I am curious to your reasoning why Myriad Landscape is a staple. I get that it's ramp and a land in one, but it's super slow and it's bad at fixing mana (both by itself, and what it ramps into). Especially reading your opinion elsewhere that basics are the best lands (which I agree with), why not just run basics and other ETB untapped lands + 2 mv mana rocks?
I would never run it in green and/or white where you have literal 2 mana ramp creatures available. And I personally have even cut if from by other colours of decks, replacing it with artifact ramp.
Myriad Landscape is a staple IMHO depending on power level and also deck colors. Since this article is written with new players in mind, I am taking into account that power level will usually be low. I also tend to brew mono or dual color decks, and indeed this deck is a two color deck, where the fixing isn’t as important.
So let’s look at what landscape is / does. It entered tapped, making it slow for one colorless mana… but if you don’t care about fixing (which we shouldn’t in one or two color decks, you basically don’t need fixing lands for these decks to function, and after so many basics you want room for some utility), you can use it like that and it’s the same speed as the mana you’re getting off of evolving wilds.
Now that’s just a slow land for colorless, and Evolving Wilds isn’t generally good anyway. But at the same speed it offers more utility upside than wilds: for 3 mana you can ramp two lands. It’s cheaper than Ranger’s Path (same speed as ranger’s path if you consider the one mana you lost since it etbs tapped), and goes in any color deck and fits in a land slot. In any slow meta, this is a fine trade off.
Also I’ve personally had luck with it. T1: tapped landscape - T2: land, rock - T3: land, crack landscape - T4: untap with 5 mana. It’s not the same efficiency as another rock but for fitting in a land slot it’s not bad, especially when you’re in more casual metas where dorks and rocks are more likely to explode to wipes.
I guess you're right for slow metas. Outside white + green it's one of the few land ramp options available. I just don't know how many slow metas exist anymore, now that some of the precons can be pretty explosive and will often punish you for not having early turn plays.
The biggest problem for me, slow meta or not, is that after your ramping turns (1-4), this is a terrible topdeck. Namely a tapped colourless land that has no upside until at least 2 turns later - when the game might be over.
Now that I'm thinking about it more, the only place I might run it is in a budget, non-green 3 colour deck. Because if you mix up snow-covered and regular basics, you can get 2 colours of basic with it, so that it does fix a little bit.
If you listen to reddit then slow metas don't exist.. but that's because reddit is a place where people who are more keen on powering and speeding up are over-represented. I play on PlayEDH LOW and an equivalently powered EDH server on discord. My main in-person playgroup has one deck that has remained unchanged since its commander was printed in the Commander 2014 precon decks. When I try to play "in the wild" it's a mix, but since many say the majority of EDH is still "Kitchen table" EDH, played by people who don't have the time to listen to as many EDH podcasts as I do, I'll maintain is that the power problem where you're "punished for not having early plays" is not that harsh at an average playgroup... at least not until someone from outside that playgroup tries to mingle with it.
Also, it's not that terrible as a late topdeck in a one or two color deck... You play it tapped and untap it... then tap it for colorless. Since it's a 1 or 2 color deck, the color fixing is not important. At this rate, it is the same as top-decking any other ETB tapped land... which is not ideal, but in my experience most decks that aren't trying to be cEDH can afford to run one or two ETB tapped utility lands, and I think there's way worse you could be doing.
I would not run it in a three color deck because fixing is way more important in three color decks. A dual color deck can pretty much function with 15 plains 15 islands, command tower, myriad landscape and 5 wastes. A three color deck with a similar mana base (10 islands, 10 plains, 10 swamps, 5 wastes, 1 fixing land) will pretty much never cast what it wants to cast. I think that this is pretty important to deciding whether you like Landscape or not - it won't fix mana for you until you sacrifice it, so if your deck actually needs fixing and isn't happy to tap it for colorless a little bit, then you're going to have a bad time.
Finally, "snow" is a permanent type, not a land type. Myriad Landscape could fetch 2 snow swamps but NOT a snow swamp and a snow island.
I'm just talking from personal experience. Games I've played on play EDH Low, my LGS, even my kitchen table, there's usually at least one person going off early enough that you're feeling really bad playing taplands. There may be plenty of slow metas left. But they're certainly not a given.
