Though there may be some disagreement, I hope you can respect my thoughts and it breeds creativity and hope for the future of this awesome game we call magic the gathering
Reasons why the community may be calling out for lands
Rhythmic Lands vs Utility Lands vs Spell based Lands
Why choose lands?
Reasons why the community (especially me) may be calling out for new Lands
There are two major culprits of terrible magic games: Mana flood and mana screw
Mana Flood
Lets do a little statistics work shall we?
24/60 cards in your deck are lands which means we have about a 40% chance to draw a land for the first draw we have
23/59 = 38.9%
22/58 = 37.9%
21/57 = 36.8%
20/56 = 35.7%
19/55 = 34.5%
18/54 = 33.3%
17/53 = 32.0%
I tend to be a gambling man myself, and knowing the rest of the community recognizes luck as an obvious factor in the game we play we should look at this with a very stern eye...
drawing your first 7 gives you a minimum of 32.0% to draw a land. 32% is a lot. With statistics some people believe the likely hood of drawing another land is impossible, no way... but the fact of the matter is each one of these draws are completely independent from the other. And unless you tend to stack (which isn't legal) or put things in completely different areas before you shuffle. If you shuffle probably it wont make a difference.
However, there is good news out there for people who hate flooding. There are lands that help you avoid it
Now, they can't stop your first 7 draws but they do help along the way
Now for a normal hand of 24/60
Keep with 3 in hand (statistically pretty likely)
21/53 = 39.6
Lets play a fetch
20/53 = 37.7 its a start
And look of course we drew another land
19/52 = 36.5% will be our next draw
but first we crack another fetch
18/52 = 34.6%
We drew another land...
17/51 = 33.3%
turn 3, drop a fetch
16/50 = 32%
Whats the moral of this story?
The moral is that we can manipulate statistics with our lands to drop our statistics without drawing any crazy spell or anything, something as simple as a terramorphic expanse reduces mana flood significantly, never mind the halimar depths/fetchland combos
Mana Screw
If anyone has ever built a neat little combo or casual deck I'm sure you've run into this problem
Turn 1 land, pass
Turn 2 land, pass
Turn 3 ....... pass
Turn 4 ....... pass
Turn 5 ....... pass
If you get lucky you may be able to crawl back into it after that, but most likely the answer is: no.
there are spells that help you with this however amoung them are:
-Rampant growth, Sylvan ranger, ponder, index, weathered wayfarer, knight of the white orchid,
and pretty much any cycler/draw spell
However, when has a land ever helped you with this problem?
-Ravnica Bounce lands, new benalia, halimar depths
Are these good solutions though? Maybe, maybe not
Rules tell us 60 is the minimum
Pros teach us minimum is the best
And Daily MTG doesn't say otherwise
When it comes down to it, when playing white weenie, you plan to risk getting mana screwed. On top of that you risk getting 4 for 1nd. on top of that you risk getting your cards out matched by bigger creatures. On top of that you have to worry about instant speed removal on your anthem effect. Basically theres tons to worry about and when statistics aren't in your favor either, low curve decks definitely don't get much benefit.
Midrange and control recognize they'll be playing longer games so...
Cycling, looting, mulching, Rampant growth, mana dorks. These become much more appealing though what happens when your BUW control deck never gets passed 2 lands after 2 cycles and 2 draws? what happens when your mana dorks all get killed off?
Does this mean that mulch and Rampant growth are the only reliable ways to get out of mana screw?
i think this is poor way to think about it. We have lands that reduce mana flood. likewise Lands for mana screw should be likewise important
Rhythmic lands vs Utility Lands vs Spell Lands
Rhythmic Lands
the first three turns don't necessarilly say whether you will win the game or not, but they can definitely let you know if you will lose them
-What Rythmic Lands in a way are ways to effect the rhythem of those first turns
Color Screwed? Dual Lands
would you be willing to wait a turn for good effects? tap lands
would you be willing to take life for good effects? pain lands
would you be willing to sacrifice a land for more mana? Havenwood Battleground
Good Lands provide a beat, a rhythm, where they leave their user weaker in one way or another because they'd rather take a chance for their desires
These are what I call Rhythmic lands because they provide a rhythm for you early turns to make sure everything else will go swell
A very special Rhythmic Land is Gemstone Caverns
This land is suprisingly balanced for its incredible effect. Obviously its a turn 0 win enabler however due to its legendary nature its not for every deck and turn 0 sometimes isn't enough to get there
Utility lands
Reliquiry Tower allows you to hold all the cards you so please, Terrain generator allows ramp, Tolaria west is a combo enabler, Mad Blind mountain can reset statistics if you need to, mistveil plains allows you to restock on goodies, Mikokoro, Center of the Sea allows everyone to draw at your convenience
What do all these cards have in common? They utility in certian decks.
And while some are more centered around certain colors, others aren't.
I think these kinds of lands are good because while other lands are tempo oriented, these are more simply used for certain cases. Not everyone will use them, though everyone can use them
Spell Lands
Spell lands are simply lands with spells attatched to them. Man lands are an example, kessig wolfrun, arena. These set more of a looming shade of death around the late game rather than provide anything early on.
These spell lands are very important simply for the fact that games need to end.
And Many times Boards get wiped and spells get countered. And things are traded.
But lands generally stick around, and with 10+ mana but no cards in hand, something needs to happen.
Why Choose Land
Lands are the heart of magic
As many Spells as you want per turn but only 1 land...
yet nearly all decks have around 40% lands
Because its our restriction.
And even though spells can solve problems, do we want some dumb big effect that nobody will play?
Or something that helps us casually and put in any deck we truelly care about
Cavern of souls will most likely stick around for the rest of magics life time
But personally I think lands present the greatest challange of all
Enabling Excitement and creativity with the mundane
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