I am curious as too how other people layout and tap their mana. I have seen several different styles as everyone plays differently and there is no "right" way to do it. However I would like to know how you guys (and gals) do it.
I organize by name, ie forest on forest or dimir guildgate on dimir guildgate. I put the lands into columns up to 3 high and I keep them all straight up and down. This is what I have always done however I find myself to be somewhat clumsy when I am tapping mana. So how do you guys do it? I would like to try some different techniques to improve my tapping.
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Standard GGDWG GWGW HexproofWG RUIzzet MidrangeUR WUBRGChromanticore, it had to be doneGRBUW
That awkward moment when you cast your 4th Banisher Priest
Also I tried looking online for different layout/tapping techniques but I could not come up with anything. If you have a link I have no qualms with going and reading on my own since an explaination could be lengthy.
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Standard GGDWG GWGW HexproofWG RUIzzet MidrangeUR WUBRGChromanticore, it had to be doneGRBUW
That awkward moment when you cast your 4th Banisher Priest
I am curious as too how other people layout and tap their mana. I have seen several different styles as everyone plays differently and there is no "right" way to do it. However I would like to know how you guys (and gals) do it.
I organize by name, ie forest on forest or dimir guildgate on dimir guildgate. I put the lands into columns up to 3 high and I keep them all straight up and down. This is what I have always done however I find myself to be somewhat clumsy when I am tapping mana. So how do you guys do it? I would like to try some different techniques to improve my tapping.
I usually start off with diagonal looking column/row things, matching each type of land on each pile. But as the game goes on, as I tap land for mana, I start piling them up differently. If a spell costs :2mana::symg: to cast, if I have 3 forests and 3 plains on the battlefield, and if I want to tap 2 forest and 1 plains, I'll pile the 3 off to the side together as I tap them.
The longer the game goes, the messier things become.
But I try and separate utility lands off by themselves no matter what. "Hiding" these lands with the others is a pet peeve of mine.
But I try and separate utility lands off by themselves no matter what. "Hiding" these lands with the others is a pet peeve of mine.
I agree, I have played with some people that will pile lands after they tap them but I much prefer to see them all so I can count exactly how many they have.
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Standard GGDWG GWGW HexproofWG RUIzzet MidrangeUR WUBRGChromanticore, it had to be doneGRBUW
That awkward moment when you cast your 4th Banisher Priest
I play lands in back because everyone prefers it. Over time I've found it to make the attack step easier too. When I tap my lands I'll tap the first few 90 degrees but once there's a lot of lands on the board I only tap 45 degrees to save space because I don't want to pile my lands.
I put my lands closest to me, then artifacts and enchantments then creatures. When I attack with a creature, I push it forwards and turn it 90 degrees. I separate mine by the color they make in the early game. As the game progresses, I just make a pile and sort through to cast spells.
I try to group my land based on what they produce, although the groups are different for different decks: one colour/other colour/both for dual-colour decks, 3/2/1 colours for tri-colour decks, Green/not Green/Township for Pod, etc.. Mono-colour decks get roughly even stacks of land, up to five or six per stack. Lands with abilities tend to go off in their own pile, non-land mana permanents stay away from the lands. No hard and fast rules, just trying to make the board readable at a glance - I hate when people have, for example, a pile of Forest, Lavaclaw Reaches, and Strip Mine, and another pile of Swamp, Taiga, Birds of Paradise, and Maze of Ith, based completely arbitrarily on what was tapped or not last turn. Makes it really hard to tell what colours a player has open, what they can do with their lands, or even how many lands they have.
I play lands in back because everyone prefers it. Over time I've found it to make the attack step easier too. When I tap my lands I'll tap the first few 90 degrees but once there's a lot of lands on the board I only tap 45 degrees to save space because I don't want to pile my lands.
I like this, personally I like to have my lands 90 degrees turned, however many of my issues come once I have more than 8 or 9 lands. So I think I will give this a shot, I just dont want people to be unclear (at FNM) as to whether or not they are tapped.
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That awkward moment when you cast your 4th Banisher Priest
I put my lands in the back in stacks of 3, but with the names all visible. They're sorted by what colors they produce - a boros guildgate and a sacred foundry go together. Utility lands are separated from everything else.
I usually stack them in groups of 2 or 3, then move around and tap them in a big pile if I cast a spell that is 4+. If I play something that is really ramp heavy, like my friends Urzatron (that's what he called it, not sure of it myself) with those three lands, then I'll put them in one pile and count out the lands I need and tap them and leave the ones unused off to the side.
I put my lands in the back in stacks of 3, but with the names all visible. They're sorted by what colors they produce - a boros guildgate and a sacred foundry go together. Utility lands are separated from everything else.
I do exactly this. Then lay shared color pairs next to each other. Sort of like r/b next to b/g to r/g. Also depends on what color is most necessary. Basics go to the left of each pile bc I try to tap them first to leave double colors available when necessary.
I treat lands the same way I treat my tokens: Group everything that is functionally the same. I try to keep my opponent in mind, common courtesy and all, and will spread things out more if they need to keep track of the number of basic lands or whatever, but otherwise I group mostly into colors.
A Khalni Garden after untapping is just another forest, Bojuka Bog is just a swamp, etc. For ease of tapping certain amounts at a time, I usually keep them in groups of no more than five. Just like with tokens, anything that is unique because it gets enchanted or has counters on it is separated from the group. Same with utility lands.
One of my biggest pet peeves is one friend I play with who has a tendency to stack all their lands into one pile. They don't even do it to cheat or anything, they just habitually do it whenever they count out lands for a spell or something and then just leave it like that afterwards.
Some interesting answers here, a lot of them are pretty similar to what I do. It changes from game to game and from deck to deck.
Playing high tide is the only one I do differently. I have them set up normally until I go off, which I then separate all of them individually, and put the tapped ones in a single pile, because knowing how many untapped islands you have is an important part of the combo.
I started Playing back in tempest block so my lands are placed above my board state, nearest my opponent. If I'm playing mono then they are just in an over lapping line, if more than one colour then split the line
I started playing just as Exodus released (also in Tempest block) and I don't do this.
I actually get quite irritated at people that put lands in front.
Edit: Oh, and to answer the question, I try and have stacks of three, trying to keep like types of lands together. I'll stagger them a little bit, too. Dual lands will go in between the two colours they produce (unless I'm tri colour, which everything goes out the window then). Utility lands go off to one of the sides. When casting spells, I will group the lands together according to the costs paid for each spell, then when it's not my turn, I regroup them to their by type organization.
Lands in back, all horizontal. I play them side by side, no order. When I go to tap, I separate them and tap them 90 degrees to make sure that I know which ones I'm tapping.
Seems like I am the wierd one, since I put them in a vertical line in the opposite site of my deck, grouped by colour produced. Graveyard is above my deck and exile zone above graveyard. This way sort of puts a frame on my board.
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Decks I play:
Legacy:
Pox
Demon Stompy
Black Knights
Modern:
Tainted Shadow
MBC
8 Rack
Casual:
Suicide Black
Old-school Nightmare Effect
EDH:
Anowon, the Ruin Sage
"God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him."
-Friedrich Nietzsche
I put my graveyard on the left side of my playmat, with the deck right next to it. I put spells next to the deck on the bottom and lands on the top. I clump all my lands in one pile and seperate them out when I cast a spell.
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If that's your "casual," what on earth is required for "formal," a butler in livery shuffling the decks whilst a pianist plays Brahms in front of a tapestry?
When playing, I separate my land cards into piles of basic and non-basic lands, and I then sort them alphabetically in each category after that. I put all lands with the same name in their own piles, which makes the process of locating the lands that I need fast and efficient.
