MTG Salvation

Explosion zone enters the battlefield with 1 charge counter

T: Add C

XX,T: put X charge counters on explosion zone

3, t: sacrifice explosion zone: destroy all nonland permanents with converted cost equal to the number of counters on explosion zone.




Another great utility land. Enters untapped, and has a very high ceiling. Missing tokens is a shame, but entering with one counter makes it able to mop some 1-drops the turn it comes down if you have some mana. Seems pretty sweet to me.

While it's a bit expensive, I love utility lands, and am very excited to try it out. I would have liked it to not have started on any counters and have a cheaper cost to adding counters so that it can climb easier and still hit tokens, but giving decks outs to problem permanents on a land is *awesome*!

This I like, and I'll be testing out Ratchet Bomb land for sure.

This looks super durdly to me. I already think some of the colorless CC-specific "sweepers" Ratchet Bomb, Powder Keg, and Engineered Explosives are pretty lackluster more often than not. This gets the upside of being a land, but misses tokens which is what I think these type of cards are generally best against since X being 0 and hitting even one token (but often more) can be decent value for 2. I'm sure the value of these cards goes up a fair bit in a powered/fast-mana cube since they hit moxen though.

This is awesome. Powder Keg and Ratchet Bomb need two turns to blow up 2 CMC bombs like Survival of the Fittest, Bitterblossom, Umezawa's Jitte, etc. This can do it the turn after its played. Also a great land for Life from the Loam, Crucible of Worlds, etc.

Not being able to kill tokens kills this for me.

This is a sick land. Not being able to hit tokens is definitely a bummer, but I don’t think it makes this land anything close to useless. I’ll be testing this for sure.

Ya, it can't kill moxes or tokens, but it's the fastest version of this effect for killing higher CMC cards. And it's stapled to a land that enters untapped. I think this card is strong. It can blow all all 1cc cards immediately too, which is also unique.

edit: misread the card

It's solid and an interesting tool in the hands of slower decks.

XX for counters is a bit inefficient though, you pay double the CMC if they only have one permanent that must be destroyed.

Quote from Daemion »

edit: misread the card

It's solid and an interesting tool in the hands of slower decks.

XX for counters is a bit inefficient though, you pay double the CMC if they only have one permanent that must be destroyed.

Explosion Zone doesn't force you to play bad magic but rather allows you to destroy that one permanent that MUST be destroyed. It's giving you an out on a mana producing land that etb's untapped. The floor is so high that when you do get to use it, it should feel almost like a bonus. Cards like this also commonly force your opponent to play differently which is a nice boon.

cool card. not hitting tokens sucks. spots for utility lands are tight though. ironically I would play this if it was a red alligned land.

yeah, this card is really cool. I think it needs some testing, the only thing I am afraid of, is casting this say on turn, if you don't have other ramp going on, you would only be able to add 1 counter that turns, and then on turn 5 you can lose a land, and pay 3 to destroy 2 mana cost permanents seems rather slow. on the other hand you can just cast is as a land, and when you run out of gas, you can use it as removal speel for most threats. Not to mention, it probably deserves a place just to help the land decks. Between this, strip mine, etc and crucible/loam, it looks like it can be a nice piece to give that deck a boost.

Quote from TorontoJock »

Explosion Zone doesn't force you to play bad magic but rather allows you to destroy that one permanent that MUST be destroyed.

This is spot on. Effects like this that are on lands are so important because they're pretty much pure upside (especially because this comes into play untapped). Obviously not tapping for colors is a big deal, but most decks with good fixing can afford to run 1 utility land. If you're saccing it on t4 or whatever, it's because you absolutely have to, and without it you were probably dead anyway.

I actually think the rate on adding counters is fine. You can add counters slowly over time or like 3 at once if you have nothing to do with your mana. I'm actually pleasantly surprised it allows you to add more than one at a time. I'm imagining control mirrors where you march this up to 6 and leave it there to deal with your opponent's finishers when they come down. I think this card is pretty good and definitely worth a test.

It's also a better lategame topdeck than other cards of its ilk, since you can add more than one counter to it per turn if needed, and it starts with a counter. And it can be popped immediately if you need to clear multiple 1-drops for 3 (and your land drop for the turn).

I like the design. It would've been too good if it could kill tokens and Moxen, but they found a way around that which actually makes it better in other scenarios.

Pretty interesting.. It's a land that can create card advantage while effecting the battlefield, that is almost unprecedented.
While the effect isn't efficient, it can occasionally be quite powerful. The opportunity cost of being a colorless land is pretty small compared to a spell of similar effect.

I think I'll test it out.

Although this isn't necessarily a criteria for inclusion based on power level, it also feels like a card with a very high skill ceiling and good gameplay. Unless there's a threat you need to answer now, you're incentivized to think about what your opponent can play and get Explosion Zone to that cmc. There's a fundamental tension between "do I march this up to answer future threats" and "I should wait for more information" which I really enjoy.

I like having a few cards in cube like this as well that during the draft process you need to decide, do you pick this, because you know that as long as your fixing is good enough this card will make the main deck and will improve the quality of your deck because running this > is better than a basic, or do you pick up that slightly better X drop etc but cut a card you already drafted.

I'm sold on this card at 360. Looks like a stone-cold staple at first glace. Will definitely look forward to playing one of these.

Any results? I might have found a colourless cut for this but first I kinda wanted to know how it plays.

I think Blast Zone is legitimately good, and will stick around for quite a while for me. Colorless-producing lands are always a concern, but if you can stomach that, it's one of the better ones.

I love it and have no intention of cutting it any time soon. I feel like Ratchet Bomb effects are important, however sometimes it's hard to justify the slot in the main. Having a land that can answer problem permanents is something I've wanted for a very long time!

It's really good - best card of the set as far as I'm concerned.

How's this card doing for everyone? I noticed a lot of people aren't running it anymore. I love tinkering with my cube, but don't get to play as often as I'd like so I don't have many reps with it.