Pattern Recognition #244 - Lands that are Also Mans

Features Opinion Pattern Recognition

berryjon

23 June 2022

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Hello everyone! This is Pattern Recognition, TappedOut.Net's longest running article series as written by myself, berryjon. I am something of an Old Fogey who has been around the block quite a few times where Magic is concerned, as as such, I use this series to talk about the various aspects of this game, be it deck design, card construction, mechanics chat, in-universe characters and history. Or whatever happens to cross my mind this week. Please, feel free to dissent in the comments below the article, add suggestions or just plain correct me! I am a Smart Ass, so I can take it.

So, today's post is the result of a comment made during the previews of New Capenna, when Jetmir, Nexus of Revels was previewed. Now, a lot of people looked at Jetmir and went: "Doubling Season and Anointed Procession and Tokens for DAYS!" But on the Discord (you should join our Discord), user McDuckington suggested a different approach. He suggested having Jetmir, Nexus of Revels as your Commander, and then casting Sylvan Awakening.

I realized he was right, so I built that deck, and I'll talk about it later.

But that leads me to what this article is actually about. Let's talk Man Lands.

So, a Man-Land is a land that can inherently turn itself into a creature, and in one unique case, is also a creature at the same time. These modified permanents are also called Landfolk by MaRo, who prefers the gender/species neutral name. I can agree to that, but I've been calling them ManLands since the 90's, and I'm not going to stop now.

Now, I'm sure you're all aware of what Lands are and what they do. Unless you are new to Magic, and so new that this article is the very first experience you have with the game. In which case, welcome! Enjoy your stay, and play with your friends and have them teach you, because I'm going to talk about something that's a little more advanced than what beginners should be learning.

Our first ManLand was printed in Antiquities, and was the amazing Mishra's Factory. This card was printed in Antiquities, did a few things that set the standard for future man-lands. The first is that this card tapped for . Now, this isn't unusual, but as a balance factor, most (but not all) ManLands don't tap for a colour. Secondly, the ability to become a creature is an activated ability that costs mana.

This may not seem like much, but there are some interesting caveats to that.

But before I go any further, I want you all to go over to a website that lets you see various card printings for cards and not just for the most recent printing, such as Gatherer or ScryFall. And from there, I want you all to bask in the utter glory that is the four variations on the land for the different seasons, thanks to the amazing artwork by Kaja and Phil Foglio. The latter of whom is making a return to Magic with Chaos Warp in Double Masters 2.

You should be hype for this!

Anyways, the return of the best artist in Magic not named John Avon aside, the Factory could turn itself into a 2/2 land for the cost of . Now, this is cheap for a 2/2, but it only lasts until the end of the turn - another factor that goes into most ManLands. They tend to be temporary in nature.

Now with that out of the way, let's talk about what they are and are not. Because these differences can be very important. The first and most important thing is that unless the ManLand in question gives itself haste - or has Haste from an external source - it still has summoning sickness. Which means that with the example of Mishra's Factory, if you play it as your land for the turn, then you animate it, it now can't tap for more mana until it stops being a creature or it loses summoning sickness.

Just something to be mindful of.

And as I mentioned in passing just now, because these cards are lands first and can self-animate, they are played as lands with all the timing and restrictions on those. But because of this, they bypass little things like Counterspell and AEther Storm, things that look at spells being played, or cards being put on the stack. Because, as I pointed out a couple weeks ago, playing a Land is a Special Action that cannot be interacted with.

And because they spend most of their time as lands, a lot of removal doesn't touch them. I've complained a bit about how there isn't enough Land destruction in the game, that it should show up more than one in a blue moon, but because Lands are the hardest land type to remove from the game, when your ManLands aren't creatures, but are just lands, they are pretty well protected from removal. And on the same token, you can animate them when you want, meaning that you only need to risk what you want to risk and no more.

So, why are ManLands a thing in the first place? Well, the reason for the first one has been pretty much lost to time, but I think it came about when the people making the sets at the time had an idea as asked themselves "Hey, why can't we make this land become a creature? You know, do something unique and interesting. I mean, if you could have artifacts that were already creatures, like Yotian Soldier from the same set, or could be turned into creature like with Animate Artifact, why not have a Land that was also a creature?

But an Enchantment that's also a Creature? Don't be silly!

But regardless of the reasoning, ManLands provide a certain degree of redundancy and options to a deck. They can act as mana producers in the early game, and then become creatures when it's time to swing in the mid to late game. And their relatively protected status as a card type when 'off' means that they will tend to stick around.

Instant Speed removal is always a problem though.

But not all Lands are ManLands, thankfully. No, there are also plenty of ways in the game to make lands into creatures, either temporarily, permanently, or as a static effect.

