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Duel of Duals!
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The Explorer lands (based on art by Shuxing Li; improved text by @Tomigon!)
Nice cycle.
Here are my dual land concepts. Let me know if they are too different for the full cycle to be considered a single entry. Also using the apparently new Dominaria wording for tapping for mana:
We'll only make one of the five for the cycle though.
http://www.magicspoiler.com/mtg-set/battlebond/
Nickname: “Searchlands”
I've extended the deadline of this challenge to May 17th. Sorry about that, but I've been buried in work for the last few weeks.
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/suspended-tower
Honorable mentions:
@Faiths_Guide with the Piracy Duals!
This was extremely close to making the top 3. Very flavorful, neat callback to Ixalan, and well balanced as well. The main knock against it is that it is a bit of a nonbo with the sort of deck that it would go into. The best enablers of these lands are hasty creatures, as they can ensure ETB untapped even on an empty board. However, the nature of the raid mechanic means you will find it hard to cast your hasty creatures on curve, as these lands can't be played during your precombat main, which is when you'd want to play a hasty creature. I still think it's possible, especially if you have cheap enablers like Fanatical Firebrand or Bomat Courier. Well thought out, as always, from you!
@Beeswax with Selesnya Sungrove!
Choicelands? Should we call them that? In any case, I like the idea of this, as it allows your opponent to predict your next move and make the right call, particularly in competitive Magic with established decklists and play patterns, thus balancing it. They are not ideal for splashing colours, though, as your opponent will just cut you off from the splash colour. However, my main concern with this is time: you will be tapping this land multiple times over the course of the game, and each time your opponent has to think about which colour to let you have. This wouldn't be a massive problem in ordinary casual play, but at tournaments and the like, this can eat into the clock quite a bit. There was a reason Sensei's Divining Top ate the Legacy ban hammer: it was powerful without being broken, but it slowed games A LOT, often to a grinding halt. That is something that Wizards avoids doing. I do love the concept though, and this was once again a very close brush with the top 3. Well done, as always!
And now, for the top 3!
3rd place
@TenebrisNemo with the Unexplored duals!
A simple, crisp, and easy-to-understand ETB untapped clause. With the exception of control decks and some dedicated combo decks, most decks can run one or two copies of this. I like the simplicity of the design. What kept it down at third was probably the fact that it is a bit too efficient in some decks (tokens, etc) and completely unplayable in some, and the best dual lands have a degree of playability in any deck. Also, since it only depends on your creatures and not on the rest of your manabase (like the checklands), it makes it possible to splash multiple colours, as long as your deck is creature-heavy.
2nd place
@captain_Pugsley with the Explorer lands!
While judging this, I was very wary of anything with the dual land types, as fetchability greatly increases playability, and can make them too strong. To my delight, I found these rather balanced, as having them ETB untapped is not at all a guarantee, and hence I'd rather fetch a shock. While you can run them in any deck, they are better in decks with top card manipulation or scry, in decks with a naturally high land count, and decks with Loam Larva type creatures that tutor a land on top of your library. But the exciting part about them is that they don't really ETB untapped. They ETB tapped and then can untap themselves. This makes for excellent synergy with Amulet of Vigor. With the right amount of luck and careful stacking of triggers, they will ramp you by one mana on the turn they enter if you have an Amulet out. Combo potential, who doesn't love that?
1st place
@Arceus8523 with the Transform Duals!
It is very rarely that real-life MtG events impact Cardsmith. This was one of those times. The release of the Battlebond duals, which our time-travelling Pokemon god had preemptively designed, threw a wrench in my plans. I decided not to consider the opposition lands for this contest, as I would not be 100% unbiased while judging them. Luckily for @Arceus8523 here, they had also designed an equally amazing land cycle. I forgot if I've mentioned it before, but my favourite dual land is River of Tears. It always stunned me how beautifully designed it was, giving you Thoughtseize mana on your turn or Spell Pierce mana on your opponent's turn, which is when you need them! This cycle really mirrors that extremely well, allowing you to build your strategy around them (have all your turn 1 plays be of the colour on the front side, for instance). Excellent design, and very flavorful, particularly the flavour text! (My only issue is with Lone Gourds, because I don't see how that is a mountain or a cliff or anything red-aspected.)
Everyone, please post your cards that you'd like favorited! I'll also be announcing the results of the Haters Gonna Hate contest soon (hopefully today), and after that you can expect another contest from me, which I'll be able to do a better job of judging now that I've got more time on my hands. Hope you enjoyed this contest, and feel free to disagree with any of my choices or with my judging methods! I welcome all feedback!
Ah! Thanks so much! If you’d like to just go through my collection and fav the five cards you like the most, that’d be great. Thanks!
You can favorite whatever you want.