Genesis Regional Heatmap: MTG Play Frequency by Region

In TCG ·

Genesis MTG card art, Modern Horizons

Image courtesy of Scryfall.com

Genesis and the Regional Pulse of Green

Across MTG spaces, heatmaps have become our favorite way to visualize where a card’s influence travels. When you drop a green Incarnation like Genesis into the mix, regional play patterns shift in intriguing ways 🧙‍♂️🔥. Genesis isn’t just a 4/4 for four mana that taps into green’s robust board presence; it’s a subtle engine for late-game value. The heat you see on regional dashboards often tracks the prevalence of graveyard-recursion gameplay, and Genesis sits right at the heart of that conversation. Its ability to retrieve a creature card from the graveyard back to hand for {2}{G} if Genesis is in your graveyard creates a cyclical rhythm that rewards players for thinking beyond the battlefield and into the life of the graveyard ⚔️.

From a card-design perspective, Genesis is a compact piece of Modern Horizons’ draft-innovation approach. Printed in MH1 as a rare, this green creature costs {4}{G}—a five-mana investment that pays dividends when your graveyard becomes a resource hub. With a power and toughness of 4/4 and a flavor text that proclaims, “Not dryad, centaur, or avatar but life itself,” Genesis encapsulates green’s ethos: life, growth, and resilience. The artwork by Alayna Danner reinforces that sense of living momentum, a theme that translates neatly into regional heat maps where green decks tend to weather longer games and grindier recursions 🧙‍♂️🎨.

“Life itself isn’t a static resource; it’s a flow—back to your hand, back to the board, back to the next turn.”

In gameplay terms, Genesis fits naturally into archetypes that want to keep a steady stream of threats and answers flowing. Its upkeep trigger, contingent on Genesis being in the graveyard, creates a self-reinforcing loop: you reach a point where you can safely sacrifice moments to refill your hand, while your opponent contends with recurring threats. When integrated into regional strategies, Genesis helps explain why certain zones display a higher frequency of action in mid-to-late turns—the card rewards players who lean into the graveyard as a second library. Green’s natural inclinations—card draw, ramp, and resilience—combine with Genesis to create a regionally distinct rhythm, especially in formats that preserve graveyard interaction across multiple turns 🧠💚.

Deck-building picks that sing with Genesis

  • Graveyard-centric recursion lines that leverage cheap spells and efficient creatures to fuel the loop.
  • Reanimation or redraw accelerants that keep pressure on the board even as you refill your hand.
  • Termination and board-stabilizing tools to weather aggressive starts while Genesis patiently churns the graveyard into advantage.

For players exploring regional heatmaps, these craft choices often mirror the regions where green-based recursion sees the most experimentation. The Modern Horizons printing era itself nudges players toward creative payoffs, encouraging you to treat your graveyard as a dynamic playground rather than a permanent casualty. The result is a regional tapestry where Genesis acts as a catalyst for longer games, drawing players into narratives about how life, afterlife, and re-use intersect on the battlefield 🧩.

From a lore angle, Genesis stands as a compact meditation on vitality—“Not dryad, centaur, or avatar but life itself.” That sentiment translates beautifully to the heatmap narrative: regions with longer game lengths and more graveyard-focused play patterns tend to elevate Genesis’s presence. It’s a card that invites players to reflect on what it means to reuse, recycle, and reimagine a creature’s journey from graveyard to hand, a cycle that keeps the game moving and the community buzzing with ideas and memes 🎲.

Art, value, and the collector’s eye

Genesis is not only a strategic piece but also a visually striking card from MH1’s frame era. The black-bordered, high-res art captures a sense of life’s momentum with a quiet, rooted intensity. In terms of collector value, Genesis sits in the “rare” tier with a modest price point that’s accessible for many players. According to Scryfall’s market data, the USD price hovers around $0.52 for non-foil copies, with foil versions creeping up toward $1.08. While not a breakout collectible on parity with flagship legends, Genesis remains a solid, affordable piece for players who want to build around a green recursion engine without breaking the bank 🔥💎.

For fans of the set, the Modern Horizons era is remembered for its playful reprints and creative design space. Genesis exemplifies how a card can be simple to cast, yet rich in play patterns. The art and flavor text reinforce a sense of organic growth—life finding a route back to the hand through a carefully chosen pay line. The card’s practical impact in decks that traverse the graveyard makes it a frequent sight in casual formats and in the more experimental corners of MTG’s broader ecosystem 🎨⚔️.

As you study regional heatmaps and compare them across leagues and leagues within your playgroup, Genesis serves as a reminder that green isn’t just about big creatures and ramp; it’s about lifecycle strategy, resilience, and a little dose of delayed gratification. It’s the kind of card that makes you smile when you see your graveyard suddenly become your most valuable resource—because in MTG, sometimes life truly does find a way back to your hand 🧙‍♂️🎲.

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Genesis

Genesis

{4}{G}
Creature — Incarnation

At the beginning of your upkeep, if this creature is in your graveyard, you may pay {2}{G}. If you do, return target creature card from your graveyard to your hand.

Not dryad, centaur, or avatar but life itself.

ID: 9b741d88-513a-4f47-a4fd-af42c5e44b6d

Oracle ID: 15afdd88-05fc-4335-8a55-c6ee702f3bef

Multiverse IDs: 464115

TCGPlayer ID: 190982

Cardmarket ID: 374700

Colors: G

Color Identity: G

Keywords:

Rarity: Rare

Released: 2019-06-14

Artist: Alayna Danner

Frame: 2015

Border: black

EDHRec Rank: 5392

Penny Rank: 1309

Set: Modern Horizons (mh1)

Collector #: 166

Legalities

  • Standard — not_legal
  • Future — not_legal
  • Historic — not_legal
  • Timeless — not_legal
  • Gladiator — not_legal
  • Pioneer — not_legal
  • Modern — legal
  • Legacy — legal
  • Pauper — not_legal
  • Vintage — legal
  • Penny — legal
  • Commander — legal
  • Oathbreaker — legal
  • Standardbrawl — not_legal
  • Brawl — not_legal
  • Alchemy — not_legal
  • Paupercommander — not_legal
  • Duel — legal
  • Oldschool — not_legal
  • Premodern — legal
  • Predh — legal

Prices

  • USD: 0.52
  • USD_FOIL: 1.08
  • EUR: 0.52
  • EUR_FOIL: 1.19
  • TIX: 0.02
Last updated: 2025-11-15