One really interesting thing you can do with Fetch Lands is flick your friend's nose with them while giving them a smug grin. I find this to be one of the most important reasons to play these cards.
Nice video Prof. I started with Onslaught and couldn't understand why everybody is so hot on them. I found it was no difference to play one instead of a Forest or a Plains. I have to pay 1 Life in order to get a basic land? How dumb is that? i can play a basic instead! So was my thinking back in 2003. That's surely because i didn't know anything about utility lands or special lands at that point. However i found the lifeloss a big downside and i missed the part in the video where this point i covered. Explaining to newer players, that in high competitive formats this lifeloss doesn't really matter, even when you shock yourself after it. Even less important in Commander because of the higher life total and the slower gameplay. And maybe a more graphic comparison to Evolving Wilds would've been nice. A table like sacrifice trigger: both yes. Enters tapped: yes and no. restricted to basics: yes and no and so on
The budget fetch lands (Mirage) are like 3 bucks a piece. It's of course not optimal to play slowly, and in the case of those lands you might as well play 4x terramorphic instead. But the Mirage fetches function as a way to thin your deck in the same way as terramorphic does in commander when you can only play one terramorphic and one evolving wilds
I played back in the mid 90's- early 2000's. I cant believe a person's Mana base still seems to be a massive road block and not the cards that do the thing. Every time I wanted to play a new deck it was hell to get ahold of dual lands, and at my card shop, you really did need that edge as those with it would beat you down. It still seems like Mana is a roadblock for people and that boggles me.
Every time fetchlands get cheaper people will buy more for each individual deck they own, or until they complete all playsets. So the price will always go up.
I don't usually comment on the prof's videos but this one really struck a chord. Brilliantly explained with concise information and stellar editing. Thanks a lot Prof!
A minor but unmentioned benefit to fetchlands is that they also reduce the total land count in your remaining library, making you more likely to draw nonland cards and keeping you from stalling out in grindier matches. So many little advantages to those obnoxiously expensive little buggers.
I once asked a friend that question: "I dont understand why those are so expensiv, with evolving wilds I can search for all basics and dont pay life" he answered:" but with it you can fetch the original duals and shocklands, and it doesnt tap. life is a resource - its about speed" that short discussion instantly made me a better player.
@@Novenae_CCG Hopefully, by the time you put your commander out, draw 7 cards and then crack a fetch and take yet another card out, your deck is closer to 90 cards than 100
I remember when we were first starting Magic, my buddy cracked his first ever booster pack and the rare slot was an Arid Mesa. We were both like, "da fuq is this?! An Evolving Wilds you have to pay life for?!" He immediately traded into the LGS for $13 and we were both still bewildered as to why it would be worth so much.
@@NGDemonSlayer12 yes, we know that NOW but that is a subtlety that new players won't likely understand. Again, back in the day we thought Evolving Wilds looked better because it could fetch any basic land, we didn't understand the difference between "Basic Land" and "Basic Land Type".
There is also the benefit of the whole "sacrifice" factor. Korvold and other "when you sacrifice a permanent" cards love fetches because its extra triggers at no extra cost and no losses (minus the 1 life).
@@GreenFenril Not as much as used to be, because of printing Prismatic Ending and Unholy Heat, but It was important when Uro was legal or against Thought-Knot Seer etc.
Probably should've mentioned that if you don't need to use the mana right away, you can crack it just before your next upkeep on your opponents endstep. That way you don't need to shock yourself as the land will untap during your untap step (he actually does briefly mention this, and it's a good habit to get into). In green decks, you can also choose to use it during an opponent's combat phase as you move to blocks to fetch up a Dryad Arbor and block in specific situations. In commander games you could even sacrifice that Dryad Arbor to a Phyrexian Alter (assuming you had one in play) to produce any color mana. Honestly, lots of powerful effects require you to sacrifice creatures, so situationally this type of play can be really good (Consider using Natural Order on a Dryad Arbor). Not to mention they functionally "thin out" your deck, increasing the probability that you'll draw a non-land card which is usually always good.
Speaking of shocks, one deck is always wet for the life loss; death’s shadow. By fetching and shocking, he grows 3 whole sizes. Add Scourge of the Skyclaves and the Goyf and we have the core of Jund Shadow.
Also, by fetching a land from your deck, you reduce the numbers of lands in the deck, an thus you have a higher chance of drawing non-lands cards later in the game
Don't forget about the subtle but statistically significant benefit of Thinning Your Deck! Less cards in your deck means a better chance to draw some real gas!
The more you play the odds increase drastically. 8-12 fetches CAN make perfect mana and effectively make your 60 card deck play like there are only 48-52.
I think another aspect of fetch lands (and evolving wilds for that matter) is the thinning out of your deck. If you play three fetchlands in your first three turns and crack them, you get rid of six land cards in your deck, making it less likely to draw lands later on in the game, where they could end up as "dead draws"
Or. And hear me out here. Replace those fetch lands with cards that provide win conditions or synergy to the theme of the deck. Then you don't need to thin the deck, you just need to draw 1 of 3 more cards.
@@kylepeck776 this is a take that entirely fails to understand what fetches do, they thin the deck while still giving you options and access to the mana types you need untapped, you've not only fixed your colours but also reduced the total land count in the deck. In this regard fetchlands function more as nonland cards, replacing themselves with much more powerful land selection and guaranteeing that you draw your win conditions more frequently AND you can play them. A deck doesn't need more win conditions, it needs to be able to play the ones it already has. Fetches give fixing, speed, versatility and enable other cards, there's nothing you could replace them with that would perform better
1) Retrieving a land with a basic subtype and putting it on the battlefield untapped is great, incredible when its a dual land. 2) Shuffling your library is good. 3) Populating the graveyard with a land is good. 4) Multiple land drops from a single land is good. 5) Sacrificing a land can be good. 6) Paying a life can be good. All of these things being text ON A LAND is straight bonkers.
Another benefit is that: since they grab lands from your library to replace themselves, any landfall deck using cards that let you play additional lands no longer has to worry about making sure they draw enough lands to make full utility of that effect. Just have a card in play that says "you may play lands from your graveyard" and recycle the fetch. Now your azusa or whathave you is never whiffing on its extra value
I remember starting a little before khans and I pulled like 2 fetches. Bloodstained and delta. Like the dumb kid that I was, I sold them to the store for $5 each to buy 2 more packs. Both of which contained garbage.
Sneaky Prof. "forgetting" to mention thinning of the deck to make people comment on the video and increase interaction with the video. We'll played my sir...
A very minor interaction, but an important one when it comes up: the triggered ability of cracking the fetch allows you to retain priority during an opponent's turn. Say your opponent is on Storm and has just cast Past in Flames and your hand is counterspell and surgical extraction. If you counter the past in flames while they have enough mana to fire it again, they will get priority back and still kill you. A fetch land allows you to crack your fetch while holding priority and cast your counterspell, resolve the counter, and then with your fetch trigger still on the stack, cast surgical targeting PiF. Definitely a niche case, but an important type of interaction nonetheless
Besides very niche, it is a pretty hidden interaction that many people would miss. It happened at the championship recently, but without fetches: Somebody cast Ox of Agonas, which was responded with a kill spell on an innkeeper, then responded with drown in the loch countering Ox, and then Cling to dust exiling Ox from the gy with the kill spell on the stack.
Minor? Basically you can retain priority?? Which means crack -> cast a spell (priority does not change?) -> resolve fetch? Would make an uncounter-able move, or not?
Minor correction: the ability of the fetchland is an activated ability. And this interaction has nothing to do retaining priority. The after resolving the counter spell, the stack is not yet empty, hence the active player cannot cast sorceries.
It doesn't retain priority, it just means the next time opponent gets priority they cannot cast a sorcery because there's still an ability on the stack.
Welcome to the community, from a 40 something who played in the 90's and just got back into it a few years ago. I agree with tbone, this channel really does a good job of breaking things down. I will say, set a budget for yourself and do your research. It's EASY to waste money in this game. But it's fun to collect, sell, buy and trade and make decks. These cards (the enemy fetchlands) were recently printed and you should be able to find them in the 20's instead of the 50s and 60s like they've been. Also, they will slowly go back up in value for sure.
I agree and disagree. Fetchlands let you play more varied decks and with the right duals, can be relatively balanced with cheaper options like Evolving Wilds. The problem is that Shock Lands also exist. If only one of these existed then it would probably be fine: either there's no way to easily search a dual land that can ETB untapped, or there are no dual lands that can be searched via fetch that ETB untapped with more strict conditions than a simple 2 life payment. Consider the video example of the dual lands with basic land types not being good enough for Modern because they ETB tapped every time or their untap clause is tighter. Without Shocks, those cards would be more viable but we'd also probably see less 4-5 color decks as a result. Without fetches though, decks become much more subject to variance and competitive decks would probably just be two colors stuffed with basics, 4 Evolving Wilds and 4 Terramorphic Expanse (Prismatic Vista wouldn't have a reason to exist as it's the "basic land" version of the modern fetchland). So I think the issue is more nuanced than "fetchlands were a mistake." I think it's a combination of fetches and shocks that are a collective mistake and one of them probably shouldn't exist.
