

Worship

8.3%

1.0x

City Of Solitude

8.2%

1.0x

Emerald Charm

6.5%

1.3x

Enlightened Tutor

5.7%

1.7x

Armageddon

4.9%

3.0x

Natural Order

4.9%

2.0x

Phantom Nishoba

4.9%

1.0x

Sylvan Safekeeper

4.9%

1.0x

Red Elemental Blast

4.6%

2.0x

Prohibit

4.4%

1.0x

Bone Shredder

4.3%

1.0x

Squee, Goblin Nabob

4.3%

1.0x

Circle Of Protection: Red

4.3%

1.0x

Tranquil Domain

4.3%

2.0x

Disenchant

4.3%

1.0x

Sphere Of Law

4.3%

1.0x

Teroh'S Faithful

4.2%

1.0x

Warmth

4.2%

2.0x

Carpet Of Flowers

2.0x

True Believer

1.0x

Monk Idealist

3.9%

1.0x

Meddling Mage

3.7%

1.0x

Ravenous Baboons

3.4%

1.0x

Reclaim

3.3%

2.7x

Flametongue Kavu

2.3%

1.0x

Dodecapod

2.3%

1.0x

Deranged Hermit

2.1%

1.0x

Wirewood Symbiote

2.1%

1.0x

Recurring Nightmare

2.1%

1.0x

Black Vise

1.9%

3.0x

Mystic Snake

1.9%

1.0x

Mystic Enforcer

1.5%

1.0x

Spike Weaver

1.5%

1.0x

Ravenous Baloth

1.3%

1.0x

Dust Bowl

1.1%

1.0x

Interdict

1.1%

1.0x

Tranquil Grove

1.1%

1.0x

Recent Events Featuring this Archetype

1k Event @ Gen X Gaming (Portsmouth, NH)

2026-05-23•Portsmouth, USA•39 Players

Highest Finish: 3rd

VIEW EVENT

Premodern LeagueApril272026 (2026-04-27)

2026-04-27•Magic Online•13 Players

Highest Finish: 1st

VIEW EVENT

Side Event - Campeonato Nacional Portugal 2026 @ Mercado Municipal D. Pedro V (Coimbra, Portuhal)

2026-04-18•Coimbra, Portugal•64 Players

Highest Finish: 10th

VIEW EVENT

TTD - April Monthly @ Through the Decades (Louisville, KY)

2026-04-15•Louisville, USA•18 Players

Highest Finish: 5th

VIEW EVENT

Premodern LeagueApril132026 (2026-04-13)

2026-04-13•Magic Online•13 Players

Highest Finish: 1st

VIEW EVENT

Quick Facts

Tierrogue

Stylemidrange

Meta Share0.1%

Avg Lands20.3

Est. Price~$8748

Colors

Deck Weaknesses

Survival of the Fittest is the central enchantment engine and folds to Naturalize and disenchant effects.
Tradewind Rider must tap creatures to bounce, so killing its supporting board neuters the tempo lock.
Removing Birds of Paradise and Wall of Roots starves the deck of the mana it needs to chain Survival activations.
The deck is slow and grindy, so a fast aggressive start can race it before Tradewind Rider stabilizes.

How to win with it

Mulligan to a hand that contains either Survival of the Fittest or a creature that accelerates into it: Birds of Paradise, Llanowar Elves, Wall of Roots, or Wall of Blossoms. A hand with two lands, one mana creature, and Survival of the Fittest is a near-automatic keep; a hand with Tradewind Rider but no Survival of the Fittest and no way to dig for it is too slow and should almost always be shipped.
The turn-one priority is a mana creature, not Survival of the Fittest on an open board: play Birds of Paradise or Llanowar Elves into your first land so that on turn two you can cast Survival of the Fittest and still have the spare green mana to activate it the same turn. Leading with Survival of the Fittest on turn one with no follow-up mana telegraphs the engine without threatening to use it, handing your opponent a free turn to answer it.
Once Survival of the Fittest resolves, tutor Squee, Goblin Nabob to hand and discard it to find your next creature. Because Squee, Goblin Nabob returns to your hand each upkeep, every activation becomes a repeatable free search. Use the loop to assemble Tradewind Rider plus at least two other creatures before you start bouncing, since Tradewind Rider's ability taps itself plus two other untapped creatures.
The dream draw wins through the Tradewind Rider lock: with the Squee, Goblin Nabob discard loop online and two other untapped creatures available, bounce one permanent per turn and prioritize the opponent's lands to strand them on zero or one mana, which makes their hand irrelevant. Quirion Ranger can return a Forest to your hand to untap Tradewind Rider after you tap it as a cost, letting you chain multiple bounces in a single turn when your mana is tight.
The grind plan runs through Genesis: pitch Genesis to a Survival of the Fittest activation, then pay two in each upkeep to return Tradewind Rider, Squee, Goblin Nabob, Uktabi Orangutan, Spike Feeder, or whatever the board demands from your graveyard. This turns every upkeep into a tutor-from-graveyard and makes the deck nearly impossible to grind out even after your Survival of the Fittest or key creatures are removed.
Hold Uktabi Orangutan and Gilded Drake in the Survival of the Fittest toolbox rather than jamming them blind: fetch Uktabi Orangutan only when there is an artifact you must destroy immediately, and fetch Gilded Drake to take a creature that would otherwise break your lock, remembering its exchange hands the Drake back. Once the lock holds, search up Deranged Hermit to drop four Squirrel tokens plus itself, five bodies that both fuel Tradewind Rider activations and close the game in the air.

How to beat it

Destroy Survival of the Fittest with Naturalize or Uktabi Orangutan to collapse the tutor engine.
Kill mana dorks like Birds of Paradise and Llanowar Elves to slow the deck's setup dramatically.
Apply fast pressure before Tradewind Rider and Genesis take over the long game.
Use graveyard hate to blunt Genesis recursion and Squee, Goblin Nabob value loops.
Trade off the small creatures that fuel Tradewind Rider so it can't tap a crew to bounce your board.

Last Updated: May 2026