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Pile them up based on what they produce/do, then just let the piles grow. I might split them into piles of 5 if I'm playing mono-color, but otherwise it's just about knowing what does what.
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Haven't played anything but EDH and casual for over a year
Library goes on the right side closest to me with enough room for the graveyard to the right of the library.
Lands go at the back to the left of the library seperated into piles of basic and non basic based on the colors they produce. All tapped land (always 90 degrees to avoid confusion) goes into 1 stack at the left of the rest of the land. During my untap step all lands are returned to their assigned piles.
Enchantments and artifacts go in a row just above my land and in that order unless one of those enchantments (or artifacts, ie equipment) is on another permanent in which case it slides under the permanent its attached to so the effect is visible but the card name is not.
All enchanted/equipt lands, creatures etc etc. or any permanent holding other permanents in exile (ie oblivion rign, banisher priest) go to the left of the area in which that card would normally be. Not seperate, just obvious. (Ie, a mountain with Chained to the rocks would go at the far left of all my lands) (Note: Lands with enchanments on them do not go into my generic pile of tapped lands, they remain seperate from the other piles and when tapped just stay where they are (to the left of all my untapped land but to the right of my pile of generic tapped land)).
Creatures go right out front for all that head smashing in stuff they plan to do.
Exiled permanents go off to one side unless there is a way to have them returned later (ie exiled by Oblivion ring, Banisher priest, etc.) in which case they go underneath the permanent which is exiling it until that permanent leaves play. (ie Oblivion ring exiles a Llanowar Elves so the Lanowar elves are moved underneath Oblivion ring so that it is showing the exiled cards name and art). If this is the case for a creature like Banisher priest then the exiled permanent will go underneath Banisher priest and as explained before will move to the left of the rest of the creatures.
I organize by name, ie forest on forest or dimir guildgate on dimir guildgate. I put the lands into columns up to 3 high and I keep them all straight up and down. This is what I have always done however I find myself to be somewhat clumsy when I am tapping mana. So how do you guys do it? I would like to try some different techniques to improve my tapping.
GGDWG
GWGW HexproofWG
RUIzzet MidrangeUR
WUBRGChromanticore, it had to be doneGRBUW
That awkward moment when you cast your 4th Banisher Priest
GGDWG
GWGW HexproofWG
RUIzzet MidrangeUR
WUBRGChromanticore, it had to be doneGRBUW
That awkward moment when you cast your 4th Banisher Priest
I usually start off with diagonal looking column/row things, matching each type of land on each pile. But as the game goes on, as I tap land for mana, I start piling them up differently. If a spell costs :2mana::symg: to cast, if I have 3 forests and 3 plains on the battlefield, and if I want to tap 2 forest and 1 plains, I'll pile the 3 off to the side together as I tap them.
The longer the game goes, the messier things become.
But I try and separate utility lands off by themselves no matter what. "Hiding" these lands with the others is a pet peeve of mine.
Thread | Draft
I agree, I have played with some people that will pile lands after they tap them but I much prefer to see them all so I can count exactly how many they have.
GGDWG
GWGW HexproofWG
RUIzzet MidrangeUR
WUBRGChromanticore, it had to be doneGRBUW
That awkward moment when you cast your 4th Banisher Priest
I collect pre-release Stone-Tongue Basilisk
Erebos B | Ghost Council WB | Grimgrin UB | Jhoira UR
Jor Kadeen RW | Melek UR | Mimeoplasm GUB | Rasputin WU
Savra BG | Sisay GW | Teneb BGW | Thada Adel U | Wort BR
I draft and play EDH. If a Standard player can't understand who a card is for, it's probably for me.
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I like this, personally I like to have my lands 90 degrees turned, however many of my issues come once I have more than 8 or 9 lands. So I think I will give this a shot, I just dont want people to be unclear (at FNM) as to whether or not they are tapped.