@@ForeverLaxx but see heres the thing. Shocks are fine. But fetches fetch all lands with land types. Any land that has 2 colours and comes untapped makes the fetches too good. Same for other lands that have types like the one that gets you back an instant or sorcery From a design prespective that's a terrible constrain. Every time they design lands with land types they have to either let fetches get even stronger or not make em If we go purely by your logic, which albeit not wrong doesn't adress the other issues with fetches (like the ubiquity the deck thinning which results in them seeing play in even mono coloured decks the shuffling), fetch lands are still the problem because they constrain design so much, while shock lands are just good lands
@@DimT670 Shock Lands are only "good lands" because of the fetches. They're "fixed perfect duals" for a reason, and while that doesn't make them bad it doesn't make them good either. Without fetches, their value drops because you can't easily find them (barring stuff like Flagstones, of course) so decks would likely use more of the Fast Lands and Check Lands to have smoother land drops. By themselves, they aren't actually that much different than other dual that have Come Into Play Untapped clauses. However, without the Shocks, Fetches lose a lot of their strength outside of Vintage because the only lands they could grab are inherently worse than a Shock when searched for. This is why I think that if either Shocks or Fetches were removed, things would be better overall. I just don't think it's as clear-cut as you do regarding Fetches specifically.
Fetches can also been seen as a tutor in certain decks for combo pieces that abuse things like Mystic Sanctuary in an Orvar deck. All the fetchable utility lands from Eldraine are pretty neat and can work in some decks I think another significant advantage of a fetch is just how important instant speed land selection is. If I have a Scalding Tarn in play maybe I need blue but only if I need to counter something and if I don't maybe I could use red to bolt something. Leaves your opponent guessing as well, the less information an opponent has the better, which is why they are typically only cracked when needed or at the last moment possible like the endstep before your turn if it etb's tapped He's the professor and he's here to say Fetch lands are powerful in more than one way Mana fixing is true but not all that it is There's shuffling and fetching for combo pieces It also thins your deck out so you don't have to pass And helps to ensure that your next draw is gas
Fetchlands are also functionally -1 card to your minimum deck size for each one you include since they pull another land out, but that's another effect they share with Terramorphic Expanse.
This is not true in the slightest. More likely to die from the life cost then win from the "thinning". Focus on things that will advance your game plan rather then something so small that it really does not matter.
@@WillisPtheone i have to disagree with this point... there's a reason we all run 60 card decks fetch lands essentially makes ur decks 56 cards assuming your only running 4
Great video! The only other biggie I can think of is the inherent deck-thinning aspect of the fetchland - in how it pulls another land card from your deck, thus increasing your chance of pulling nonlands down the stretch ect.
This was a really neat video. I hope it gets enough traction that the Professor is able to make more in the same vein, where things are not clear to beginning players that more experienced players just take for granted.
Great video! The only thing I would add is that in aggressive decks you want to run fetch lands -- even in mono-colored decks because the fetch lands are pulling lands out of your deck so you don't draw them, thereby allowing you to be drawing more threats in future turns. This is why you often see Red Burn decks running Bloodstained Mire with no black cards, etc. Keep up the great work Prof!
Professor, I am so grateful for this video. All this time, I thought it was about deck thinning. I'd look the topic up and the discussion would be focused on thinning the deck even though the improvements to your draws were always so small.
@@johnmraz4332 @leress What surprises me is that not only is deck thinning what people focus on in those discussions I'd look up, they were the only thing talked about. The Prof pointing out that fetchlands are so good for perfectly fixing your mana by using them with other dual lands is- I kid you not- the first time I've heard it explicitly.
How about new fetch lands that only get 1 type of many. Like "sacrifice ______ land, search your library for a a mountain and put it into play." It wouldn't be as strong as fetch lands, but would give more utility to decks that need it. As a bonus it doesn't cost 1 life.
I'm shocked that you didn't mention the panoramas as alternatives for these more expensive fetch lands. They are 100 times less than the price of these cards, fetch for an additional land type, come into play untapped and can tap for 1 generic before you crack them, and the only real downside is that once you do crack them the lands come into play tapped. Absolutely a no brainer for budget decks or people who don't want to pay $40+ for one card.
@@bondeulv Wow...I've been playing these cards incorrectly for years now because I misread them because I never saw the word "basic" till now. No one in my pod ever noticed it either, so thanks for the correction!
@@JRPRussell true, but modern is way too fast to run them over the regular fetches unless you're just playing with your friends on the kitchen table or a very casual lgs. idk about you but even at my lgs modern is very fast and powerful, although id be curious if yours in any diff
One thing you didn't mention that makes fetch lands extremely strong in certain decks is playing lands from your graveyard. Just one fetchland in your graveyard almost means unlimited lands in your graveyard with effects from a card like Sun Titan or Ramunap Excavator.
Which is amazing with landfall especially when you can play multiple lands per turn. Even having just an evovling wilds in the grave turns into quite a few landfall activations. Love doing it in my Obuun deck
The drawbacks to fetchlands: that their effect can be Stifled but you have to pay the life and sacrifice it to activate (meaning the land is gone and you get nothing for it) and that the land they fetch could be targeted with non-basic land destruction like Wasteland (if you don't grab a basic with its effect). One additional benefit to fetchlands is that they pull extra cards out of the list of cards you could possibly draw, so you're less likely to draw lands.
Yeah, the deck-thinning is an important aspect of their benefits, though in Commander it's slightly less helpful than in other formats. Still, every little bit helps.
Minimal deck thinning as well, although I feel like sometimes it’s a little overhyped in this regard. But basically “drawing” two lands out of your deck instead of the one, does mean you’re less and less likely to continue drawing only land. The life loss and a permanent going to the yard are also relevant to certain decks as well. They really do, do too much for so little. Yet, WoTC continues to refuse to reprint them in any meaningful way. Yes, they definitely warp mana bases around them, as do shock lands to a lesser extent. So why continue to let cards that are warping the format continue to be legal, at least in Modern? Modern is supposed to be a powered down Legacy, after all. Well, sorta anyway. But my friend and I were talking. It would be controversial for sure, but why not ban the RL in Vintage, Legacy and Commander? This would immediately shatter a barrier of entry for these formats for many players. Similar to how banning fetch lands would for Modern. No RL legality would likely also quiet down cries for it to be abolished, just so players can play with said cards. Collectors would still want them, and with the secondary market in its current state, that’s the only people who can realistically afford them anyway. It would help quiet the have nots, and further enforce the sanctity of the RL for those who have them. Bannings can lower value of cards, but I think the RL cards would be an exception to the rule. You could even have a separate format where they are legal, if there is too much pushback. I know that would ultimately kind of make the band questionable, but think of it as a standard legality of being banned, and maybe an unlimited format where you can still use them normally.
I see your point. But banning cards from the only formats they are legal in is *not the answer.* Banning cards like the moxen, or black lotus from the only format(s) that it's legal in removes the ability to actually *play* with your cards outside of the kitchen table with decks of equal strength. We remove the barrier to entry by allowing easy access to digital iteration of any given format, like on MTGO. Decks on MTGO are *infinitely* cheaper than real life cards and you can play as many games as you want immediately with people who want to play.
Nice informative video! As a pauper myself I can't justify buying "true" fetches, so I'm buying "slow" fetches. The only gripe I have with them is that Wizards doesn't want to give us reprints of the other 5 (enemy ones? I always confuse them). They enter tapped, but other than that are like fetches. Slow? Yes, but still better than Evolving Wilds/Terramorphic Expanse (at least I think so).
They have another benifit; the slots used by fetch lands help essentially make your deck smaller. I played a mono red hyper aggro deck that played 5 fetches to improve the spell to land ratio in my deck.
Lands are often considered some of the most powerful and important cards in the game. Many players would agree that paying 2 life to draw 1 card is a very good deal. Imagine paying 1 life to not only draw 1 card, but also getting to play that card for free. Not only are you paying 1 - 3 life to get free cards, but now, that card "drawn" also gives you +1 mana!!! And, you got that card out of your deck so later turns, you'll never draw that card when you're hoping to top deck something more useful. And what's the downside to all this power? Paying 1 or 3 life? Seems worth it to me.
