Continuing our little 2014 theme here, we're talking lands.
Though my love of basic lands is no secret, I do not deny the inherent advantages of non-basics. From the new, expensive, and obvious Nykthos to the silent, cheap, and colorless Mystifying Maze, shaping mana bases with certain pieces of tech can power up your design in ways you probably never thought before.
Today we've got not only our favorite pieces of tech to date, but also the ways we are using them. So let's get started! THIS IS THE STACK!
JOHNNY CONFIDANT'S PICK
I lean heavily into my life in my Karador deck to put me farther ahead than my opponents. It's really similar to a suicide Black strategy. I found myself needing more and more ways to gain what I lost to survive the end game until I'm the victor.
That's where this little morsel comes into play. Since I'm not a big aggressor, I wait on this most of the time; using it as a deterrent. "Chump blocking" with a Deathtouch creature usually is enough to keep me safe for a turn or two. The Lifelink aspect, as previously stated, is a nice bonus and a great option should I need to go on the attack. All in all I can't get enough of this card.
Uncle Landdrops- THUMBS UP
Nifty land is nifty. I have several personal New Year's Resolutions I set for me as a Commander player. Part of that is creating good designs for the remaining guild color combos I call "unloved." The Orzhov Church Mafia is just one of the color schemes for which I hope to make a nice list. And I'll probably be playing this card in it when I can get some of these other goals accomplished.
The cool thing I want to point out with this card is that it's a pretty nice effect in something like Sydri, or as JC mentioned, in Karador. Decks about non-token dudes are the places this card needs to be. In most cases, that might not be in this color scheme's natural inclinations.
Grandpa Growth - THUMBS UP
I haven't played this, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't play this. It is a very powerful effect for a land to have. It is certainly expensive to activate, but the effectiveness scales up quickly when board states become more crowded. I have two problems with this card though, and they are what has held me back from playing with it in Commander. First, Black/White is not a color combination I want to go in on. There is just too much overlap and the generals are comparatively weak. Esper is well established, but basically every other permutation leaves something to be desired. Blue and Green are the best colors in the format. As strong as this card is, I would need a much bigger incentive before I commit to not playing both of them. Secondly, I don't want to be in the situation where I have a board full of things that are begging to be caught in a sweeper, which limits the effectiveness of this card. White and Black together have access to about 95% percent of the sweepers in the format. Not playing them would be foolish, they are too powerful to cut. So naturally, this will become less relevant when the boards get smaller.
Venser's Journalist- THUMBS UP
I use this land in my Obzedat deck and it has proven indispensable in my life gain/life loss combos with the Vizkopa Guildmage and Sanguine Bond. Having a field of Lifelink/Deathtouch creatures is not absolutely necessary, nor even desirable as GG pointed out; but I think it can be advantageous even at small scales. Being able to give these effects to even two creatures is well worth the four (technically five) mana you'd spend.
VENSER'S JOURNALIST'S PICK
Sun Tzu has begun to tinge my style of playing MTG recently. There is a quote from him that goes something like "when able to attack, we must seem unable." I've applied this to a defensive removal strategy. Creatures with Flash can sometimes be as good or better than instant speed removal spells against attacking creatures, but not all good creatures have Flash. Hence, the importance of this gem of a land that I've found.
Before, I was using Alchemist's refuge as a way to give my creatures flash, but that requires Blue and Green mana specifically, which meant limited use in Simic, Bant, BUG, and RUG decks, often times limiting your choices of creature based on available mana. Though the Refuge also lends use to Artifacts and Enchantments, Winding Canyons is not a land to scoff at.
Johnny Confidant- THUMBS UP
Anytime you can gain pseudo-extra turns is a huge gain. Granted Winding Canyons only allows for creatures to be flashed for surprise blockers or end of turn bomb drops. These types of lands are huge for those beefy Mono green, Naya or Jund decks that don't have access to counter spells and can use these once the control player overextends or simply taps out.
Uncle Landdrops- THUMBS UP
My Winding Canyons has been moving around from deck to deck, still trying to find a home where it's my first target. For a while it was stashed away in Yeva as a backup plan, but I never had much problem with Plan A, so it was just redundant. I'm hoping to get it somewhere where it will be feared again.
Grandpa Growth- THUMBS UP
My copies of Winding Canyons have seen a lot of use over the last few years. Having this in play allows and deck to assume the strategic position of Aggro-Control: an enviable aerie of unparalleled success. This allows you to maximize the time value of your mana and enables you to spend it on the most relevant things. You can leave up mana for counters and removal, but still have the ability to play threats on the opponent's turn. This is an unassuming card, but punishes stumbling harshly.
