These lands, and lands like them, probably have
the lowest fun-to-quality ratio of any cards in
Standard. They're very good and their power
doesn't depend on what kind of strategy you
use-- only what colors you play. They allow
multicolor decks to cast their spells with no
loss of tempo, no losing a turn waiting for a
land to untap or a draw to provide the next
color of mana you need. But they aren't fun. You
pay two life to get a land that taps for two
colors of mana untapped. Lands aren't the fun
part of Magic, and paying 2 life isn't fun
unless you're having a side-bet to see how low
you can let your life total get and still win.
People who play these lands aren't having
side-bets like that though, because they're
concerned with winning.
These lands are the mark of a man who spends
more on Magic: the Gathering than he does on
groceries, and justifies it with the hope that
he'll win more in Pro Tour prizes than he spends
(and he may yet). These lands are the motor oil
of Standard-- they're not the part you see or
the part that looks like it's doing the work,
but they're the part that makes the functional
pats function-- the parts that make each deck's
engine hum. In any Standard format that has a
full set of these, monocolor decks simply won't
work-- no matter which color, they simply give
up too much utility fo rnot enough reliability.
The mono/multicolor tradeoff assumes that a
multicolor deck will have each color's strengths
to offset the others' weakness, while a
monocolor deck will have certain weaknesses it
can't overcome in exchange for more reliability
in mana than a multicolor deck. But a multicolor
deck that runs these is so well inured to
colorscrew that they become almost mandatory for
multicolor decks, and they make the tradeoff so
painless for multicolor decks that there is no
incentive left to go monocolor.
While dual lands are not strictly necessary to
run a two (or more) color deck, their existence
certainly makes things a lot easier, especially
over a large number of games with deck
randomization in between. It's also worth noting
that the fact that the "default" for lands is
only producing one color of mana, and that dual
lands are almost always among the most
aesthetically pleasing cards in a set, making
their novelty another force in their popularity.
The Ravnica dual lands are not only the modern
counterparts of the original Alpha dual lands;
they are nearly functionally identical in
many situations. Their very existence has
changed modern (and Modern) Magic forever,
making them worthy of a space in this year's Top
10 (if not Magic's as a whole).
Magic The Gathering Card of The Day: Overgrown
Tomb(and Ravnica Duals)
Welcome back to what should be one of the
shortest reviews ever posted. The original
ravnica shock lands provide access to colors at
a price, that price being more affordable to
decks not caring if lands enter the battlefield
tapped, the exchange of two life is worth the
flexibility these cards provide. In our current
standard it has allowed decks to go crazy and
play everything from Omniscience to Door to
Nothingness, the existence of Rangers Path and
Farseek has been a boon to these lands as well
providing easy access to mana fixing. In modern
these cards had to be reprinted as the price of
mana bases was becoming prohibitive to modern,
these combine well with the Zendikar fetch lands
and I could go on and on. In legacy dual lands
are kind but im sure some decks it may be viable
to add these. In casual and multiplayer it
provides mana fixing for decks and most decks
can be improved by improving the mana base. In
limited there solid fixing overall decent cards.
Overall one of the most powerful and necessary
cycles in recent memory and can be of value from
the top tournament tables to the kitchen table.
The number five card of the year is Overgrown
Tomb and the other pay two life or enters play
tapped dual lands in Return to Ravnica. Blood
Crypt, Hallowed Fountain, Overgrown Tomb, Steam
Vents, and Temple Garden have both land types
that represent their colors which allow more
search options and the life payment is not
mandatory which grants flexibility in the timing
of playing each. The drawback of coming
into play tapped is fairly common in dual lands
and avoiding that for two life is useful
depending on the stage of the game and available
plays. Overall this cycle is very good and
is sure to see continued play in current formats
now that they have returned to Standard.
For Limited the value of each is based on how
many of the land types are for your primary and
secondary or guild colors. With both it is
an automatic inclusion for Sealed and generally
a first pick in Booster to be followed with that
guild, while one can lead to an easier time of
splashing another color.