I remember opening a booster pack from a fetch land way back during Zendikar. At first I thought it was a scam that a rare slot was taken up by a dumb land when I had 10 "Terramorphic Expanse" common cards. I was such a noob back then lol
If it makes you feel any better we used to think that a dual land in a pack was a waste of a rare card back in the day too. Only the "lace" cycle of cards would elicit more groans than a dual land pulled from a pack
Almost did that back during Onslaught, then my music teacher caught me trying to trade them. He scolded me for playing slivers and not seeing thier usefulness and then he tried to sell me his old duals, should have taken him up on that.
I'm an experienced player and know well how good fetches are, however I must send my compliments on covering just about every reason in a comprehensive yet beginner friendly format. I'm sure this video will be one of your more linked to videos to come.
Another effect of fetchs is to help thin your deck, making it more predictable in some cases. Don't forget about the interactions with the trap cards that allow you to cast for free if your opponent searched their library for any reason. 4 archive traps turn 1 is a pretty rough time
That's an alright argument in limited (40 cards), a vaguely passable argument for 60-card formats, and irrelevant for EDH/Commander. For the sake of the opening hand, a few turns, and a couple of draw spells, I'll knock 15 cards off the size of each. Limited becomes 25 cards. That's a 4% thinning. Not bad, but not the biggest of impacts. Constructed becomes 45. About 2%. Not really that impressive. EDH becomes 84. Just slightly bigger than 1%. Okay, so can we make a better argument about the ratios of land in a deck after the fetch? Limited has an average of 16 lands. At 25 cards, you'd average 10 lands left. Removing one is a land reduction of 10%. A decent argument. Constructed, 24. Down to 18. Just over 5%. So-so. EDH, I think, tends to be 35. Which goes down to 30. About a 3% drop, which in a library that size is not worth noting. Deck thinning is not really a good argument.
It slices, it dices, it even does your taxes! + Never missing a land drop with Crucible of Worlds, Life from the Loam, and similar cards. + You can combine top, brainstorm, and all the cards that let you do stuff with the top of your library (Courser of Kruphix) into the same category of library manipulation. + Life manipulation for stuff like Death's Shadow, Villis, broker of blood, etc. + Deck thinning for those long games against control. + Instant speed Dryad Arbor (many reasons why you would need this) + Sacrifice matters; Gravestorm, Korvold, etc. + Cards going into graveyard; The Gitrog Monster, Crawling Sensation, etc. I think that completes the list?
I've been saying for a long time that every card is only as good as every other card it can be played with/againsts/instead of. Fetches are so absurdly powerful because you can play them almost in any deck (format permitting). Land destruction? Don't crack your fetches right away, your opponent won't target lands that sacrifice themselves. Dryad Arbor? Only sees play because of fetchlands and Green Sun's Zenith Effects that let you look at the top card(s) of your library? Crack a fetch and get something else! Most of the reason that Opposition Agent is powerful is due to fetches being in almost every deck it fights. Crucible of Worlds, Wren & 6, Ramunap Excavator, Titania; getting a fetch back from the graveyard is the base line for value off those cards
This is really the most Community College video I've seen on here for a while. Such a concise and thought-through explanation of what is really a complicated concept. Top job prof! I'm sure you'll get tenure one day XD
- fix mana - find dual lands with basic land types, might also save you money because you can play with less dual lands (especially useful with the original dual lands) - thin the deck, making it less likely to draw lands in further draws - populate the graveyard, having lands in graveyard for certain effects or mechanics, among other things Delirium, Threshold, Delve, ... - extra landfall triggers - sacrifice triggers (e.g. Korvold), Revolt triggers, 'land put in graveyard' triggers (e.g. Gitrog) - let you shuffle your deck at instant speed (for almost no cost, especially no cost of slots and needing to play bad cards for the shuffle effect), especially useful with "Brainstorm"
Similar to the brainstorm interaction, fetches can shuffle away junk you spotted coming up with sensei’s diving top. One other niche use is to shuffle away anything your opponent happened to return to top of your deck if it’s beneficial for you to do so (memory lapse, plow under)
A hugely understated value of fetches is that they thin out your library. Every time you play a fetch, you're pulling out 2 cards effectively (the fetch and another land). This means that you are rapidly pulling out lands from your deck so that your future draws will have relevant cards rather than lands.
I feel like you missed a very important part of the fixing discussion: how the number of sources of each color your deck needs dictates how many total lands you play. 2 and 3 color modern decks can frequently get away with running just 20 lands, often including colorless lands like Urza's Saga, while decks with similar strategies in pioneer or historic are often forced into running 23+ just to have enough sources of each color to ensure a turn 1 play. Another related benefit is deck thinning. By cracking a fetchland, you are removing a land from your draw pile, increasing your odds of drawing a spell. As ratio of fetchlands to the total number of lands in the deck increases, the effect becomes more important. Fetching 3 steam vents by T3 in a 20 land deck means you have effectively drawn 30% of your lands in the top 10 cards. Oh, and let's not forget that fetches don't just go away after you crack them. They are just sitting in yard, waiting to get recurred with cards like Wrenn and Six or Life from the Loam. And speaking of lands dying, they provide counter play to the another format defining land, Wasteland. Honestly, the power of fetch lands has so completely warped eternal format deckbuilding that everyone has just internalized it.
yeah... I did the same with a Scalding Tarn. I still don't use them in any deck I have now as I mainly play commander and just don't consider the benefits to be worth the financial cost in the format... but now I feel like I was taken advantage of at the time since he knew was it was worth and I did not. I feel like he traded me an Insurrection or some other vastly cheaper card for it.
I'm aware I'm late to the party and this is a bit of a fringe application of these lands, but if you have effects that trigger when you sac any permanent they can actually be activated off of a Fetchland, for example Minthara, Merciless Soul will consider cracked fetchlands for its end of turn condition.
One aspect that you missed, is that there are decks that value the life loss that both the fetch land and the shock land provides, and leading one into the other is often good. Death's Shadow, for instance.
At least where I live, the Tarkir Standard with Fetchlands was not 5 Color Good Stuff but it was 3 Color with 1-2 splashes and that was actually fun and unusual! Sad that WotC now demonizes it and people think it was bad back then although it wasn't.
I feel like you shouldve mentioned Prismatic Vista and Fabled Passage. Vista is the honorary 11th fetch of Modern. And Passage is the only "fetch" in formats Pioneer and forward
if you have crucible of worlds, or any effect that lets you play lands from your graveyard, you have land drops for the rest of the game, and without losing card advantage. If you are playing a white deck with effects that bring back permanents that were put into the graveyard that turn, fetchlands can ramp you. if you want to lose life, with a greven deck or a willowdusk deck, you can at instant speed from you manabase if you are playing against a blood moon player, you can sac and search for a basic of the color you need in response to a blood moon being played if you have triggered abilities from sacrificing permanents or lands, fetchlands will do the job if you have a way to copy activated abilities (lithoform engine) you will ramp if you have an effect that gains benefit from having less lands than an opponent, you can play it in response to sacrificing your fetch land, since you will be -1 land from the activation cost, and reap more benefits from your card (tithe and weathered wayfarer for instance) if you want to have a lower life total for death's shadow if you want your opponents to have more life than you (linvala, the preserver , pulse of the fields, and sunset revelry) if you want to thin your deck of lands if you want a creature you can fetch dryad arbor
You forgot the more budget friendly mirage cycle. They are great when used with the Triome Lands and the Friendly land cycles to give new players much cheaper 5 color support for their commander decks.
1 other small fringe benefit of fetches is deck thinning. by pulling land out of your deck with a fetch you reduce the chance of drawing land later on when you might need a spell. minor and kind of niche but something to keep in mind. if you play a lot of fetches and pull most of the land from your deck then an opponent removes it all from play, it might be harder to recover late game.
Cant believe it wasnt mentioned but deck thinning. All decks need to play a critical mass of lands to see enough of them in an opener, this is usually more than the amount of mana youll need over the course of a game, fetch lands fill these slots in a way that you wont miss a land drop early and thin your decks land count after the game begins making it more likely youll the draw spells that advance your game state later on instead of lands when you already have enough mana in play.
Thank you so much for this video! Ive been finally getting back into magic ever since I realised just how valuable some of the cards I pulled when I was 13 are, and have been trying to make an ur-dragon commander deck. This vid really helped me understand a lot!
Usage #7: If you buy enough of them when their prices are low eventually you can sell them all and buy a car and if you really have enough of them you can retire.
You didn't even mention the fact that fetch lands thin out the deck of land making it less likely you will draw land at a later point. But overall excellent take on the situation, great video.
one small benefit is also how they filter out your deck. they remove lands that you dont want to draw later, increasing the chance you draw things you *do* want
I absolutely love these videos man. As a relatively new player, alot of these cards like fetches or chariot that people say are busted I usually don't understand why. More vids like this please :D
When I started playing magic 3 years ago I had no idea what fetchlands were and I never understood why you would want to play with not a land that doesn't tap for mana. Now I'm a modern player and I don't usually touch formats without them because I love all the opportunities and flexibility in color they open up. Funny how time works.
