Crash Landing MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Instant
Released	2006-02-03
Set symbol
Set name	Guildpact
Set code	GPT
Number	82
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Darrell Riche

Key Takeaways

Crash Landing can remove flying threats and replace itself if it kills the creature.
The card’s requirement to discard and specific mana cost may limit its use.
Its niche utility against flying creatures offers a strategic edge in certain metas.

Text of card

Target creature with flying loses flying until end of turn. Crash Landing deals damage to that creature equal to the number of Forests you control.

"The other guilds think they're untouchable. It's time we brought them back down to earth." —Ghut Rak, Gruul guildmage

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Crash Landing grants a significant edge by turning a potential threat into a new card for your hand, effectively eliminating an opponent’s flying creature while replenishing your own resources.

Resource Acceleration: By dealing damage to a creature with flying equal to the number of lands you control, this card leverages your land development to potentially handle bigger threats as the game progresses, turning your land plays into potential creature removal.

Instant Speed: The ability to cast Crash Landing at instant speed provides the flexibility to respond to your opponents’ actions during their turn, potentially disrupting their strategy and protecting your own board at a crucial moment.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Crash Landing necessitates the discard of another card upon casting. For players managing their hand strategically, this cost can lead to a significant setback, primarily when the discarded card could have been pivotal for upcoming turns or strategies.

Specific Mana Cost: Requiring both green and generic mana, Crash Landing can be challenging to cast in multi-colored decks that may not always have the necessary mana types available, potentially causing delays or hindering the card’s playability.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a cost requiring three mana, including one green, players might find the card less attractive compared to other options. Especially given that the card targets only creatures with flying, its utility can be limited, making the investment in mana sometimes not worth the payoff, compared to other removal spells in a player’s arsenal.

Reasons to Include Crash Landing in Your Collection

Versatility: Crash Landing offers utility in a variety of green decks. Its ability to target flying creatures, deal damage, and potentially draw you a card renders it useful in numerous scenarios, particularly against decks with a strong airborne presence.

Combo Potential: This card shines when combined with effects that highlight the damage dealt to creatures, like Furnace of Rath, or in decks that reward drawing cards or filling the graveyard. Its utility in creating synergies makes it a compelling choice for intricate deck strategies.

Meta-Relevance: In metas where flying creatures dominate the board, Crash Landing provides a cost-effective removal option. It’s especially relevant in formats where creatures with flying are pivotal to many winning strategies. The chance of replacing itself by drawing a card if the creature is destroyed makes it a particularly savvy inclusion in matches where every card counts.

How to beat Crash Landing

Crash Landing, a once overlooked card in MTG, has recently seen play as a tech choice in certain green sideboards, providing a unique answer to high-flying threats. To successfully navigate this card, players must understand its function – it targets flying creatures, not only dealing damage equivalent to the number of lands you control but also ensuring that if the creature were to perish, the controller gains life equal to the damage dealt.

Combatting Crash Landing involves strategic deck construction and in-game decisions. One approach is to minimize the impact of land-based damage by utilizing flying creatures with toughness greater than the average land count on the battlefield. Additionally, employing hexproof or shroud abilities shields your aerial forces from becoming targets in the first place. Moreover, deploying counter spells or utilizing cards like Veil of Summer can protect flying creatures from being targeted by green spells, thus nullifying Crash Landing’s effect.

In essence, outmaneuvering Crash Landing calls for a blend of proactivity and reactivity, ensuring your creatures soar safely above the potential threats posed by an opponent’s green mana and strategic land plays.

Cards like Crash Landing

Crash Landing is a unique entrant in the realm of defensive spells in Magic the Gathering. It finds its peers in cards like Aeromunculus, which also serves as a flying creature deterrent. However, Crash Landing notches a distinctive utility by dealing damage equivalent to the flying creature’s power and forcing an opponent to discard a card if their creature is destroyed this way – a potential game-swinger not found in Aeromunculus’s straightforward stat enhancement.

Another card in this aerial-defense category is Windstorm. This spell shares the damage-to-flyers aspect, but it does so as a sweeping effect, potentially clearing multiple fliers off the board. Windstorm lacks the secondary effect of card discard, emphasizing raw clearing power over potential hand disruption. Plummets also enters the conversation with its cost-effective creature elimination. Like Crash Landing, it destroys a single flying creature, but it does without Crash Landing’s damage dealing flexibility and card-discard aftermath.

In analyzing these cards closely, Crash Landing holds a strategic position in MTG for its unique combination of air-defense and psychological pressure on the opponent’s hand resources, showcasing its specific advantage within its niche.

Cards similar to Crash Landing by color, type and mana cost

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Crash Landing MTG card by a specific set like Guildpact, 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 Crash Landing and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Crash Landing has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Predh	Legal
Penny	Legal

Rules and information

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