1st Question:
I had a Commander game where I successfully casted Consecrated Sphinx, then tried to attach a Swiftfoot Boots to it. In response, my opponent casted Turn // Burn on Sphinx. I responded by activating Crystal Shard to try to bounce my Sphinx. He then responds by casting Reins of Power to steal my Sphinx so he can pay the 1 for the Shard to keep it from bouncing. I had a Homeward Path which I could have used to get my Sphinx back, but he iterated that it wouldn't matter because he can just pay the 1 for Crystal Shard before I get my Sphinx back. So my question is: when would you pay the 1 for Crystal Shard? Is it a special action that occurs outside the stack like with Quenchable Fire, or can you only decide whether or not to pay the 1 when it's time for the Shard's ability to resolve?
2nd Question:
Can I use Spellskite to redirect half of Turn // Burn if both halves target the same creature?
Ok, I have another red card for you all. This one's a variant of Spark Elemental. Early game it can start out weak, but late game it becomes a definite finisher. I'm not sure if maybe I can take off the EoT sac clause and it still be fine (maybe even as a rare?), but I went the safe route and kept it true to those types of creatures.
Aspect of PurphorosRR
Enchantment Creature -- Elemental {U}
Trample, haste
~'s power is equal to your devotion to red.
At the beginning of the end step, sacrifice ~.
X/1
Yup, but a 4/4 for 2RR that gets to attack twice on the turn you play it is still a bit much. That thing deals 8 damage on an empty board and would probably provide a very casual turn 4 win in an average RDW deck.
It doesn't really get to attack twice the turn you cast it. If you cast it during the first Main Phase, it gains haste and can swing for 4 damage; however, at that point it is tapped and won't untap before the extra combat phase. If you cast it during the second Main Phase, it gains haste and is able to attack during the extra combat phase, but it would still only be able to attack once since you've skipped the first combat phase to cast it during the second Main Phase. The only way it could attack twice is if you found a way to untap it in-between the combat phases.
I like the idea of Relentless Assault on legs. I think it's special enough that it shouldn't be on a card that has so many other things going on.
Would you prefer something more stream-lined, like this?
Fury Elemental2RR
Creature -- Elemental {R}
When ~ enters the battlefield, untap all creatures you control. They gain haste. After this phase, there is an additional combat phase followed by an additional main phase.
4/4
Some ideas for red cards that I've had stowed away in my back pocket. I figured I'd post them here to see what you all think of them.
Mono-Red Burn Spells
Blackflame BoltR
Sorcery {C}
Wither (This deals damage to creatures in the form of -1/-1 counters.)
~ deals 2 damage to target creature or player.
Culture ShockRRR
Sorcery {U}
Destroy target nonbasic land. ~ deals 2 damage to that land’s controller.
Basic landcycling 1RR
When you cycle ~, it deals 1 damage to target creature or player.
Blazing Winds1R
Sorcery {R}
~ deals 2 damage to target creature or player. Creatures dealt damage this way can’t be regenerated this turn.
Fuse (You may cast one or both halves of this card from your hand.)
// Scorching Sands1RR
Sorcery {R}
~ deals 3 damage to target creature or player. If a creature dealt damage this way would die this turn, instead exile it.
Fuse (You may cast one or both halves of this card from your hand.)
Mono-Red Creatures
Bloodfrenzy Berserker1R
Creature -- Human Berserker {U}
Haste
When ~ deals combat damage to a player, put a +1/+1 counter on it.
Remove a +1/+1 counter from ~: Target creature can’t block this turn. The spilling of blood incites both frenzy and fear.
1/1
Stormfury Shaman1R
Creature -- Human Shaman {R}
Haste
When ~ enters the battlefield or attacks, put a charge counter on it.
When ~ attacks, it deals damage equal to the number of charge counters on it to target creature or player.
0/1
(Stormfury Shaman is something I came up with when a bunch of friends tried to come up with red two-drops that may be powerful in eternal formats.)
Fury Elemental2RRR
Creature -- Elemental {R}
Trample
When ~ enters the battlefield, untap all creatures you control. They gain haste. After this phase, there is an additional combat phase followed by an additional main phase.
Unearth 2RRR
5/1
Cinder SwarmRR
Creature -- Elemental {C}
Haste, Ripple 4
When ~ enters the battlefield, it deals 1 damage to target player.
1/1
Other Mono-Red Spells
Undying FuryXR
Sorcery {R}
Return target creature with converted mana cost X or less from the graveyard to the battlefield. It gains haste. Exile it at the beginning of the next end step. Like a phoenix, resentment never dies.
(A friend and I came up with the idea of giving red a spell like Postmortem Lunge when MaRo announced that Chandra, Pyromaster would have an ability that red has never had before. We figured "what if red had cards that worked like Threaten, but from the graveyard?" It probably needs tweaking for balance, like maybe just sacrificing the creature, costing XRR, or just being a red Postmortem Lunge, but the idea was to get your impression on the general premise of the idea.)
Boros Spells
Relentless CrusaderRW
Creature -- Human Soldier {U}
First strike
~ can't be prevented from attacking or blocking by spells or abilities. "There is no law that supersedes justice."
2/2
Legion CrusaderRW
Creature -- Human Soldier {R}
First strike
Combat damage dealt by ~ to a blocking creature is also dealt to that creature’s controller. None dare get in the way of a Boros crusader.
2/1
Gruul Spells
Vrasik Spellbane2RG
Creature -- Human Berserker {MR}
Trample
Whenever a player casts an instant or sorcery spell, ~ gets +2/+0 and gains indestructible until end of turn.
Whenever a player casts a noninstant, nonsorcery spell, ~ gets +2/+0 and gains first strike until end of turn. "You want to know what I think of all your fancy spells, mage!?"
3/2
(Vrasik was just an idea i had for a Gruul commander)
Izzet Cards
Thunderous RecallUR
Instant {U}
As an additional cost to cast ~, return a creature you control to its owner’s hand.
~ deals 4 damage to target creature or player.
[Izzet Planeswalker]2UURR
Planeswalker -- [Izzet Planeswalker] {MR} /+1:\ Draw a card. ~ deals 2 damage divided as you choose among any number of target creatures and/or players. \-2:/ ~ deals 4 damage to target creature or player. Look at the top four cards of your library. Put one of those cards into your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library in any order. \-8:/ Gain control of all creatures until the end of your next turn. Untap those creatures. Take an extra turn after this one. {4}
The rarity has zero impact on Constructed, would have been detrimental to Limited, Eternal and Casual remain largely unaffected. There's your counterargument. Done and dusted. I have yet to see a good reason the scrylands absolutely should have been uncommon.
Well, I guess I should submit to you the counterpoint then. Wizards stated in the article introducing the Scry lands that Scry was a necessary mechanic to bring back to insure that in Theros (particularly Limited), people got those Auras to use on their Heroic creatures and got their creatures to play their Auras on. It was to insure the health and playability of Theros cards in both Constructed and Limited. One of the reasons stated that they didn't put it at uncommon is that with the lands they felt Theros Limited would degrade into "dig until you get your bomb". If they really needed Scry to help boost Theros Limited, you'd think they'd give Limited players better access to the Scry cards (you know, since scrying is important for these players to be able to do). Making the lands into rares is counterproductive to what they stated they needed for Limited. Players will hardly have any access to these lands (which all happen to have a mechanic that is supposedly very important to the health of Theros Limited) because they are rares instead of uncommons.