Another note: Evolving Wilds is completely colorless and can be used at instant speed, so you can wait until your opponent’s end step before revealing any colors of your deck on turn 1. I think I have a balanced solution for fetch lands (here’s a black/white example): Sunset Marsh: Land Tap, Exile Sunset Marsh: Choose a basic Plains or basic Swamp from your sideboard and it phases in. Exiling it means that sacrifice abilities don’t happen, choosing from your sideboard limits the utility, along with doesn’t thin your deck of lands meaning you can still get bricked (as you should), and you also don’t get to shuffle your library. Phasing in means that ETB effects don’t trigger (such as landfall), INCLUDING opponents effects (eg: permanents/lands your opponents control enter the battlefield tapped).
Thank you for the information. Another good use of a fetch land is that you can voluntarily put it in the graveyard at any time and if you have an ability at hand, such as "Landfall", that activates when you play a land you can revive it and play it again. PLUS since you are getting another land on the field it can potentially be activated it twice in one go. Also, there are many other cards that either require a land in the graveyard to activate. Additionally, if you do have the ability to bring cards back from the graveyard you can keep bringing it back and use it as a way of filling up on lands in the order that you want which can potentially save space in your deck that would otherwise be filled with land search cards or just add an extra utility at hand. Better to have it an not need it, yes?
Additional synergy provided with Fetchlands: - Sacrificing them triggers numerous effects like the revolt clause for Fatal Push, Korvold's sacrifice draw and Gitrog Monster draw - They go the graveyard, which allows them to be reused with cards like Life from the Loam, Wrenn and Six, Crucible of Worlds or Eternal Witness, among many more. - They thin your deck. Having a manabase with many Fetches gives you great early game mana consistency while reducing the chance of unnecessary land draws in the late game. - Though usually a downside, having to pay 1 life can be a benefit in Death's Shadow decks. - When you apply for your next job as an investment banker, they allow you to present your full portfolio of Zendikar Expedition Fetchlands to prove that you have what it takes to be successful in the business: Rich parents.
Despite the occasional research on much this actually matters, thinning the deck of lands helps with potential future draw statistics. Again, shared by all lands that find other lands such as Evolving Wilds, but a niche benefit.
It was mentioned how they can find lands that offer various kinds of mana colors, but there’s another relevant point to consider: the lands themselves are colorless and have no color pips for mana or costs. Which means you can have them in essentially any commander deck, so a deck in Mardu colors for instance can make use of a Wooded Foothills or a Windswept Heath, despite not having forests.
Thank you Professor, this was incredibly informative to an equally incredibly casual player like me. I din't really see all that value in fetch lands, you hav eopened my eyes!
I've seen them used in a mono red deck, just to thin out the number of remaining lands in the deck, increasing the chance of drawing a needed card later on.
you forgot one very good use of fetchland (also applying to evolving wild) Trimming your deck. A Deck of 60 cards, by default have 24 lands and 36 other cards. Those 24 land are there to make sure you can get your 2-3 first land quickly allowing you to play most of your cards quickly, but those same 20 lands left in the deck once you have your 4 mana on the field often become dead drop (maybe your deck need 7 mana, other deck need 3... but once you have good manabase, going from 10 mana to 11 mana rarely benefit you (in most deck) So the fetchland alllows you to remove 2 lands from your deck for the price of 1. reducing the risk of drawing a dead land later in the game
One somewhat important factor you didn't touch on was _Deck Thinning._ That is, cracking a fetchland and pulling a land out of your deck reduces the number of further lands that you can draw. Fetches are often used in mono-color decks for exactly this purpose. You can run 23 or 24 lands to get a good turn 1 draw, but then thin out the rest of the deck so you are less likely to draw more lands in the future. Especially good for decks that need 3ish lands every game, but then do not ever want more than that. Reducing the number of dead draws on future turns is a more hidden strength of fetchlands.
I recently purchased 35 fetchlands. Some original onslaught, one or two of each of the secret lair versions, a bunch of foils, some of the new expeditions, some foils and nonfoils from Khans. At the moment the opponent color fetches are quite affordable due to the big reprint, but i fetched a bit of everything :) Pro tip for europeans, or people with access to good marketplaces: All of these are easily recognizable and follow a consistent color sceme, everyone knows how fetchlands work, so language does not matter, so i got good deals on spanish, french, italian and portuguese.
Also you can fetch some utility, like Dryad Arbor, Mistveil Plains, ... Limited options, but if suddenly out of nowhere some big bad creature without trample attacks you for lethal, its kinda sweet to fetch for forest, get Dryad Arbor, and block with that.
Be sure to check out my review of the new GameGenic Cards' Lair 400+ Deck Box here: ruclips.net/video/rX9aQ_T7vn4/видео.html
Unrelated, but are you planning to make a video talking about The Calling Dallas like you did for Vegas?
One really interesting thing you can do with Fetch Lands is flick your friend's nose with them while giving them a smug grin. I find this to be one of the most important reasons to play these cards.
Nice video Prof.
I started with Onslaught and couldn't understand why everybody is so hot on them. I found it was no difference to play one instead of a Forest or a Plains. I have to pay 1 Life in order to get a basic land? How dumb is that? i can play a basic instead! So was my thinking back in 2003. That's surely because i didn't know anything about utility lands or special lands at that point. However i found the lifeloss a big downside and i missed the part in the video where this point i covered. Explaining to newer players, that in high competitive formats this lifeloss doesn't really matter, even when you shock yourself after it. Even less important in Commander because of the higher life total and the slower gameplay.
And maybe a more graphic comparison to Evolving Wilds would've been nice. A table like sacrifice trigger: both yes. Enters tapped: yes and no. restricted to basics: yes and no and so on
@@pablopopo7891 If he is, I see no reason not to wait an extra week and include the Calling Cincinnati in the video as well.
You should now do a give away of a rare fetch land if your next video reaches X amount of views within X amount of time
Man I can't believe fetches are still going for [inset price here], it's ridiculous
The budget fetch lands (Mirage) are like 3 bucks a piece. It's of course not optimal to play slowly, and in the case of those lands you might as well play 4x terramorphic instead. But the Mirage fetches function as a way to thin your deck in the same way as terramorphic does in commander when you can only play one terramorphic and one evolving wilds
High or low prices, fetches' price will always be ridiculous. Ridiculously low or ridiculously high.
I played back in the mid 90's- early 2000's. I cant believe a person's Mana base still seems to be a massive road block and not the cards that do the thing. Every time I wanted to play a new deck it was hell to get ahold of dual lands, and at my card shop, you really did need that edge as those with it would beat you down. It still seems like Mana is a roadblock for people and that boggles me.
Every time fetchlands get cheaper people will buy more for each individual deck they own, or until they complete all playsets. So the price will always go up.
Eh the enemy fetches cheap rn lol. Some are under 20
I don't usually comment on the prof's videos but this one really struck a chord. Brilliantly explained with concise information and stellar editing. Thanks a lot Prof!
A minor but unmentioned benefit to fetchlands is that they also reduce the total land count in your remaining library, making you more likely to draw nonland cards and keeping you from stalling out in grindier matches. So many little advantages to those obnoxiously expensive little buggers.
They also reduce the total number of cards in your deck by between 0 and 1 meaning you are more likely to draw clutch cards at the right moment.
Yeah immediately came to the comments looking for this one
@@KowalskiStyL The reason he didn't mention it is that the benefits of thinning are negligible.
"If I draw a land, I lose!"
For as common as this thought is, Fetchlands do, in fact, cause you to lose LESS.
Yep that’s why land tax is awesome
I once asked a friend that question: "I dont understand why those are so expensiv, with evolving wilds I can search for all basics and dont pay life"
he answered:" but with it you can fetch the original duals and shocklands, and it doesnt tap. life is a resource - its about speed"
that short discussion instantly made me a better player.
I bet you enjoy more play yugishit than Magic, right shitter?
Yeah when someone opened my eyes to the fact that life is a resource and should be used I had a sort of epiphany
When I realized life is a resource I became a death shadow player
And a poorer person 🤣
@@antonisashitteragain6993 toxic
Huge downside: having to shuffle a 100 card commander deck
Underrated comment
Hopefully by the time you crack a fetch, your deck isn’t 100 cards.
@@lucaslahlum6331 Hopefully by the time you put your commander in the command zone, your deck isn't 100 cards.
@@Novenae_CCG Hopefully, by the time you put your commander out, draw 7 cards and then crack a fetch and take yet another card out, your deck is closer to 90 cards than 100
Technically the act of shuffling involves the cards in hand and in play, as to keep them separate respectfully.
I remember when we were first starting Magic, my buddy cracked his first ever booster pack and the rare slot was an Arid Mesa. We were both like, "da fuq is this?! An Evolving Wilds you have to pay life for?!"
