Reckless Cultivation (Formerly Mass Ghost Quarter)

[Anusien]

The idea was to Ghost Quarter every land.  I'm curious what people's thoughts are on this card; it's a nonbasic hoser in a sort of subtle way.

[Mass Ghost Quarter] -
Sorcery
Destroy all lands.  For each land put into a graveyard this way, that land's controller may search his or her library for a basic land card and puts it into play tapped.  Each player that searched their library this way shuffles it.

Current version:
Reckless Cultivation -
Sorcery
Destroy all lands.  For each land put into a graveyard this way, that land's controller may search his or her library for a basic land card and puts it into play tapped.  Each player that searched their library this way shuffles it.

[parallax]

I don't know what to think of this. It could seriously maul some basic-light mana bases. On the other hand, one more mana gets you Ruination. This is also an interesting card as it provides mana-fixing for a color that never gets that sort of thing. I'm tempted to insist on this being red-green.

Judgment withheld until further review.

[zeus-online]

Could be used as a mana engine, or to pump Kudzu or something...i think its too good.

/Zeus

[Anusien]

It seems like there are better ways of pumping Kudzu if that is your aim.  Hell, in the same color you Moldervine Cloak.
The better question is should this be 1RR, 2RR, or is it unprintable?

[zeus-online]

Imagine a dude with a heartbeat or Mana flare on the board.....taps his four lands for 8 mana, spends 3 to casts this thing, taps his new lands for 8 more (13 mana at this point).....winning from there seems pretty easy to me. You're thinning your deck, gaining mana...seems kinda broken.

Not too good for vintage or legacy, but the other formats might get hit hard.

/Zeus

[ghostchild]

I think it should cost 1RG because the land search effect is not mono-red. If you go with that, I suggest Gaea's Vengeance for the name. Very cool card.

[Anusien]

This is not Natural Balance; unlike Ghost Quarter the lands come into play tapped since I didn't want to use this as a mana engine.  And I can't imagine the deck thinning of this is that potent.

I do like the 1RG and the new name.  Thoughts?

[parallax]

This card is just very scary because it's moving a lot of cards around.

There's no danger of it being used as a ridiculous mana engine.
It does provide excellent mana fixing (for both players). Should probably cost , but I'm not going to insist on that yet.
I think it has to cost at least four, because it is a rather large effect. That would make it .

My biggest problem comes when you cast the second or third copy of this card. Having drained the opponent of all their basics the first time, this is probably a one-sided Armageddon the second time around. In particular, it discourages any late-game multi-colored decks that don't play counterspells.

[zeus-online]

Natural balance was used waaaay back, in a combo deck, this is alot better. I think the card is really scary.

Yeah it won't do jack in T1 or T1.5...but guess what? When creating new cards, wizards hardly considers those formats.

The mana you can ramp with this card is absurd in conjunction with heartbeat or mana flare.

Maybe at 1RRR it would be okay to print.

/Zeus

Edit: Oh yeah, and it comboes with Planar birth aswell!

[parallax]

For each land put into a graveyard this way, that land's controller may search his or her library for a basic land card and puts it into play tapped.

Natural Balance put lands into play untapped, and could give you more lands than you had before (if you sacced your lands to Squandered Resources, for example). This will never give you mana. It doesn't do anything with Heartbeat or Mana Flare.

The combo with Planar Birth is cute. And symmetric. I don't see it as a problem. It's a two-card combo that doesn't win the game, just gives both players a lot of mana.

[zeus-online]

Must admit that i missed the "Tapped" part. Heh. still think its good.

/Zeus

[GrandpaBelcher]

Printing this at 2R would make it near broken in Vintage.  MeanDeck Gifts only plays 5 Islands at most, and even my 2-color Fish deck only has 6 basics.  Against a deck that plays this (assuming said deck also plays Wasteland, Strip Mine, etc.) opponents will get the Islands first and have two or three left in their deck when this hits.  TMWA in any color combination would use this (especially green with Kudzu--good idea!), and UR Fish could make a resurgence, not to mention any other decks that could be built around this.  Making it 2RG seems like it would be reasonable, though, and I'd still try to play it.

[Anusien]

Is this any better than Ruination at 1RG?  For one more mana, they can't fetch basics.  In a different color, you get Armaggedon.  A similar effect, Back to Basics, has not seen play in quite some time.  For that matter, has Ghost Quarter seen significant play?

Bumped to 1RG though, because it makes sense.

[Matt]

This is still super strong. 2RG.

[Anusien]

I guess against 5C Stax or something it's a one-sided Armaggedon.  I'm not convinced this is better than Boiling Seas or Ruination, but that's for development to sort out.  2RG.

[Matt]

Well really what makes this broken is casting the second one.

[jro]

This can generate mana with Early Harvest if you have enough lands.  And it's pretty sick with Life from the Loam or Crucible of Worlds.  I think it's fair at 2RG, and could even cost more (in today's Standard environment, anyway) and still be okay.  Both Blood Moon and Wildfire seem like better threats against 3 color control decks.

[parallax]

This can generate mana with Early Harvest if you have enough lands.  And it's pretty sick with Life from the Loam or Crucible of Worlds.  I think it's fair at 2RG, and could even cost more (in today's Standard environment, anyway) and still be okay.  Both Blood Moon and Wildfire seem like better threats against 3 color control decks.

This card will never generate mana. It gives you the same number of lands you started with. The synergy with LftL or CoW is nice, but fair. Blood Moon would be a better threat if the 3 color control deck had no risk of running out of basics completely. It's still easy to cast Keiga if your five non-basic lands are mountains as long as you have one basic island. You can't cast Keiga if all your lands are destroyed and you only had 4-5 basics left in your deck.