I'm pretty sure you just spat out a list of opinions since I didn't see a shred of reasoning there as to why any of those decisions were "mistakes." I don't claim to know whether they were or weren't mistakes and therefore can't dispute the claims themselves, but what you've claimed doesn't really mean anything if you don't provide a well-reasoned analysis or hard evidence.
Well this doesn't back up anything he was referring to, but judging by how badly they warped Standard and their price tags pre-ban, I think it's safe to assume that printing JtMS and Stoneforge Mystic were bad moves. Also, printing the Vivids at uncommon when they had Reflecting Pool, Exotic Orchard, and Tri-color lands around the corner is what essentially allowed 5-color control the be the dominating deck archetype (and ultimately players not caring what their mana base was: they can run anything and be fine) in Lorwyn-Shards Standard. Affinity also can be considered a bad move because it was degenerate. I believe Wizards has admitted to all 3 of these.
Continued from this post comparing the new scry lands to color/fetch lands printed since the Time Spiral superblock...
Coldsnap:
Coldsnap offered us the Snow Duals. These lands are approximate to the 8th Edition uncommon lands. The only exception is that it has the Snow supertype. In block this is a fair trade-off between cards that interact to benefit from running these lands and cards that hurt you because you run these lands. Overall, you receive much more benefit off of running these over the 8th Edition uncommons. Cards like Into the North, Skred, Mouth of Ronom, and Scrying Sheets made these lands much more powerful than their non-snow counterparts. Heck, I seen Commander decks and decks during Time Spiral Standard run these just because they ran Skred or could fetch it with Into the North, making it a better alternative to their non-snow counterparts. The Snow interaction is a fair trade-off for Scry 1, in spite of Scry 1 perhaps being slightly more powerful.
10th Edition:
In this core set, we have two cycles of lands: the Pain Lands and the mono-color Man Lands.
The pain lands are an iconic cycle of lands for god knows how long until the inception of the new Core Set (or "Check") lands. They ETB untapped and could tap for 1, which overall doesn't interrupt your mana curve. On top of that, they can tap for colors the turn they ETB (and every turn thereafter for that matter) by taking 1 damage. Being able to tap for one of two colors the turn it ETB is much better than having to wait a turn in order to Scry 1 one time (in most instances). Even the drawback of the pain lands could be mitigated by just tapping these lands for colorless instead. Hell, by the time the damage matters to a large degree (late game, when you are low on life) chances are you have some other land or combination of lands to make up the colors you need, so you didn't feel bad about having to tap it for colorless mana.
The other cycle of lands in this set were the iconic mono-color man-lands: Faerie Conlcave, Forbidding Watchtower, Ghitu Encampment, Spawning Pool, and Treetop Village. When these were Standard legal, these were run in almost any deck. A land that taps for a color and turns into a blocker or a beater when you need it while also not taking up essential slots needed for spells is amazing regardless of rarity. In the case of this cycle, many players were willing to give up speed for utility. Even then, smart players knew when to drop these lands to minimize the disruption in their curve by having to wait for them to untap. The value of the utility in these lands were equivalent (often greater) than the 8th edition uncommon land cycle. Forbidding Watchtower is definitely considered to be better than New Benalia. So logically, the power level of these lands are approximate to the power level of the new Scry lands.
I'll continue expanding on this later, but for right now I'll make an addendum to my original post as well.
I'm going to go ahead and try to put this land cycle into perspective compared to other lands (that tapped for one or more colors or fetched for lands) that were printed since the Time Spiral-Coldsnap super block (when I first started playing MtG), as well as occasionally comparing many of those lands together for the sake of enhanced perspective.
The Storage Lands are uncommons that ETB untapped and can thus tap for 1 right away, so it doesn't slow down your overall mana curve like other ETB-tapped lands (like the Scry Lands or the 8th Edition lands). It is obvious though that one of the major drawbacks of these lands is that they cannot tap for colored mana without first investing mana into them via storage counters, unlike the new Theros lands which give you access to your two colors every turn after the turn you play them. A huge boon of them, though, is that you can unleash huge stores of colored mana that you have stored away in them at any time just by paying 1. I (and others) have caught many people off guard in EDH and Time Spiral Standard by tapping the storage land for 1, then during the opponent's turn tapping a different land for mana to withdraw some colored mana out of my storage lands to cast a response. Granted, there is a time investment in these lands, and they are a prime target for LD, but the ability of these lands to give you quick bursts of mana is uncanny. Overall, I'd say that restriction for color access on these lands balanced by the huge surge of mana later, but still being able to tap them for mana the turn they ETB is equivalent to these new lands that ETB tapped but let you Scry 1 and give you unrestricted access to colored mana every turn thereafter. Just a reminder, the Storage Lands are uncommon and the new Scry Lands are Rare.
I'll start with Nimbus Maze. Nimbus Maze is largely what the Magic Core Set lands appear to be based on. It ETB untapped, and can tap for 1 immediately, which overall doesn't put you behind on your mana curve. It can tap for colored mana, but the catch is that it only taps for whatever Azorious color in which you are deficient in terms of basic lands. This is largely a non-issue on later turns when you are more likely to have an Island and/or Plains or a dual land like Hallowed Fountain. An extremely powerful land for control/blink decks at the time due to the fact that (most of the time, unless you were extremely unlucky) it either rounded out your color access or was able to tap for one of both colors. Based on the fact that it ETB untapped an has a very mild restriction that is easily circumvented places it well above a two-color land that ETB tapped with the only upside being that you get to Scry 1.
Next is Horizon Canopy. It ETB untapped an gives you unrestricted access to two colors with the downside that you lose 1 life each time without being able to circumvent it by tapping it for 1 instead like with the Pain Lands. As an additional upside to these drawbacks, you also have the option to sacrifice it to draw a card. This was really useful back in Time Spiral Standard because if you were behind and needed to get those answers or if you were on top and just wanted to push a little harder, you could get that extra resource out of it. Comparing it to the Scry lands, Scry 1 once when it ETB is definitely a lot less harsh than drawing a card at the expense of sacrificing that land; however; being able to draw that card at any time, particularly when you really need that card advantage in a match vs having a one shot Scry effect that may not really have a consequence on the current game state makes the draw effect much more potent. Also losing 1 life as a consequence of being able to access its colors the turn it ETB is hardly a drawback compared to the upside, especially since late in the game (when losing that 1 life matters drastically more), you can just instead sacrifice it to draw a card (which hopefully gives you that extra push to turn the game around or win the game).