He immediately traded into the LGS for $13 and we were both still bewildered as to why it would be worth so much.
Probably a good decesion for low power games
I mean, it can fetch for a Plains or Mountain, not just a basic land. So dual types or tri types count.
@@NGDemonSlayer12 Congrats, you watched the video.
Oof, sad day. Much regret. Lol
@@NGDemonSlayer12 yes, we know that NOW but that is a subtlety that new players won't likely understand. Again, back in the day we thought Evolving Wilds looked better because it could fetch any basic land, we didn't understand the difference between "Basic Land" and "Basic Land Type".
There is also the benefit of the whole "sacrifice" factor. Korvold and other "when you sacrifice a permanent" cards love fetches because its extra triggers at no extra cost and no losses (minus the 1 life).
Not to mention cracking a fetch also triggers revolt. I'm not sure how much play Fatal Push sees in Modern, but that's a pretty solid selling point
@@GreenFenril Not as much as used to be, because of printing Prismatic Ending and Unholy Heat, but It was important when Uro was legal or against Thought-Knot Seer etc.
Korvold sho' does love his fetchlands.
Jason is correct. And fatal push is very much played in modern for that reason
Prismatic ending is really not that good and unholy heat is pretty much only good in delirium decks
It triggers Revolt nicely. Fetch for a swamp and then cast Fatal Push for that one swamp, activating revolt, and kill a CMC 4 creature
Triggers Morbid as well, Fatal Push hits 4 drops if you have a fetch land!
@@KingBobXVI fetchs don't trigger Morbid. "Morbid - If a creature died this turn... (...)"
@@hugosaldanha3768 it does if your land is a creature too, not something that comes up often, but it has happened
Proff, those card animations and transitions are extra 𝓼𝓷𝓪𝔃𝔃𝔂.
This is a certified hood classic.
Probably should've mentioned that if you don't need to use the mana right away, you can crack it just before your next upkeep on your opponents endstep. That way you don't need to shock yourself as the land will untap during your untap step (he actually does briefly mention this, and it's a good habit to get into).
In green decks, you can also choose to use it during an opponent's combat phase as you move to blocks to fetch up a Dryad Arbor and block in specific situations. In commander games you could even sacrifice that Dryad Arbor to a Phyrexian Alter (assuming you had one in play) to produce any color mana. Honestly, lots of powerful effects require you to sacrifice creatures, so situationally this type of play can be really good (Consider using Natural Order on a Dryad Arbor).
Not to mention they functionally "thin out" your deck, increasing the probability that you'll draw a non-land card which is usually always good.
Speaking of shocks, one deck is always wet for the life loss; death’s shadow. By fetching and shocking, he grows 3 whole sizes. Add Scourge of the Skyclaves and the Goyf and we have the core of Jund Shadow.
He did mention that. 2:39
@@a.velderrain8849 Oh darn he totally did too. That's why he's the prof and I am but a student.
Fetch lands are good cause it actually fetches something when I ask, unlike my dog.
Watch out! There might be an opposition agent around you and your dog
can I Bolt the dog?
Or Ashiok, Stranglehold, or even Aven Mindcensor.
Sticks just have shroud. Can't fetch target stick if it's got shroud.
A stick equiped with swiftfoot boots, what a nightmare
Threshold, interaction with Sensei's Divining Top, interaction with Muldrotha, losing a life in a Death's Shadow deck, triggers Gravestorm ability
Scroll rack
Revolt :)
Also, by fetching a land from your deck, you reduce the numbers of lands in the deck, an thus you have a higher chance of drawing non-lands cards later in the game
I 100 percent agree.
They are kinda broken 😅
Don't forget about the subtle but statistically significant benefit of Thinning Your Deck! Less cards in your deck means a better chance to draw some real gas!
I was just about to write that!
I think this is an important fact to mention.
it has been proven time and time that the statistical advantage is soooo small. But it's still there lol i will take any advantage I can get
Not to mention there are some interesting ways to play cards directly from your graveyard
This is my number 1 reason.
The more you play the odds increase drastically. 8-12 fetches CAN make perfect mana and effectively make your 60 card deck play like there are only 48-52.
I think another aspect of fetch lands (and evolving wilds for that matter) is the thinning out of your deck. If you play three fetchlands in your first three turns and crack them, you get rid of six land cards in your deck, making it less likely to draw lands later on in the game, where they could end up as "dead draws"
Or. And hear me out here. Replace those fetch lands with cards that provide win conditions or synergy to the theme of the deck.
Then you don't need to thin the deck, you just need to draw 1 of 3 more cards.
@@kylepeck776 this is a take that entirely fails to understand what fetches do, they thin the deck while still giving you options and access to the mana types you need untapped, you've not only fixed your colours but also reduced the total land count in the deck. In this regard fetchlands function more as nonland cards, replacing themselves with much more powerful land selection and guaranteeing that you draw your win conditions more frequently AND you can play them. A deck doesn't need more win conditions, it needs to be able to play the ones it already has. Fetches give fixing, speed, versatility and enable other cards, there's nothing you could replace them with that would perform better
1) Retrieving a land with a basic subtype and putting it on the battlefield untapped is great, incredible when its a dual land.
2) Shuffling your library is good.
3) Populating the graveyard with a land is good.
4) Multiple land drops from a single land is good.
5) Sacrificing a land can be good.
6) Paying a life can be good.
All of these things being text ON A LAND is straight bonkers.
Not to mention lands are colorless and therefore can be used in basically any deck
Thins out the deck as well
This comment should be pinned to the top of the list.
@@drew-id this, wasn't even in the video ffs
Dont forget that you are also taking out a land from your library, making less probable to draw a land in the late game when you want other things
Another benefit is that: since they grab lands from your library to replace themselves, any landfall deck using cards that let you play additional lands no longer has to worry about making sure they draw enough lands to make full utility of that effect. Just have a card in play that says "you may play lands from your graveyard" and recycle the fetch. Now your azusa or whathave you is never whiffing on its extra value
I remember selling my first fetch, a nearly torn Windswept for $10, and as a bonus, the guy explained why fetches were so good.
I remember starting a little before khans and I pulled like 2 fetches. Bloodstained and delta. Like the dumb kid that I was, I sold them to the store for $5 each to buy 2 more packs. Both of which contained garbage.
@@tuongpham7609 I did basically the same. Brutal.
Sneaky Prof. "forgetting" to mention thinning of the deck to make people comment on the video and increase interaction with the video. We'll played my sir...
A very minor interaction, but an important one when it comes up: the triggered ability of cracking the fetch allows you to retain priority during an opponent's turn.
Say your opponent is on Storm and has just cast Past in Flames and your hand is counterspell and surgical extraction. If you counter the past in flames while they have enough mana to fire it again, they will get priority back and still kill you.
A fetch land allows you to crack your fetch while holding priority and cast your counterspell, resolve the counter, and then with your fetch trigger still on the stack, cast surgical targeting PiF.
Definitely a niche case, but an important type of interaction nonetheless
This is super cool. Thank you for this information.
Besides very niche, it is a pretty hidden interaction that many people would miss.
It happened at the championship recently, but without fetches: Somebody cast Ox of Agonas, which was responded with a kill spell on an innkeeper, then responded with drown in the loch countering Ox, and then Cling to dust exiling Ox from the gy with the kill spell on the stack.
Minor? Basically you can retain priority?? Which means crack -> cast a spell (priority does not change?) -> resolve fetch? Would make an uncounter-able move, or not?
Minor correction: the ability of the fetchland is an activated ability. And this interaction has nothing to do retaining priority. The after resolving the counter spell, the stack is not yet empty, hence the active player cannot cast sorceries.
It doesn't retain priority, it just means the next time opponent gets priority they cannot cast a sorcery because there's still an ability on the stack.
Hey Prof! Just wanted to say this video did an AWESOME job visualizing the benefits of fetch lands! Really great editing!
I actually just got into magic and asked this exact question to my group. Great timing!
Tolarian Fetch Land Expert Certification.
Thank you for the honor professor.
I'll use it wisely.
Gonna use it to shit on people not using them with "AKTUALLY A FETCHLAND WOULD BE SO GOOD HERE"
You didn't mention the benefit of silently informing the table that your deck is full of $$$ fire
As a 40-something who just played his first game 3 days ago...more videos like this, please.
the channel is full of them. look around. i learned to play here many moons ago. may all your spells resolve
Hey welcome to the hobby, good luck ever having money again XD
@@hugmonger After buying 3 modern horizons 2 booster boxes.... I feel this.
Welcome to the community, from a 40 something who played in the 90's and just got back into it a few years ago. I agree with tbone, this channel really does a good job of breaking things down. I will say, set a budget for yourself and do your research. It's EASY to waste money in this game. But it's fun to collect, sell, buy and trade and make decks. These cards (the enemy fetchlands) were recently printed and you should be able to find them in the 20's instead of the 50s and 60s like they've been. Also, they will slowly go back up in value for sure.
