Arid Mesa MTG Card
2009-10-02 - Number 211
2015-10-02 - Number 24
2017-03-17 - Number 229
2020-05-29 - Number 4
2020-09-25 - Number 9
2021-06-18 - Number 436
2021-06-18 - Number 475
2021-06-18 - Number 244
2021-06-19 - Number 244s
2002-06-24 - Number 91405
| Card sets | Released in 10 setsSee all |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Type | Land |
Text of card
, Pay 1 life, Sacrifice Arid Mesa: Search your library for a Mountain or Plains card and put it onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library.
Similar Cards to Arid Mesa
Arid Mesa is an influential land card in Magic: The Gathering that stands out among its peers in the fetch land category. It has the ability to swap itself for a Mountain or Plains card from your deck, which can be either tapped or untapped. This particular feature is what makes Arid Mesa incredibly valuable for mana fixing, compared to similar cards.
Comparable to Arid Mesa we have cards like Flooded Strand. Both offer the fetching mechanic but Flooded Strand provides access to Islands and Plains which is different in terms of deck synergy. Meanwhile, Wooded Foothills allows players to find a Forest or Mountain, which is great for green-based strategies unlike Arid Mesa’s focus on red or white lands.
On the other hand, Windswept Heath fetches Plains or Forests, highlighting the diversity in fetch lands matching various deck requirements. Arid Mesa is noteworthy when it comes to mana-base efficiency and deck thinning, which is essential for competitive play. Although each fetch land serves a similar purpose, it’s the specific land types accessed by Arid Mesa that fine-tune the blend of a red or white deck, impacting game strategy significantly.
Cards similar to Arid Mesa by color, type and mana cost
Decks using this card
MTG decks using Arid Mesa. Dig deeper into the strategy of decks, sideboard cards, list ideas and export to play in ARENA or MOL.
| # | Name | Format | Archetype | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Boros Burn | Modern | Boros Burn | Modern Preliminary 2024-05-07 (1) |
 | Abzan Stoneblade | Legacy | Abzan Stoneblade | Legacy League 2024-05-07 |
 | Indomitable Creativity | Modern | Indomitable Creativity | Modern League 2024-05-06 |
 | Gruul Aggro | Modern | Gruul Aggro | Modern Challenge 64 2024-05-06 |
| Temur Prowess | Modern | Temur Prowess | Modern Challenge 64 2024-05-06 |
| Domain Zoo | Modern | Domain Zoo | Modern Challenge 64 2024-05-06 |
| Generic Ragavan | Modern | Generic Ragavan | Modern Preliminary 2024-05-07 |
 | Boros Midrange | Modern | Boros Midrange | Modern Preliminary 2024-05-06 |
| Naya Midrange | Modern | Naya Midrange | Modern League 2024-05-07 |
| Jeskai Prowess | Modern | Jeskai Prowess | Modern Challenge 64 2024-05-06 |
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Arid Mesa facilitates efficient deck thinning, effectively increasing the likelihood of drawing into more impactful cards as the game progresses. This subtle form of card advantage helps streamline your deck’s performance over time.
Resource Acceleration: By being a fetchland, Arid Mesa can immediately tap for mana indirectly by searching for an untapped shock land. This accelerates your resources by giving you access to the mana you need sooner, and can crucially set up your board state faster than many other lands.
Instant Speed: The ability to fetch for a land at instant speed provides a strategic advantage. Players can wait until the end of an opponent’s turn to crack Arid Mesa, keeping their options open and maintaining the element of surprise. This can be especially useful in keeping opponents guessing your next move, while securing the mana or color fixing you require.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: While Arid Mesa allows you to search for a Mountain or Plains card, it also requires you to shuffle your library, potentially disrupting any known card orders and losing track of your deck’s composition. This can be counterproductive if you’ve been setting up your deck through scrying or other methods.
Specific Mana Cost: Fetch lands like Arid Mesa come into play untapped, but they require a specific mana investment up front. To use its ability, you need to pay one life, which can be consequential in tight game situations where your life total is a crucial resource.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: While the one life payment might seem nominal, in the context of playing against fast and aggressive decks, that life can make a significant difference. Moreover, as a land, Arid Mesa doesn’t add mana to your pool by itself. Instead, it switches out for another land, which enters the battlefield tapped, meaning it doesn’t immediately advance your board state like other lands or mana sources could.
Reasons to Include Arid Mesa in Your Collection
Versatility: Arid Mesa offers flexibility in deck building, serving as a perfect land choice in formats like Modern and Legacy where mana-fixing is critical. Access to the colors you need at the right time can be game-deciding.
Combo Potential: This card can help enable powerful landfall abilities or help assemble the perfect mana base for a game-winning combination of spells. It’s a sought-after piece for players who enjoy crafting intricate combos in their gameplay.
Meta-Relevance: In a rapidly changing game metagame, Arid Mesa holds its ground by providing consistent mana stability. Players will find it highly beneficial against a variety of popular strategies, maintaining its longevity as an asset in competitive play.
How to beat Arid Mesa
Arid Mesa is a potent tool in a player’s arsenal, as it allows them to search their library for a particular land card, ensuring land drops and fixing their mana. To counteract the advantages provided by Arid Mesa, consider implementing strategies that impede land searches. Cards like Aven Mindcensor limits the range of search to the top four cards of a player’s library, making Arid Mesa less effective. Similarly, Leonin Arbiter requires players to pay an additional cost to search their library, which can disrupt the tempo of the game for the user of Arid Mesa.
Another angle of approach is land destruction. While land destruction cards are generally frowned upon in some playgroups, they serve as a practical response to lands like Arid Mesa. Crucible of Worlds paired with a card like Ghost Quarter could continually target the lands fetched by Arid Mesa, depleting the opponent’s valuable land resources over time. Blood Moon is another strong contender, which can entirely neutralize Arid Mesa’s effect by turning nonbasic lands into basic Mountains, thus stripping away its utility.
Collaborating effective land control and disruption elements into your deck can provide a solid strategy against Arid Mesa, diminishing the card’s influence on the game and putting you at an advantage.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Arid Mesa MTG card by a specific set like Magic Online Promos and Zendikar, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.
For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.
Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.
Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Arid Mesa and other MTG cards:
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- eBay
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
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Printings
The Arid Mesa Magic the Gathering card was released in 8 different sets between 2009-10-02 and 2021-06-19. Illustrated by 4 different artists.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Magic Online Promos | PRM | 91405 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Raymond Swanland | ||
| 2 | 2009-10-02 | Zendikar | ZEN | 211 | 2003 | Normal | Black | Raymond Swanland | |
| 3 | 2015-10-02 | Zendikar Expeditions | EXP | 24 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Ryan Yee | |
| 4 | 2017-03-17 | Modern Masters 2017 | MM3 | 229 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Raymond Swanland | |
| 5 | 2020-05-29 | Secret Lair: Ultimate Edition | SLU | 4 | 2015 | Normal | Black | John Avon | |
| 6 | 2020-09-25 | Zendikar Rising Expeditions | ZNE | 9 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Adam Paquette | |
| 7 | 2021-06-18 | Modern Horizons 2 | MH2 | 436 | 1997 | Normal | Black | Raymond Swanland | |
| 8 | 2021-06-18 | Modern Horizons 2 | MH2 | 475 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Raymond Swanland | |
| 9 | 2021-06-18 | Modern Horizons 2 | MH2 | 244 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Raymond Swanland | |
| 10 | 2021-06-19 | Modern Horizons 2 Promos | PMH2 | 244s | 2015 | Normal | Black | Raymond Swanland |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Arid Mesa has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |