Analyzing Nonbasic Lands, Pt. 1

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mistergreen527

27 February 2010

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Analyzing Nonbasics: Part One

In my last article, “Mana Ratios: The Nonbasics,” we learned that one of the ways to make it easier to cast color-specific spells is to use nonbasic lands. However, the color(s) of mana that a land can produce is just one attribute to take into consideration. Nonbasics can greatly benefit a deck in many ways. Alternatively, they can also hinder a deck. Because of this, it is important to choose carefully which and how many nonbasics to use in your deck. When analyzing a nonbasic land, there are ten attributes to examine.

Nonbasic Attributes

If you haven’t been able to tell yet from my previous articles, I love lists. So, of course, here’s a list of the attributes to consider when analyzing a nonbasic land:

1) Number of Colors: How many different colors does the land give you access to? For example, a Glimmervoid gives you access to 5, while a Secluded Glen gives you access to 2.

2) Amount of Mana: How much mana can the land produce each turn? An Oasis gives you 0, while a Mishra's Workshop gives you 3.

3) Speed: Does the land enter the battlefield tapped? Having too many lands that do so will significantly slow down your deck. Alternatively, some lands, such as Darigaaz's Caldera can slow down your deck by not increasing your total land count.

4) Pain: Does the land do damage to you, such as Cephalid Coliseum? Or, does the land benefit your opponent, such as Forbidden Orchard?

5) Mana Costs: What mana costs are required of you in order for the land to be beneficial? For example, for Mystic Gate to give you colored mana, you must pay a white or blue mana first. Similarly, a Cabal Coffers is useless without two colorless mana and a fair number of Swamps.

6) Pay Restrictions: Does the land produce mana that can only be used to pay for certain things, such as Pillar of the Paruns?

7) Deck Thinning: Does the land pull cards out of your deck? For example, activating a Flooded Strand will pull a Plains or Island out of your deck.

8) Types: Does the land have any other types attached to it? A nonbasic land can also be an artifact (Ancient Den), a legendary (Gaea's Cradle), a snow (Tresserhorn Sinks), and even a creature (Dryad Arbor).

9) Manland: Is the land able to turn into a creature, such as Mutavault? This may seem the same as the “type” attribute, but it’s different in that it keeps changing its type. A manland might become a creature until end of turn, but an artifact land is always an artifact land. This is important when considering when your opponent can play removal spells. 10) Special Abilities: Does the land have any other neat tricks?

Now, I can’t really say which attributes are more important than others because it all depends on your play style and the type of deck you are making. I mean, a four color deck is going to worry more about the number of colors a land can produce. Meanwhile, a turbo aggro deck (shout out to TAMA) is going to be more concerned with speed. I can, however, tell you that when you’re deciding whether or not to use a nonbasic land, you should be asking yourself, “Is this land going to help my deck more than a basic land?” Let’s take a look at some of the nonbasics of Standard to try and answer this question.

The Monocolored Nonbasics of Standard

There are 15 lands currently in Standard that produce one color of mana and that come into play tapped. There are three of these lands for each color. Now, I originally had these attribute comparisons in nice, neat looking table, but alas, it was not meant to be. Due to formatting errors, they had to be removed. This may not look as nice, but it gives you the idea.

White:

Number of Colors: Plains = One, Emeria, the Sky Ruin = One, Kabira Crossroads = One, Sejiri Steppe = One.

Amount of Mana: Plains = One, Emeria, the Sky Ruin = One, Kabira Crossroads = One, Sejiri Steppe = One.

Speed: Plains = Untapped, Emeria, the Sky Ruin = Tapped, Kabira Crossroads = Tapped, Sejiri Steppe = Tapped.

Pain: Plains = None, Emeria, the Sky Ruin = None, Kabira Crossroads = None, Sejiri Steppe = None.

Mana Costs: Plains = None, Emeria, the Sky Ruin = None, Kabira Crossroads = None, Sejiri Steppe = None.

Pay Restrictions: Plains = None, Emeria, the Sky Ruin = None, Kabira Crossroads = None, Sejiri Steppe = None.