Another good channel if you're new is mtg judge's corner
Another niche effect is adding 10 minutes to every single round of any tournament they are legal in.
Hot take: fetch lands should never have been printed
They make mana trivial, make plays linear, and make the magic the shuffling joke genuinely true
I agree and disagree. Fetchlands let you play more varied decks and with the right duals, can be relatively balanced with cheaper options like Evolving Wilds. The problem is that Shock Lands also exist. If only one of these existed then it would probably be fine: either there's no way to easily search a dual land that can ETB untapped, or there are no dual lands that can be searched via fetch that ETB untapped with more strict conditions than a simple 2 life payment.
Consider the video example of the dual lands with basic land types not being good enough for Modern because they ETB tapped every time or their untap clause is tighter. Without Shocks, those cards would be more viable but we'd also probably see less 4-5 color decks as a result. Without fetches though, decks become much more subject to variance and competitive decks would probably just be two colors stuffed with basics, 4 Evolving Wilds and 4 Terramorphic Expanse (Prismatic Vista wouldn't have a reason to exist as it's the "basic land" version of the modern fetchland).
So I think the issue is more nuanced than "fetchlands were a mistake." I think it's a combination of fetches and shocks that are a collective mistake and one of them probably shouldn't exist.
@@ForeverLaxx but see heres the thing. Shocks are fine. But fetches fetch all lands with land types. Any land that has 2 colours and comes untapped makes the fetches too good. Same for other lands that have types like the one that gets you back an instant or sorcery
From a design prespective that's a terrible constrain. Every time they design lands with land types they have to either let fetches get even stronger or not make em
If we go purely by your logic, which albeit not wrong doesn't adress the other issues with fetches (like the ubiquity the deck thinning which results in them seeing play in even mono coloured decks the shuffling), fetch lands are still the problem because they constrain design so much, while shock lands are just good lands
@@DimT670 Shock Lands are only "good lands" because of the fetches. They're "fixed perfect duals" for a reason, and while that doesn't make them bad it doesn't make them good either. Without fetches, their value drops because you can't easily find them (barring stuff like Flagstones, of course) so decks would likely use more of the Fast Lands and Check Lands to have smoother land drops. By themselves, they aren't actually that much different than other dual that have Come Into Play Untapped clauses.
However, without the Shocks, Fetches lose a lot of their strength outside of Vintage because the only lands they could grab are inherently worse than a Shock when searched for. This is why I think that if either Shocks or Fetches were removed, things would be better overall. I just don't think it's as clear-cut as you do regarding Fetches specifically.
Fetches can also been seen as a tutor in certain decks for combo pieces that abuse things like Mystic Sanctuary in an Orvar deck. All the fetchable utility lands from Eldraine are pretty neat and can work in some decks
I think another significant advantage of a fetch is just how important instant speed land selection is. If I have a Scalding Tarn in play maybe I need blue but only if I need to counter something and if I don't maybe I could use red to bolt something. Leaves your opponent guessing as well, the less information an opponent has the better, which is why they are typically only cracked when needed or at the last moment possible like the endstep before your turn if it etb's tapped
He's the professor and he's here to say
Fetch lands are powerful in more than one way
Mana fixing is true but not all that it is
There's shuffling and fetching for combo pieces
It also thins your deck out so you don't have to pass
And helps to ensure that your next draw is gas
Fetchlands are also functionally -1 card to your minimum deck size for each one you include since they pull another land out, but that's another effect they share with Terramorphic Expanse.
This is not true in the slightest. More likely to die from the life cost then win from the "thinning". Focus on things that will advance your game plan rather then something so small that it really does not matter.
@@WillisPtheone i have to disagree with this point... there's a reason we all run 60 card decks fetch lands essentially makes ur decks 56 cards assuming your only running 4
Great video!
The only other biggie I can think of is the inherent deck-thinning aspect of the fetchland - in how it pulls another land card from your deck, thus increasing your chance of pulling nonlands down the stretch ect.
This was a really neat video. I hope it gets enough traction that the Professor is able to make more in the same vein, where things are not clear to beginning players that more experienced players just take for granted.
Great video! The only thing I would add is that in aggressive decks you want to run fetch lands -- even in mono-colored decks because the fetch lands are pulling lands out of your deck so you don't draw them, thereby allowing you to be drawing more threats in future turns. This is why you often see Red Burn decks running Bloodstained Mire with no black cards, etc. Keep up the great work Prof!
Professor, I am so grateful for this video. All this time, I thought it was about deck thinning. I'd look the topic up and the discussion would be focused on thinning the deck even though the improvements to your draws were always so small.
Deck thinning is a very minor bonus on top of it. It's negligible but it's a bonus on top of the real utility of them.
Deck thinning are the sprinkles of the 'How good are fetchlands' sundae.
@@johnmraz4332 @leress What surprises me is that not only is deck thinning what people focus on in those discussions I'd look up, they were the only thing talked about. The Prof pointing out that fetchlands are so good for perfectly fixing your mana by using them with other dual lands is- I kid you not- the first time I've heard it explicitly.
How about new fetch lands that only get 1 type of many. Like "sacrifice ______ land, search your library for a a mountain and put it into play." It wouldn't be as strong as fetch lands, but would give more utility to decks that need it. As a bonus it doesn't cost 1 life.
I'm shocked that you didn't mention the panoramas as alternatives for these more expensive fetch lands. They are 100 times less than the price of these cards, fetch for an additional land type, come into play untapped and can tap for 1 generic before you crack them, and the only real downside is that once you do crack them the lands come into play tapped. Absolutely a no brainer for budget decks or people who don't want to pay $40+ for one card.
While I agree the panoramas are pretty sweet, they only search for basics. A better alternative is the slow fetches from Mirage.
@@bondeulv Wow...I've been playing these cards incorrectly for years now because I misread them because I never saw the word "basic" till now. No one in my pod ever noticed it either, so thanks for the correction!
Though the slow fetches aren't legal in modern
@@JRPRussell true, but modern is way too fast to run them over the regular fetches unless you're just playing with your friends on the kitchen table or a very casual lgs. idk about you but even at my lgs modern is very fast and powerful, although id be curious if yours in any diff
Worse evolving wilds?
0:31 IT'S NOT OBVIOUS WHAT MAKES THESE HUMBLE LAND CARDS SO POWERFUL AS TO BE WORTH [Insert Price Here] EACH!
The tri-lands are also really good options in Commander. I use fetch lands, such as Krosan Verge, for example as well as the "normal" fetches.
One thing you didn't mention that makes fetch lands extremely strong in certain decks is playing lands from your graveyard. Just one fetchland in your graveyard almost means unlimited lands in your graveyard with effects from a card like Sun Titan or Ramunap Excavator.
Which is amazing with landfall especially when you can play multiple lands per turn. Even having just an evovling wilds in the grave turns into quite a few landfall activations. Love doing it in my Obuun deck
@@RobRuckus65 Yup! It gets real nasty in my Windgrace deck.
The drawbacks to fetchlands: that their effect can be Stifled but you have to pay the life and sacrifice it to activate (meaning the land is gone and you get nothing for it) and that the land they fetch could be targeted with non-basic land destruction like Wasteland (if you don't grab a basic with its effect). One additional benefit to fetchlands is that they pull extra cards out of the list of cards you could possibly draw, so you're less likely to draw lands.
Yeah, the deck-thinning is an important aspect of their benefits, though in Commander it's slightly less helpful than in other formats. Still, every little bit helps.
excellent point! They do have some weakness to them and there are some specific cards out there to mess with them and their function
Minimal deck thinning as well, although I feel like sometimes it’s a little overhyped in this regard. But basically “drawing” two lands out of your deck instead of the one, does mean you’re less and less likely to continue drawing only land.
The life loss and a permanent going to the yard are also relevant to certain decks as well. They really do, do too much for so little. Yet, WoTC continues to refuse to reprint them in any meaningful way. Yes, they definitely warp mana bases around them, as do shock lands to a lesser extent.
So why continue to let cards that are warping the format continue to be legal, at least in Modern? Modern is supposed to be a powered down Legacy, after all. Well, sorta anyway. But my friend and I were talking. It would be controversial for sure, but why not ban the RL in Vintage, Legacy and Commander? This would immediately shatter a barrier of entry for these formats for many players. Similar to how banning fetch lands would for Modern.
No RL legality would likely also quiet down cries for it to be abolished, just so players can play with said cards. Collectors would still want them, and with the secondary market in its current state, that’s the only people who can realistically afford them anyway. It would help quiet the have nots, and further enforce the sanctity of the RL for those who have them. Bannings can lower value of cards, but I think the RL cards would be an exception to the rule. You could even have a separate format where they are legal, if there is too much pushback. I know that would ultimately kind of make the band questionable, but think of it as a standard legality of being banned, and maybe an unlimited format where you can still use them normally.
