David Fanany
Player since
1995 |
Ice Age Depletion Lands
Around the time of Ice Age,
Wizards of the
Coast decided that allied colors should be
easier to use together than enemy colors, a
design philosophy that remained in force until
surprisingly recently. There's probably a real
concept somewhere in the idea of a set with two
cycles of allied-color dual lands and no enemy
colored ones, but it's not as strongly pushed in
Ice Age as it probably would be in a new set
(mostly the dual land cycles and the various
color hosers like Drought, Justice, etc). This
particular cycle may have seemed at the time
like a rather jarring introduction to a
post-Alpha dual land era, as it's a noticeable
step down in power. (Note, though, that they're
not functionally identical to the similar cycle
from Kamigawa - the attempt at errata has now
itself been rolled back, and they use depletion
counters again. Hungry Hungry Heifer says hi!)
In terms of my own experiences,
such
considerations were academic, since I only ever
recall seeing a member of this cycle once in my
playgroup from that time. It didn't seem very
memorable at the time - dual lands don't always,
especially to newer players. Over the years,
though, I've found that there are very few that
I'd never consider playing. It doesn't seem fair
to criticize this style of land for disrupting
tempo and then turn around and stuff Arcane
Sanctum, Temple of Plenty, and Vivid Crag into
every deck. (And yes, I also play with Hungry
Hungry Heifer sometimes.)
Constructed: 2/5
Casual: 2/5
Limited: 3/5
Multiplayer: 3/5
EDH/Commander: 3/5
|
Michael "Maikeruu" Pierno |
Today's cards of the day are the five
depletion
dual lands from Ice Age which only do anything
every other turn. The only benefit these
have over the more frequently seen enters play
tapped lands is that these can tap for mana the
turn they enter play, but otherwise they are
very weak compared to other options. At
best they can support a turn one only deck, but
the lack of value on turn two allows no
flexibility and that is far too narrow for any
serious build.
Constructed: 1.5
Casual: 1.5
Limited: 2.5
Multiplayer: 1.5
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