Battle Lands Are Completely Broken!
While Patrick and Michael originally intended to focus on Kiora, Master of Depths this week, a “mail bag”-style rundown uncovered some amazing synergies between fetch lands and battle lands.
The Battle for Zendikar battle lands:
- Prairie Stream (W/U)
- Sunken Hollow (U/B)
- Smoldering Marsh (B/R)
- Cinder Glade (R/G)
- Canopy Vista (G/W)
Check out the cool questions and comments that came up from our Top Level Podcast listeners on social media + the mana base interactions that will define the upcoming format in “Battle Lands Are Completely Broken!”
Matthew Corazzelli
Matthew pointed out that Silkwrap, Suspension Field, etc. can help you set up your Eldrazi. These kinds of white exile cards can help you buy time to get to your expensive cards, plus any “exile” fuel for Blight Herder is potentially welcome. Now, if your Silkwrap is destroyed by Dromoka’s Command, the opponent won’t even get his creature back!
Jamie Johnson
Jamie asked us to talk about Scythe Leopard…
“[Scythe Leopard] might be even better than Steppe Lynx.”
-Patrick Chapin
While Scythe Leopard is less explosive than Steppe Lynx at its best, among other things, it can do damage on defense. On average, and over the course of many games, Scythe Leopard might outperform the white model on average.
Scythe Leopard got the ball rolling on fetch land + battle land mana bases…
“We haven’t seen synergies like these since Vivid Lands + Reflecting Pool.”
-Patrick Chapin
Mana bases inspired by this podcast…
Consider this potential (extreme) mana base:
2 Polluted Delta
2 Flooded Strand
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Prairie Stream
1 Sunken Hollow
1 Smoldering Marsh
1 Cinder Glade
1 Canopy Vista
1 Forest
1 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Swamp
You get:
- 14 sources of blue
- 15 sources of white
- 17 sources of green
- 17 sources of red
- 15 sources of black
… Most of which will come into play untapped
or
4 Forest
4 Mounain
4 Cinder Glade
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
You get:
- 20 sources of green
- 20 sources of red
… Almost all of which will come into play untapped
or
4 Sunken Hollow
4 Prairie Stream
4 Polluted Delta
4 Flooded Strand
3 Swamp
3 Plains
2 Island
2 Caves of Koilos
1 Haven of the Spirit Dragon
You get:
- 18 sources of blue
- 17 sources of white
- 17 sources of black
… Almost all of which will enter the battlefield untapped
Do you know who Abzan Aggro’s new best fried will be?
Flooded Strand!
Flooded Strand can find both Sunken Hollow and Canopy Vista (along with basic Plains), allowing it to find all three colors in Abzan (if by way of blue for black); you never actually have to tap for blue to get the value.
Here’s the key:
“Your Abzan Aggro deck is going to have Crackling Doom in it.”
In addition to Battle Lands Patrick and Michael spend a little time on new land Lumbering Falls…
The alternative was you were going to gain 1 life from your Thornwood Falls?
Chris Beirnes
Chris asks about Nissa’s Renewal… Will this be a tool for Sultai Control to ramp into Ulamog or Ugin?
Patrick speculates on a couple of different kinds of players who will want to cast a Nissa’s Renewal.
Finally…
Ben Reardon
“Titan’s Presence means every deck can have an answer to Hangarback Walker.”
Does it?
All this and more Battle for Zendikar in “Battle Lands Are Completely Broken!”