Triome Lands – Ikoria MTG Review

Phat
Pack
Magic
YouTube

Hello everyone and welcome back to Pojo’s Card of the Day! Things have been a little stir crazy with what’s been going on and unfortunately Ikoria hasn’t been released in paper yet here in the United States. However a silver lining is that with the stimulus checks there’s so many fun things that you can pick up! So today we’re taking a peek at the Triome Lands and their Showcase Versions.

So when these Triome’s were spoiled the entire Magic world took a collective gasp that hadn’t been seen since the original Ravnica: City of Guilds. Back when original Ravnica came out the concept of having multiple basic land types was a long forgotten dream that only the original ten Dual Lands could fulfill and they were only starting to pick up in value with the revamp of an old format into what we now call Legacy.

Over the years WotC has eased off the throttle of dual land styled cards over the years with the ‘Battle Lands’ and then the Cyclelands in Amonkhet, but this year they added a bit of spice and did something they never did before by adding a THIRD land type on that bar, and while these Tricycle lands are still new the big question is.. when will they complete the cycle?!

So as amazing as these cards are it’s fairly straightforward as to why they’re awesome. The only caveat is that they can’t come into play untapped by paying 3 life, that being said a lot of people are going to want these. They are going to be amazing in Standard where three color is slowly becoming the norm and they’ll also be awesome in lower powered Commander Decks.

While the high-competitive tiers of Commander may pass on these due to their easy access to fetches, duals, and the ability to combo off on turn 2-3 where the liability of a ‘comes into play tapped’ land is simply too great a cost for the option of a third color.

In draft these are going to be a godsend as the format is filled with multi color goodstuff and fixing is a key component to having a functional deck chances are you’re not going to pass these even if you get multiples of different colors. Not to mention that they at the very least pay for the pack!

Now for my favorite place that these cards will find a home in, and that’s my cube! This week I finished all the necessary purchases to have a fully foiled out copy of the MTGO Vintage Cube (sans Power 9 and Duals and cards that do not have a foil printing available) and while I like MTGO’s version of the Vintage Cube I also have my own brew which is a lot more laden with multi color aspects and these dual lands are going to be perfect for that module! Fetchable Tri-lands with mid to late game utility as cyclers is going to make them a high pick in Cube Draft and I don’t think I’m alone in that opinion.

These cards are sitting pretty at $50 for the foil showcase, $25 for non-foil showcase, $15 for regular foil, and $10 for nonfoil. So if you go all out you’d be looking at around $250 right now for a foil set, $1,000 for a foil playset. That being said these prices are still very premature given that the cards have not seen actual play in the United States and the majority of orders are being backed until May 15. Still… A set of foils wouldn’t be the worst thing you could do with some of your Stimulus Check.

The only aspect that bothers me about this new twist on lands is that we can’t really refer to them as duals, so when WotC does another round of these (maybe they come in untapped if you pay 3 life?!) we’ll have to figure out a catchier name… Maybe Trials?

Standard 4/5 – These are going to be huge and will probably be even more important when the Shocklands rotate out.

EDH 5/5 – With the caveat of EDH Power Level 5 or less. Seeing as it’s singleton it’s definitely worth picking up the super premium version since you only need one.

Limited 5/5 – In Ikoria fixing is king,  snatch this up and play any deck you want.

Cube 4/5 – It’s not a dual land.. it’s not a shockland.. but it’s fetchable and definitely warrants attention during the draft.

Phat Pack Magic is a channel dedicated to Magic: the Gathering and creating awesome coverage of local events for formats like Cube, rare pack drafts, and now FNM Pioneer videos! Check it out at https://YouTube.com/PhatPackMagic

David
Fanany
Player
since
1995

The absolute mad lads – they actually did it. I’ll have more to say about the creative elements of Ikoria‘s trilands when I do my gameplay-free review of the set, but I’ll start by saying how absolutely beautiful I find the alternate art. I don’t know about you guys, but one of the reasons I play games like Magic is to get a direct hit of that comic book feeling.

They also make me glad that fetchlands are banned in Pioneer (and remind me that I should probably formally ban them in 50-card singleton, too), because if you thought Battle for Zendikar-era decks had too many colors in them, these would turn it up to 11. Even without that option, dual lands are always worth seeking and investing in because they make any deck just that little bit smoother (even in 50-card singleton), especially when they also have cycling. You may remember that Amonkhet‘s dual lands also have cycling, and how much this helps with the perennial phenomenon of drawing a land late in the game when you would prefer to draw a spell. I’d give my usual line about how these will be staples in competitive and casual formats for years to come, but that seems a little trite considering they’re the first lands with three basic land types. I still almost can’t believe they’re real!

Constructed: 4/5
Casual: 5/5
Limited: 4/5 (they’re rares, but in a set with three-color themes they’ll be a high pick)
Multiplayer: 4/5
Commander: 4/5

The Triomes are souped-up versions of the Amonkhet cycling lands: basic land types mean you can tutor for them with fetch lands and other specific tutor effects (like Wood Elves), and cycling means that you can turn them into an extra card late game if you have enough mana. They’re quite strong in decks that can support them, and being able to draw three colors means you can use them to more reliably splash for colors in decks. Coming in tapped is a marked downside, so they aren’t unstoppable world-beaters that will immediately replace each and every land in your decks, and non-basic land hate in deeper formats is still a Thing, but the Triomes are going to be one of the most sought-after cycles from Ikoria, and for good reason.

Constructed: 4.25 (not every deck will want them, and they do present downsides, but the upsides they offer are great enough to consider)
Casual: 4
Limited: 4 (not bombs in a conventional sense, but Ikoria being wedge-focused places greater value on lands that generate multiple colors to enable splashing)
Multiplayer: 4
Commander: 4.25 (if your deck can run them, run them)