Lithium dendrites have different growth mechanisms before and after “Sand’s Time”. They are root filamentous growth and tip branch growth, respectively. The diffusion-induced interfacial instability leads to the formation of tip branch, but little is known about the root growth mechanism of Li dendrites. In a recent study (Nature Energy 2018, 3, 227), we developed the stress-driven dendrite growth model to interpret the dendrite mitigation by electroplating on soft substrates (from Dr. Jiang’s group at ASU). The internal compressive stress of the deposited Li film is released through surface-wrinkling-formation on the soft substrate surface.