Highland Forest MTG Card
2021-02-05 - Number 261
2022-06-10 - Number 896
| Card sets | Released in 2 setsSee all |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Snow Land — Mountain Forest |
Key Takeaways
- Highland Forest offers crucial tempo retention by entering untapped under specific conditions.
- Provides essential mana flexibility, ramping up red and green spells in dual-colored decks.
- Its versatility fits many strategies, making it a worthwhile addition to collections.
Text of card
(: Add or .) Highland Forest enters the battlefield tapped.
"Tread carefully! The last time I walked this path, half the snowdrifts were, in fact, sleeping trolls. I've never run so fast in my life!" —Iskene, Kannah storyteller
Card Pros
Card Advantage: The Highland Forest MTG card’s ability to enter the battlefield untapped if you control two or more other Lands ensures that your mana pool stays diverse without losing tempo. This is especially decisive in formats where speed and efficiency can tip the scales in your favor.
Resource Acceleration: As a two-color land, Highland Forest allows you to tap for either green or red mana, giving you flexibility in casting multi-colored decks. It’s a form of resource acceleration that fine-tunes mana availability, enabling you to play more powerful spells ahead of curve.
Instant Speed: While Highland Forest itself does not operate at instant speed, its inclusion in your deck can support instant-speed plays. Access to both red and green mana can help you react to opponents’ moves during their turns with devastating surprises like instant removals or end-of-turn creatures, keeping you one step ahead.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: One of the downsides of the Highland Forest card in MTG is that it might impose a discard requirement for certain abilities. This can be quite a setback when your hand size is already depleted, potentially causing you to lose key cards prematurely.
Specific Mana Cost: Highland Forest has a color-specific mana cost, tapping for red or green mana. While it’s useful in a dual-colored deck, this characteristic can be a limitation in multicolored decks that require a variety of mana sources beyond these two colors.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: When it comes to land cards, gamers often look for options that provide either low-cost benefits or versatile mana availability. Highland Forest may enter the battlefield tapped, and hence, its mana contribution is delayed. This can be a significant drawback in fast-paced games where tempo plays a vital role.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Highland Forest’s dual functionality as both a land and a mana source for green and red spells makes it an adaptable choice for multicolored decks. Its ability to come into play tapped and provide a mana boost can be pivotal in various gameplay scenarios.
Combo Potential: For any deck that thrives on landfall abilities or other land-based synergies, Highland Forest can play a key role. Its entry on the battlefield can trigger a cascade of effects pivotal for setting up winning combinations.
Meta-Relevance: This card’s usefulness extends to its value in the current meta, especially if there’s a prevalence of green and red decks or the necessity for consistent mana sources. Its intrinsic flexibility in mana generation can help players keep pace with competitive play environments.
How to beat Highland Forest
Highland Forest brings a strategic advantage to the battlefield, much like other dual lands in Magic: The Gathering. As a land card that taps for both red and green mana, it allows players to ramp up their mana base efficiently. However, like all lands, there are a few tactics you can employ to mitigate its impact.
One effective approach to combating Highland Forest is land destruction. Spells such as Field of Ruin can target this land, limiting an opponent’s ability to produce multiple colors of mana. Another way to gain an edge is through the use of land-creature spells. A card like Imprisoned in the Moon transforms a land into a creature with no abilities, disrupting your opponent’s mana flow while they scramble to find a solution. Controlling your opponent’s mana sources can critically restrict their ability to execute more extensive plays and can put them on the back foot.
In summary, while Highland Forest serves as a solid foundation for deck building, incorporating land disruption strategies into your play can diminish its effectiveness, securing you a better position in the game.
Cards like Highland Forest
Highland Forest carves its niche within the world of land cards in Magic: The Gathering. It parallels other dual lands like Woodland Chasm, offering both red and green mana, and sets itself apart with its ability to come into play tapped to provide that much-needed mana boost later. Unlike Highland Forest, Woodland Chasm insists on having a snow requirement to be tapped for either of its dual mana.
Looking at the broader spectrum, we encounter Rugged Highlands. This land also enters the battlefield tapped and offers an initial life point increase, a subtle yet impactful difference. While Highland Forest lacks the life gain feature, it compensates with its Forest card type which is recognized by effects that look for specific land types. Rootbound Crag is another comparable card. Although it provides immediate mana without entering tapped under certain conditions, it doesn’t guarantee the steady mana influx from the get-go like Highland Forest.
Ultimately, Highland Forest offers a reliable mana foundation for decks that rely on red and green spells, balancing the pace and versatility of your mana base in ways distinct from its counterparts. Monitoring the synergy with other cards in your deck is key when picking the right land for your Magic: The Gathering strategies.
Cards similar to Highland Forest by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Highland Forest MTG card by a specific set like Kaldheim and Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate, 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 Highland Forest and other MTG cards:
- eBay
- TCG Player
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
- MTGO Traders Magic Online
See MTG Products
Printings
The Highland Forest Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2021-02-05 and 2022-06-10. Illustrated by Alayna Danner.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2021-02-05 | Kaldheim | KHM | 261 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Alayna Danner | |
| 2 | 2022-06-10 | Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate | CLB | 896 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Alayna Danner |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Highland Forest has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Explorer | Legal |
| Brawl | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Highland Forest card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2021-02-05 | Snow is a supertype, not a card type. It has no rules meaning or function by itself, but spells and abilities may refer to it. |
| 2021-02-05 | Snow isn't a type of mana. If an effect says you may spend mana as though it were any type, you can't pay for {S} using mana that wasn't produced by a snow source. |
| 2021-02-05 | Some cards have additional effects for each {S} spent to cast them. You can cast these spells even if you don't spend any snow mana to cast them; their additional effects simply won't do anything. |
| 2021-02-05 | The Kaldheim set doesn't have any cards with mana costs that include {S}, but some previous sets do. If an effect says such a spell costs less to cast, that reduction doesn't apply to any {S} costs. This is also true for activated abilities that include {S} in their activation costs and effects that reduce those costs. |
| 2021-02-05 | The {S} symbol is a generic mana symbol. It represents a cost that can be paid by one mana that was produced by a snow source. That mana can be any color or colorless. |
