Zendikar: Land Centric Theme?

[ewallhagen]

Ok, this has already been speculated to some extent in a lot of places, but I figured I'd summarize a lot of the evidence for it here. (Some of it you may not have thought of previously.)

1.) Full art lands. Not surprising, if you're going to make a set's theme lands, the basics had better be something spectacular. (P.S. they are!)

2.) Spoiled landfall mechanic on Rampaging Baloths. No explanation needed, moving on.

3.) Rampaging Baloths is (supposedly) card #176/249 in the set. Given that the card numbering system goes alphabetically in each color, White-Green, then gold, artifacts, and lands, this leaves a lot of potential cards beyond the normal color wheel. Cards 230-249 should be the 20 basic lands, but with R being late in the alphabet, there could be 40 to 50 cards to make up the gold/artifact/land section of the set after green. I'm speculating a break down of about 10 gold, 15 artifacts, and 15 lands give or take. This could give some credit to Justacasual's theory after seeing the Zendikar plains:

These look a bit like Darksteel Garrison. Maybe the set is all about these arcology buildings...fortify and a bunch of land interactions? That would explain both the lack of recent LD and the sudden shift to full art basics.

4.) No man-lands in the core set leaves a lot of room for them in the expansion.

5.) We've already seen a build up (to some extent) of land/basic land interactions in Alara and M10. See Landcycling, Path to Exile, Borderposts, and the M10 dual lands, (among others.)

What does all this mean? I wouldn't be surprised to see the following types of lands in the set.

5 Enemy colored dual lands (they were missing from the core set for the first time since 8th ed.) that resemble the mechanics of Nimbus Maze. The mechanics of that card make so much sense with the way the game is shaping around basics right now. Though River of Tears could make a lot of sense too (mirroring the landfall mechanic.)

5 Different man-lands, possibly resembling Dryad Arbor. I don't necessarily think they'll be like this, but I doubt they'll be the same old pay-to-activate Treetop Village etc. of old.

5 Lands that do things as well as produce mana, like the Shadowmoor cycle (see Leechridden Swamp but maybe replace "Black permanents" with "swamps") possibly, or another cycle of legendary lands (we haven't seen those since Time Spiral time-shifted cards.)

Does all this means that Armageddon could be reprinted? Wouldn't surprise me, but they'd probably color shift it into some other color, most likely red, as I think white has a ton going for it right now.

Thank you for reading. (P.S. if you can't tell I am rather excited for this new set.)

[PlatypusPlatoon]

The vibe I'm getting is that it will be a basic land centered theme.

They've been toning down man-lands for a while now, so don't hold your breath for those.

Uh. There's absolutely no way that Armageddon will be reprinted, color-shift or no. They're going the opposite way. Land destruction is being massively weakened, not strengthened. See exhibit A: Yawning Fissure in, Rain of Tears out.

[justactcasual]

It's nice to be right :p.

Further evidence of basic land theme is that there are dinosaurs in the Beast Hunt art (http://www.wizards.com/mtg/images/daily/mm/mm53_card2_0k8hp6vye1.jpg) spoiled on the main site. I'm thinking Imperiosaur mechanic.

[Master Moja]

Was Imperiosaur from future sight? Because I can definatly see Imperiosaur being in this set. After all, Its a Lizard and not a Dinosaur :D

Also, I agree with you on the Basic Land set theme. I do believe we will see some enemy colored duals or something, but Basic lands will probably dominate. It makes perfect sense for this set to be all about Basic Lands, I mean the full art basics, landfall, all that cycling and domain in Alara.

I think we may have figured out the mystery of Zendikar :rolleyes:

I've already been thinking of a Landfall deck, this is what I came up with for cards:

Wild Nacatl
Elite Vanguard
Ranger of Eos
Knight of the Reliquary
Rampaging Baloths
Rampant Growth
Garruk Wildspeaker

[agracru]

I think Knight of the Reliquary might end up seeing a jump in value if it finds a couple of Landfall cards to synergize with it.