GRANDPA GROWTH'S PICK
Grandpa Growth- THUMBS UP
I hope we revisit this topic early and often; it is essentially Super Secret Sunday, but on Saturday. Who doesn't like learning about new tech?! Scrubs, that's who. I wanted to preach the virtues of Scrying Sheets or Diamond Valley. I have a list of cards a mile long for this conversation, but alas they will have to wait for another day. I make no secret of it, I loved Kamigawa block. This was the first cycle of legendary lands since either Urza's Block. That's a sizable chunk of time.
These lands aren't searchable, but other than that they are perfect. They produce colored mana, enter the battlefield untapped, and provide a relevant effect. In Commander you always have access to a target for these, even if it isn't your creature that gets targeted. The other members of the cycle are much more narrow in scope, but they still end up seeing more play! Minamo has Merieke, but Shink and Shizo are just substantially better than Okina and Eiganjo. If you have a 1-2 color deck that doesn't specifically need basics, use these.
Johnny Confidant- THUMBS UP
Jumping on the band wagon here, these lands are solid enhancements to any deck that already has a strong land balance. I've seen 5-color decks running at least Shizo for Fear and it's super easy to fetch up with cards like Tolara West, and Captain Sisay due to its Legendary type.
Legendary Lands to me are always a solid go-to if your building in those colors or have room for some colorless slots. Too bad we can't use Karakas though. I'd also like to give an Honorable mention to Nykthos our newest Legendary Land. Devotion is a great way to net mana, Not just in Mono-color decks, but I've seen that land do some work in decks with as many as three colors. Pick them up while they are still cheap-ish Zoners.
Venser's Journalist- THUMBS UP
Kamigawa has always been a block of mixed feelings for me, but mostly curiosity. The amount of Legendary Creatures (and other things) from that set provides plenty of neat commanders. These lands are certainly neat for their creature-buffing tech, but we also mustn't forget lands for mana's sake (I'm referring to Untaidake).
Uncle Landdrops- THUMBS UP
This whole cycle's pretty cool. I've used almost all these lands in one way or another. Shizo's pretty hot tech in the Horobi list, and I've actually played Okina and Eiganjo more often than you think. Because of its underrated qualities, Okina really gives people a hard time in combat with Yeva when I make them remember that I play silly lands with combat tricks. The same goes for an unarmed Daxos and the land our playgroup calls "Django Castle."
UNCLE LANDDROPS' PICK
I use the Mirrodin Artifact Lands to do so many different things. Though they are weaker from a removal standpoint, decks with card advantage really don't care too much about these going to the graveyard. In tight spots, they can turn Trinket Mages into Borderland Rangers. They can draw you extra cards off Trading Post. Turning on Metalcraft really doesn't begin to describe the tricky stuff I've done with this cycle. I use them a lot, often more than just for tapping mana.
Johnny Confidant- THUMBS DOWN
Not too much of a fan unfortunately, it seems a bit contradictory due to the fact that I previously mentioned I like devotion, but not Metalcraft.
To me Devotion has a stronger synergy with EDH as well as it gives me more interesting options. With devotion the more mana symbols I play in my permanents the higher it goes. Where as in Metalcraft all I need is artifacts (here's looking at you Darksteel Relic). The second reason is that there are more beneficial effects coming out of devotion, More mana, Big Creatures, and splashy effects to be had.
In a artifact heavy deck, unless I were playing Sharuum, I wouldn't even consider running these.
Grandpa Growth- THUMBS UP
I play the artifact lands often, they are not very exciting anymore - certainly not like they were in the old days, what with all the breaking of ground and formats. These cards were nearly banned in Standard and completely deserved it. Now they do a lot of fun things in Commander. They can serve as fuel for things like Master Transmuter or an additional name for Realms Uncharted. They give you a different card type so they be searched up by different tutor effects. You may not want to use your Enlightened Tutor on a land, but that flexibility doesn't cost you anything.
Venser's Journalist- THUMBS UP
I'm a fan of Metalcraft and I've tried hard for the past year to make a Metalcraft deck that works well and can activate early on in the game. I've stuffed it full of cheap trinkets (as well as the Trinket Mage) and with Uncle Landdrops as my witness, I even resorted to having Memnite Shyamalam in there just for a quick turn one artifact creature. The only thing keeping me from stuffing a Seat of the Synod in that deck is the price and availability of the Mirrodin lands in my area. Plus a Darksteel Citadel is good enough for now, and it will survive Armageddon and the Worldslayer.
We only ever have a few spots to share tech, but I know there's some we haven't thought of. As always, feel free to share with us your favorites or thoughts on ours in the comments below.
Be sure to tune in tomorrow for Grandpa Growth's continuing discussion on Investments and Engines.
Until next time Zoners- The Power is Yours!
-UL/GG/VJ/JC
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