Then we have River of Tears. This is an odd land. It ETB untapped and allows you to tap for colored mana the turn it ETB; however, depending on whether you played a land this turn determines the color you get out of the land. Back during Time Spiral Standard this was largely inconsequential, since if you wanted blue you could tap it before you played your land, and if you wanted black you could tap it after. In the decks that ran it (like Blink decks), it was essentially an awesome land that ETB untapped and tapped for either mana with the restriction that it only tapped for black the turn you play it. This makes it very much the better card when compared to lands that ETB tapped, even with a minor upside.
Finally, we have Grove of the Burnwillows. God, this land is amazing in any aggro deck. Your opponents gained 1 life? Doesn't really matter when it allows you unrestricted access to mana to play your awesome burn spells and creatures. And if you don't want to let your opponents to gain life, you can just tap it for colorless mana! Crazy. During Time Spiral Standard, this land was Kavu Predator's best friend, and in Extended and Modern allowed for crazy decks that maximized the benefit of the downside with cards like Punishing Fire; allowing players to keep Faerie decks in check. A land that gives you unrestricted access to two colors of mana starting the turn you play it with a downside that can be easily manipulated to your advantage, compared to lands that ETB tapped with the upside being that you Scry 1.
I'm going to start with the card that is most similar to the new lands: New Benalia. It is essentially one-half of these new lands. This land is probably the reason why the new lands are rares. Though really, this land would probably be fine as a common. The fact that it has Scry 1 is largely offset by the fact that it ETB tapped. I don't recall many decks that used this land at the time it was Standard-legal, because generally people preferred to use a basic Plains instead. I certainly rathered a Plains. Looking at a card you were going to get next turn anyways or taking a gamble that the next card was better than the card you looked at just wasn't worth waiting a turn to use the land for mana. It had very low power level for an Uncommon. I'm sure there were some decks that ran it, but it was essentially not worth playing over a basic land (or Horizon Canopy) most of the time. Plus, compare it to the much more recent Common land: Halimar Depths. Halimar Depths let you look at and rearrange the top 3 cards of your library. One can argue that Scry 1 is equivalent in power to what Halimar Depths does; however, let me submit to you the following scenarios:
The top 3 cards of your deck are Island, Nimbus Maze, then Wrath of God. You really need something to wipe the board. You Scry 1 and see an Island. You tuck it hoping that the next card is what you need; only to get Nimbus Maze. Now, if you looked at the top 3 and rearranged it, you'd definitely have gotten that boardsweeper.
The top 3 cards of your deck are Island, Nimbus Maze, then Wrath of God. You really need that additional white so you can cast the Wrath of God that's in your hand. You Scry 1 and tuck the Island, and thankfully the next card you draw is Nimbus Maze, and the card after is Wrath of God. Good, a follow-up sweeper in case your opponent builds up a crazy field again. This would be the same if you looked at and rearranged the top 3 cards of your deck.
The top 3 cards of your deck are again Island, Nimbus Maze, then Wrath of God. You really need a blue source so you can cast that Momentary Blink from your graveyard. You Scry 1 and to your relief, it's an Island. Alternately, you look at the top 3 cards and rearrange them. You obviously stack it so you get the Island first. At this point, you probably don't need the Nimbus Maze more than you could use the Wrath of God, so you stack the Wrath second and the Maze third. They both produce the same desired result but you got just a little more out of looking at your top 3.
Same 3 cards on the top of your deck in the same order. You are really land flooded. You scry 1 and tuck the Island. Then you draw Nimbus Maze (bummer), but then you get Wrath of God, awesome! You take a gamble from then on. Alternatively, you look at the top 3. You go ahead and place the Wrath first, but you'll be stuck drawing two more lands thereafter vs drawing only one land if you scryed. In this situation, it's very up in the air which ability is better, but overall you can safely say they were about the same.
Now play around with the order that these top 3 cards are in. Then plug them back into the previous scenarios then see how Scrying vs rearranging the top 3 would work. You can also try coming up with different scenarios in which 3 cards could be placed in.
As you can see in these situations (and in many others I'm sure) Halimar Depth's ability is usually the better ability to rely on. So I submit that New Benalia is a very low-powered uncommon, and by association the new Scry Lands are very low-powered rares (although their power level as uncommons are spot-on).
Next I'm going to talk about arguably one of the most powerful lands in this cycle: Dakmor Salvage. Dakmor Salvage was great during Standard at the time in the Countryside Crusher and Swans of Bryn Argoll decks. They typically abused it with Shard Volley, Seismic Assault, Crucible of Worlds, Countryside Crusher and Tarmogoyf. It's still used in Modern in Dredge and other decks. The combo-centered craziness surrounding it in addition to the fact that you can still use it as a land to tap for black is about as powerful as a land that also ETB tapped but can tap for one of two colors and allows you to Scry 1.
Next is the other land that is considered to be one of the most powerful lands in this cycle: Tolaria West. This is a card that is a best friend to control and combo decks, as well as being a staple in any Commander deck that can run it. At the time it was Standard-legal, it was used to search for Pacts (and still is in your Hive Mind decks and your Commander decks) or to search for a land you really needed (which is one of its big application in Commander decks). The fact that it doubles as a tutor is about as equivalent if not more powerful than a two-color land that ETB tapped and lets you do a one-time Scry 1.
Then we have Llanowar Reborn. A very underrated card in this age of counter-doubling, graft, evolve, persist, and proliferate. At the time this was Standard-legal it allowed for the creation of Persist-combo decks alongside Juniper Order Ranger with Kitchen Finks and Murderous Redcap along with sac engines like Nantuko Husk and Greater Gargadon. I personally don't know if there are any Modern decks that still use this card because it is largely outclassed by Oran-Reif, the Vastwood, but I happen to still see it in Commander decks. A one-time counter overall is not very powerful, but you can do it anytime at your leisure. Combine that with its synergy with a lot of mechanics and abilities these days and I'd say is approximate to the power level of these new Scry Lands (maybe a little less so).
Finally, we have Keldon Megaliths. It was used in RDW during the time it was Standard-legal, but other than that it was hardly ever used. It's really in the same boat as New Benalia in terms of power level in relation to the other cards in this cycle. Comparing it to the Scry Lands, tapping for two colors and Scry 1 outclasses the very conditional burn ability.
Urborg is a really powerful legendary land, even more so with the new changes to the Legend rule. This was the bread-and-butter of mono-black control decks along side Korlash, Heir to Blackblade and Corrupt during the time it was Standard legal. This is used in essentially every format ever. So good that the ability to search for this and Cabal Coffers were cited as one of the reasons Primeval Titan was banned in Commander. Even if you gave it some sort of drawback in exchange for not being a legendary land, it would still be ridiculously powerful compared to a large portion of other rare lands, especially ones that ETB tapped. It's so good it affected how good other lands were.
Flagstones is powerful land, but its power is not apparent right away. It is definitively more powerful than a basic Plains. Hell, when it goes to the graveyard you go get not just a basic Plains, but ANY Plains to replace it. This was a key factor in Modern Scapeshift decks which would stick Prismatic Omen, then Scapeshift to go get 5 lands: 3 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacles and two Flagstones, then utilize the old legend rule to sac them and get two Plains, adding up to a total of 21 damage. Oh yea, they benefit like crazy off the Legend rule, and they lessen the impact of Land destruction. Much more powerful than many other rare lands.
