Today's cards of the day are the slow dual lands from Tempest which only do anything every other turn.  The primary 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 somewhat weak compared to other options.  They can support a turn one only deck and being able to tap for colorless allows them to work well in a build with minimal color requirements.  Overall these are middle of the road for dual lands and can still see play in certain designs.
 
Constructed: 2.5
Casual: 2.5
Limited: 3.5
Multiplayer: 2.5

David Fanany

Player since 1995

Tempest Slow Lands
 
Tempest actually had two cycles of dual lands: this cycle, printed as uncommons, and a cycle of enemy-colored dual lands that came into play tapped and also dealt damage when tapped for colored mana, printed as rares. This was the first set with ten dual lands since Revised, although each cycle was less powerful than both the original dual lands and the Ice Age painlands. As a matter of fact, Tempest also had Reflecting Pool, which saw more tournament play at the time due to its speed and its interaction with Gemstone Mine and Undiscovered Paradise. These lands are still of interest as examples of a certain design philosophy - the concept that if you really need a specific color of mana, you will do whatever is necessary to get it - and I find it hard to argue that any land that taps for two colors of mana is inherently bad.
 
I believe that Tempest's slow lands were intended to be an iteration of yesterday's lands, minus the use of counters and the requirement of keeping track of upkeep triggers. In later sets, using counters of different types stopped being seen as a drawback, and I can't help but wonder if Wizards of the Coast would have kept using depletion counters and the like if designs like Power Conduit and Chisei, Heart of Oceans had occurred to them earlier.
 
Constructed: 2/5
Casual: 2/5
Limited: 3/5
Multiplayer: 3/5
EDH/Commander: 2/5