When it comes to one or two colour decks, I see your argument for "one or two tapped utility lands", but aren't there many much better utility lands? MDFC's, Vesuva/Thespian Stage (copy someone's bounceland - gives you the same ramp), War Room, Reliquary Tower, Command Beacon. If budget isn't a concern, Field of the Dead or Urza's Saga. If you're in the colours, Bojuka Bog, the channel lands, the Hideaway Lands. I personally have no problem finding good utility lands for my decks and Myriad Landscape never makes the cut.
You have convinced me that it is a playable card. As you say there's worse things you could be doing. But I wouldn't say it's a staple. There's a lot of decks that actively don't want it - even on low power levels.
Ps. thanks for the correction on the fixing. I guess I won't run it in my 3 colour deck!
And I’m just talking from personal experience as well. I’ve basically never felt too bad about the etb tapped, but also I tend to run cheap enough removal that a tapped land on turn 3 is fine because I can still remove a thing with 2 mana if need be.
Also I do prefer Landscape to virtually every land you listed: Reliquary Tower doesn’t do anything unless you’re playing a bunch of stuff that cares about your hand size (you’ll be fine discarding down to hand size, I promise you, just learn to make the decision). Plus I’ve even lost to my own Reliquary Tower against a classic Kami burn deck… Field of the Dead is good, but doesn’t usually produce zombies in a deck with this many basics and no landfall. Similarly Veauva and Thespian’s Stage won’t do anything with your own lands because there aren’t enough good utility lands to copy in this list, and running stuff that “only has upside if opponents are running something” burns me a lot.
Command Beacon used to be a staple in my eyes, but I found myself not really using it often. Comparably to Landscape which I use almost every game I get it (though often not right away, a control deck has the ability to leave it up for control magic then crack it at EoT - I can’t tell you how many turns I’ve snuck it like that while leaving mana up for a cancel-like spell). Also, Urza’s Saga is nice but I see that land as a little too $$$ and competitive to recommend to a random beginner player.
I am curious to your reasoning why Myriad Landscape is a staple. I get that it's ramp and a land in one, but it's super slow and it's bad at fixing mana (both by itself, and what it ramps into). Especially reading your opinion elsewhere that basics are the best lands (which I agree with), why not just run basics and other ETB untapped lands + 2 mv mana rocks?
I would never run it in green and/or white where you have literal 2 mana ramp creatures available. And I personally have even cut if from by other colours of decks, replacing it with artifact ramp.
Sure.
Myriad Landscape is a staple IMHO depending on power level and also deck colors. Since this article is written with new players in mind, I am taking into account that power level will usually be low. I also tend to brew mono or dual color decks, and indeed this deck is a two color deck, where the fixing isn’t as important.
So let’s look at what landscape is / does. It entered tapped, making it slow for one colorless mana… but if you don’t care about fixing (which we shouldn’t in one or two color decks, you basically don’t need fixing lands for these decks to function, and after so many basics you want room for some utility), you can use it like that and it’s the same speed as the mana you’re getting off of evolving wilds.
Now that’s just a slow land for colorless, and Evolving Wilds isn’t generally good anyway. But at the same speed it offers more utility upside than wilds: for 3 mana you can ramp two lands. It’s cheaper than Ranger’s Path (same speed as ranger’s path if you consider the one mana you lost since it etbs tapped), and goes in any color deck and fits in a land slot. In any slow meta, this is a fine trade off.
Also I’ve personally had luck with it. T1: tapped landscape - T2: land, rock - T3: land, crack landscape - T4: untap with 5 mana. It’s not the same efficiency as another rock but for fitting in a land slot it’s not bad, especially when you’re in more casual metas where dorks and rocks are more likely to explode to wipes.
I guess you're right for slow metas. Outside white + green it's one of the few land ramp options available. I just don't know how many slow metas exist anymore, now that some of the precons can be pretty explosive and will often punish you for not having early turn plays.
The biggest problem for me, slow meta or not, is that after your ramping turns (1-4), this is a terrible topdeck. Namely a tapped colourless land that has no upside until at least 2 turns later - when the game might be over.
