MTG Salvation

I am not sure if this is the correct subforum to post but here goes...

We all know that the full art cards such as the Zendikar and Unhinged lands as well promo cards like the APAC lands are chase cards.

But I am genuinely curious. Which do you think are the best non full art,non promo basic lands?

I want my Commander decks to never have the same basic land art twice and it my help my choices when people would give suggestions

I love Mirage.

I've spent 500$ on a set of 30 of each Unhinged Basic Land.

To think of ANY OTHER as 'better' feels like blasphemy.

That being said.

http://magiccards.info/rav/en/291.html is gorgeous

http://magiccards.info/us/en/335.html And how Donato did four separate artworks, all of the same Island from different perspectives. Is quite a treat.

Quote from arvinsim »

I am not sure if this is the correct subforum to post but here goes...

We all know that the full art cards such as the Zendikar and Unhinged lands as well promo cards like the APAC lands are chase cards.

But I am genuinely curious. Which do you think are the best non full art,non promo basic lands?

I want my Commander decks to never have the same basic land art twice and it my help my choices when people would give suggestions

If you want a newer look, I like the ROE lands
http://magiccards.info/roe/en/233.html
For an older look, I like the classic ABU islands
http://magiccards.info/al/en/281.html
For the absolute best, if you can afford it, the guru lands
http://magiccards.info/guru/en/2.html

Believe it or not, I actually don't like the full-art lands. I prefer my cards looking consistent; lands included. It looks neater to me to have regular basic lands. I have several favorites though. I will say that I was hoping for better art Grecian lands for Theros. Two of the Islands looked great and felt like Greece, but the other two Islands didn't look anything like Greece. I was hoping for a Santorini inspired Island in at least one case. But hey, they got the straits on one Island, so props for that.

John Avon's Islands always look so amazing. I loved the Snow lands in Coldsnap and the reprinted ones from Ice Age. Kamigawa's Islands are among my favorites.

As a Vorthos I have problems with the Full art lands being so limited in flavor choice. I like Mirage for its forests, Kamigawa for its mountains, ABU for just about all the lands, Ice Age for it's snow covered plains, and Lorwyn for its swamps and islands. But obviously I pick my lands depending on the flavor of the deck, so those aren't always the lands I use, just my favorite.

Quote from Jenrik »

Believe it or not, I actually don't like the full-art lands. I prefer my cards looking consistent; lands included. It looks neater to me to have regular basic lands.

I am the same way. The art of the full art basics is not particularly amazing (not saying its bad), and they look out of place.

I personally use beta basics, but all the Mirage arts are amazing and use those occasionally.

The Euro and Asian land series, the first series of Arena League promos and the Guru lands are also beautiful.

Plains: http://magiccards.info/m11/en/232.html I love this Plains. It's not as oppressively yellow, brown, and orange as most of its kin seem to be, nor is it dingy or dark. Neither is it a pastoral scene of kindergarten green, blue, and brown. It is peaceful, restful, and calming.

Islands: These are the most difficult for me to pick, because they're nearly always beautiful, no matter what's depicted. For me, the pinnacle of Blue is represented in http://magiccards.info/ala/en/236.html - knowledge stripped bare of any sentimentality, to the point where everything is reduced to math, to geometry and plotting and rigid order.

Swamp: For Swamps, it's again difficult. Many of the Swamp lands have miasmas in them, which can be attractive but robs us of actual visualization. I like this one best: http://magiccards.info/m12/en/240.html It showcases decay, which Swamps are notorious for. There is life, though, in the decay - taking power from death and rot is what Black magic is all about, after all.

Mountain: While there are plenty of snow covered Mountains, I prefer something a bit more...ominous. More intimidating, and more powerful. http://magiccards.info/m13/en/243.html I think this embodies what I'm looking for. True, it's not as dark as it could be, but it is jagged, unpredictable, harsh, untamed by mortal hand or brain.

Forest: Forests are as hard to pick as Islands for me. From a couple imposing giants to a stand of close-knit saplings, I find them all beautiful. http://magiccards.info/m10/en/247.html is one I like a lot - it's the sort of wood you could take your shoes and socks off and walk around in, shielded from the harsh glare of the sun by the cool comfort of the trees, who are as welcoming as friends.

As for the Nielsen lands, they are indeed beautiful, and if you have even one of them then you are extremely fortunate, for each one is practically a museum piece in its own right.

