Distant Horizon
Legendary Land
You may play an additional land each turn.
Lands you control enter the battlefield tapped.
Lost Temple
Land
When an explore ability you control reveals Lost Temple, put it onto the battlefield with a Gem counter on it instead of into your hand.
T: Add C to your mana pool.
T: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool. Activate this ability only if Lost Temple has a Gem counter on it.
Boundless Sea
Land
Boundless Sea enters the battlefield tapped. T: Add U to your mana pool. T: All lands are islands in addition to their other types until end of turn.
Land of Plenty
Land
~ enters the battlefield tapped. T: Untap another target land.
Distant Horizon, my gut says this is absurdly broken. Exploration is already powerful enough, being colorless and uncounterable is a rather massive push. The ETBT on all lands is the only reason I'm not screaming broken, it might be enough to prevent this from even being played but its a worrisome card.
Lost Temple, if you're going to riff on Gemstone Caverns use the same wording and counter. Honestly love the card.
Boundless Sea, interesting, but why? This is doing something fun and cute but it doesn't feel like its doing something meaningful. Upgrading to an ETBT Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth seems reasonable.
Land of Plenty, I've never thought Deserted Temple was underpowered. While yours is far from strictly better it is definitely stronger.
I explicitly did not give Distant Horizon a mana ability to prevent it's user from playing two mana-producing lands on the first turn, making the ramp potential weaker.
Exploration is a green effect, and additional land plays traditionally fall into green's part of the pie, but that's never held anything back in real Magic cards, you just need to tack a downside or a cost onto an effect when making it available to other colors, which is what I've attempted to do.
I didn't have any context in mind for Boundless Sea, I just thought it was a neat idea and a variation on Urborg's idea without just copying it.
I would look at something like Terrain Generator for inspiration for Distant Horizons. Maybe a mana activated ability that lets you play an additional land for turn?
I explicitly did not give Distant Horizon a mana ability to prevent it's user from playing two mana-producing lands on the first turn, making the ramp potential weaker.
Exploration is a green effect, and additional land plays traditionally fall into green's part of the pie, but that's never held anything back in real Magic cards, you just need to tack a downside or a cost onto an effect when making it available to other colors, which is what I've attempted to do.
I didn't have any context in mind for Boundless Sea, I just thought it was a neat idea and a variation on Urborg's idea without just copying it.
You are off on two points here.
First, a defining feature of lands is the ability to tap for Mana (or search for lands that do). Early magic had lands that did not, but it is a modern design rule of the game to differentiate them from 0cc artifacts.
Second, making an effect more expensive does not make it okay to give one colors abilities to other colors in ways that overcome weaknesses. Again, early magic did this from time to time, but modern design tries to keep each colors unique strengths and weaknesses seperate
First, a defining feature of lands is the ability to tap for Mana (or search for lands that do). Early magic had lands that did not, but it is a modern design rule of the game to differentiate them from 0cc artifacts.
Second, making an effect more expensive does not make it okay to give one colors abilities to other colors in ways that overcome weaknesses. Again, early magic did this from time to time, but modern design tries to keep each colors unique strengths and weaknesses seperate
I know that the powers that be decided that all lands must produce mana somehow, but I disagree with that decision and will continue to design lands that do not. Forcing a player to use their land play for the turn is a significant cost that can allow some lands to have quite strong effects.
Colorless effects that mimic an effect normally associated with a color are a frequent thing, up to the modern day. The feature that unifies them is that they cost significantly more than they would in the color that normally gets them, and often only at higher rarities too. Scour From Existence and Universal Solvent are enchantment removal available to red and black, and direct creature removal available to green. Even the aforementioned Terrain Generator is a green effect on a colorless land.
I could concede that the price of admission for Distant Horizons is perhaps to low for the strength of the effect, but not that it's inherently wrong to make a colorless version of it.
Distant Horizon
Legendary Land
You may play an additional land each turn.
Lands you control enter the battlefield tapped.
Honestly, I think you found the perfect balance to this card for its effect. It gives me a Maze of Ith vibe while also inducing a visual akin to the recent Enchantments that turn into lands.
Lost Temple
Land
When an explore ability you control reveals Lost Temple, put it onto the battlefield with a Gem counter on it instead of into your hand. T: Add C to your mana pool. T: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool. Activate this ability only if Lost Temple has a Gem counter on it.
I'm glad this isn't as whacky as Gemstone Caverns. If I assume I need access to colorless mana in my deck then this land is fine but if I'm running 4 AND I need colored but don't require colorless, I don't see why I'd run it. I feel like I want some more sauce if I Explored this.
Boundless Sea
Land
Boundless Sea enters the battlefield tapped. T: Add U to your mana pool. T: All lands are islands in addition to their other types until end of turn.
aka "Serpent Sea" I love lands I have to find uses for. I don't see a lot at first but I know for sure they're out there. Lots of U sea creatures require islands under your opponent's control function.
Land of Plenty
Land
Land of Plenty enters the battlefield tapped. T: Untap another target land.
How about...
Land of Plenty
Land
Land of Plenty enters the battlefield tapped. T: Add C to your mana pool. 1,T: Untap another target land.
