Shock land

The shock lands are a ten-card cycle of dual lands that were introduced in the Ravnica block. They have been reprinted in the Return to Ravnica block and the Guilds of Ravnica block.

Description

Each of these rare nonbasic dual lands has two basic land types and a static replacement ability, from which these cards derive their collective nickname "shock lands", that causes each to enter the battlefield tapped unless its controller pays 2 life. The name "shock land" is a reference to the card Shock, though there are technical and sometimes significant differences between shock lands' life payment and Shock's damage.

Despite having generic names meant to be reprintable on any plane, shock lands were so strongly associated with Ravnica that each return set granted it a reprint, and Ravnica's popularity meant it was one of the first planes to have a second and third revisit, and so there has never been a need to print them on other planes. Acknowledging this, the Secret Lair Drop Series: Dr. Lair's Secretorium Superdrop Culture Shock collection has ten other planes that fit each shock land. The first non-Ravnica reprints have been in Edge of Eternities and an unknown future set, split in the same way that Gatecrash and Return to Ravnica divided them.

Few other lands use life payment to untap them, even with the success of the shockland design. Sixteen cards use "bolt land" designs where the player pays three life to have them untapped: the Zendikar Rising Mythic MDFC lands, the Modern Horizons 3 monocolored uncommon MDFC lands, and The Black Gate of The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth.

List of Shock lands

Allied colored Hallowed Fountain (/) Watery Grave (/) Blood Crypt (/) Stomping Ground (/) Temple Garden (/)

Enemy colored Godless Shrine (/) Overgrown Tomb (/) Breeding Pool (/) Steam Vents (/) Sacred Foundry (/)

History

As shock lands, like the original dual lands, have basic land types, they were and are often used in combination with fetch lands, where available. Due to this, they form an integral part of most decks in the Modern format, whereas in Legacy the original duals take their place.

Stomping Ground in particular was much sought-after, since it and a Kird Ape in one's opening hand meant a first-turn 2/3 creature. Loam Lion can also be a first-turn 2/3 creature with Temple Garden. Wild Nacatl can be a first-turn 2/2 creature with Stomping Ground or Temple Garden. It also forms the backbone of the Scapeshift-Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle deck as a green source that counts for Valakut. While other typed dual lands have been printed (and are used), none match the speed of Stomping Ground.

As the format sped up and Humans overtook Zoo, blue-based Shocks became significantly more relevant with Island-dense payoffs like Mystic Sanctuary and Archmage's Charm joining Cryptic Command.

Rulings

• Unlike some other dual lands, these lands each have two basic land types. They're not basic, so effects that search for basic lands (such as the ability of a Lander token) can't find them, but they do have the appropriate land types for effects such as that of Willowrush Verge (from the Aetherdrift release).
• If an effect puts one of these lands onto the battlefield tapped, you may pay 2 life, but it still enters tapped.

Examples

Example

Overgrown Tomb
Land — Swamp Forest
(: Add or .)
As this land enters, you may pay 2 life. If you don’t, it enters tapped.