I really like lands that look like they are literally saturated with mana. The Naya-themed forests of Shards of Alara are particularly beautiful, as is Stephan Martiniere's Forest from Ravnica. Time Spiral Swamps are good. I actually prefer modern frame lands, and so it would be nice to get some of the nice lands from Urza's and the like in duel decks or something.

I personally like the lands from Portal. The art very much represents the landscape of its land type.

I have a foil Plains of this art and it's just gorgeous.

http://magiccards.info/m11/en/231.html

ARE YOU HARDCORE ENOUGH TO PUT SPIKY METAL GRASS IN YOUR DECK?!?!

If I had to stay away from full art and promos, I would go for the non-full art Zendikar basics. I feel those would have to be just as eye-popping these days as someone seeing the full art lands for the first time.

Alpha/Beta lands all the way. Extra points for summer. Or if you like foreign stuff...black bordered 4th Korean? Oh man, so much win.

Urza's Saga Forests.

The water paint / pastel colours of the Lorwyn basics are just awesome for me. Also Shadowmoor has some hauntingly beautiful dark basics.

I have dozens of favorites but here are a few:
W: All four Therese Nielson from Tempest
U: Odyssey - http://magiccards.info/od/en/338.html, Mirage - http://magiccards.info/mr/en/300.html
B: http://magiccards.info/on/en/341.html, http://magiccards.info/mr/en/313.html
R: Mirage - http://magiccards.info/mr/en/301.html, Ice Age - http://magiccards.info/ia/en/342.html
G: http://magiccards.info/mr/en/293.html, http://magiccards.info/tp/en/308.html

The Stephan Martiniere & Richard Wright art from both Ravnica blocks is my go-to when I want cityscape. The Kamigawa panorama lands are probably my second favorites.

Best Plains of all time, hands down:
Planechase 2012 / Zendikar
I actually like it more than the full art version. (I don't care for the full art lands much)
It's a shame that the land is only available from precons. Although that makes the card all the more special.

Mountains:
Return to Ravnica 266 (Yeong-Hao Han)
Lorwyn 294 (this is the one my deck uses... so don't steal it!)
M10 243 (Nils Hamm) (also in M11 and M13) possibly the definitive Mountain
Ravnica: City of Guilds 300 (Christopher Moeller)

Forests:
Innistrad 264
Shards of Alara 249
Lorwyn 298
Time Spiral 301

Swamps:
Return to Ravnica 264 (also in Ravnica: City in Guilds)
Return to Ravnica 261 (Yeong-Hao Han)
Mirrodin 297
Innistrad 257

Plains: (besides the one I mentioned already)
M13 231
Ravnica: City of Guilds 287

Island:
M13 237 (also in M12)
Ravnica: City of Guilds 291 - how can we forget that one!

For me, it's probably most of the Avacyn Restored lands. Not all of them, but each set has at least one that is truly gorgeous. The way they mirror the darker Innistrad ones is just fantasticly done. These 5 are my faves:
Plains
Island
Swamp
Mountain (On this one I'm not sure if I prefer this one or the Innistrad variety)
Forest Probably my favorite.

Personally, I like old frame lands. But if I wanted something consistent with a modern-bordered deck, I'd go with Kamigawa.
The swamps are haunting and eerie: http://magiccards.info/chk/en/295.html
The plains are ethereal and empty: http://magiccards.info/chk/en/290.html
The forests are lush and overgrown: http://magiccards.info/chk/en/306.html
The mountains are stark and snowy: http://magiccards.info/chk/en/299.html
The islands are impossibly magical: http://magiccards.info/chk/en/294.html

Why the hate for white boarders?

8th Ed:
Note- looks great in foil*

Plains
Swamp
Forest
Island

However for Mountains, it is Champions of Kamigawa all the way.

For most of the lands I LOVE the art of sixth edition (Forest is the exception). While Sixth edition does have white borders, the same art has been reused many times. I have plans to acquire playsets of that art for all my basics, but I'm still working on getting most of my decks unproxied and am not "wasting" money on the basics yet.

This is it!

Plains--Champions of Kamigawa #289 (love the storm on the horizon)
Island--Invasion #336 (gorgeous John Avon art I'm pretty sure was reused in a couple of core sets)
Swamp--Innistrad #256 (it captures that sense of death and despair perfectly)
Mountain--Onslaught #344 (the grandeur of the peaks, the impossibly dangerous bridge... )
Forest--Odyssey #349 was my favorite for a very long time, but I think Theros #248 has taken its place