I also wouldn't be surprised to see a couple of enemy colored duals (say, B/G or B/W) in the vein of the M10 duals.

[Gren]

Break out your Vengeants, people...

[Baatezu]

If they do produce an extraordinary amount of non-basics you can be sure Anathemancer will become even more played if even half of the lands are useful.

[Master Moja]

I bet we will see five new nonbasics.

[NessOnett]

Nimbus Maze was always my far favorite of the future land cycle. Well...after Graven Cairns of course. But two-color decks are my favorite and the usefulness of that type of card is wonderful in them. But I'm personally expecting to see more basics instead...as much as I may be saddened by it.

[agracru]

If there is a significant number of non-basic lands, then I suspect that many of them will be for utilitarian purposes as opposed to being for mana-fixing.

[Misko]

from MTGsalvation:

Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle

Land

Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle enters the battlefield tapped.
Whenever a Mountain enters the battlefield under your control, if you control five other Mountains, Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle deals 3 damage to target creature or player.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/images/smilies/tap.gif: Add http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/images/smilies/manar.gif to your mana pool.

I'm not quite sure, does it trigger only if you have EXACTLY 5 mountains or it must be at least 5??

If it is the latter, then i think it is too good EVEN if it is legendary land..
If it is only 3 damage it is still playable, but not amazing..


If it was spoiled true, ofc :rolleyes:

[agracru]

That's...interesting.

The way it reads it sounds like it'll only trigger if you have 5 Mountains in play, but I suspect that the accurate wording may be "at least". That means that this doesn't start to trigger until turn 6 assuming no missed land (read: Mountain) drops.

Essentially this card turns your extra Mountains into Lightning Bolts. Not too shabby, just very slow, though that "free" damage isn't a bad way for aggressive, mono-Red/Red-based decks to swing around games that go on too long for them.

[ewallhagen]

P.S. First non-basic spoiled, and it isn't multi-color. I am definitely believing there will be a cycle of these. Also, with these being a rare cycle, that means that if there is a dual cycle (I still suspect there will be) that it may not be rare. lorwyn did have the tribal duals, as well as the hideaways though, so it's possible both will be rares. This does mean though a minimum of 10 non-basics though, if they print a set of duals.

[vger]

I believe that the speculation that Zendikar is of a Land Centric Theme can be much confirmed.

Aside from what has been mentioned in previous posts, there are other supporting evidence or possible clues.

1) The lands from Future Sight can be one clear indication that they are going to be reprinted in Zendikar.

2) The 2nd set of the block, Worldwake, seems to be implying that the Lands in Zendikar have "awaken", taking a form of their own. While others speculated that the lack of manlands in M10 could be compensated in Zendikar, i would think otherwise that the manlands could only be returning in Worldwake. The lands in Zendikar are probably going to be laying dormant till worldwake, but then they could still have some form of come-into-play abilities whatsoever.

3) Lack of land destruction in M10. Somebody has mentioned it before.

4) Wizards would usually try to smooth out the previous sets' playability whenever a new block enters the standard format. SOA block is full of
multi-coloured cards and yet too little playable lands that can produce multi-colours. By making Zendikar of a land-centric theme, player can search lands or possibly drop multiple lands in a turn, which kinda smooths out the mana-base and thus make SOA cards work better. However, i doubt that they would provide too many lands that adds many different colours.

5) Ok, this point may be a little irrelevant. If u guys have seen the comics posted on the formal website - The one with Garruk and Jace. Garruk warned Jace about Zendikar and i'm guessing that the reason is because Jace, a blue mage wouldn't survive very well in Zendikar. Garruk is a master of nature who understands Lands and beasts hence he knew how dangerous the things (highly possibly to be lands) are. And all of us do know that manlands can't be countered and the blue mage is always going to suffer if they lack removal. Jace's countermagic or mind tricks won't work well against lands and thus Garruk warns Jace about Zendikar's dangerous nature. And since Wizards is so Vorthos recently, it's highly possible that this itself gives clues to Zendikar's nature.