Deck Thinning: Plains = No, Emeria, the Sky Ruin = No, Kabira Crossroads = No, Sejiri Steppe = No.

Types: Plains = Land Only, Emeria, the Sky Ruin = Land Only, Kabira Crossroads = Land Only, Sejiri Steppe = Land Only.

Manland: Plains = No, Emeria, the Sky Ruin = No, Kabira Crossroads = No, Sejiri Steppe = No.

Special Abilities: Plains = No, Emeria, the Sky Ruin = Yes, Kabira Crossroads = Yes, Sejiri Steppe = Yes.

So, from these comparisons, we can see that there are two attributes that are different between a Plains and the white nonbasics: speed and special abilities. This leaves us with a pretty easy question, “Is the special ability worth having the land come into play tapped?” As I mentioned before, your personal play style will be a factor when answering this question. That being said, here’s my own internal dialogue for these nonbasics:

1) Emeria, the Sky Ruin: The ability sounds amazing, but several factors have to be fulfilled. First of all, the deck must be primarily white in order to be able to accumulate seven Plains, so I’d probably only play this in a mono-white deck. Secondly, having Emeria, the Sky Ruin, plus seven or more Plains on the battlefield means that it is probably at least turn eight. So, if you’re planning on not winning by then, but wanting to still be alive, your deck would need to have some heavy defensive capabilities. And thirdly, to be really effective, you’d want to make sure that you have an ample number of creatures in your graveyard by then in order for the ability to resolve every turn. Overall, unless the deck is built around using it, I’d rather take a Plains.

2) Kabira Crossroads: I think I would rather be able to use the mana a turn earlier, rather than gain 2 life. However, I can definitely see this being more beneficial in a deck using Sanguine Bond or Felidar Severeign.

3) Sejiri Steppe: I’m still not entirely sure about this card. Again, I would probably prefer the speed, but I can totally see myself sideboarding this against mono-colored decks. I mean, it’s like a mini Brave the Elements, which has won me several games by making my opponent unable to block my creatures.

Blue:

I know the comparisons for each color are going to look basically the same, but I want to get you in the habit of looking at them for later articles when they get more complex.

Number of Colors: Island = One, Magosi, the Waterveil = One, Soaring Seacliff = One, Halimar Depths = One.

Amount of Mana: Island = One, Magosi, the Waterveil = One, Soaring Seacliff = One, Halimar Depths = One.

Speed: Island = Untapped, Magosi, the Waterveil = Tapped, Soaring Seacliff = Tapped, Halimar Depths = Tapped.

Pain: Island = None, Magosi, the Waterveil = None, Soaring Seacliff = None, Halimar Depths = None.

Mana Costs: Island = None, Magosi, the Waterveil = None, Soaring Seacliff = None, Halimar Depths = None.

Pay Restrictions: Island = None, Magosi, the Waterveil = None, Soaring Seacliff = None, Halimar Depths = None.

Deck Thinning: Island = No, Magosi, the Waterveil = No, Soaring Seacliff = No, Halimar Depths = No.

Types: Island = Land Only, Magosi, the Waterveil = Land Only, Soaring Seacliff = Land Only, Halimar Depths = Land Only.

Manland: Island = No, Magosi, the Waterveil = No, Soaring Seacliff = No, Halimar Depths = No.

Special Abilities: Island = No, Magosi, the Waterveil = Yes, Soaring Seacliff = Yes, Halimar Depths = Yes.

The differences here are the same as the differences found in white. So, let’s just get into my thoughts on each individual card.

1) Magosi, the Waterveil: You know, I’m sure there’s some way out there to make this card completely broken, but I’m just not seeing it. I mean, you have to skip your next turn first. Then, you’d better hope you have some Silences because you have to make sure that nobody bounces or destroys it before you’re allowed to take your extra turn. Until someone reveals an amazing combo to me, give me an Island any day.

2) Soaring Seacliff: As you may have been able to tell from my inner-dialogue on Sejiri Steppe, I am a huge fan of evasion. However, flying is more easily stopped than protection from a color. I have yet to be impressed by this card, and again would rather have an Island.