Honestly, Land of Plenty is probably fine, though I think it is just less clean that Deserted Temple.
As for the other cards:
Distant Horizon is ridiculous and has horrible play to it. Basically, the card is completely busted when drawn early and you have the lands to play off it but is garbage late in the game to the point where it literally does nothing. These kind of "high risk, high reward" cards are only interesting if the floor of the card is basically a blank but this card is actively detrimental when drawn late. I can see so many unfun games on both ends involving this card. I would prefer something that actually adds mana and then has some kind of activation you have to jump through to get the land drops and not just an Exploration.
Lost Temple is cute but fairly parasitic.
Boundless Sea is fine. I never really like Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth all that much on design but the flavor was good enough.
Legendary Land
You may play an additional land each turn.
Lands you control enter the battlefield tapped.
Lost Temple
Land
When an explore ability you control reveals Lost Temple, put it onto the battlefield with a Gem counter on it instead of into your hand.
T: Add C to your mana pool.
T: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool. Activate this ability only if Lost Temple has a Gem counter on it.
Boundless Sea
Land
Boundless Sea enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Add U to your mana pool.
T: All lands are islands in addition to their other types until end of turn.
Land of Plenty
Land
~ enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Untap another target land.
"Sometimes, the situation is outracing a threat, sometimes it's ignoring it, and sometimes it involves sideboarding in 4x Hope//Pray." --Doug Linn
Lost Temple, if you're going to riff on Gemstone Caverns use the same wording and counter. Honestly love the card.
Boundless Sea, interesting, but why? This is doing something fun and cute but it doesn't feel like its doing something meaningful. Upgrading to an ETBT Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth seems reasonable.
Land of Plenty, I've never thought Deserted Temple was underpowered. While yours is far from strictly better it is definitely stronger.
Exploration is a green effect, and additional land plays traditionally fall into green's part of the pie, but that's never held anything back in real Magic cards, you just need to tack a downside or a cost onto an effect when making it available to other colors, which is what I've attempted to do.
I didn't have any context in mind for Boundless Sea, I just thought it was a neat idea and a variation on Urborg's idea without just copying it.
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You are off on two points here.
First, a defining feature of lands is the ability to tap for Mana (or search for lands that do). Early magic had lands that did not, but it is a modern design rule of the game to differentiate them from 0cc artifacts.
Second, making an effect more expensive does not make it okay to give one colors abilities to other colors in ways that overcome weaknesses. Again, early magic did this from time to time, but modern design tries to keep each colors unique strengths and weaknesses seperate
I know that the powers that be decided that all lands must produce mana somehow, but I disagree with that decision and will continue to design lands that do not. Forcing a player to use their land play for the turn is a significant cost that can allow some lands to have quite strong effects.
Colorless effects that mimic an effect normally associated with a color are a frequent thing, up to the modern day. The feature that unifies them is that they cost significantly more than they would in the color that normally gets them, and often only at higher rarities too. Scour From Existence and Universal Solvent are enchantment removal available to red and black, and direct creature removal available to green. Even the aforementioned Terrain Generator is a green effect on a colorless land.
I could concede that the price of admission for Distant Horizons is perhaps to low for the strength of the effect, but not that it's inherently wrong to make a colorless version of it.
Legendary Land
You may play an additional land each turn.
Lands you control enter the battlefield tapped.
Honestly, I think you found the perfect balance to this card for its effect. It gives me a Maze of Ith vibe while also inducing a visual akin to the recent Enchantments that turn into lands.
Land
When an explore ability you control reveals Lost Temple, put it onto the battlefield with a Gem counter on it instead of into your hand.
T: Add C to your mana pool.
T: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool. Activate this ability only if Lost Temple has a Gem counter on it.
I'm glad this isn't as whacky as Gemstone Caverns. If I assume I need access to colorless mana in my deck then this land is fine but if I'm running 4 AND I need colored but don't require colorless, I don't see why I'd run it. I feel like I want some more sauce if I Explored this.
Land
Boundless Sea enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Add U to your mana pool.
T: All lands are islands in addition to their other types until end of turn.
aka "Serpent Sea" I love lands I have to find uses for. I don't see a lot at first but I know for sure they're out there. Lots of U sea creatures require islands under your opponent's control function.
Land
Land of Plenty enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Untap another target land.
How about...
Land
Land of Plenty enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Add C to your mana pool.
1,T: Untap another target land.
Deserted Temple
Honestly, Land of Plenty is probably fine, though I think it is just less clean that Deserted Temple.
As for the other cards:
Distant Horizon is ridiculous and has horrible play to it. Basically, the card is completely busted when drawn early and you have the lands to play off it but is garbage late in the game to the point where it literally does nothing. These kind of "high risk, high reward" cards are only interesting if the floor of the card is basically a blank but this card is actively detrimental when drawn late. I can see so many unfun games on both ends involving this card. I would prefer something that actually adds mana and then has some kind of activation you have to jump through to get the land drops and not just an Exploration.
Lost Temple is cute but fairly parasitic.
Boundless Sea is fine. I never really like Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth all that much on design but the flavor was good enough.
BGStandard Green AggroGB
UWRGModern Saheeli CobraGRWU
UBRGLegacy StormGRBU
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