(Omnath, Locus of CreationOmnath, Locus of Creation | Art by Chris Rahn)

When the earth shudders, the sky overflows.When the earth shudders, the sky overflows.

Hey, everyone! After a brief detour into Universes Beyond, we're preparing for our foray into the Edge of Eternities, the next Magic booster set dropping on August 1.

Among the slew of things to look forward to in EOE, landfall makes its return to the game. Between more focused theme decks and the broader category of lands matter, landfall is a powerful and beloved mechanic in EDH, partly because it's easy to trigger and the rewards are sweet!

Before we see all the landfall goodies Edge has to offer, let's look back at the cards that already see a lot of play!

One note before we continue: some of these cards don't have landfall written on the card, but a rules update at some point added the keyword to every card that triggers when a land enters the battlefield under your control

10. Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre StraitAesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait - 92,622 decks, 10,523 as commander

This Legendary Serpent is a great introduction to a landfall deck because it illustrates how the archetype's core works.

You combine enablers that let you play extra lands or put lands into play from your library with payoffs that do sweet things when lands enter.

Aesi is a popular commander — they're ranked 89 on EDHREC as of this writing — because they act as both enabler and payoff.

Drawing extra cards also indirectly lets you play more lands because you'll just draw more of them. Pairing Aesi with other enablers and payoffs like Azusa, Lost but SeekingAzusa, Lost but Seeking and some of the other cards on this is a simple and fun way to win a game of EDH.

9. Tireless TrackerTireless Tracker - 141,769 decks

One of my favorite cards in all of Magic, Tracker is not just excellent in landfall decks as a standalone threat and source of card advantage.

It's also great in a host of other archetypes like Morska, Undersea SleuthMorska, Undersea Sleuth or Lonis, CryptozoologistLonis, Cryptozoologist and Clues, Baylen, the HaymakerBaylen, the Haymaker and Tokens, and Korvold, Fae-Cursed KingKorvold, Fae-Cursed King and Sacrifice, among others.

While paying two mana to draw one card may not be the best deal on its face, the beauty of playing this in landfall is that you often play a ton of mana sources, so you'll just have more mana lying around to invest into cracking Clues and drawing more action. There's also a popular combo that generates infinite Clues and landfall triggers:

8. Evolution SageEvolution Sage - 182,988 decks

Hey, it's another green 3/2 for three mana that does something incredible when a land enters! Instead of being a token generator and solo threat, Evolution SageEvolution Sage is more of a one-card engine for archetypes like +1/+1 counters, or to just get things BIG in a landfall deck. It also has combo applications, including this mono green infinite creature generator:

Sage doesn't need much help to go crazy, but you still have to play things that get bigger when this triggers. Inspiring CallInspiring Call is an amazing way to amass a huge army, while Planeswalkers like Nicol Bolas, Dragon-GodNicol Bolas, Dragon-God and Vraska, Betrayal's StingVraska, Betrayal's Sting offer an alternative angle that can be both hard to interact with and can ensure an essentially instant win.

7. Tatyova, Benthic DruidTatyova, Benthic Druid - 178,152 decks, 6,228 as commander

This Merfolk Druid was drawing cards off landfall triggers for two years before Aesi came along with their Exploration ability. Despite not seeing as much play as commander, Tatyova is more played overall, probably because she costs less mana, has a relevant creature type, and has simply been around longer.

Merfolk kindred does have a smattering of indirect landfall synergies, usually in the form of the explore mechanic. Intersectional commander Hakbal of the Surging SoulHakbal of the Surging Soul is a good example of this, growing your team of Merfolk while also putting more lands in your hand and one extra mana source into play.

6. Felidar RetreatFelidar Retreat - 188,744 decks

This enchantment is (spoiler alert!) the only nongreen card on this list, but it certainly earns its place among landfall heavyweights.

At its most busted, Felidar RetreatFelidar Retreat combines with Kodama of the East TreeKodama of the East Tree and a "bounceland" like Selesnya SanctuarySelesnya Sanctuary to net infinite landfall triggers and create infinite tokens:

Remember that the Kodama+bounceland combo works with other landfall payoffs that make tokens!

Retreat also works really well with commanders that create tokens themselves, which includes The NecrobloomThe Necrobloom as one that also has landfall. You can go wide, then use your enablers to grow your team beyond what your opponents can handle!

5. Rampaging BalothsRampaging Baloths - 202,424 decks

This is a chonky payoff that also works to go infinite with Kodama+bounceland and can easily put a bunch of power and toughness into play, combo or not.

This is the type of reward that does have a lot of competition, including Omnath, Locus of RageOmnath, Locus of Rage, Phylath, World SculptorPhylath, World Sculptor, and other cards that made this list, but having built-in trample does help get through a stalled board in non-infinite situations.

4. Lotus CobraLotus Cobra - 213,016 decks

What a lovely card! Lotus CobraLotus Cobra is an incredible enabler that gets going for a measly two mana and scales incredibly well with fetchlands and Exploration effects, especially HarrowHarrow and its ilk.

There are also a bunch of combos you can assemble, with many of them needing only green cards. Here's one that gets you infinite colored mana and death and landfall triggers:

3. Avenger of ZendikarAvenger of Zendikar - 260,260 decks

Avenger is similar to Rampaging Baloths in that it creates a bunch of tokens, but note that this does not work with Kodama, because you get the tokens when this enters. You can easily pump up your plants to terrifying sizes, though, with enablers like HarrowHarrow, CultivateCultivate, and ScapeshiftScapeshift, so this seven-drop remains a popular card in the format.

Looking at its combo potential, Esix, Fractal BloomEsix, Fractal Bloom and BiovisionaryBiovisionary combine with Avenger to deliver the win, as long as you have at least three lands in play and have not made any tokens yet. Easy!

2. Scute SwarmScute Swarm - 284,539 decks

The last two cards on the list are cheap, powerful cards that scale well on their own while also working with the Kodama combo. Scute Swarm also works with this less popular but still effective and flexible combo, which can also accommodate Baloths, Zendikar's RoilZendikar's Roil, Omnath, Locus of Rage, and more:

The 1/1 can also dominate grindy games, as mentioned by Kara Blinebry in this deck tech for new Edge of Eternities commander Szarel, Genesis ShepherdSzarel, Genesis Shepherd, who can help get Swarm going with their Crucible of WorldsCrucible of Worlds ability.

1. Tireless ProvisionerTireless Provisioner - 321,782 decks

I love how the Provisioner is a callback to the Tracker that does something different but that's still on-point with flavor. Since the Tracker worked with Clues, why not have this one create the other two common artifact tokens! The 3/2 is a powerful landfall card that also slots into other archetypes like tokens under Chatterfang, Squirrel GeneralChatterfang, Squirrel General, lifegain with Frodo, Adventurous HobbitFrodo, Adventurous Hobbit // Sam, Loyal AttendantSam, Loyal Attendant, or green sacrifice-oriented decks.

Honorable Mentions

I also wanted to feature the landfall cards in colors other than green or white.

These cards don't necessarily fit well into landfall theme decks, but they're all have powerful effects that benefit from landfall being pretty easy to trigger multiple times in a game of Magic.

Hedrons perplex minds both great and smallHedrons perplex minds both great and small

There you have it! That's a lot of green cards, but landfall does appear frequently on green cards and often with powerful rewards. Green is also the color that has the easiest time putting extra lands into play, so that all makes sense!

If I've learned anything from Magic, though, it's that rules and trends tend to be broken or bucked, so I can't wait to see exactly what EOE has in store for us in August.