3) Halimar Depths: Personally, I don’t like cards that let you manipulate the order of the cards on the top of your library without any other benefit. I mean, sure, I love Ponder, but that’s only because it also lets me draw a card AND gives me the option to reshuffle. Unless I plan on abusing Djinn of Wishes, give me the Island.

Black:

Notice that Crypt of Agadeem gives us a different factor to consider.

Number of Colors: Swamp = One, Crypt of Agadeem = One, Piranha Marsh = One, Bojuka Bog = One.

Amount of Mana: Swamp = One, Crypt of Agadeem = One or Many, Piranha Marsh = One, Bojuka Bog = One.

Speed: Swamp = Untapped, Crypt of Agadeem = Tapped, Piranha Marsh = Tapped, Bojuka Bog = Tapped.

Pain: Swamp = None, Crypt of Agadeem = None, Piranha Marsh = None, Bojuka Bog = None.

Mana Costs: Swamp = None, Crypt of Agadeem = None or Two, Piranha Marsh = None, Bojuka Bog = None.

Pay Restrictions: Swamp = None, Crypt of Agadeem = None, Piranha Marsh = None, Bojuka Bog = None.

Deck Thinning: Swamp = No, Crypt of Agadeem = No, Piranha Marsh = No, Bojuka Bog = No.

Types: Swamp = Land Only, Crypt of Agadeem = Land Only, Piranha Marsh = Land Only, Bojuka Bog = Land Only.

Manland: Swamp = No, Crypt of Agadeem = No, Piranha Marsh = No, Bojuka Bog = No. Special Abilities: Swamp = No, Crypt of Agadeem = No, Piranha Marsh = Yes, Bojuka Bog = Yes.

1) Crypt of Agadeem: The comparison here is a little different than with the other mono-colored nonbasics. Instead of having a special ability, Crypt of Agadeem gives us an opportunity to produce more than one black mana. So, now the question becomes “Is speed more important than having more mana later on?” It’s really only able to produce extra mana if you have at least three black creatures in your graveyard, since it has an activation cost of two mana. However, if your deck is relatively creature-heavy, this is not an unreachable goal. Besides, you can always tap it for one black mana, unlike Cabal Coffers. I can see wanting a Crypt of Agadeem over a Swamp in several instances, especially in a self-mill unearth deck.

2) Piranha Marsh: However much I hate to admit it, having the opponent lose one life is not worth the loss of tempo that is caused by coming into play tapped. Even so, I do like the idea of using this in a pinger deck. Actually, now that I think of it, this card could certainly be abused somehow using Ruin Ghost and cards such as Kor Skyfisher that allow you to keep replaying it. Hmm

3) Bojuka Bog: This is another nonbasic land that I can see being a valuable sideboard card in the year to come. I’ll use just Swamps until my opponent shows me that he or she is abusing the graveyard, then I’ll side-out four Swamp and side in four Bojuka Bogs.

Red:

Number of Colors: Mountain = One, Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle = One, Teetering Peaks = One, Smoldering Spires = One.

Amount of Mana: Mountain = One, Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle = One, Teetering Peaks = One, Smoldering Spires = One.

Speed: Mountain = Untapped, Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle = Tapped, Teetering Peaks = Tapped, Smoldering Spires = Tapped.

Pain: Mountain = None, Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle = None, Teetering Peaks = None, Smoldering Spires = None.

Mana Costs: Mountain = None, Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle = None, Teetering Peaks = None, Smoldering Spires = None.

Pay Restrictions: Mountain = None, Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle = None, Teetering Peaks = None, Smoldering Spires = None.

Deck Thinning: Mountain = No, Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle = No, Teetering Peaks = No, Smoldering Spires = No.

Types: Mountain = Land Only, Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle = Land Only, Teetering Peaks = Land Only, Smoldering Spires = Land Only.

Manland: Mountain = No, Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle = No, Teetering Peaks = No, Smoldering Spires = No.

Special Abilities: Mountain = No, Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle = Yes, Teetering Peaks = Yes, Smoldering Spires = Yes.

1) Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle: This ability is similar to Emeria, the Sky Ruin’s ability. However, it is going to take less turns to activate and it will always have a target. If I’m playing mono-red or some way to quickly ramp up to five Mountains, I’d gladly use Valakut, the Molten Pinnacles, just in case the game doesn’t end as early as I was hoping. Of course, if you’re using turbo aggro, it should always end by then, in which case the speed of a Mountain is more important.

2) Teetering Peaks: I love this card. I can potentially get an extra two damage in for dropping a land. Plus, it goes extremely well with double strikers. Turn one: Plains, Kor Duelist. Turn two: Bone Saw, Equip, Teetering Peaks, attack for 8 on turn two! THANKYOUVERYMUCH! I definitely think that the free power boost is worth it.

3) Smoldering Spires: Blah. Making single creatures unable to block is another ability I’ve never been a fan of. Besides, it’s not like it can target the Wall of Denial, which is the main one you wish you could. Give me a Mountain over this any day.

Green:

Number of Colors: Forest = One, Oran-Rief, the Vastwood = One, Turntimber Grove = One, Khalni Garden = One.

Amount of Mana: Forest = One, Oran-Rief, the Vastwood = One, Turntimber Grove = One, Khalni Garden = One.

Speed: Forest = Untapped, Oran-Rief, the Vastwood = Tapped, Turntimber Grove = Tapped, Khalni Garden = Tapped.

Pain: Forest = None, Oran-Rief, the Vastwood = None, Turntimber Grove = None, Khalni Garden = None.

Mana Costs: Forest = None, Oran-Rief, the Vastwood = None, Turntimber Grove = None, Khalni Garden = None.

Pay Restrictions: Forest = None, Oran-Rief, the Vastwood = None, Turntimber Grove = None, Khalni Garden = None.

Deck Thinning: Forest = No, Oran-Rief, the Vastwood = No, Turntimber Grove = No, Khalni Garden = No.

Types: Forest = Land Only, Oran-Rief, the Vastwood = Land Only, Turntimber Grove = Land Only, Khalni Garden = Land Only.

Manland: Forest = No, Oran-Rief, the Vastwood = No, Turntimber Grove = No, Khalni Garden = No.

Special Abilities: Forest = No, Oran-Rief, the Vastwood = Yes, Turntimber Grove = Yes, Khalni Garden = Yes.

1) Oran-Rief, the Vastwood: As long as the majority of your creatures are green, this card is totally worth it! In my opinion, the accumulated damage it can create is worth the loss of speed. Now, if you’re playing extended and you’ve got creatures with persist, you’d be crazy not to use it.

2) Turntimber Grove: It’s worse than Oran-Rief, the Vastwood because it’s a one-shot, and it’s worse than Teetering Peaks because it only increases the power by one. I’d rather use one of those alternatives or a basic Forest over it.

3) Khalni Garden: For some reason, I really like this card. I don’t know if it’s worth it yet, but I can see this card being used in many ways. For one, it can create a chump blocker that may prevent you from losing a lot of life. Next, it goes well with any creature with devour. Finally, I can see it being a lot of fun with decks that use Biorhythm, Doubling Season, and/or Epic Struggle. I’m still not sure if it’s better than a Forest in other circumstances, but I have a feeling it may be.

Well, Those Are My Thoughts. What Are Yours?

My last two articles were pretty analytical, so hopefully you liked this casual, opinion-centered approach. I’m not by any means a master of all Magic knowledge (though that is a goal of mine), but I do think I have a good grasp on many aspects of the game. So, hopefully you found these thoughts of mine useful in some way. Now, I want to know what your opinions on these cards are. If you think I’m wrong, let me know. If you think I’m right, let me know. Maybe we can get some kind of discussion going here. Tell all of your Magic-playing friends to take a look at this and share their opinions as well. The more ideas that are shared, the greater our knowledge of the game will become.

For my next article Well, actually, I’m not exactly sure what I’m going to write about for the next one. It may be part two of this, but I also may save that for later, since I’ve got a couple of ideas squirming around. I’ve got another “math-a-magic” brewing that I’m pretty excited about. Which type of article did you like more? Let me know if there’s something you’d like to read.