Ranking 2020 with EDHREC: Lands (Oh my Gosh, So Many Lands)

<h6 style="text-align:right;">(<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Shadowspear" href="#" target="_blank">Shadowspear</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.artstation.com/fooyee">Yeong-Hao Han</a>)</h6>
<h1>Gear Up For the Twelve Labors of Hercules!</h1>
<p>Greetings, everyone, and welcome back to the wrap-up of our preview week review season. In this article we're going to cover the artifacts and lands featured in <em>Theros Beyond Death,</em> and while there aren't that many, there are a few interesting picks worth going over. The set itself is a doozy through and through, so let's get to it!</p>
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<h2>Rares</h2>
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<h3>Nyx Lotus</h3>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Nyx Lotus"></div></div></span><br />
<span style="font-weight:400;">I think people are a little too worried about <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Nyx Lotus" href="#" target="_blank">Nyx Lotus</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. When first previewed, I remember hearing many people talk worriedly about how it can go infinite with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Filigree Sages" href="#" target="_blank">Filigree Sages</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. While that certainly is true, it also requires a significant board state to fuel the required <em>Devotion</em> to make it happen. I’m not sold on how easy it is to have this reliably happen. Additionally, even if you pull it off, it just then becomes another two-card combo for infinite mana... one among many that blue already has access to. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Filigree Sages" href="#" target="_blank">Filigree Sages</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is only in 233 decks right now, meaning if you’re trying to pull off that combo, you have to make two cuts to a deck rather than just one. </span><br />
<span style="font-weight:400;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx" href="#" target="_blank">Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> this is not. I prefer my mana rocks to help me get back into the game when my board was wiped, not to help me out most when I already have a lot of cards in play. Currently, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx" href="#" target="_blank">Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is in almost 25,000 decks, and I don’t expect the Lotus's numbers to flourish quite like that. There is lots of power here, but entering tapped, along with being closer to a “win-more” card, leads me to think this Lotus is a powerful-looking effect, but a bit overhyped. </span></p>
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<h3>Shadowspear</h3>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Shadowspear"></div></div></span><br />
<span style="font-weight:400;">Goodness. This honestly might be a top five Equipment for Commander players. One mana to put this onto the battlefield is amazing. Two more and it's <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Loxodon Warhammer" href="#" target="_blank">Loxodon Warhammer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> Lite. The Warhammer</span><span style="font-weight:400;"> is already played in a very healthy 11,619 decks. Add in a random <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bonds of Mortality" href="#" target="_blank">Bonds of Mortality</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> ability and you have a recipe for a new staple Equipment. </span><br />
<span style="font-weight:400;">The important piece of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Shadowspear" href="#" target="_blank">Shadowspear</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>’s ability to remember is it hits all of your opponents' permanents. Not just one opponent. <em>All </em>of them. Even better, it doesn't need to be equipped to activate this ability. </span></p>
<p><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Akiri, Line-Slinger"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sram, Senior Edificer"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Greven, Predator Captain"></div></div><br />
<span style="font-weight:400;">Dedicated Equipment decks will love this, and folks who love a little lifegain will, too. Frankly, though, I don’t think you even need to be playing a deck that cares about combat too much to see some use for it. This should be the most-played artifact from the set (not that there are many). This is much better than <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Glaring Spotlight" href="#" target="_blank">Glaring Spotlight</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and other such effects. Anyone playing <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Uril, the Miststalker" href="#" target="_blank">Uril, the Miststalker</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sigarda, Host of Herons" href="#" target="_blank">Sigarda, Host of Herons</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> might find it a herculean task to beat this card.</span></p>
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<h2>Uncommons</h2>
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<h3>Mirror Shield</h3>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mirror Shield"></div></div></span><br />
<span style="font-weight:400;">Let me start this off by saying this: I don’t think this card is necessarily “good” by most criteria. It’s narrow, and four mana is a lot to get hexproof on a creature when <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Swiftfoot Boots" href="#" target="_blank">Swiftfoot Boots</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lightning Greaves" href="#" target="_blank">Lightning Greaves</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and even <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Champion’s Helm" href="#" target="_blank">Champion’s Helm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are in the format to protect your important and legendary creatures. </span><br />
<span style="font-weight:400;">I do, however, think the flavor is awesome on this card and can be hilarious in certain situations, like if a friend of yours has a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Glissa, the Traitor" href="#" target="_blank">Glissa, the Traitor</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> deathtouch tribal deck. There aren’t many of those types out there, but if you see any out in the wild, this could be entertaining, at the very least. If you really wanted to dig deep, you could get all Rube Goldberg with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vial of Poison" href="#" target="_blank">Vial of Poison</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and give opponents' creatures deathtouch for maximum blowouts, but it would take the Johnniest/Jenniest of Johnny/Jenny players to go that deep.</span></p>
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<h3>Soul-Guide Lantern</h3>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Soul-Guide Lantern"></div></div></span><br />
<span style="font-weight:400;">In what is actually getting to be a kind of crowded field for cheap graveyard hate artifacts, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Soul-Guide Lantern" href="#" target="_blank">Soul-Guide Lantern</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> does a pretty decent job at keeping up with the top dogs. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Relic of Progenitus" href="#" target="_blank">Relic of Progenitus</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is probably still at the very top, since it does everything at once despite the tradeoff of hitting your own graveyard. It’ll be interesting to see how many players will value Relic's cantrip effect over the Lantern's preservation of one's own yard. It could actually be a pretty decent amount. </span><br />
