Wasteland MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 21 setsSee all
RarityUncommon
TypeLand

Key Takeaways

  1. Wasteland offers tactful card advantage by disrupting opponents’ mana bases without costing you resources.
  2. Activating Wasteland’s instant speed ability decisively can transform the tide of a game.
  3. Though powerful, using Wasteland requires careful mana management to avoid self-hindrance.

Text of card

oc T: Add one colorless mana to your mana pool. oc T, Sacrifice Wasteland: Destroy target nonbasic land.

"The land promises nothing and keeps its promise." —Oracle *en*-Vec


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Wasteland edges out in a subtle, yet impactful form of card advantage during gameplay. By demolishing a land, it disrupts your opponent’s resources while maintaining yours. This can translate to a lead in available mana or prevent your opponent from executing their strategy, effectively causing them to fall behind.

Resource Acceleration: While Wasteland doesn’t directly accelerate your resources, it efficiently impedes your opponent’s. This relative acceleration can equate to a significant advantage, as it allows you to operate on more mana than your adversary – a crucial aspect in the strategic depth of the game.

Instant Speed: The capacity to destroy lands at instant speed is what truly defines Wasteland’s versatility. It permits you to wait until the most opportune moment to disrupt your opponent’s plans, such as in response to them tapping out or when they attempt a critical land-dependent play.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Navigating its strategic use can sometimes backfire, especially in decks that do not readily benefit from land destruction or where sacrificing crucial mana sources could hinder your own gameplay.

Specific Mana Cost: Although Wasteland does not require a specific type of mana to activate, the necessity for tapping it means potentially foregoing mana that could be used for other spells or abilities in that turn.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Despite being a land card with no mana cost to play, activating Wasteland’s ability comes at the opportunity cost of utilizing the land for mana production instead. In some game scenarios, this might not be the most efficient use of your land slot.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Wasteland offers the unique ability to destroy nonbasic lands, which can be pivotal across various formats. Whether you’re disrupting a multi-colored mana base or taking out a land with powerful abilities, Wasteland seamlessly integrates into multiple deck types to keep your opponents on their toes.

Combo Potential: This card’s simple yet effective land destruction can be a key component in land denial strategies, combining with cards like Crucible of Worlds to repeatedly control your opponent’s land plays or with Life from the Loam for recurring removal.

Meta-Relevance: In a landscape where strong nonbasic lands often dictate the pace of the game, Wasteland retains relevance by offering a straightforward answer to problematic lands. As long as there are decks that heavily rely on such lands, Wasteland will continue to be an instrumental part of the competitive scene.


How to beat

The Wasteland card remains a formidable player in Magic: The Gathering, capable of disrupting your opponent’s mana base by destroying nonbasic lands. To successfully navigate around Wasteland’s threat, one strategy is running more basic lands in your deck to ensure a stable mana foundation.

Another approach involves utilizing land cards that can regenerate or return from your graveyard to the battlefield. Cards like Life from the Loam can recover destroyed lands and help mitigate Wasteland’s impact on your game plan. Tools like Pithing Needle can prevent Wasteland’s activated ability, allowing you to preserve your crucial lands.

Furthermore, counterplay cards that protect your lands or counter target abilities can offer a reprieve from Wasteland’s grasp. Swiftfoot Boots or Leyline of Sanctity grant your permanents hexproof, hence safeguarding your land assets. With careful deck building and an eye on land protection strategies, players can overcome the disruption Wasteland poses and maintain the flow of their game.


Cards like Wasteland

Wasteland, a formidable land card in Magic: The Gathering, offers players the unique ability to destroy nonbasic lands. It’s often measured against Strip Mine, a card that shares the same land-destruction capability but lacks the nonbasic land restriction. Strip Mine can target any land type, presenting a wider range of disruptions against an opponent’s mana base.

Another notable parallel is Ghost Quarter, which also serves as a means of land disruption. While Ghost Quarter doesn’t come with the nonbasic land limitation, it does allow the affected player to replace the destroyed land with a basic land from their deck, thereby mitigating the disruption to some extent, something that neither Wasteland nor Strip Mine permit.

Tectonic Edge is yet another card that stands in comparison. It destroys nonbasic lands much like Wasteland, but with the prerequisite that the opponent must control at least four lands. This condition restricts its early game impact compared to Wasteland’s immediate potential.

Assessing each card’s strategic value, Wasteland offers a balanced mix of power and precision, allowing players to disrupt complex mana bases without over-empowering the land-destruction strategy. It holds a prime position among land disruption techniques in Magic: The Gathering and remains a powerful tool for controlling the pace and resources of the game.

