Maro's New Article Wrong?

by Bill Stark | posted at 2010-01-18 01:48:00
tagged: MTG, Magic, Mark Rosewater, Magic the Gathering, Worldwake, Prerelease, Spoiler, Preview, Maro, Bill Stark, Making Magic, Raging Ravine

 

Mark Rosewater's most recent "Making Magic" article outlined some exciting details about Worldwake. He confirmed the second set in the Zendikar Block would continue focusing on the "lands that do things" theme, and even highlighted the following creature-land:

 

Raging Ravine

Land (RARE)

Raging Ravine enters the battlefield tapped.

T: Add R or G to your mana pool.

2RG: Until end of turn, Raging Ravine becomes a 3/3 red and green Elemental creature with "Whenever this creature attacks, put a +1/+1 counter on it."

It's still a land.

 

(Read the full preview, including the card image, here.) 

 

To be certain, it's an exciting time for Magic, and the new set is being waited upon with baited breath. But Mark puts forth a curious claim that doesn't seem to hold up under examination. His direct quote from the article:

 

"…the last seventeen years of Magic have taught players to basically ignore lands on the battlefield. Yes, you look from time to time when you need to figure out whether a player can do something or to have more knowledge to guess what might come next, but all in all, players are taught that the lands on the battlefield don't need to occupy much mental space. From time to time, we've created powerful lands that do something on the battlefield besides produce mana, but those have been few and far in between, and seldom do multiple of these lands coexist in games."

 

Seventeen years stretches all the way back to the beginning of Magic, and Mark's argument breaks down to: players have been taught lands rarely matter, occasionally R&D creates lands that do more than generate mana ("few and far in between" claims Mark), and rarely do multiple mana+ lands appear in tandem.

 

Excluding the present blocks in Standard, a walk through just Extended debunks portions of Mark's claims. Let's define a "traditional" land as one which has only mana abilities. This means lands like Naya Panorama and Misty Rainforest (though thanks to Zendikar mechanics, those lands can have spell-like effects on the battlefield) as well as Grove of the Burnwillows. Mana+ lands, then, have other abilities that are non-mana related and/or directly impact the battlefield. This would include things like Mutavault, New Benalia, or Rustic Clachan. So, does the claim that such mana+ lands are created "few and far in between"? Here's the list of mana+'s in Extended:

 

Lorwyn/Shadowmoor

Howltooth Hollow

Leechridden Swamp

Madblind Mountain

Mistveil Plains

Moonring Island

Mosswort Bridge

Mutavault

Rustic Clachan

Sapseep Forest

Shelldock Isle

Spinerock Knoll

Windbrisk Heights

 

Time Spiral

Academy Ruins

Arena

Dakmor Salvage

Desert

Dryad Arbor

Horizon Canopy

Keldon Megaliths

Kher Keep

Llanowar Reborn

New Benalia

Pendelhaven

Safe Haven

Swarmyard

Tolaria West

Urza's Factory

Zoetic Cavern

 

Ravnica

Duskmantle, House of Shadow

Ghost Quarter

Nivix, Aerie of the Firemind

Orzhova, the Church of Deals

Prahv, Spires of Order

Rix Maadi, Dungeon Palace

Skarrg, the Rage Pits

Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion

Svogthos, the Restless Tomb

Vitu-Ghazi, the City-Tree

 

Kamigawa

Boseiju, Who Shelters All

Eiganjo Castle

Forbidden Orchard

Gods' Eye, Gate to the Reikai

Hall of the Bandit Lord

Mikokoro, Center of the Sea

Minamo, School at Water's Edge

Miren, the Moaning Well

Oboro, Palace in the Clouds

Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers

Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep

Shizo, Death's Storehouse

Tomb of Urami

Untaidake, the Cloud Keeper

 

Mirrodin

Blinkmoth Nexus

Blinkmoth Well

Stalking Stones

 

That's a whopping average of 11 mana+ lands per block. Few and far between? Spoilers from the set prove Worldwake will push Zendikar past the average, but 16 is the highest present total of mana+ lands in a single block thanks to Time Spiral, and the present block will have to work to beat that. To make it look low? Worldwake would have to have a SUBSTANTIAL portion of lands with non-mana abilities.

 

Worldwake looks to be an exciting set, and few would argue that the Zendikar Block hasn't centered around lands in a way no other block ever has. But Mark's claim that R&D has rarely created lands that do something other than produce mana simply doesn't hold up. And the claim that those lands rarely appear in game states together is impossible to determine scientifically without a massive data set, something it seems unlikely an author on a deadline would have the time to record, particularly considering the need to take into account multiple formats historically.

 

So what do you think? Are Mark's claims off base? Or do you agree with him? Share your thoughts in the forum link below!

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