Thriving land
The original thriving lands are a cycle of common taplands that tap for one color, and the player can choose a second color for them to tap for. They were first printed in Jumpstart (2020) and have been regularly reprinted since. Their design of choosing a color (choice lands) upon entry has returned in various other cycles since.
Description
Thriving lands are a design that requires some amount of memory tracking to use effectively, which kept them from being printed. They had a predecessor in Cavern of Souls, a typal land that was excused as it would likely name the same subtype each time, whereas a four or five-color deck with Thriving lands could end up with a board of unique Thriving lands. Regardless, once they were printed with little issue, variants of the Thriving lands saw multiple printings, including the Evolving Wilds-esque Shimmerdrift Vale.
The original cycle:
- Thriving Heath (
) - Thriving Isle (
) - Thriving Moor (
) - Thriving Bluff (
) - Thriving Grove (
)
Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate printed a series of Gates that had the same ability.
- Citadel Gate ()
- Sea Gate ()
- Black Dragon Gate ()
- Cliffgate ()
- Manor Gate ()
Five-color choice lands
With the memory issue considered not problematic, common lands that could tap for any one particular color became a new vein of design. In some respects, they are similar to Fetch lands, as they require a commitment before tapping for mana, but fetch lands impose a stronger cost as they require a basic land of their type in the deck, as opposed to a choice land. That said, a player looking to add another color or splash with either will require further sources anyway.
Two choice lands ask for a basic land type rather than a color, and will gain that type. Cryptic Spires is unique in that it is chosen during deckbuilding rather than during gameplay. Paliano, the High City is a draft ability land, a similarly unique concept.
- Shimmerdrift Vale (snow land)
- Temple of the Dragon Queen (typal land for Dragon)
- Forsaken Crossroads
- Uncharted Haven
- Thran Portal (Gate, choose basic land type)
- Edgewall Inn
- Captivating Crossroads (starting player land)
- Sunken Citadel
- Tarnation Vista
- Mirage Mesa (desert land)
- Valgavoth's Lair (enchantment land)
- Night Market (cycling land)
- Desert Cenote (starting player desert land, choose from colors in hand)
- Crossroads Village (Town land)
- Multiversal Passage (choose basic land type, shock land)
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