Pendelhaven is a classic land, iconic even. It came into play untapped and not only tapped for green, but gave you a repeatable effect that was easily abused in the right deck (Elves, Tokens, Goblins, etc.) Again, as a legendary land its difficult to compare it to other rare lands, but it's clear that these lands deserve rare status.
Dryad Arbor. A truly unique land that is played as a one-of in many Eternal-format decks, especially those that run Green Sun's Zenith. It allowed your land tutors to work overtime to fetch emergency blockers and allowed your creature tutors to work overtime to fetch a land. Granted, it was extremely fragile as a land you could kill with creature removal, also by the fact you couldn't tap it for mana the turn it ETB, but the sheer level of utility that the land offered you, combined with the fact it has a basic land type really makes it a powerful uncommon. I'd even put it on par with the new Scrylands.
Terramorphic Expanse. Commonly played in many decks, even those that are mono-color. It's a cheap way to tutor for that basic land that produces the color you need. It thins out your deck. It was an all-star in many decks, including the Landfall Boros Bushwhacker decks. It's a cheap way to get those lands in your graveyard to power up your Tarmogoyfs. You can chaingun it with Crucible of Worlds. Overall a solid card. The new Scry lands are definitely more powerful than this land, but not so much so that it warrants a degree of separation of two levels of rarity. Like Terramorphic, the new Scry lands, won't net you mana until the turn after you play it. Unlike Terramorphic it gives you access to two colors. Being able to see and manipulate your next card is also comparable to thinning out your deck by one card, though granted that the effects of Scry 1 on your game are immediately apparent.
Coldsnap:
Coldsnap offered us the Snow Duals. These lands are approximate to the 8th Edition uncommon lands. The only exception is that it has the Snow supertype. In block this is a fair trade-off between cards that interact to benefit from running these lands and cards that hurt you because you run these lands. Overall, you receive much more benefit off of running these over the 8th Edition uncommons. Cards like Into the North, Skred, Mouth of Ronom, and Scrying Sheets made these lands much more powerful than their non-snow counterparts. Heck, I seen Commander decks and decks during Time Spiral Standard run these just because they ran Skred or could fetch it with Into the North, making it a better alternative to their non-snow counterparts. The Snow interaction is a fair trade-off for Scry 1, in spite of Scry 1 perhaps being slightly more powerful.
10th Edition:
In this core set, we have two cycles of lands: the Pain Lands and the mono-color Man Lands.
The pain lands are an iconic cycle of lands for god knows how long until the inception of the new Core Set (or "Check") lands. They ETB untapped and could tap for 1, which overall doesn't interrupt your mana curve. On top of that, they can tap for colors the turn they ETB (and every turn thereafter for that matter) by taking 1 damage. Being able to tap for one of two colors the turn it ETB is much better than having to wait a turn in order to Scry 1 one time (in most instances). Even the drawback of the pain lands could be mitigated by just tapping these lands for colorless instead. Hell, by the time the damage matters to a large degree (late game, when you are low on life) chances are you have some other land or combination of lands to make up the colors you need, so you didn't feel bad about having to tap it for colorless mana.
The other cycle of lands in this set were the iconic mono-color man-lands: Faerie Conlcave, Forbidding Watchtower, Ghitu Encampment, Spawning Pool, and Treetop Village. When these were Standard legal, these were run in almost any deck. A land that taps for a color and turns into a blocker or a beater when you need it while also not taking up essential slots needed for spells is amazing regardless of rarity. In the case of this cycle, many players were willing to give up speed for utility. Even then, smart players knew when to drop these lands to minimize the disruption in their curve by having to wait for them to untap. The value of the utility in these lands were equivalent (often greater) than the 8th edition uncommon land cycle. Forbidding Watchtower is definitely considered to be better than New Benalia. So logically, the power level of these lands are approximate to the power level of the new Scry lands.
These rare lands were largely like the 8th Edition lands in that they tapped for two colors (three in the case of Murmuring Bosk, any color in the case of Primal Beyond and one color for Rustic Clachan) and ETB tapped. Unlike those lands, if you revealed a card of the relevant creature type from your hand, that land ETB untapped. These lands are also low power rare duals outside their respective tribal decks compared to other duals. Notable exceptions, though, include putting these lands in a deck with a hefty number of Changelings, and Murmuring Bosk (since is has a basic land type and taps for 3 colors). Being very much tied to a specific theme, these lands effectively behave worse than the Scry lands unless using them in a tribal deck or in decks have at least a handful of tribal cards or Changelings. Granted that in tribal decks, these cards are amazing and far outclass the Scrylands since they'll be ETB untapped majority of the time. Hell, I'm pretty sure Eternal format Elves, Goblins, and Merfolk love running their respective tribal lands. Rustic Clachan is just a little more powerful than Llanowar Reborn due to its tribal interaction, so its power level compared to the Scry lands is approximate. Primal Beyond is essentially useless outside of an Elemental deck, so it's overall power is approximate to Rustic Clachan and the scry lands by association. The clear exception to everything mentioned is Murmuring Bosk. Murmuring Bosk is used in Commander and Eternal formats (regardless of whether or not that deck runs any Treefolk or Changelings) solely because it is a Forest and can tap for 3 colors, making it an amazing target for Fetch lands. Murmuring Bosk is powerful enough to be comparable to "Shock" lands, so its very unfair to compare it to the Scry lands or even the other Tribal lands.
The Hideaway Lands:
They're rare lands that ETBT, but you get to look at your top 4 cards when you play them. Then, you get to pick one of those cards to exile and be casted later for free once a certain condition has been met. Like the Uncommon cycle in Future Sight, some of the lands in this cycle are considered to be more powerful than the others due to the ease in which their conditions can be reached; however, most of them had their day in the limelight in certain decks (poor Howltooth Hollow). Unlike the Scry lands, these lands only can be utilized for one color of mana; however, the utility of Scry 1 is definitely outclassed by the Hideaway mechanic, since Hideaway lets you dig through your deck for a card that is useful to you so you can cast it for free later. This overall makes the Hideaway lands more useful in the expanse of a game than the Scry lands. It should be noted that the most powerful lands in this cycle are Windbrisk Heights and Mosswort Bridge, due to the relative ease in which their conditions can be satisfied. Windbrisk Heights is devastating in Eternal formats as well as during Lorwyn Standard in token decks. Mosswort Bridge saw play in any green-based midrange deck that could afford to have it in Standard, and it is used in Commander frequently. Spinerock Knoll had its day in Dragonstorm decks during Time Spiral-Lorwyn Standard, and Shelldock Isle saw play in Sanity Grinding decks. The only one left out is Howltooth Hollow. It's Hideaway conditions are terribly difficult to meet, so I don't recall any deck that ran them at the time. So the Scry lands are arguably on-par or better than Howltooth Hollow.
Vivid Lands:
Man, these lands were ridiculous. Extremely high-power uncommons. These may have been a mistake to print on the part of Wizards, and these very well could have been rares. These singlehandedly allowed 5-color control decks to be ran extremely efficiently, effectively, and with a high degree of power when they were Standard legal. These make Tendo Ice Bridge look like trash. Not having to worry about your mana base ever far exceeds the one-time Scry 1 of the Scry lands. Hell, these may be on par with Pain Lands.