[jro]

You have 10 land in play, cast this, float 6, get 10 new land, pay 3 for Early Harvest, untap your land and you've got 3 floating with 10 untapped lands.  It's probably not a concern power-wise, but it CAN generate mana.  And 3 color control decks should probably have non-land mana sources anyway.  Besides, the situation in Standard right now is goofy as hell, anyway, what with almost every deck being three colors, and decks playing as few as 2 basic lands.  In Magic as a whole, I think this card is close to fair, although it's definitely super powerful at the moment.

[bomholmm]

this is really good with squandered resources or rain of filth.  Not to mention second sunrise and planar birth, that a lot of mana.

[parallax]

You have 10 land in play, cast this, float 6, get 10 new land, pay 3 for Early Harvest, untap your land and you've got 3 floating with 10 untapped lands.  It's probably not a concern power-wise, but it CAN generate mana.  And 3 color control decks should probably have non-land mana sources anyway.  Besides, the situation in Standard right now is goofy as hell, anyway, what with almost every deck being three colors, and decks playing as few as 2 basic lands.  In Magic as a whole, I think this card is close to fair, although it's definitely super powerful at the moment.

Or you could have 10 land in play, not cast this, float 10, not get 10 new land, pay three for Early Harvest, untap your land and you've got 7 mana floating with 10 untapped lands. This card will only cause you to lose mana!

this is really good with squandered resources or rain of filth.  Not to mention second sunrise and planar birth, that a lot of mana.

You mean cast this, sac all you lands for mana, then search your library for no lands and put them into play? Doesn't seem that great to me.

Second Sunrise and Planar Birth are some pretty nice combos with this card. Both of them return all your opponent's lands to play as well. I think they're fair.

RTFC, FTW?

The only potential abuse of this card is with cards like Second Sunrise and Planar Birth, or by running your opponent out of basic lands completely. I think the second is the only real concern. I wouldn't print this card in the block immediately following Ravnica, but any other block (where non-basic lands don't flow like manna from heaven), it's probably fine.

[jro]

Or you could have 10 land in play, not cast this, float 10, not get 10 new land, pay three for Early Harvest, untap your land and you've got 7 mana floating with 10 untapped lands. This card will only cause you to lose mana!

Dur.  You're right.

[Matt]

It will generate mana when combined with the card Nahuatl, Words that Empower, found in the aztec thread in the master list.

[Anusien]

Damnit it Matt, stop taking away my combo power.

Anyway, that shouldn't stand in the way of this card.

[parallax]

I give this card the thumbs-up on the condition that it be watched very closely during development.

For some reason, this card only combos with white cards. Even ones that don't exist. Interesting.

[Anusien]

I don't understand people's hesitation.  Theoretically it has high velocity, but I'm not so sure.  It can't even be used for mana fixing, now that it costs 4.

Anyway, name?

[parallax]

I'm just a little worried what this does in multiples to basic-light decks.

This also can't be played around using the standard hedge against non-basic hate: fetching basic lands. In a non-basic--heavy deck, fetching your non-basics is actually the correct call if you're expecting this card, while fetching basics is the right call against Blood Moon, Wasteland, etc. It's a damned-if-you-do--damned-if-you-don't situation. This card is really hard to play around aside from loading your deck with at least 10-12 basic lands.

[Anusien]

If we printed this today, it wouldn't be in the same T2 as Ravnica.  This definitely seems kinder than Ruination.
So are there serious reservations about the powerlevel at 2RG?  I have to admit, this does confuse me.  What format are you worried about?  It seems like there is much more threatening land destruction that abuses all the same cards, like Thoughts of Ruin.

[parallax]

I wouldn't say serious reservations. I gave you the go-ahead, in fact. This seems to have the potential for serious abuse, but the only real way to know for sure would be to proxy up four copies and test in is some sort of TMD-FFL. I know I, for one, don't have that much time on my hands. Anyway, what I'm saying in a very long-winded manner, is that it's a development issue. Maybe, your card is broke and would never see the light of day. But the card is well designed, and I would feel fine handing this off in a design file, with a little note saying to take a good look at it.

My main concern over the card, is that Ruination does not hose your future land draws, just destroys land already in play. Let's assume a typical non-basic--heavy deck, such as Threshold in Legacy or an Extended fetch-dual mana base with maybe 3-4 basics to fetch for emergencies. Seeing red-green aggro game one, the deck fetches out as many basics as possible, fearing a post-board Blood Moon, Ruination or other non-basic hoser. The deck lays down one dual, one basic and fetches for two more basics. They are feeling good about their mana base when -- BAM -- one-sided Armageddon.

Scenario two: a deck with a fairly normal mana base. About 10 basics, 12 non-basics (whether they be Ravnica duals, painlands, snow lands or whatever two-color lands may or may not be in print at the time). Around turn six, three basics out, three non-basics. This card resolves, they fetch six basics out. All's well and good. A second copy resolves a turn or two later, and they're screwed.

This card can also be used in conjunction with Blood Moon or Ruination to force people to fetch their basics, then blow them all up. Like a bait-and-switch scheme.

I can't say with any certainty that any of these scenarios are likely, or that they would distort they environment too much, but Wizards is on record as saying that they like people to play multiple colors and they like players to have good mana-fixing lands because it makes the game more fun. They have been tuning down non-basic hosing cards for a while now. This card might force people to run nearly-all-basic mana bases and that would not be good.

[Anusien]

Makes sense.  Thanks for being that verbose/descriptive, it helps me see the issues clearly now.  I didn't mentally go through all those decision paths.

At any rate, you're right.  Let's get a name on this and stick it into the development file.  From what I see in our set we haven't designed a lot of 2-color lands, but we'll have to see.