Now that I'm thinking about it more, the only place I might run it is in a budget, non-green 3 colour deck. Because if you mix up snow-covered and regular basics, you can get 2 colours of basic with it, so that it does fix a little bit.
If you listen to reddit then slow metas don't exist.. but that's because reddit is a place where people who are more keen on powering and speeding up are over-represented. I play on PlayEDH LOW and an equivalently powered EDH server on discord. My main in-person playgroup has one deck that has remained unchanged since its commander was printed in the Commander 2014 precon decks. When I try to play "in the wild" it's a mix, but since many say the majority of EDH is still "Kitchen table" EDH, played by people who don't have the time to listen to as many EDH podcasts as I do, I'll maintain is that the power problem where you're "punished for not having early plays" is not that harsh at an average playgroup... at least not until someone from outside that playgroup tries to mingle with it.
Also, it's not that terrible as a late topdeck in a one or two color deck... You play it tapped and untap it... then tap it for colorless. Since it's a 1 or 2 color deck, the color fixing is not important. At this rate, it is the same as top-decking any other ETB tapped land... which is not ideal, but in my experience most decks that aren't trying to be cEDH can afford to run one or two ETB tapped utility lands, and I think there's way worse you could be doing.
I would not run it in a three color deck because fixing is way more important in three color decks. A dual color deck can pretty much function with 15 plains 15 islands, command tower, myriad landscape and 5 wastes. A three color deck with a similar mana base (10 islands, 10 plains, 10 swamps, 5 wastes, 1 fixing land) will pretty much never cast what it wants to cast. I think that this is pretty important to deciding whether you like Landscape or not - it won't fix mana for you until you sacrifice it, so if your deck actually needs fixing and isn't happy to tap it for colorless a little bit, then you're going to have a bad time.
Finally, "snow" is a permanent type, not a land type. Myriad Landscape could fetch 2 snow swamps but NOT a snow swamp and a snow island.
I'm just talking from personal experience. Games I've played on play EDH Low, my LGS, even my kitchen table, there's usually at least one person going off early enough that you're feeling really bad playing taplands. There may be plenty of slow metas left. But they're certainly not a given.
When it comes to one or two colour decks, I see your argument for "one or two tapped utility lands", but aren't there many much better utility lands? MDFC's, Vesuva/Thespian Stage (copy someone's bounceland - gives you the same ramp), War Room, Reliquary Tower, Command Beacon. If budget isn't a concern, Field of the Dead or Urza's Saga. If you're in the colours, Bojuka Bog, the channel lands, the Hideaway Lands. I personally have no problem finding good utility lands for my decks and Myriad Landscape never makes the cut.
You have convinced me that it is a playable card. As you say there's worse things you could be doing. But I wouldn't say it's a staple. There's a lot of decks that actively don't want it - even on low power levels.
Ps. thanks for the correction on the fixing. I guess I won't run it in my 3 colour deck!
And I’m just talking from personal experience as well. I’ve basically never felt too bad about the etb tapped, but also I tend to run cheap enough removal that a tapped land on turn 3 is fine because I can still remove a thing with 2 mana if need be.
Also I do prefer Landscape to virtually every land you listed: Reliquary Tower doesn’t do anything unless you’re playing a bunch of stuff that cares about your hand size (you’ll be fine discarding down to hand size, I promise you, just learn to make the decision). Plus I’ve even lost to my own Reliquary Tower against a classic Kami burn deck… Field of the Dead is good, but doesn’t usually produce zombies in a deck with this many basics and no landfall. Similarly Veauva and Thespian’s Stage won’t do anything with your own lands because there aren’t enough good utility lands to copy in this list, and running stuff that “only has upside if opponents are running something” burns me a lot.
Command Beacon used to be a staple in my eyes, but I found myself not really using it often. Comparably to Landscape which I use almost every game I get it (though often not right away, a control deck has the ability to leave it up for control magic then crack it at EoT - I can’t tell you how many turns I’ve snuck it like that while leaving mana up for a cancel-like spell). Also, Urza’s Saga is nice but I see that land as a little too $$$ and competitive to recommend to a random beginner player.