Coral Atoll MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 3 setsSee all
RarityUncommon
TypeLand

Key Takeaways

  1. Coral Atoll enables card advantage and mana flexibility, but comes into play tapped.
  2. The land’s dual mana source is pivotal in decks requiring blue or colorless mana.
  3. Despite its versatility, Coral Atoll can disrupt tempo with its required island bounce.

Text of card

Coral Atoll comes into play tapped. When Coral Atoll comes into play, return an untapped island you control to owner's hand or bury Coral Atoll. oc T: Add o U and one colorless mana to your mana pool.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Coral Atoll not only taps for mana but also allows you to bounce a basic Island back to your hand. This interaction can be leveraged for various benefits such as replaying lands that have enter-the-battlefield effects or simply ensuring you make a land drop each turn.

Resource Acceleration: This land is a dual mana source, providing both blue and colorless mana, which is a boost in manabase flexibility and can lead to more efficient turns. It can be particularly advantageous in decks that are heavy in blue spells or those that require a splash of colorless mana.

Instant Speed: While Coral Atoll itself doesn’t operate at instant speed, it facilitates playing spells at instant speed by smoothing out your mana curve. Having access to additional mana opens the door for instant-speed interactions, making it easier to hold up the necessary mana for counterspells or other instant-speed tricks while still progressing your own game state.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Any player using Coral Atoll must be prepared to deal with the initial set back of sacrificing an untapped Island. This can hinder your momentum, especially if you’re aiming to maintain tempo in the early stages of the game. It’s a costly affair when you’re forced to part with such a crucial resource so early on.

Specific Mana Cost: Coral Atoll’s dependency on blue mana makes it less versatile. Decks not heavily invested in blue may find it challenging to justify including a land that could potentially disrupt their mana curve or fail to provide the needed color at a crucial moment.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: When it comes down to the return on investment, Coral Atoll lags behind in the race for efficiency. While it does provide one colorless and one blue mana, the land comes into play tapped. This delay, coupled with the land requirement to sacrifice an Island, often means that there are other land options that could propel your game forward without such a steep initial cost.


Reasons to Include Coral Atoll in Your Collection

Versatility: Coral Atoll is a land card that offers crucial color fixing in Commander and other casual formats. It can serve as an additional blue or green mana source, making it a functional pick for multi-colored decks.

Combo Potential: For decks that thrive on landfall abilities or incorporate untap land mechanics, Coral Atoll can be an integral part. It can be bounced back to your hand to be replayed, triggering landfall multiple times or untapped to generate extra mana in a single turn with the help of other cards.

Meta-Relevance: In a game where the landscape is constantly evolving, this card may become more valuable when the meta shifts towards strategies that leverage the benefits of flexible mana bases or capitalize on land-based combos.


How to beat Coral Atoll Mtg Card

Coral Atoll is a niche land card in Magic: The Gathering that can be quite a puzzle to tackle. It taps for both blue and colorless mana, offering a ramp and fixing solution for decks that need it. However, it comes into play tapped and requires you to return an untapped island you control to its owner’s hand, which can set back your board development if not played strategically.

To effectively beat Coral Atoll, ensure your deck has land destruction or cards that can deny the untap phase like Stasis. Instant-speed land removal like Ghost Quarter can disrupt your opponent’s mana base after they’ve returned an island to their hand. This move results in a loss of land without the benefit of extra mana from Coral Atoll.

Additionally, using creature-based strategies to apply pressure can be effective. Since Coral Atoll delays the player’s development, aggressive decks that quickly establish a board presence can capitalize on this tempo loss. Aim to be ahead on the board before Coral Atoll becomes a significant factor.

Overall, the key to beating Coral Atoll rests in disrupting the land itself or exploiting the tempo loss it imposes on the user. Adapt your deck to employ these tactics, and you’ll find yourself navigating this unique card like a seasoned sailor through treacherous waters.


Cards like Coral Atoll

Coral Atoll is an intriguing land card in Magic: The Gathering, sharing some similarities with other lands that tap for two mana of different colors. Cards like Izzet Boilerworks and Azorius Chancery also return a land to the player’s hand upon entering the battlefield — a trait they have in common with Coral Atoll. However, Coral Atoll specifically caters to blue and green color combinations, producing both blue and green mana. This is especially useful in decks that are heavy on these colors and need the mana acceleration that Coral Atoll provides.

Another comparable land is Simic Growth Chamber which matches Coral Atoll’s output of blue and green mana. The significant difference lies within their interactions with other cards and strategies. While Coral Atoll can benefit from the untap land mechanics prevalent in blue and green cards, Simic Growth Chamber does not have the Atoll’s requirement to tap itself when bringing a land back to hand. This makes Simic Growth Chamber a potentially faster option in a deck built for rapid mana production.

Ultimately, Coral Atoll stands out as a dual land choice for players desiring that specific color pairing of blue and green, enabling varied strategies that hinge on land retrieval and mana flexibility within Magic: The Gathering.

Izzet Boilerworks - MTG Card versions
Azorius Chancery - MTG Card versions
Simic Growth Chamber - MTG Card versions
Izzet Boilerworks - Guildpact (GPT)
Azorius Chancery - Dissension (DIS)
Simic Growth Chamber - Dissension (DIS)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Coral Atoll MTG card by a specific set like Visions and Commander 2014, 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 Coral Atoll and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Coral Atoll Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 1997-02-03 and 2020-11-20. Illustrated by John Avon.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
11997-02-03VisionsVIS 1601997normalblackJohn Avon
22014-11-07Commander 2014C14 2872015normalblackJohn Avon
32020-11-20Commander LegendsCMR 4802015normalblackJohn Avon

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Coral Atoll has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PremodernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Coral Atoll card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

DateText
2006-02-01 This has a triggered ability when it enters the battlefield, not a replacement effect, as previously worded.

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