Last we have Shimmering Grotto. Very simple land idea reminiscent of Mirrodin's Core and the Storage Lands. Overall didn't net you any mana, but allowed for easier color-fixing in decks that needed it. Good reason to be a common. Definitely a lot weaker than the common Guildgates, the uncommon Tri-color Lands, and the new rare Scry Lands.
These lands were/are extremely powerful lands. They are probably the most powerful cycle of lands next to lands that have two basic land types. They are used in every format they can be used in because not only do they give you access to one or both colors, but they have the added utility of being able to turn mana of one color into two mana of a completely different color. This not only made splashing easier, but allowed players to splash cards with more intense mana requirements because of this added utility. When these lands were Standard legal, reanimator decks at the time often ran Graven Cairns even though the only red card in the deck was Bogardan Hellkite. This was because not only did the land work like the rest of the deck's mana base (by being able to tap for black mana), but it allowed them to take mana from the decks majority black-centered mana base and filter it into two red mana (like some kind of super-amazing Shimmering Grotto), which was exactly the amount they needed to be able to hard cast the Hellkite if it needed to be. The need to pack additional lands that tapped for red mana in order to do this was minimized because Cairns was able to turn one of the existing non-red lands into a de facto red-producing land. Examples like this are what allow filter lands to show off their full potential as a powerful and reliable mana source.
For all the power these lands have, the Magic Core Set lands are actually not that far behind them in terms of their reliability and power as two-color lands. I'll elaborate when I go over these lands later, but keep that in mind when you judge lands in the future. Now when compared to the Scry lands, there a couple of things to look at: filter lands ETB untapped, can tap for colored mana starting that same turn, and are amazing at providing you with access to your colors. The problem is that they aren't that great if they are the only lands you have on the battlefield. They can still be tapped for 1 though, so they aren't completely useless. The scry lands ETBT, and don't give you the same mana access that the filter lands provide, whether or not this is a good exchange for the additional one-time scry is up to you to decide.
Shadowmoor Uncommons:
These are a cycle of uncommon lands that ETBT, have a basic land type, and an activated ability that can only be activated if you control at least two permanents of the color it produces. Like the Hideaway lands and the Time Spiral uncommon lands, some of the lands in this cycle are considered to be better than the other in the same cycle. Leechridden Swamp is considered to be the most powerful land in this cycle. It was almost every deck that ran black when it was Standard legal and it's still used in Commander. In Standard, Sapseep Forest was probably the next strongest land in the cycle. In Commander, Mistveil Plains is an incredible tool to allow you to recycle your cards--a big asset in the format. Madblind Mountain and Moonring Island are undoubtedly the weakest cards of the cycle
.
I'll get back to evaluating cards past this point in a later post (and link back to this post), as I have other responsibilities that require my attention. I'll leave this with some words to think on though.
In the article introducing the scrylands on Magic's official site, they stated that in order to make Heroic a more relevant ability and to make sure you can have creatures to play your Auras on, Scry was a necessary mechanic to bring back, ultimately to ensure the health of a Limited setting. If they really needed scry around in Theros Limited in order to make it a more healthy format, why not print these lands as Uncommons? It would only make since to make the cards that ensure the health of this Limited environment more accessible to Limited players.
EDIT: I want to mention too that I am not saying these lands are terrible. I'm attempting to argue that it really didn't make any sense to print them as rares. Though ultimately it happened. We players will live with it and move on, and these lands will be used.
EDIT 2: Updated post to add Coldsnap and 10th Edition cards mentioned in a follow-up post
I was mentioning to a couple of friends yesterday when we saw this card that it really doesn't compete with any other 5-drops in the format. You can just drop him turn 4-5, then drop your other creatures during your opponents turn. The amount of pressure this guy can generate is insane.
I feel you. After all the hype, these lightly-refurbished guildgates are defiinitely lacking in wow factor. But I kind of get the reasoning behind the rarity - if New Benalia is an uncommon, adding an entire second color seems worth a bump in rarity. I'll never be thrilled to pull one in a pack (plus, I only play constructed), but I have to say, I'd much rather pick up one of these than almost any of the bestow/monstrosity creatures I've seen.
I compare it to Halimar Depths, the Refuges, and the Guildgates. I think that the exchange for adding an extra color to bump down your draw-fixing to 1 (in the case of Halimar Depths), or exchanging the interaction with the Gate land type with scry 1 is fair and worthy of being uncommon. Granted when compared to New Benalia its fair, but then again I think New Benalia may have been fair as a common since it is certainly not as powerful as the Shadowmoor mono-color uncommon land cycle that was in the super block immediately after Time Spiral. I think they are only marginally better than Refuges, but I don't think that warrants the change to rare.
After having been a regular reader of these forums since Fifth Dawn, I was finally moved to join because of the crazy backlash about these lands.
Folks, I get they're somewhat disappointing (there had been talk of legendary duals, or at the very least a horizon canopy-like cycle), but those who are calling these lands utter trash are badly misevaluating them. These help ensure you hit your drops in the early game, and help dig for your business spells in the late game. Not only that, this ability is now available to color pairs like WR that have absolutely NO other means of library manipulation.
They also add another awesome layer of strategy: do I play my lands now and try to maximize board position, or slowroll them and drop them during a stalemate, a la preordain and the like?
Yes, they're slow, and they might be slightly under the power level of the Worldwake duals, but I don't think they're that far off. Lands that help draw into other lands AND can break a stalemate? Lands!? These seem seriously, seriously playable.
I think the big problem for most people here aren't that they're bad (because they certainly aren't--free scrying is cool), I think the problem lies in the fact that the lands feel bad (or rather gravely underwhelming) for rare lands. As uncommons, these are amazing and awesome. As rares, they are a resounding "meh, these could have been better rares". Not even just "better rare lands", but they could have made these lands uncommon and had other kinds of cooler cards in the rare slots these lands are taking up.
In a way, I'm happy about these lands. They will help to curve Standard away from 3 color decks, and more towards 2 or Mono color decks. Not that there is anything wrong with 3 color decks, but it's healthy for the metagame to change inbetween sets. I expect to see much more Guild Color decks now.
I think its more of a problem for your fast/midrange aggro decks. They'll be forced to go two/mono-color in order to keep up with their speed. Control decks can still probably get away with running 3 colors (or 2-color with a 3rd splash) because their inherent slowness means that they don't mind dropping down an ETB-tapped land the first couple of turns.
Well, these lands definitely slow down Standard, and if you are not a slow control deck or a green-based ramp deck, these land will limit your ability to run 3-color decks.
I agree that they are very underwhelming at Rares without a condition that lets them ETB untapped or doing something more. (I put them on par with the Refuges, maybe marginally better.) I personally would rather have a cycle based on Nimbus Maze.
