Windswept Heath help

Deck Help forum

Posted on Feb. 4, 2015, 7 p.m. by Capt_Ron

Sorry for the elementary question but I'm fairly new to Magic. I'm working on a deck that uses non-basic lands like Sandsteppe Citadel, Llanowar Waste, and Temple of Malady. Does Windswept Heath work with these?
Thanks!

VampireArmy says... #2

Work in what way?

Good to have in addition to them in your deck? Somewhat.

Use the Windswept Heath to find those? No

Heath can only search for a Forest or Plains. This includes anything such as Plateau or Breeding Pool due to them having the Type "Forest" and "Plains" on the card

February 4, 2015 7:03 p.m.

Capt_Ron says... #3

OK. Thank you. So the lands would have to specify the type. Land - Forest, etc... in order for Windswept Heath to be used to find them.

I've been looking at various decks online and I noticed that some use Windswept Heath and only have 3-4 basic lands. Why would you do that?

Thank you.

February 4, 2015 7:09 p.m.

omnipotato says... #4

Doesn't work with the cards you mentioned. Windswept Heath is decent in Standard, but where it really shines is Modern and Legacy where you have access to dual- and shock-lands like VampireArmy described.

Are you making a Standard deck? Sounds like it, since all those lands are Standard.

February 4, 2015 7:11 p.m.

VampireArmy says... #5

Just to have access to them at any given point

It's like having a space in your deck that says

"Plains or Forest" and you get to choose which one to get at that time depending on your needs.

For example if you needed 2 white lands and 2 green lands by turn 4, having Heaths basically helps your chances of getting that more often

February 4, 2015 7:12 p.m.

omnipotato says... #6

There's a few advantages to using "fetchlands" as they're usually called. First, you can get different colors of mana for it at the time you use it, though sometimes this is worse than a card like Brushland, where you can keep using it for different mana. Second, it thins your deck from unwanted lands. Most of the time, you don't want to keep drawing into lands late in the game. Third, it provides you with lands in the graveyard, which is significant for effects such as delve, or cards like Life from the Loam or Knight of the Reliquary.

February 4, 2015 7:15 p.m.

Capt_Ron says... #7

Thank you very much. I really appreciate the help.

Yes, I'm building a Standard Deck.

February 4, 2015 7:23 p.m.

Seraphicate says... #8

Having fetch-lands really helps, especially when running 2 or more colours. A Windswept Heath can search for anything that is a forest or a plains, meaning if you ran shock-lands or dual-lands, anything with those card types, you'd be able to find any colours you're missing, like Overgrown Tomb or Stomping Ground and have them come in untapped (a huge advantage, compared to cards like Terramorphic Expanse, as the basic lands come in tapped). Even cards like Dryad Arbor can be fetched up with a Windswept Heath, though it will still be affected by summoning sickness.

February 4, 2015 7:26 p.m.

Epochalyptik says... #9

In the future, please ask rules questions in the Q&A, which is linked in the header.

I'll leave this in Deck Help because there's now a discussion about strategy and card usage.

February 4, 2015 8:17 p.m.

pskinn01 says... #10

Also sometimes, a deck shuffle is helpful, if you are running a courser, then you can fetch for a land card in order to try for a different top card.

February 4, 2015 10:56 p.m.

This discussion has been closed