I see your point.
But banning cards from the only formats they are legal in is *not the answer.*
Banning cards like the moxen, or black lotus from the only format(s) that it's legal in removes the ability to actually *play* with your cards outside of the kitchen table with decks of equal strength.
We remove the barrier to entry by allowing easy access to digital iteration of any given format, like on MTGO.
Decks on MTGO are *infinitely* cheaper than real life cards and you can play as many games as you want immediately with people who want to play.
Nice informative video!
As a pauper myself I can't justify buying "true" fetches, so I'm buying "slow" fetches. The only gripe I have with them is that Wizards doesn't want to give us reprints of the other 5 (enemy ones? I always confuse them). They enter tapped, but other than that are like fetches. Slow? Yes, but still better than Evolving Wilds/Terramorphic Expanse (at least I think so).
They have another benifit; the slots used by fetch lands help essentially make your deck smaller. I played a mono red hyper aggro deck that played 5 fetches to improve the spell to land ratio in my deck.
I do that with my mono white token deck
was thinking the same thing, its essentially 2 land slots instead of 1
Great editing! I loved the animations of the fetches turning into the basic lands tapped and untapped. Also the brainstorm visual was very well done.
Lands are often considered some of the most powerful and important cards in the game.
Many players would agree that paying 2 life to draw 1 card is a very good deal.
Imagine paying 1 life to not only draw 1 card, but also getting to play that card for free.
Not only are you paying 1 - 3 life to get free cards, but now, that card "drawn" also gives you +1 mana!!!
And, you got that card out of your deck so later turns, you'll never draw that card when you're hoping to top deck something more useful.
And what's the downside to all this power? Paying 1 or 3 life? Seems worth it to me.
I remember opening a booster pack from a fetch land way back during Zendikar. At first I thought it was a scam that a rare slot was taken up by a dumb land when I had 10 "Terramorphic Expanse" common cards.
I was such a noob back then lol
I feel you, did the same thing :D
Same here
Yeah I think that's a MTG rite of passage, haha.
"I have to PAY LIFE to get a land? This could just be a mountain"
If it makes you feel any better we used to think that a dual land in a pack was a waste of a rare card back in the day too. Only the "lace" cycle of cards would elicit more groans than a dual land pulled from a pack
Almost did that back during Onslaught, then my music teacher caught me trying to trade them. He scolded me for playing slivers and not seeing thier usefulness and then he tried to sell me his old duals, should have taken him up on that.
TLDR:
They give you perfect mana and losing 1 health doesn't matter unless you hit 0
I'm an experienced player and know well how good fetches are, however I must send my compliments on covering just about every reason in a comprehensive yet beginner friendly format. I'm sure this video will be one of your more linked to videos to come.
Another effect of fetchs is to help thin your deck, making it more predictable in some cases. Don't forget about the interactions with the trap cards that allow you to cast for free if your opponent searched their library for any reason. 4 archive traps turn 1 is a pretty rough time
That's an alright argument in limited (40 cards), a vaguely passable argument for 60-card formats, and irrelevant for EDH/Commander.
For the sake of the opening hand, a few turns, and a couple of draw spells, I'll knock 15 cards off the size of each.
Limited becomes 25 cards. That's a 4% thinning. Not bad, but not the biggest of impacts.
Constructed becomes 45. About 2%. Not really that impressive.
EDH becomes 84. Just slightly bigger than 1%.
Okay, so can we make a better argument about the ratios of land in a deck after the fetch?
Limited has an average of 16 lands. At 25 cards, you'd average 10 lands left. Removing one is a land reduction of 10%. A decent argument.
Constructed, 24. Down to 18. Just over 5%. So-so.
EDH, I think, tends to be 35. Which goes down to 30. About a 3% drop, which in a library that size is not worth noting.
Deck thinning is not really a good argument.
It slices, it dices, it even does your taxes!
+ Never missing a land drop with Crucible of Worlds, Life from the Loam, and similar cards.
+ You can combine top, brainstorm, and all the cards that let you do stuff with the top of your library (Courser of Kruphix) into the same category of library manipulation.
+ Life manipulation for stuff like Death's Shadow, Villis, broker of blood, etc.
+ Deck thinning for those long games against control.
+ Instant speed Dryad Arbor (many reasons why you would need this)
+ Sacrifice matters; Gravestorm, Korvold, etc.
+ Cards going into graveyard; The Gitrog Monster, Crawling Sensation, etc.
I think that completes the list?
The card animations are really well done.
Since fetch and shock lands are so important to fast mana of needed colors. Do you think they should be printed more often to drive prices down a bit?
YES. Fetch lands should be in standard, period. People complaining should use this as an opportunity to show how poor game design has become.
It is a rite of passage to not understand why fetchlands and shocklands are good, only to later get the A-HA moment when it all clicks.
I've been saying for a long time that every card is only as good as every other card it can be played with/againsts/instead of. Fetches are so absurdly powerful because you can play them almost in any deck (format permitting).
Land destruction? Don't crack your fetches right away, your opponent won't target lands that sacrifice themselves.
Dryad Arbor? Only sees play because of fetchlands and Green Sun's Zenith
Effects that let you look at the top card(s) of your library? Crack a fetch and get something else!
Most of the reason that Opposition Agent is powerful is due to fetches being in almost every deck it fights.
Crucible of Worlds, Wren & 6, Ramunap Excavator, Titania; getting a fetch back from the graveyard is the base line for value off those cards
This is really the most Community College video I've seen on here for a while. Such a concise and thought-through explanation of what is really a complicated concept. Top job prof! I'm sure you'll get tenure one day XD
- fix mana
- find dual lands with basic land types, might also save you money because you can play with less dual lands (especially useful with the original dual lands)
- thin the deck, making it less likely to draw lands in further draws
- populate the graveyard, having lands in graveyard for certain effects or mechanics, among other things Delirium, Threshold, Delve, ...
- extra landfall triggers
- sacrifice triggers (e.g. Korvold), Revolt triggers, 'land put in graveyard' triggers (e.g. Gitrog)
- let you shuffle your deck at instant speed (for almost no cost, especially no cost of slots and needing to play bad cards for the shuffle effect), especially useful with "Brainstorm"
Similar to the brainstorm interaction, fetches can shuffle away junk you spotted coming up with sensei’s diving top.
One other niche use is to shuffle away anything your opponent happened to return to top of your deck if it’s beneficial for you to do so (memory lapse, plow under)
Great video professor! I wish it had been there when I started out with MTG, really explains a lot ^^
A hugely understated value of fetches is that they thin out your library. Every time you play a fetch, you're pulling out 2 cards effectively (the fetch and another land). This means that you are rapidly pulling out lands from your deck so that your future draws will have relevant cards rather than lands.
I feel like you missed a very important part of the fixing discussion: how the number of sources of each color your deck needs dictates how many total lands you play. 2 and 3 color modern decks can frequently get away with running just 20 lands, often including colorless lands like Urza's Saga, while decks with similar strategies in pioneer or historic are often forced into running 23+ just to have enough sources of each color to ensure a turn 1 play.
Another related benefit is deck thinning. By cracking a fetchland, you are removing a land from your draw pile, increasing your odds of drawing a spell. As ratio of fetchlands to the total number of lands in the deck increases, the effect becomes more important. Fetching 3 steam vents by T3 in a 20 land deck means you have effectively drawn 30% of your lands in the top 10 cards.
Oh, and let's not forget that fetches don't just go away after you crack them. They are just sitting in yard, waiting to get recurred with cards like Wrenn and Six or Life from the Loam.
And speaking of lands dying, they provide counter play to the another format defining land, Wasteland.
Honestly, the power of fetch lands has so completely warped eternal format deckbuilding that everyone has just internalized it.
ill never forget giving away a verdant catacombs to my "friend" because i couldnt figure out why it was good back when i first started
yeah... I did the same with a Scalding Tarn. I still don't use them in any deck I have now as I mainly play commander and just don't consider the benefits to be worth the financial cost in the format... but now I feel like I was taken advantage of at the time since he knew was it was worth and I did not. I feel like he traded me an Insurrection or some other vastly cheaper card for it.
I'm aware I'm late to the party and this is a bit of a fringe application of these lands, but if you have effects that trigger when you sac any permanent they can actually be activated off of a Fetchland, for example Minthara, Merciless Soul will consider cracked fetchlands for its end of turn condition.
My favorite part of fetch land power is how easy it is to trade them for cards I actually want
One aspect that you missed, is that there are decks that value the life loss that both the fetch land and the shock land provides, and leading one into the other is often good. Death's Shadow, for instance.
killer video, Prof! A minor thing usually, but I love that Fetches trigger Revolt for free 😁
At least where I live, the Tarkir Standard with Fetchlands was not 5 Color Good Stuff but it was 3 Color with 1-2 splashes and that was actually fun and unusual! Sad that WotC now demonizes it and people think it was bad back then although it wasn't.