GGDWG
GWGW HexproofWG
RUIzzet MidrangeUR
WUBRGChromanticore, it had to be doneGRBUW
That awkward moment when you cast your 4th Banisher Priest
I do exactly this. Then lay shared color pairs next to each other. Sort of like r/b next to b/g to r/g. Also depends on what color is most necessary. Basics go to the left of each pile bc I try to tap them first to leave double colors available when necessary.
BUG Reanimator
BWG Nic-Fit
BGR Punishing Nic-Fit
'These 3 lands are the only ones I have that tape for white'
Sometimes I keep then in a giant column, separating what I need as I go.
Other times I put them out, like if I have 10 lands, I might have 5 rows of 2.
Really, it all depends.
A Khalni Garden after untapping is just another forest, Bojuka Bog is just a swamp, etc. For ease of tapping certain amounts at a time, I usually keep them in groups of no more than five. Just like with tokens, anything that is unique because it gets enchanted or has counters on it is separated from the group. Same with utility lands.
One of my biggest pet peeves is one friend I play with who has a tendency to stack all their lands into one pile. They don't even do it to cheat or anything, they just habitually do it whenever they count out lands for a spell or something and then just leave it like that afterwards.
Playing high tide is the only one I do differently. I have them set up normally until I go off, which I then separate all of them individually, and put the tapped ones in a single pile, because knowing how many untapped islands you have is an important part of the combo.
Modern Junk Primer
Legacy ANT Primer
L1 Judge
Though I'll put it in a small font.
Please stop hijacking my reply box.
I started playing just as Exodus released (also in Tempest block) and I don't do this.
I actually get quite irritated at people that put lands in front.
Edit: Oh, and to answer the question, I try and have stacks of three, trying to keep like types of lands together. I'll stagger them a little bit, too. Dual lands will go in between the two colours they produce (unless I'm tri colour, which everything goes out the window then). Utility lands go off to one of the sides. When casting spells, I will group the lands together according to the costs paid for each spell, then when it's not my turn, I regroup them to their by type organization.
Decks I play:
-Friedrich Nietzsche
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Mythic rares are fine.
“When the people fear the government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”-Thomas Jefferson
“A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of its user.”-Theodore Roosevelt
“Patriotism means to stand by one's country; it does not mean to stand by one's president.”-Theodore Roosevelt
Lands go at the back to the left of the library seperated into piles of basic and non basic based on the colors they produce. All tapped land (always 90 degrees to avoid confusion) goes into 1 stack at the left of the rest of the land. During my untap step all lands are returned to their assigned piles.
Enchantments and artifacts go in a row just above my land and in that order unless one of those enchantments (or artifacts, ie equipment) is on another permanent in which case it slides under the permanent its attached to so the effect is visible but the card name is not.
All enchanted/equipt lands, creatures etc etc. or any permanent holding other permanents in exile (ie oblivion rign, banisher priest) go to the left of the area in which that card would normally be. Not seperate, just obvious. (Ie, a mountain with Chained to the rocks would go at the far left of all my lands) (Note: Lands with enchanments on them do not go into my generic pile of tapped lands, they remain seperate from the other piles and when tapped just stay where they are (to the left of all my untapped land but to the right of my pile of generic tapped land)).
Creatures go right out front for all that head smashing in stuff they plan to do.
Exiled permanents go off to one side unless there is a way to have them returned later (ie exiled by Oblivion ring, Banisher priest, etc.) in which case they go underneath the permanent which is exiling it until that permanent leaves play. (ie Oblivion ring exiles a Llanowar Elves so the Lanowar elves are moved underneath Oblivion ring so that it is showing the exiled cards name and art). If this is the case for a creature like Banisher priest then the exiled permanent will go underneath Banisher priest and as explained before will move to the left of the rest of the creatures.
Seems complex. It isn't.
Big thanks to DNC from Heroes of the Plane Studio for the awesome sig!