Why Rare Dual Lands Are Good For Magic
Why Rare Dual Lands Should be Printed
Mana producing lands not only provide the resources which players use to play the game, but they also evoke the setting in which the game takes place. From basic Swamps and Mountains, to Badlands, Urborg Volcanos, and Dragonskull Summits, lands call to mind the 'battlefield' on which the duel between planeswalkers (players) takes place.
The five basic lands are the most common cards in Magic, and with good reason, without mana players would not be able to play spells. But Dual lands represent more unique locales, and while equally as important as basic lands to provide the mana needed to play the game, they are special and should be regarded as such.
Why Dual Lands are Special and How this Affects their Rarity
Flavor aside, dual lands are special because they:
- Provide access to more than one color of mana
- Can be used to teach newer players the value of mana and mana fixing
Dual lands are special because they provide access to more than one color of mana. When a player plays a Badlands or an Urborg Volcano they gain access to two colors of mana. The question is then, at what rarity should these dual lands exist, and why? The answer to that is determined based on how efficient each land is at what it does.
How Efficiency Affects Rarity
The more efficient a card, the higher it's rarity. Consider a single basic Mountain. Basic lands are the bottom line when it comes to mana efficiency. One land, producing one colored mana. Now consider a dual land like Badlands. It produces either the red mana of the basic Mountain or the black mana of a basic Swamp. Entering the battlefield on turn one, the Badlands is twice as mana efficient as either a single Mountain or a single Swamp, in that it provides access to both colors of mana from a single land, effectively skirting one of the restrictions of the 'play only one land per turn' rule.
An Urborg Volcano by contrast is not as efficient as a Badlands, though both provide the same two colors of mana, because the Urborg Volcano enters the battlefield tapped. Assuming again that it is played on the first turn, the Urborg Volcano is theoretically weaker than even a basic Mountain for the turn, because we are unable to use it until the turn after it enters the battlefield. The access to mana provided by the Urborg Volcano doesn't become useful to us until the second turn when, assuming another land drop is made, the mana we have access to is no different than if we played a basic Mountain on turn one and a basic Swamp on turn two.
Teaching Newer Players the Value of Mana and Mana Fixing
Newer players may not at first understand the importance of dual lands because they don't understand the importance of immediate access to appropriate colors of mana. As players become more experienced with the game, and begin building decks of multiple colors, they will begin to see the value of dual lands. This growing appreciation for mana is a learning curve every player, even the most hardcore of tournament players, goes through as they learn the fundamentals of the game. Dual lands are special not only because of what they do, but because learning to grasp why what they do is significant is a major step in a Magic player's development. As players develop an appreciation for dual lands, they will realize that some dual lands are more efficient than others, and will value this efficiency.
Why Rare Dual Lands are important to Wizards of the Coast from a Business Standpoint
Rare dual lands are important to Wizards from a business standpoint because they are good for the overall health of the game. By printing new cycles of rare dual lands periodically Wizards accomplishes a few key things:
- Encourages/forces players to buy new product
- Generates interest in a set across a wide spectrum of players
One of the things that makes Magic a success, is that at it's heart Magic is a collectible game. The collectible aspect of the game means that different players are going to value different cards different ways. Rare dual lands are valued by a wide spectrum of players because of their efficiency. The high value of rare dual lands across the entire spectrum of players creates excitement for a new set, which leads to a demand for the product, and leads to product sales. This in turn generates income for Wizards which then allows them to continue to develop new sets and print new cards. It is this back and forth of interest sparking demand that keeps Magic viable as a game from a strictly business standpoint.
More Benefits of Rare Dual Lands
Because of their value to a wide spectrum of players, Rare dual lands have several added benefits:
- Are an investment in the game
- Allows the printing of second tier duals that are relevant in limited
By investing in rare dual lands, players pay a bit of a premium up front for new cards, but these cards will retain or often increase in value over time. This is because even as sets rotate out of the Standard environment, they remain playable in Extended and Eternal formats, as well as casual EDH and Cube. Good mana producing lands are always going to be valuable staples in any Magic player's collection, so investing in Rare Dual lands is a smart investment whenever the player considers the price worth the investment.
Another benefit to having the most efficient dual lands appear at rare is that it leaves room for the printing of second tier dual lands, that while not as efficient as their rare counterparts, and thus less valuable in constructed Magic, have an important role to play by providing sufficient mana fixing in limited. The tri-lands in Shards of Alara are one example of a cycle of second tier duals that while not necessarily powerful enough for constructed, are more than adequate enough to see frequent play in limited.
Latest Articles