Land choices
General forum
Posted on July 27, 2017, 5:50 p.m. by redknight44
I'm new to the game so sorry if this seems stupid, or if I'm missing something really obvious. I notice a lot of decks have questionable land choices. For example, people will sometimes choose lands that damage themselves, before they will a land that gives the same mana but doesn't come with the negative side effect. Am I missing something? Is there a card I'm unaware of that... destroys lands that don't damage you, or something to that effect? I imagine that the response will be that 1 or 2 damage is inconsequential, but I still don't see the point.
Here's an example: Why use Battlefield Forge or Sacred Foundry, when you could use Inspiring Vantage or Clifftop Retreat ?
Dual lands that have basic land types, like Sacred Foundry, can be found by Fetch lands, e.g. Windswept Heath. That means one fetch can find two different colors, rather than just, say, a Plains. That's why people run shocklands.
Pain lands, e.g. Battlefield Forge, come in untapped at any stage of the game, with no requirements. Decks that need to hit many different colors on curve may want Pain lands over Check lands, e.g. Clifftop Retreat, or Fast lands, e.g. Inspiring Vantage.
The most common of those 4 you listed are Shocks and Fast lands, because most formats favor having your colors early on. Most people don't play Check lands unless they have to because you can't use it to play a one-drop, or if you've played lands without a basic land type, e.g. all of the above lands besides Shocks.
Life is way less important than being able to cast your spells.
July 27, 2017 5:55 p.m.
It also can matter with the format. Fastlands are great in most modern/standard decks, but can fall short in EDH. Likewise, pain lands, as listed above) are useful at any point in the game because of it not coming into play tapped. The damage dealt by the painlands though, does add up, so typically it is better used in a format like EDH. There are cases in modern where painlands are used. This is mostly found in Eldrazi tron where you need the colorless mana, but need certain colors to operate. I hope this helps.
July 27, 2017 6:32 p.m.
You also have to consider the advantage of filtering out your deck.
Fetchlands like Arid Mesa and Polluted Delta and so on (there's one for every two color combo) offer the advantage of being able to pull a land out of your deck (of any two different colors). This is filtering out your deck. You're pulling out lands and putting them into play, effectively reducing the chance that you have a bum draw by getting a land instead of a card that does things. Fetchlands help ensure you're still getting the land cards you need but also drawing answers instead of mana sources.
Shocklands come into play here due to those basic land types abby mentioned. I could run four Arid Mesa, but say I'm running a three or four color deck. I could use those Arid Mesa to fetch Sacred Foundry, Steam Vents, and Godless Shrine. I've effectively given myself access to four colors, and I wouldn't even need to run four-ofs for any of those shocklands because those fetches help me get the exact ones I want/need at that moment.
The life loss can be a disadvantage, but compared against the advantage it gives you in mana flexibility to play the cards you need to, it's worth the cost to most players. Also filtering is highly worth it.
This is currently the one of the stronger decks in Modern. It's land choices should prove the points made here. Mostly fetches and shocks. Helps you quickly and reliably get your land and filter out your deck.
Epochalyptik says... #2
It depends on the lands. Entering the battlefield untapped is a massive advantage.
Sacred Foundry and similar lands also have basic land types, which makes them fetchable with Arid Mesa and friends.
Life is a resource. You can do a lot with it as long as you're strategic.
July 27, 2017 5:54 p.m.