Reaping Willow

About Reaping Willow

Reaping Willow, Creature — treefolk cleric, designed by Igor Krstic first released in Jan, 2026 in the set Lorwyn Eclipsed.

Reaping Willow would fit best in an Orzhov (white/black) midrange or Aristocrats-style deck that values recursion, lifegain, and grindy resource loops, especially one built to exploit +1/+1 and -1/-1 counter interactions or sacrifice synergies. Because it enters with two -1/-1 counters, it likely starts small and needs counter manipulation (like proliferate, counter removal, or effects that negate -1/-1 counters) to become an efficient body, but its activated ability is the real draw: repeatable reanimation of creatures with mana value 3 or less is strong in decks full of value creatures such as sacrifice fodder, ETB payoff creatures, or combo pieces. However, it competes with more efficient and immediate options like Lurrus of the Dream-Den (repeatable recursion without needing counters), Sun Titan (broader recursion), or even Unearth and Sevinne’s Reclamation for cheaper, faster value; compared to these, Reaping Willow is slower and mana-intensive, requiring setup before generating a