In fast decks like Gruul or Selesnya (post-rotation), I'd almost definitely rather run more basic lands over these or the Guildgates. I'd rather take my chances on being able to come out fast with basic lands with the risk of insufficient color fixing than slow down my deck with ETB-tapped lands. With the shocks and proper distribution of basics, I think it can be done with minimal chance of color-screwing yourself.
1st Question:
I had a Commander game where I successfully casted Consecrated Sphinx, then tried to attach a Swiftfoot Boots to it. In response, my opponent casted Turn // Burn on Sphinx. I responded by activating Crystal Shard to try to bounce my Sphinx. He then responds by casting Reins of Power to steal my Sphinx so he can pay the 1 for the Shard to keep it from bouncing. I had a Homeward Path which I could have used to get my Sphinx back, but he iterated that it wouldn't matter because he can just pay the 1 for Crystal Shard before I get my Sphinx back. So my question is: when would you pay the 1 for Crystal Shard? Is it a special action that occurs outside the stack like with Quenchable Fire, or can you only decide whether or not to pay the 1 when it's time for the Shard's ability to resolve?
2nd Question:
Can I use Spellskite to redirect half of Turn // Burn if both halves target the same creature?
Aspect of Purphoros RR
Enchantment Creature -- Elemental {U}
Trample, haste
~'s power is equal to your devotion to red.
At the beginning of the end step, sacrifice ~.
X/1
It doesn't really get to attack twice the turn you cast it. If you cast it during the first Main Phase, it gains haste and can swing for 4 damage; however, at that point it is tapped and won't untap before the extra combat phase. If you cast it during the second Main Phase, it gains haste and is able to attack during the extra combat phase, but it would still only be able to attack once since you've skipped the first combat phase to cast it during the second Main Phase. The only way it could attack twice is if you found a way to untap it in-between the combat phases.
Would you prefer something more stream-lined, like this?
Fury Elemental 2RR
Creature -- Elemental {R}
When ~ enters the battlefield, untap all creatures you control. They gain haste. After this phase, there is an additional combat phase followed by an additional main phase.
4/4
Mono-Red Burn Spells
Blackflame Bolt R
Sorcery {C}
Wither (This deals damage to creatures in the form of -1/-1 counters.)
~ deals 2 damage to target creature or player.
Culture Shock RRR
Sorcery {U}
Destroy target nonbasic land. ~ deals 2 damage to that land’s controller.
Basic landcycling 1RR
When you cycle ~, it deals 1 damage to target creature or player.
Blazing Winds 1R
Sorcery {R}
~ deals 2 damage to target creature or player. Creatures dealt damage this way can’t be regenerated this turn.
Fuse (You may cast one or both halves of this card from your hand.)
//
Scorching Sands 1RR
Sorcery {R}
~ deals 3 damage to target creature or player. If a creature dealt damage this way would die this turn, instead exile it.
Fuse (You may cast one or both halves of this card from your hand.)
Mono-Red Creatures
Bloodfrenzy Berserker 1R
Creature -- Human Berserker {U}
Haste
When ~ deals combat damage to a player, put a +1/+1 counter on it.
Remove a +1/+1 counter from ~: Target creature can’t block this turn.
The spilling of blood incites both frenzy and fear.
1/1
Stormfury Shaman 1R
Creature -- Human Shaman {R}
Haste
When ~ enters the battlefield or attacks, put a charge counter on it.
When ~ attacks, it deals damage equal to the number of charge counters on it to target creature or player.
0/1
(Stormfury Shaman is something I came up with when a bunch of friends tried to come up with red two-drops that may be powerful in eternal formats.)
Fury Elemental 2RRR
Creature -- Elemental {R}
Trample
When ~ enters the battlefield, untap all creatures you control. They gain haste. After this phase, there is an additional combat phase followed by an additional main phase.
Unearth 2RRR
5/1
Cinder Swarm RR
Creature -- Elemental {C}
Haste, Ripple 4
When ~ enters the battlefield, it deals 1 damage to target player.
1/1
Other Mono-Red Spells
Undying Fury XR
Sorcery {R}
Return target creature with converted mana cost X or less from the graveyard to the battlefield. It gains haste. Exile it at the beginning of the next end step.
Like a phoenix, resentment never dies.
(A friend and I came up with the idea of giving red a spell like Postmortem Lunge when MaRo announced that Chandra, Pyromaster would have an ability that red has never had before. We figured "what if red had cards that worked like Threaten, but from the graveyard?" It probably needs tweaking for balance, like maybe just sacrificing the creature, costing XRR, or just being a red Postmortem Lunge, but the idea was to get your impression on the general premise of the idea.)
Boros Spells
Relentless Crusader RW
Creature -- Human Soldier {U}
First strike
~ can't be prevented from attacking or blocking by spells or abilities.
"There is no law that supersedes justice."
2/2
Legion Crusader RW
Creature -- Human Soldier {R}
First strike
Combat damage dealt by ~ to a blocking creature is also dealt to that creature’s controller.
None dare get in the way of a Boros crusader.
2/1
Gruul Spells
Vrasik Spellbane 2RG
Creature -- Human Berserker {MR}
Trample
Whenever a player casts an instant or sorcery spell, ~ gets +2/+0 and gains indestructible until end of turn.
Whenever a player casts a noninstant, nonsorcery spell, ~ gets +2/+0 and gains first strike until end of turn.
"You want to know what I think of all your fancy spells, mage!?"
3/2
(Vrasik was just an idea i had for a Gruul commander)
Izzet Cards
Thunderous Recall UR
Instant {U}
As an additional cost to cast ~, return a creature you control to its owner’s hand.
~ deals 4 damage to target creature or player.
[Izzet Planeswalker] 2UURR
Planeswalker -- [Izzet Planeswalker] {MR}
/+1:\ Draw a card. ~ deals 2 damage divided as you choose among any number of target creatures and/or players.
\-2:/ ~ deals 4 damage to target creature or player. Look at the top four cards of your library. Put one of those cards into your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library in any order.
\-8:/ Gain control of all creatures until the end of your next turn. Untap those creatures. Take an extra turn after this one.
{4}
Well, I guess I should submit to you the counterpoint then. Wizards stated in the article introducing the Scry lands that Scry was a necessary mechanic to bring back to insure that in Theros (particularly Limited), people got those Auras to use on their Heroic creatures and got their creatures to play their Auras on. It was to insure the health and playability of Theros cards in both Constructed and Limited. One of the reasons stated that they didn't put it at uncommon is that with the lands they felt Theros Limited would degrade into "dig until you get your bomb". If they really needed Scry to help boost Theros Limited, you'd think they'd give Limited players better access to the Scry cards (you know, since scrying is important for these players to be able to do). Making the lands into rares is counterproductive to what they stated they needed for Limited. Players will hardly have any access to these lands (which all happen to have a mechanic that is supposedly very important to the health of Theros Limited) because they are rares instead of uncommons.
