Riftstone Portal MTG Card


Riftstone Portal - Judgment
RarityUncommon
TypeLand
Released2002-05-27
Set symbol
Set nameJudgment
Set codeJUD
Number143
Frame1997
Layoutnormal
Borderblack
Illustred byDon Hazeltine

Key Takeaways

  1. Always useful, Riftstone Portal provides a mana edge from the graveyard without occupying field or hand space.
  2. Enables mana generation of green or white from any land, aiding in mana acceleration and deck consistency.
  3. Facilitates instant-speed spell casting by improving mana availability, allowing for flexible gameplay.

Text of card

oc T: Add one colorless mana to your mana pool. As long as Riftstone Portal is in your graveyard, lands you control have "oc T: Add o G or o W to your mana pool."


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Riftstone Portal remains useful even from the graveyard, providing a consistent mana advantage without taking up valuable space on the field or in hand.

Resource Acceleration: Once in the graveyard, this card ensures every land you tap for mana can produce green or white mana, effectively accelerating your resource access and aiding in color fixing.

Instant Speed: While not an instant itself, Riftstone Portal enables the casting of instant-speed spells by smoothing out mana production, ensuring you’re able to react swiftly to the changing battlefield.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Riftstone Portal’s effectiveness is conditional upon being in the graveyard, which necessitates a discard action or other methods to get it out of your hand or library. This requirement can be detrimental in situations where you’re unable to freely dispose of cards.

Specific Mana Cost: While the Portal facilitates mana fixing, it only assists in generating green and white mana. Decks not specifically utilizing those colors may find the card to be of little benefit, thereby potentially clogging up a deck slot that could be used for more pertinent cards.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Despite its undeniable utility for forest and plains synergy, Riftstone Portal can be seen as having a high opportunity cost – lands generally don’t provide additional effects, and including it means one fewer basic land or land with a more immediately impactful ability.


Reasons to Include Riftstone Portal in Your Collection

Versatility: Riftstone Portal offers a unique aspect to mana bases allowing decks to tap into both green and white mana even when it’s in the graveyard. This fits seamlessly into decks that utilize land interaction or graveyard mechanics, expanding deck-building options and resource access.

Combo Potential: Players looking to capitalize on land synergies will find Riftstone Portal a key piece, particularly in Life from the Loam decks or other graveyard-centric strategies. Its ability to potentially unlock mana from lands that would otherwise produce colorless, such as utility lands, makes it an enabler for high-impact plays.

Meta-Relevance: In environments where land destruction or graveyard strategies are prevalent, Riftstone Portal maintains its efficacy. It serves as a resilient mana source that can operate from an area of the game often overlooked by opponents, which aligns well with current MTG gameplay dynamics.


How to beat

Riftstone Portal is a unique land card in Magic: The Gathering that enhances mana generation by allowing graveyard-based abilities. To effectively counter this card, players should focus on strategies that inhibit graveyard interactions. Utilizing cards like Rest in Peace or Leyline of the Void can negate the benefits of Riftstone Portal by removing its graveyard activation capability. Additionally, direct land destruction cards, such as Ghost Quarter, enable you to remove the portal before it can influence the game significantly.

Managing opposing graveyards is crucial when facing decks that include Riftstone Portal. Cards like Scavenging Ooze not only disrupt graveyard synergy but also place pressure on your opponent by becoming a larger threat on the board. Players should be proactive in maintaining a balanced board state, where the added value Riftstone Portal offers is minimized. It’s about timing and inhibiting your opponent’s ability to utilize their resources effectively. When played right, keeping the Riftstone Portal in check can swing the match in your favor.


Cards like Riftstone Portal

Riftstone Portal is a unique land card in Magic: The Gathering that not only taps for colorless mana but also has the distinctive ability to enable mana fixing from the graveyard. Its closest relatives in terms of land cards with graveyard synergy include the likes of Petrified Field, which can return other land cards from the graveyard to your hand. While Petrified Field doesn’t provide mana flexibility like Riftstone Portal, it can help recover valuable lands.

Another related card is Crop Rotation, which allows the swapping of one land for another, crucial for fetching utility lands like Riftstone Portal. Where Rift Rotation offers an immediate land replacement, Riftstone Portal takes a longer-term view on mana stability. And then there’s Life from the Loam; although it’s a dredge card, it serves a similar purpose in recurring lands from the graveyard, yet lacks the seamless mana filtering provided by Riftstone Portal when it resides amongst the discarded.

When comparing these elements, Riftstone Portal occupies a significant niche for graveyard-based decks that need consistent access to multiple colors of mana. Its utility in enabling diverse mana options from the graveyard solidifies its place within land card strategies.

Petrified Field - MTG Card versions
Crop Rotation - MTG Card versions
Life from the Loam - MTG Card versions
Petrified Field - Odyssey (ODY)
Crop Rotation - Urza's Legacy (ULG)
Life from the Loam - Ravnica: City of Guilds (RAV)

Cards similar to Riftstone Portal by color, type and mana cost

Savannah - MTG Card versions
Brushland - MTG Card versions
Vec Townships - MTG Card versions
Elfhame Palace - MTG Card versions
Nantuko Monastery - MTG Card versions
Temple Garden - MTG Card versions
Overgrown Farmland - MTG Card versions
Branchloft Pathway // Boulderloft Pathway - MTG Card versions
Temple of Plenty - MTG Card versions
Vitu-Ghazi, the City-Tree - MTG Card versions
Horizon Canopy - MTG Card versions
Graypelt Refuge - MTG Card versions
Sunpetal Grove - MTG Card versions
Selesnya Sanctuary - MTG Card versions
Selesnya Guildgate - MTG Card versions
Blossoming Sands - MTG Card versions
Stirring Wildwood - MTG Card versions
Canopy Vista - MTG Card versions
Saltcrusted Steppe - MTG Card versions
Tranquil Expanse - MTG Card versions
Savannah - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Brushland - Tales of Middle-earth Commander (LTC)
Vec Townships - Battle Royale Box Set (BRB)
Elfhame Palace - Magic Online Theme Decks (TD0)
Nantuko Monastery - Dominaria Remastered (DMR)
Temple Garden - Unfinity (UNF)
Overgrown Farmland - Doctor Who (WHO)
Branchloft Pathway // Boulderloft Pathway - The List (PLST)
Temple of Plenty - Wilds of Eldraine Commander (WOC)
Vitu-Ghazi, the City-Tree - Wilds of Eldraine Commander (WOC)
Horizon Canopy - Doctor Who (WHO)
Graypelt Refuge - Starter Commander Decks (SCD)
Sunpetal Grove - Fallout (PIP)
Selesnya Sanctuary - Murders at Karlov Manor Commander (MKC)
Selesnya Guildgate - Ravnica Remastered (RVR)
Blossoming Sands - Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty (NEO)
Stirring Wildwood - Ultimate Masters (UMA)
Canopy Vista - Fallout (PIP)
Saltcrusted Steppe - Commander 2017 (C17)
Tranquil Expanse - Commander 2018 (C18)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Riftstone Portal MTG card by a specific set like Judgment, 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 Riftstone Portal and other MTG cards:

Continue exploring other sealed products in Amazon
See Magic products

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Riftstone Portal has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PremodernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal

Recent MTG decks

Continue exploring other format decks
More decks