We can start here with Living Lands, first printed in Alpha. This enchantment turned all your Forests into 1/1 Creatures that are still Lands. And in Ye Olde Days, that could be a lot of Forests! We also got Living Plane, a World Enchantment that affected all Lands, Nature's Revolt, Natural Emergence, Genju of the Falls and that entire cycle and even still more up to Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty with Crackling Emergence and Harmonious Emergence.

And that's just Enchantments. There are fewer ways to animate your lands, even temporarily, starting with the card that started this all, Sylvan Awakening, moving on to Jolrael, Empress of Beasts, Natural Affinity, Life / Death, and Rude Awakening. These cards can create a set of surprise blockers, or attackers if the timing is right.

After all, the best attacks are the result of a Surprise Deployment, right? Right?

No?

There is also the Awaken Mechanic, from Battle for Zendikar. This mechanic was found on Instants and Sorceries from the Battle for Zendikar set, and acted as an alternate casting cost to the spell in question. If you paid the Awaken cost, you not only got the effect of the spell itself, but you could also turn one of your creatures into a 0/0 Elemental with Haste with N +1/+1 counters, where N is the variable on Awaken. That's pretty nice as if you can afford it, you get a creature and a spell effect for a single card.

There's also Nissa Revene, though I should say Nissa, Worldwaker and Nissa, Who Shakes the World as they are both versions of her to turn lands into Creatures permanently. Other versions do it until the end of the turn, but she is the one who does it constantly and consistently across her various versions.

But now is the time when I talk about the exception to the rule; Dryad Arbor. Those of you with judge qualifications from Time Spiral probably just winced at all the rules interactions that I just invoked on you. So you see, instead of creating a land that could become a creature, why not just skip the whole thing and make a land that is a creature at all times?

Look, I love the Time Spiral block, but there were some things that were a mistake. And Dryad Arbor was one of them. A Creature that has no casting cost, and isn't a spell. It required rules text to tell people that it was , as this was before colour-indicators on cards. It was a land that had an innate power and toughness, and also couldn't tap for mana on the turn it came into play. It was confusing to a lot of people, and Wizards swore off ever doing it again. Hell, this card was so notorious, that this video shows a tournament instance where Dryad Arbor's dual status was manipulated to a player's benefit. The relevant part starts at 6:07.

So yeah, that was a thing. Moving on. Let's bring this all together, shall we?

Where Jetmir goes to Party

Commander / EDH berryjon

SCORE: 2 | 77 VIEWS

Where Jetmir Goes to Party was me taking the line about using Lands for Jetmir instead of Tokens and building a deck around that concept. And this was a physical deck I built, so yes, I have all these cards. If you go and complain why I didn't do X or Y, it's probably because I don't have that piece of cardboard.

Anyway, the path for the deck is simple. Play lands. Play lots of lands. Feign annoyance that you're getting land flooded. And when someone goes "What's with Needle Spires?", tell them (truthfully!) that you included land animation as a contingency to put me over 3/6/9 creatures for Jetmir, just in case.

There are plenty of board wipes to keep the table clear of potential threats as I "get Mana Flooded", but experience is telling me this deck needs more card draw options. But, once I've built up enough lands, and I have Jetmir in play with no real creature support, slam down an animation effect, and all those lands people where thinking I was saving for a March of the Multitudes just turned into 5/2 Vigilance, Trample, Double Striking creatures with no warning! Then, I can swing for the win.

I'm also 0/3 on the deck at FMN so far, as I still get legit mana flooded, and I need more draw and ways to get my relevant enchantments into play. Sure, I can bust out Wipes for days, but I need to be able to close out the game.

The concept behind the deck has passed examination by people better at Magic than I am - no jokes please as I'm older than they are; the jokes, not the players. Actually, I am older than they are - and they approve of the concept and the execution. It's the consistency that's failing me.

But that is how the deck works, so thank you McDuckington for your idea! I will make it work! Everyone will RUE THE DAY THAT MY LANDS CAME TO LIFE AND STOMPED ALL OVER THEM!

Today is not that day. But it does demonstrate how and way ManLands do work. They're not there as the end-game in of themselves, they're a finishing touch on an established paradigm. You turn your lands into mans when you're ready to close out the game. They come in a variety of shapes, sizes and effects, from a 2/1 Doublestriker on Needle Spires to a 3/3 Trampler from Treetop Village to a massive 7/7 with Ward Hall of Storm Giants.

ManLands are not an aggro play. They're not a midrange or tempo play. What they are best suited for, and something I can respect, is a combat finisher in a Control deck. And I love them for it. I love these cards and look forward to seeing them again in the future! C'mon Wizards, make it happen!

Join me next week, when I talk about something. Not sure what at the moment, but I'm sure something will come up.

Until then please consider donating to my Pattern Recognition Patreon. Yeah, I have a job, but more income is always better. I still have plans to do a audio Pattern Recognition at some point, or perhaps a Twitch stream. And you can bribe your way to the front of the line to have your questions, comments and observations answered!