Well this doesn't back up anything he was referring to, but judging by how badly they warped Standard and their price tags pre-ban, I think it's safe to assume that printing JtMS and Stoneforge Mystic were bad moves. Also, printing the Vivids at uncommon when they had Reflecting Pool, Exotic Orchard, and Tri-color lands around the corner is what essentially allowed 5-color control the be the dominating deck archetype (and ultimately players not caring what their mana base was: they can run anything and be fine) in Lorwyn-Shards Standard. Affinity also can be considered a bad move because it was degenerate. I believe Wizards has admitted to all 3 of these.
Coldsnap:
10th Edition:
The pain lands are an iconic cycle of lands for god knows how long until the inception of the new Core Set (or "Check") lands. They ETB untapped and could tap for 1, which overall doesn't interrupt your mana curve. On top of that, they can tap for colors the turn they ETB (and every turn thereafter for that matter) by taking 1 damage. Being able to tap for one of two colors the turn it ETB is much better than having to wait a turn in order to Scry 1 one time (in most instances). Even the drawback of the pain lands could be mitigated by just tapping these lands for colorless instead. Hell, by the time the damage matters to a large degree (late game, when you are low on life) chances are you have some other land or combination of lands to make up the colors you need, so you didn't feel bad about having to tap it for colorless mana.
The other cycle of lands in this set were the iconic mono-color man-lands: Faerie Conlcave, Forbidding Watchtower, Ghitu Encampment, Spawning Pool, and Treetop Village. When these were Standard legal, these were run in almost any deck. A land that taps for a color and turns into a blocker or a beater when you need it while also not taking up essential slots needed for spells is amazing regardless of rarity. In the case of this cycle, many players were willing to give up speed for utility. Even then, smart players knew when to drop these lands to minimize the disruption in their curve by having to wait for them to untap. The value of the utility in these lands were equivalent (often greater) than the 8th edition uncommon land cycle. Forbidding Watchtower is definitely considered to be better than New Benalia. So logically, the power level of these lands are approximate to the power level of the new Scry lands.
I'll continue expanding on this later, but for right now I'll make an addendum to my original post as well.
Time Spiral Block:
The Storage Lands:
Next, we have the Rare cycle of Future Sight lands: Graven Cairns, Nimbus Maze, Horizon Canopy, River of Tears, and Grove of the Burnwillows. I'll discuss Graven Cairns when I go over Filter Lands later during the Shadowmoor Block section. Keep in mind that both these lands and the Scry lands are rares.
Next is Horizon Canopy. It ETB untapped an gives you unrestricted access to two colors with the downside that you lose 1 life each time without being able to circumvent it by tapping it for 1 instead like with the Pain Lands. As an additional upside to these drawbacks, you also have the option to sacrifice it to draw a card. This was really useful back in Time Spiral Standard because if you were behind and needed to get those answers or if you were on top and just wanted to push a little harder, you could get that extra resource out of it. Comparing it to the Scry lands, Scry 1 once when it ETB is definitely a lot less harsh than drawing a card at the expense of sacrificing that land; however; being able to draw that card at any time, particularly when you really need that card advantage in a match vs having a one shot Scry effect that may not really have a consequence on the current game state makes the draw effect much more potent. Also losing 1 life as a consequence of being able to access its colors the turn it ETB is hardly a drawback compared to the upside, especially since late in the game (when losing that 1 life matters drastically more), you can just instead sacrifice it to draw a card (which hopefully gives you that extra push to turn the game around or win the game).
Then we have River of Tears. This is an odd land. It ETB untapped and allows you to tap for colored mana the turn it ETB; however, depending on whether you played a land this turn determines the color you get out of the land. Back during Time Spiral Standard this was largely inconsequential, since if you wanted blue you could tap it before you played your land, and if you wanted black you could tap it after. In the decks that ran it (like Blink decks), it was essentially an awesome land that ETB untapped and tapped for either mana with the restriction that it only tapped for black the turn you play it. This makes it very much the better card when compared to lands that ETB tapped, even with a minor upside.
Finally, we have Grove of the Burnwillows. God, this land is amazing in any aggro deck. Your opponents gained 1 life? Doesn't really matter when it allows you unrestricted access to mana to play your awesome burn spells and creatures. And if you don't want to let your opponents to gain life, you can just tap it for colorless mana! Crazy. During Time Spiral Standard, this land was Kavu Predator's best friend, and in Extended and Modern allowed for crazy decks that maximized the benefit of the downside with cards like Punishing Fire; allowing players to keep Faerie decks in check. A land that gives you unrestricted access to two colors of mana starting the turn you play it with a downside that can be easily manipulated to your advantage, compared to lands that ETB tapped with the upside being that you Scry 1.
Then we have the Uncommon cycle of Future Sight lands: Dakmor Salvage, Keldon Megaliths, Llanowar Reborn, New Benalia, and Tolaria West. Some of the lands in this cycle are generally thought to be better than other lands in this same cycle.
Next I'm going to talk about arguably one of the most powerful lands in this cycle: Dakmor Salvage. Dakmor Salvage was great during Standard at the time in the Countryside Crusher and Swans of Bryn Argoll decks. They typically abused it with Shard Volley, Seismic Assault, Crucible of Worlds, Countryside Crusher and Tarmogoyf. It's still used in Modern in Dredge and other decks. The combo-centered craziness surrounding it in addition to the fact that you can still use it as a land to tap for black is about as powerful as a land that also ETB tapped but can tap for one of two colors and allows you to Scry 1.
Next is the other land that is considered to be one of the most powerful lands in this cycle: Tolaria West. This is a card that is a best friend to control and combo decks, as well as being a staple in any Commander deck that can run it. At the time it was Standard-legal, it was used to search for Pacts (and still is in your Hive Mind decks and your Commander decks) or to search for a land you really needed (which is one of its big application in Commander decks). The fact that it doubles as a tutor is about as equivalent if not more powerful than a two-color land that ETB tapped and lets you do a one-time Scry 1.
Then we have Llanowar Reborn. A very underrated card in this age of counter-doubling, graft, evolve, persist, and proliferate. At the time this was Standard-legal it allowed for the creation of Persist-combo decks alongside Juniper Order Ranger with Kitchen Finks and Murderous Redcap along with sac engines like Nantuko Husk and Greater Gargadon. I personally don't know if there are any Modern decks that still use this card because it is largely outclassed by Oran-Reif, the Vastwood, but I happen to still see it in Commander decks. A one-time counter overall is not very powerful, but you can do it anytime at your leisure. Combine that with its synergy with a lot of mechanics and abilities these days and I'd say is approximate to the power level of these new Scry Lands (maybe a little less so).
Finally, we have Keldon Megaliths. It was used in RDW during the time it was Standard-legal, but other than that it was hardly ever used. It's really in the same boat as New Benalia in terms of power level in relation to the other cards in this cycle. Comparing it to the Scry Lands, tapping for two colors and Scry 1 outclasses the very conditional burn ability.
Now let's discuss the non-cycle lands in this block: Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, Flagstones of Trokair, Pendelhaven, Dryad Arbor, and Terramorphic Expanse.