6) Another irrelevant side-note. Seeing that Chandra would be returning in Zendikar, i speculate that Jace would too, but in worldwake. Since in the end of the comics, it seemed that Jace would be making a trip to Zendikar himself.

But still, these are my speculations and they may not be true at all. Hehe.

[GoblinToken]

Iskendar, the Fortress of Knowledge

Land

Iskendar, the Fortress of Knowledge enters the battlefield tapped.
Whenever an Island enters the battlefield under your control, if you control five other Islands, draw a card.
:t:: Add :u: to your mana pool.


Grigsham, the Ancient Willow

Land

Grigsham, the Ancient Willow enters the battlefield tapped.
Whenever a Forest enters the battlefield under your control, if you control three other Forests, target creature gets +3/+3 and vigilance until the beginning of your end step.
:t:: Add :g: to your mana pool.


Reverie, War Memorial

Land

Reverie, War Memorial enters the battlefield tapped.
Whenever a Plains enters the battlefield under your control, if you control five other Plains, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control.
:t:: Add :w: to your mana pool.


Yortorn, Bottomless Pit

Land

Yortorn, Bottomless Pit enters the battlefield tapped.
Whenever a Swamp enters the battlefield under your control, if you control five other Swamps, search your library for a card, shuffle, and put that card on top of your library.
:t:: Add :b: to your mana pool.

[agracru]

I was just about to suggest that the Blue land, in such a cycle, would be used for drawing cards. Heh.

The idea of Yortorn sort of scares me.

[Misko]

Ouch :eek: :eek:

Blue and Black are jaw dropping :D WoTC use very subtle methods to make us go mono color ;)

[ewallhagen]

The rest of the cycle as posted is purely speculation. Don't interpret those to be actual cards. The only "confirmed" card to date, is the Red one.

[Misko]

The rest of the cycle as posted is purely speculation. Don't interpret those to be actual cards. The only "confirmed" card to date, is the Red one.
You just made me cry ;)

[agracru]

The rest of the cycle as posted is purely speculation. Don't interpret those to be actual cards. The only "confirmed" card to date, is the Red one.

Yeah, and it said as much in the title of Goblin's post. Hence why the idea of the Black land scares me.

I'm not holding out hope but the Blue land would be very welcome in my opinion.

[GobletOfLove]

As a quick side note, i dont know why the green land would give vigilance...probably more like trample? Color pie ftw

[serendibefreet]

Anyone think Land Tax or Seismic Assault could be coming back? Or maybe newer versions?

[ewallhagen]

5 Lands that do things as well as produce mana, like the Shadowmoor cycle (see Leechridden Swamp but maybe replace "Black permanents" with "swamps") possibly, or another cycle of legendary lands (we haven't seen those since Time Spiral time-shifted cards.)

P.S. Not far off...

Also, depending on what the black one does, (tentatively speculating life drain) I could see a straight black ~30 land Ad Nausium deck emerging with cheap removal like Doom Blade, Wretched Banquet, and a few Tendrils of Corruption. Throw in Sign in Blood, duress, and Infest and you could have a very solid MBC build. Maybe I'm way off my rocker, but on paper it looks like it could work, though Great Sable Stag would probably eat this deck for breakfast...

[Anubis_God]

Anyone think Land Tax or Seismic Assault could be coming back? Or maybe newer versions?

Tax, no, but Assault, maybe...

[ewallhagen]

Arid Mesa, card # 211
Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle, card #228 (with Verdant Marsh still following it.)

The puts the likely count at 19 non-basics in the set, possibly 20 if there is a card before Arid Mesa.

We already know about the enemy fetchlands, we can presume that the rare CiPT lands (Valakut, and Emeria) is another cycle, and that there is another one that resembles the Teetering Peeks. That gives 15, kinda curious as to what the other 4-5 will do.