Strip Mine - MTG Card versions
Ghost Quarter - MTG Card versions
Tectonic Edge - MTG Card versions
Strip Mine - Antiquities (ATQ)
Ghost Quarter - Dissension (DIS)
Tectonic Edge - Worldwake (WWK)

Cards similar to Wasteland by color, type and mana cost

Mishra's Factory - MTG Card versions
Griffin Canyon - MTG Card versions
Ice Floe - MTG Card versions
Ghost Town - MTG Card versions
City of Brass - MTG Card versions
Bloodstained Mire - MTG Card versions
Zoetic Cavern - MTG Card versions
Grixis Panorama - MTG Card versions
Rupture Spire - MTG Card versions
Terramorphic Expanse - MTG Card versions
Tectonic Edge - MTG Card versions
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx - MTG Card versions
Buried Ruin - MTG Card versions
Eldrazi Temple - MTG Card versions
Maze of Ith - MTG Card versions
Homeward Path - MTG Card versions
Arid Mesa - MTG Card versions
Field of Ruin - MTG Card versions
Arcane Lighthouse - MTG Card versions
Forge of Heroes - MTG Card versions
Mishra's Factory - Dominaria Remastered (DMR)
Griffin Canyon - Visions (VIS)
Ice Floe - Fifth Edition (5ED)
Ghost Town - Tempest (TMP)
City of Brass - World Championship Decks 2002 (WC02)
Bloodstained Mire - World Championship Decks 2003 (WC03)
Zoetic Cavern - Future Sight (FUT)
Grixis Panorama - Commander 2013 (C13)
Rupture Spire - Magic Online Theme Decks (TD0)
Terramorphic Expanse - Commander 2018 (C18)
Tectonic Edge - Zendikar Expeditions (EXP)
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx - Theros (THS)
Buried Ruin - Commander 2014 (C14)
Eldrazi Temple - Duel Decks: Zendikar vs. Eldrazi (DDP)
Maze of Ith - Eternal Masters (EMA)
Homeward Path - Judge Gift Cards 2017 (J17)
Arid Mesa - Modern Masters 2017 (MM3)
Field of Ruin - Innistrad: Midnight Hunt (MID)
Arcane Lighthouse - Commander Anthology Volume II (CM2)
Forge of Heroes - Commander 2018 (C18)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Wasteland MTG card by a specific set like Tempest and World Championship Decks 1998, 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 Wasteland and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Wasteland Magic the Gathering card was released in 14 different sets between 1997-10-14 and 2024-03-08. Illustrated by 10 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
11997-10-14TempestTMP 3301997normalblackUna Fricker
21998-08-12World Championship Decks 1998WC98 rb330sb1997normalgoldUna Fricker
31998-08-12World Championship Decks 1998WC98 br3301997normalgoldUna Fricker
41999-08-04World Championship Decks 1999WC99 js3301997normalgoldUna Fricker
51999-08-04World Championship Decks 1999WC99 mlp3301997normalgoldUna Fricker
62001-01-02Magic Player Rewards 2001MPR 11997normalblackUna Fricker
72002-06-24Magic Online PromosPRM 368772003normalblackCarl Critchlow
82002-06-24Magic Online PromosPRM 558742015normalblackSteven Belledin
92010-01-01Judge Gift Cards 2010G10 82003normalblackCarl Critchlow
102011-01-02Legacy ChampionshipOLGC 2021A2015normalblackMark Tedin
112011-01-02Legacy ChampionshipOLGC 20132003normalblackSteven Belledin
122015-05-06Tempest RemasteredTPR 2492015normalblackUna Fricker
132015-10-02Zendikar ExpeditionsEXP 452015normalblackWilliam Wu
142016-06-10Eternal MastersEMA 2482015normalblackEytan Zana
152019-12-02Secret Lair DropSLD 1782015normalblackMark Poole
162020-09-25Zendikar Rising ExpeditionsZNE 302015normalblackAdam Paquette
172023-06-23Tales of Middle-earth CommanderLTC 4062015normalborderlessHristo D. Chukov
182023-06-23Tales of Middle-earth CommanderLTC 3762015normalborderlessHristo D. Chukov
192023-06-23Tales of Middle-earth CommanderLTC 406z2015normalborderlessHristo D. Chukov
202024-03-08FalloutPIP 8892015normalborderlessAKQA
212024-03-08FalloutPIP 3612015normalborderlessAKQA

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Wasteland has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PremodernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelBanned
PredhLegal

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