Why Rare Dual Lands Are Bad For Magic
Why Dual Lands Should Not be Printed as Rares and the Alternative
Aug 27, 2009
To make Magic accessible to new players, Wizards of the Coast, the makers of Magic, began inserting basic lands into booster packs for each of the core sets starting with 7th Edition, and for expert level expansions starting with Shards of Alara. Wizards took this step to make it easier for new players to obtain the mana they needed to get started playing the game, acknowledging that not being able to obtain mana was a barrier to entry. An equally important step to keep Magic accessible to more players is to stop printing rare dual lands. Mana producing lands are an integral part of Magic, and printing dual lands at rare creates the following problems:
- It turns integral parts of the game into Chase Rares with exorbitant values on the secondary market, creating a barrier for new players and for those on financial budgets.
- Especially for new players, rare dual lands are not as exciting to open in packs compared to more powerful or iconic cards
New Dual Lands the #1 Chase Rares in Magic 2010 and How this is Bad for Magic
When Quiet Speculation, the Blog devoted to tracking Magic trading and buying trends lists the new dual lands as the #1 chase rares to acquire over Honor of the Pure, Baneslayer Angel, and the three planeswalkers relevant in constructed (Ajani, Jace, and Garruk), this is a clear sign that there is something wrong with printing dual lands as rares. The most sought after rare cards in a set should never be something integral to the play of the game, and mana producing lands are an integral part of Magic.
If the demand for these cards is great among enfranchised players with the financial means to acquire them, new players and those on financial budgets are going to have an even more difficult time acquiring dual lands. This creates a barrier to entry even in Standard Constructed, the format that is supposed to be the most accessible to all players.
Rare Dual Lands are Not Exciting
When players, especially new players, crack open packs of Magic 2010, they are excited for planeswalkers, Baneslayer Angels, Bogardan Hellkites, or something similarly powerful or iconic. Experienced players understand the necessity of good mana to be competitive; but new players, and certain player types, might not be excited by the Rootbound Crags, Sunpetal Groves, or Dragonskull Summits they open because these lands do not deliver what they expect from rare cards in Magic.
Rare cards in Magic need to be at least one or more of the following:
- Powerful
- Flavorful
- Quirky
- Iconic
- Too narrow or specialized for a lesser rarity
The best rares possess multiple of these characteristics. Dual lands however, do not meet any of these criteria. Their power alone will not win games, they are not flavorful the way cards like Black Knight are flavorful, they are not quirky nor iconic, and are neither narrow or specialized, fitting into any deck that runs their colors. This general usefulness in any deck running their colors makes dual lands have more in common with uncommon cards, and is the rarity appropriate for where dual lands should be printed.
The Argument for Uncommon Dual Lands
Printing dual lands as Uncommon cards makes sense when you consider that:
- Uncommon dual lands allow players of all budgets and experience levels access to good mana
- Uncommon dual lands will make players more excited to open packs by freeing up design space for rares, and allowing for better mana in limited formats
- Wizards has printed uncommon dual lands in the past
Uncommon Dual Lands Allow Players Access to Good Mana
Printing dual lands at uncommon takes away the barrier to entry facing new and budget players by allowing them easier access to good mana by showing up more frequently in booster packs. The easier availability stops the lands from becoming chase rares with high secondary market value, and access to them is more stable for a broader player demographic than would otherwise have access to them at a higher rarity.
Uncommon Dual Lands Will Make Players More Excited to Open Packs
By Printing Dual lands at Uncommon, Wizards accomplishes two important things:
- Frees up design space for Rares
- Allows for better mana in limited
The design space opened up allows Wizards to create more interesting rares that will make players excited to open new product. Whether it be simply cracking packs, or playing a limited format like booster draft, players are more happy about opening new product when the rare inside the pack is an exciting rare. The availability of dual lands at uncommon also allows for better mana in limited as they will appear more frequently in packs. Building manabases for limited formats can be a tricky, especially in formats with a lot of multicolor cards. With uncommon dual lands, limited games will be more interesting as players will have easier access to all of their colors of mana, limiting the effect that mana screw has on the outcome of games.
Wizards has Printed Uncommon Dual Lands in the Past
In the Invasion Block, and later in Eighth Edition, Wizards printed a series of dual lands that came into play tapped. While not strictly as powerful as the original duals, or the "painlands" that replaced them in the core set in Ninth Edition, they were adequate enough to see play in standard constructed at a time when two color decks were important in standard. More recently, in Fall 2008, Wizards released the Shards of Alara set, featuring tri-color lands that come into play tapped, essentially improved versions of the Invasion tap lands at the same rarity. These examples demonstrate that Wizards is willing to print dual lands at uncommon, and that these lands can be relevant to constructed Magic.
