Plains

Plains
Land Type
(Subtype for land cards)
Rules	: Add .
Statistics	35 cards 14.3% 20% 20% 14.3% 14.3% 17.1% as of Murders at Karlov Manor
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type:"Plains"

Plains is one of the five basic land types and provides white mana, which is required to cast white spells. Plains are large areas of flat land with few trees.

Description

Every expansion features one or more Plains. Additionally, there is a snow variant, the Snow-Covered Plains. Plains also appears on some bicolored or tricolored lands (e.g. Scrubland, Alpine Meadow, Raugrin Triome).

When Richard Garfield named the basic land types, he considered farmland, countryside, pasture, prairie, and steppe for white. He finally settled on Plains. Plains are weird among the other land types because the noun is used in the plural. Garfield followed the dictionaries in this.

Though there is a clear mechanical difference, in flavor there is a significant overlap between deserts and plains, with sun-scorched, dune-y places like Tarkir's and Esper's deserts being typed as plains. For urbanized planes, plains are usually reimagined as some form of residential cityscape.

Storyline

Plains of Alara

Esper

• Cloudheath
• Glass Dunes

Plains of Dominaria

Aerona

• Gurdurngs

Jamuraa

• Daraja Plains
• Mtenda Plains
• Unyaro Plains

Otaria

• Daru Plains

Terisiare

• Adarkar Wastes

The Domains

• Plains of Sursi

Corondor

• Darkling Plains
• Plains of Coloni
• Plains of Urlan

Plains of Kamigawa

• Towabara which contains the Araba

Plains of Kephalai

• Foltessa
• Tornadic Steppes

Plains of Mirrodin/New Phyrexia

• Razor Fields
• Fair Basilica

Plains of Shandalar

• The Kingdom of Thune.

Plains of Serra's Realm

• Serra's Realm exclusively consists of Floating Plains

Plains of Shadowmoor

• Mistveil Plains

Plains on unknown planes

• Quarum Plains

Rules

From the glossary of the Comprehensive Rules (June 7, 2024—Modern Horizons 3)

Plains

One of the five basic land types. Any land with this subtype has the ability “{T}: Add {W}.” See rule 305.6.

Trivia

The Sixth Sphere of Old Phyrexia is described as essentially plain-like with a luminous sky and inhabitants, but it is unclear if it can be considered plains given Old Phyrexia only had access to black mana.