<span style="font-weight:400;">This is far and away better than <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sentinel Totem" href="#" target="_blank">Sentinel Totem</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and some of the other second-tier grave-hate cards. The most interesting aspect of this card is that the first ability triggers upon entering the battlefield, allowing us to test how valuable a specific card is for the opponent and whether they want to save it. If they do make a move, you still can react with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Soul-Guide Lantern" href="#" target="_blank">Soul-Guide Lantern</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and nuke the whole graveyard, if you choose, or play the long game and wait until later. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Soul-Guide Lantern" href="#" target="_blank">Soul-Guide Lantern</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is one of the “boring, have to eat my vegetables” cards you should be playing more of, so expect to see it at tables of all power levels soon.</span></p>
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<h2>Commons</h2>
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<h3>Altar of the Pantheon</h3>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Altar of the Pantheon"></div></div></span><br />
<span style="font-weight:400;">Coming out of the gates on a strange note, a free <em>Devotion</em> is a nifty gift from a colorless artifact. There are a healthy 4,991 decks playing <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Manalith" href="#" target="_blank">Manalith</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> currently, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Altar of the Pantheon" href="#" target="_blank">Altar of the Pantheon</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is indeed a “strictly better” version of the often outclassed and overplayed <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Manalith" href="#" target="_blank">Manalith</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Darksteel Ingot" href="#" target="_blank">Darksteel Ingot</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> has gotten some preconstructed deck boosts in the numbers, but also shows up in 33,525 decks total and 13% of all decks out there, which might be a better comparison. </span><br />
<span style="font-weight:400;">Having that many decks requires some of the aforementioned “precon effect,” but I think a cheap mana rock with upside for your <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gray Merchant of Asphodel" href="#" target="_blank">Gray Merchant of Asphodel</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx" href="#" target="_blank">Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> as an incidental bonus won't be the worst thing you see at any given table. I know I won’t be running it, myself, though, especially if I'm playing one of the Gods as the commander, because I usually prefer for them to remain just an enchantment so they can't be hit by <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Path to Exile" href="#" target="_blank">Path to Exile</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>s. Still, I’m sure it will show up as a placeholder card as a funny supplement for decks that play 3-5 <em>Devotion</em> payoff cards.</span></p>
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<h3>Wings of Hubris</h3>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Wings of Hubris"></div></div></span><br />
<span style="font-weight:400;">Another card that I can’t envision myself running in many or even any of my decks, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Valduk, Keeper of the Flame" href="#" target="_blank">Valduk, Keeper of the Flame</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> included. The flavor is amazing, though, and is another example of how the design team finds ways to shout out to the lore that inspired the different worlds we visit. If you play decks that only ever need one alpha strike with a big creature, this is fine, I guess. But really, you’re playing this because you’re running an Icarus deck and trying to touch the sun. I enjoy and appreciate this card, but I wouldn’t expect too many tuned decks to be including it. It will be included for fun and flavor, not to increase the win percentage.</span></p>
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<h3>Labyrinth of Skophos</h3>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Labyrinth of Skophos"></div></div></span><br />
<span style="font-weight:400;">We saved the land for last! Because it's confusing!</span><br />
<span style="font-weight:400;">The immediate comparison here is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Maze of Ith" href="#" target="_blank">Maze of Ith</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. There are a few key differences, though, the biggest being that <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Maze of Ith" href="#" target="_blank">Maze of Ith</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> does not tap for mana where <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Labyrinth of Skophos" href="#" target="_blank">Labyrinth of Skophos</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> does. Is that worth paying effectively five mana to <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fog" href="#" target="_blank">Fog</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> an attacking creature versus the one tap required for <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Maze of Ith" href="#" target="_blank">Maze of Ith</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>? It’s hard to tell. Many people advocate for playing <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Maze of Ith" href="#" target="_blank">Maze of Ith</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> in a spell slot and not counting it as a land, and it's </span><span style="font-weight:400;">currently showing up in over 12,000 decks. </span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Maze of Ith"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Thaumatic Compass"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mystifying Maze"></div></div><br />
<span style="font-weight:400;">For me, the mana ability on <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Labyrinth of Skophos" href="#" target="_blank">Labyrinth of Skophos</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is probably worth the slot and might be situationally better than <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thaumatic Compass" href="#" target="_blank">Thaumatic Compass</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is, in that is has to flip over, which isn't always a sure thing. Compass has found its way into over 9,000 decks, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Labyrinth of Skophos" href="#" target="_blank">Labyrinth of Skophos</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is probably somewhere in between it and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Maze of Ith" href="#" target="_blank">Maze of Ith</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Of course, this could also end up in the <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mystifying Maze" href="#" target="_blank">Mystifying Maze</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> category, which is getting played in under half the number of decks as Compass. I don’t think <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Labyrinth of Skophos" href="#" target="_blank">Labyrinth of Skophos</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is that bad since <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mystifying Maze" href="#" target="_blank">Mystifying Maze</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can backfire if you target a creature with an ETB ability that would be detrimental to you, but that seems like the absolute floor here. Better than one Maze, worse than another.</span></p>
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<h2>I Think We'll Skip Cleaning the Stables</h2>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">That will wrap us up here for this portion of the set review <i>of </i></span><span style="font-weight:400;"><i>Theros Beyond Death</i></span><span style="font-weight:400;">! There wasn’t much in terms of artifacts or lands this time around, which is actually fine because the rest of the set happens to be absolutely <em>loaded</em> with goodies. I don’t mind one bit if we have a certain area that lacks when the overall set is as abundant with treasures as this one is.</span></p>
<p>What cards are you excited for from <em>Theros Beyond Death? </em>Let me know in the comments below, and watch out for Shadowspears!</p>


labyrinth of skophos

Ranking 2020 with EDHREC: Lands (Oh my Gosh, So Many Lands)

Theros Beyond Death Set Review - Artifacts and Lands