Flagstones is powerful land, but its power is not apparent right away. It is definitively more powerful than a basic Plains. Hell, when it goes to the graveyard you go get not just a basic Plains, but ANY Plains to replace it. This was a key factor in Modern Scapeshift decks which would stick Prismatic Omen, then Scapeshift to go get 5 lands: 3 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacles and two Flagstones, then utilize the old legend rule to sac them and get two Plains, adding up to a total of 21 damage. Oh yea, they benefit like crazy off the Legend rule, and they lessen the impact of Land destruction. Much more powerful than many other rare lands.
Pendelhaven is a classic land, iconic even. It came into play untapped and not only tapped for green, but gave you a repeatable effect that was easily abused in the right deck (Elves, Tokens, Goblins, etc.) Again, as a legendary land its difficult to compare it to other rare lands, but it's clear that these lands deserve rare status.
Dryad Arbor. A truly unique land that is played as a one-of in many Eternal-format decks, especially those that run Green Sun's Zenith. It allowed your land tutors to work overtime to fetch emergency blockers and allowed your creature tutors to work overtime to fetch a land. Granted, it was extremely fragile as a land you could kill with creature removal, also by the fact you couldn't tap it for mana the turn it ETB, but the sheer level of utility that the land offered you, combined with the fact it has a basic land type really makes it a powerful uncommon. I'd even put it on par with the new Scrylands.
Terramorphic Expanse. Commonly played in many decks, even those that are mono-color. It's a cheap way to tutor for that basic land that produces the color you need. It thins out your deck. It was an all-star in many decks, including the Landfall Boros Bushwhacker decks. It's a cheap way to get those lands in your graveyard to power up your Tarmogoyfs. You can chaingun it with Crucible of Worlds. Overall a solid card. The new Scry lands are definitely more powerful than this land, but not so much so that it warrants a degree of separation of two levels of rarity. Like Terramorphic, the new Scry lands, won't net you mana until the turn after you play it. Unlike Terramorphic it gives you access to two colors. Being able to see and manipulate your next card is also comparable to thinning out your deck by one card, though granted that the effects of Scry 1 on your game are immediately apparent.
Coldsnap:
10th Edition:
The pain lands are an iconic cycle of lands for god knows how long until the inception of the new Core Set (or "Check") lands. They ETB untapped and could tap for 1, which overall doesn't interrupt your mana curve. On top of that, they can tap for colors the turn they ETB (and every turn thereafter for that matter) by taking 1 damage. Being able to tap for one of two colors the turn it ETB is much better than having to wait a turn in order to Scry 1 one time (in most instances). Even the drawback of the pain lands could be mitigated by just tapping these lands for colorless instead. Hell, by the time the damage matters to a large degree (late game, when you are low on life) chances are you have some other land or combination of lands to make up the colors you need, so you didn't feel bad about having to tap it for colorless mana.
The other cycle of lands in this set were the iconic mono-color man-lands: Faerie Conlcave, Forbidding Watchtower, Ghitu Encampment, Spawning Pool, and Treetop Village. When these were Standard legal, these were run in almost any deck. A land that taps for a color and turns into a blocker or a beater when you need it while also not taking up essential slots needed for spells is amazing regardless of rarity. In the case of this cycle, many players were willing to give up speed for utility. Even then, smart players knew when to drop these lands to minimize the disruption in their curve by having to wait for them to untap. The value of the utility in these lands were equivalent (often greater) than the 8th edition uncommon land cycle. Forbidding Watchtower is definitely considered to be better than New Benalia. So logically, the power level of these lands are approximate to the power level of the new Scry lands.
Lorwyn Block:
The Tribal Lands:
The Hideaway Lands:
Vivid Lands:
Last we have Shimmering Grotto. Very simple land idea reminiscent of Mirrodin's Core and the Storage Lands. Overall didn't net you any mana, but allowed for easier color-fixing in decks that needed it. Good reason to be a common. Definitely a lot weaker than the common Guildgates, the uncommon Tri-color Lands, and the new rare Scry Lands.
Shadowmoor Block:
Filter Lands:
For all the power these lands have, the Magic Core Set lands are actually not that far behind them in terms of their reliability and power as two-color lands. I'll elaborate when I go over these lands later, but keep that in mind when you judge lands in the future. Now when compared to the Scry lands, there a couple of things to look at: filter lands ETB untapped, can tap for colored mana starting that same turn, and are amazing at providing you with access to your colors. The problem is that they aren't that great if they are the only lands you have on the battlefield. They can still be tapped for 1 though, so they aren't completely useless. The scry lands ETBT, and don't give you the same mana access that the filter lands provide, whether or not this is a good exchange for the additional one-time scry is up to you to decide.
Shadowmoor Uncommons:
I'll get back to evaluating cards past this point in a later post (and link back to this post), as I have other responsibilities that require my attention. I'll leave this with some words to think on though.
In the article introducing the scrylands on Magic's official site, they stated that in order to make Heroic a more relevant ability and to make sure you can have creatures to play your Auras on, Scry was a necessary mechanic to bring back, ultimately to ensure the health of a Limited setting. If they really needed scry around in Theros Limited in order to make it a more healthy format, why not print these lands as Uncommons? It would only make since to make the cards that ensure the health of this Limited environment more accessible to Limited players.
EDIT: I want to mention too that I am not saying these lands are terrible. I'm attempting to argue that it really didn't make any sense to print them as rares. Though ultimately it happened. We players will live with it and move on, and these lands will be used.
EDIT 2: Updated post to add Coldsnap and 10th Edition cards mentioned in a follow-up post
I compare it to Halimar Depths, the Refuges, and the Guildgates. I think that the exchange for adding an extra color to bump down your draw-fixing to 1 (in the case of Halimar Depths), or exchanging the interaction with the Gate land type with scry 1 is fair and worthy of being uncommon. Granted when compared to New Benalia its fair, but then again I think New Benalia may have been fair as a common since it is certainly not as powerful as the Shadowmoor mono-color uncommon land cycle that was in the super block immediately after Time Spiral. I think they are only marginally better than Refuges, but I don't think that warrants the change to rare.
I think the big problem for most people here aren't that they're bad (because they certainly aren't--free scrying is cool), I think the problem lies in the fact that the lands feel bad (or rather gravely underwhelming) for rare lands. As uncommons, these are amazing and awesome. As rares, they are a resounding "meh, these could have been better rares". Not even just "better rare lands", but they could have made these lands uncommon and had other kinds of cooler cards in the rare slots these lands are taking up.
I think its more of a problem for your fast/midrange aggro decks. They'll be forced to go two/mono-color in order to keep up with their speed. Control decks can still probably get away with running 3 colors (or 2-color with a 3rd splash) because their inherent slowness means that they don't mind dropping down an ETB-tapped land the first couple of turns.
I agree that they are very underwhelming at Rares without a condition that lets them ETB untapped or doing something more. (I put them on par with the Refuges, maybe marginally better.) I personally would rather have a cycle based on Nimbus Maze.
In fast decks like Gruul or Selesnya (post-rotation), I'd almost definitely rather run more basic lands over these or the Guildgates. I'd rather take my chances on being able to come out fast with basic lands with the risk of insufficient color fixing than slow down my deck with ETB-tapped lands. With the shocks and proper distribution of basics, I think it can be done with minimal chance of color-screwing yourself.