Fetch Lands being (insert price here) is sooo stupid. They used to be (insert price here minus x amount). Inflation is crazy. :(
I feel like you shouldve mentioned Prismatic Vista and Fabled Passage. Vista is the honorary 11th fetch of Modern. And Passage is the only "fetch" in formats Pioneer and forward
if you have crucible of worlds, or any effect that lets you play lands from your graveyard, you have land drops for the rest of the game, and without losing card advantage.
If you are playing a white deck with effects that bring back permanents that were put into the graveyard that turn, fetchlands can ramp you.
if you want to lose life, with a greven deck or a willowdusk deck, you can at instant speed from you manabase
if you are playing against a blood moon player, you can sac and search for a basic of the color you need in response to a blood moon being played
if you have triggered abilities from sacrificing permanents or lands, fetchlands will do the job
if you have a way to copy activated abilities (lithoform engine) you will ramp
if you have an effect that gains benefit from having less lands than an opponent, you can play it in response to sacrificing your fetch land, since you will be -1 land from the activation cost, and reap more benefits from your card (tithe and weathered wayfarer for instance)
if you want to have a lower life total for death's shadow
if you want your opponents to have more life than you (linvala, the preserver , pulse of the fields, and sunset revelry)
if you want to thin your deck of lands
if you want a creature you can fetch dryad arbor
You forgot the more budget friendly mirage cycle. They are great when used with the Triome Lands and the Friendly land cycles to give new players much cheaper 5 color support for their commander decks.
Seconded. Bad River and the like are not bad at all (pun intended).
1 other small fringe benefit of fetches is deck thinning. by pulling land out of your deck with a fetch you reduce the chance of drawing land later on when you might need a spell. minor and kind of niche but something to keep in mind. if you play a lot of fetches and pull most of the land from your deck then an opponent removes it all from play, it might be harder to recover late game.
Luckily I live in Japan, where commander staples are stupid cheap. Picked up a misty the other day for about $22.
Cant believe it wasnt mentioned but deck thinning. All decks need to play a critical mass of lands to see enough of them in an opener, this is usually more than the amount of mana youll need over the course of a game, fetch lands fill these slots in a way that you wont miss a land drop early and thin your decks land count after the game begins making it more likely youll the draw spells that advance your game state later on instead of lands when you already have enough mana in play.
Thank you so much for this video! Ive been finally getting back into magic ever since I realised just how valuable some of the cards I pulled when I was 13 are, and have been trying to make an ur-dragon commander deck. This vid really helped me understand a lot!
Usage #7: If you buy enough of them when their prices are low eventually you can sell them all and buy a car and if you really have enough of them you can retire.
You didn't even mention the fact that fetch lands thin out the deck of land making it less likely you will draw land at a later point. But overall excellent take on the situation, great video.
What I really need to know is where to get those Tolarian Sleeves???
They should be the go-to sleeve for any merfolk deck
Prof " These are the only 10 fetchlands that can exist"
Rocky Tar Pit and friends " We'll just go hide over here"
A niche use that I really Like: you can fetch for dryad arbor in response to a Liliana of the veil -2 in a deck like bogles
This video is why Pioneer is the best format.
This is possibly the most relevant video you have ever produced. And that is saying *a lot*.
The more players understand this video, the more they understand why Blood Moon is so good.
one small benefit is also how they filter out your deck. they remove lands that you dont want to draw later, increasing the chance you draw things you *do* want
10/10 intro. Will definitely use as directed. Thank you.
I absolutely love these videos man. As a relatively new player, alot of these cards like fetches or chariot that people say are busted I usually don't understand why. More vids like this please :D
Fetchlands also help to thin a deck out throughout the course of a game, decreasing your probability of a dead draw.
5-color good stuff, everyone’s favourite archetype.
When I started playing magic 3 years ago I had no idea what fetchlands were and I never understood why you would want to play with not a land that doesn't tap for mana. Now I'm a modern player and I don't usually touch formats without them because I love all the opportunities and flexibility in color they open up. Funny how time works.
Another note: Evolving Wilds is completely colorless and can be used at instant speed, so you can wait until your opponent’s end step before revealing any colors of your deck on turn 1.
I think I have a balanced solution for fetch lands (here’s a black/white example):
Sunset Marsh:
Land
Tap, Exile Sunset Marsh: Choose a basic Plains or basic Swamp from your sideboard and it phases in.
Exiling it means that sacrifice abilities don’t happen, choosing from your sideboard limits the utility, along with doesn’t thin your deck of lands meaning you can still get bricked (as you should), and you also don’t get to shuffle your library. Phasing in means that ETB effects don’t trigger (such as landfall), INCLUDING opponents effects (eg: permanents/lands your opponents control enter the battlefield tapped).
Thank you for the information. Another good use of a fetch land is that you can voluntarily put it in the graveyard at any time and if you have an ability at hand, such as "Landfall", that activates when you play a land you can revive it and play it again. PLUS since you are getting another land on the field it can potentially be activated it twice in one go. Also, there are many other cards that either require a land in the graveyard to activate.
Additionally, if you do have the ability to bring cards back from the graveyard you can keep bringing it back and use it as a way of filling up on lands in the order that you want which can potentially save space in your deck that would otherwise be filled with land search cards or just add an extra utility at hand. Better to have it an not need it, yes?
Fetchlands should be eliminated from all formats.
Additional synergy provided with Fetchlands:
- Sacrificing them triggers numerous effects like the revolt clause for Fatal Push, Korvold's sacrifice draw and Gitrog Monster draw
- They go the graveyard, which allows them to be reused with cards like Life from the Loam, Wrenn and Six, Crucible of Worlds or Eternal Witness, among many more.
- They thin your deck. Having a manabase with many Fetches gives you great early game mana consistency while reducing the chance of unnecessary land draws in the late game.
- Though usually a downside, having to pay 1 life can be a benefit in Death's Shadow decks.
- When you apply for your next job as an investment banker, they allow you to present your full portfolio of Zendikar Expedition Fetchlands to prove that you have what it takes to be successful in the business: Rich parents.
Despite the occasional research on much this actually matters, thinning the deck of lands helps with potential future draw statistics. Again, shared by all lands that find other lands such as Evolving Wilds, but a niche benefit.
It was mentioned how they can find lands that offer various kinds of mana colors, but there’s another relevant point to consider: the lands themselves are colorless and have no color pips for mana or costs. Which means you can have them in essentially any commander deck, so a deck in Mardu colors for instance can make use of a Wooded Foothills or a Windswept Heath, despite not having forests.
Thank you Professor, this was incredibly informative to an equally incredibly casual player like me. I din't really see all that value in fetch lands, you hav eopened my eyes!
I've seen them used in a mono red deck, just to thin out the number of remaining lands in the deck, increasing the chance of drawing a needed card later on.
you forgot one very good use of fetchland (also applying to evolving wild)
Trimming your deck.
A Deck of 60 cards, by default have 24 lands and 36 other cards.
Those 24 land are there to make sure you can get your 2-3 first land quickly allowing you to play most of your cards quickly, but those same 20 lands left in the deck once you have your 4 mana on the field often become dead drop (maybe your deck need 7 mana, other deck need 3... but once you have good manabase, going from 10 mana to 11 mana rarely benefit you (in most deck)
So the fetchland alllows you to remove 2 lands from your deck for the price of 1. reducing the risk of drawing a dead land later in the game
One somewhat important factor you didn't touch on was _Deck Thinning._ That is, cracking a fetchland and pulling a land out of your deck reduces the number of further lands that you can draw. Fetches are often used in mono-color decks for exactly this purpose. You can run 23 or 24 lands to get a good turn 1 draw, but then thin out the rest of the deck so you are less likely to draw more lands in the future. Especially good for decks that need 3ish lands every game, but then do not ever want more than that. Reducing the number of dead draws on future turns is a more hidden strength of fetchlands.
I recently purchased 35 fetchlands. Some original onslaught, one or two of each of the secret lair versions, a bunch of foils, some of the new expeditions, some foils and nonfoils from Khans. At the moment the opponent color fetches are quite affordable due to the big reprint, but i fetched a bit of everything :) Pro tip for europeans, or people with access to good marketplaces: All of these are easily recognizable and follow a consistent color sceme, everyone knows how fetchlands work, so language does not matter, so i got good deals on spanish, french, italian and portuguese.
Also you can fetch some utility, like Dryad Arbor, Mistveil Plains, ... Limited options, but if suddenly out of nowhere some big bad creature without trample attacks you for lethal, its kinda sweet to fetch for forest, get Dryad Arbor, and block with that.