Prairie Stream MTG Card
Card sets | Released in 28 setsSee all |
Rarity | Rare |
Type | Land — Plains Island |
Text of card
(: Add or .) Prairie Stream enters the battlefield tapped unless you control two or more basic lands.
The continent of Ondu is a vast plateau crisscrossed by deep trenches and meandering rivers.
Understanding Prairie Stream’s Place in MTG
Prairie Stream has cemented its position in the roster of dual lands available to MTG players, eliciting comparisons with other similar land cards. Reminiscent of the original dual lands like Tundra, Prairie Stream offers both Plains and Island types at no life cost. However, it distinguishes itself with its unique entrance condition; it comes into play tapped unless you control two or more basic lands.
Cards like Prairie Stream
Reflecting on Prairie Stream’s characteristics, its analogy to cards like Glacial Fortress is undeniable. Both lands offer a blue and white mana source, yet there’s a subtle difference in their play conditions. Glacial Fortress requires you to have a Plains or Island to enter untapped, presenting a slightly less restrictive condition compared to Prairie Stream that demands two basic lands for the same effect.
Another relative in the family of dual lands is Hallowed Fountain, which can be played untapped at the expense of 2 life. This cost grants flexibility in mana management at the price of life points, positioning it as a more aggressive option for players who value tempo. Additionally, Sunken Hollow also shares the same land type requisites as Prairie Stream, embodying the trade-off between speed and condition fulfillment.
Examining these comparisons aids players in making informed deck-building choices, positioning Prairie Stream as a reliable option for decks that are less pressured to have immediate mana accessibility.
Cards similar to Prairie Stream by color, type and mana cost
Decks using this card
MTG decks using Prairie Stream. Dig deeper into the strategy of decks, sideboard cards, list ideas and export to play in ARENA or MOL.
# | Name | Format | Archetype | Event |
---|---|---|---|---|
Azorius Control | Gladiator | Sword and Sandals Showdown: EMEA Week 11 2024 | ||
Azorius Tempo | Gladiator | Sword and Sandals Showdown: EMEA Week 13 2024 | ||
Jeskai Control | Gladiator | Sword and Sandals Showdown: EMEA Week 14 2024 | ||
Five-color Combo | Legacy | Painter | Charlotte Legacy League Season 2 Week 1 | |
Decklist | Free form | MO89#CS |
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Prairie Stream enters the battlefield tapped unless you control two or more basic lands. This condition is often easily met, ensuring you maintain a smooth mana base without sacrificing tempo. Furthermore, as part of the land itself, it ensures that your decks have access to both blue and white mana, fitting nicely into control and midrange decks that value consistent land drops.
Resource Acceleration: As a dual land, Prairie Stream accelerates your resources by providing two types of mana. This dual capability is essential for playing a variety of spells from your hand without the need to draw into multiple specific basic lands, keeping your options open and your plays efficient.
Instant Speed: While Prairie Stream does not operate at instant speed itself, it supports your ability to cast crucial instant-speed interaction. By diversifying your mana base, it facilitates the casting of countermagic, removal, or flash creatures critical to disrupting opponents at pivotal moments of the game.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: While Prairie Stream enters the battlefield untapped if you control two or more basic lands, if it’s drawn later in the game when you have few cards in hand, it may not synergize well with strategies that require a full grip of cards, potentially hindering your play options.
Specific Mana Cost: This land is specifically geared towards White-Blue decks, presenting a limitation for multicolored or other monocolor decks that could benefit from flexible mana sources. Players not running both colors may find Prairie Stream an inefficient land choice.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: As a land, Prairie Stream doesn’t have a mana cost, but the requirement to have two or more basic lands can be considered a high “cost” in formats like Modern where land bases are often nonbasic to enable diverse strategies. This makes Prairie Stream less attractive compared to other lands that provide immediate value upon entering the battlefield.
Reasons to Include Prairie Stream in Your Collection
Versatility: Prairie Stream’s dual land status allows it to seamlessly integrate into Blue and White deck strategies. Its ability to tap for either color of mana without entering the battlefield tapped, if you control two or more basic lands, makes it an asset for ensuring a smooth and flexible mana curve.
Combo Potential: As a land with basic land types, Prairie Stream works exceptionally well with cards that search for specific land types, optimizing landfall triggers or enabling domain abilities, which further expands the range of possible deck synergies.
Meta-Relevance: In a game where the mana base can make or break a match, having Prairie Stream in your deck gives you an edge in multi-color decks within the current meta. Its compatibility with fetch lands and other mana fixing capabilities ensures that you can maintain tempo against a wide variety of decks.
How to beat Prairie Stream
Prarie Stream is a unique addition to the land category in Magic: The Gathering, as it belongs to the subset of lands known as “Battle lands” or more formally, “Tango lands.” What sets Prairie Stream apart from basic lands is its capacity to tap for either white or blue mana, provided you control two or more basic lands, at which point it enters the battlefield untapped. Its duality is useful, however, it does come with its limitations.
The card is inherently less threatening than those that alter the flow of the game more aggressively, yet it is pivotal in enabling multi-color decks mainly in formats like Standard, Pioneer, and Commander. To counteract Prairie Stream, you may employ land destruction cards like Ghost Quarter or Field of Ruin to disrupt your opponent’s mana base, especially in the early game where they’re still setting up their land count. Moreover, utilizing aggressive land denial strategies such as Tectonic Edge can slow down decks that rely on non-basic lands like Prairie Stream, giving you a significant tempo advantage.
Overall, understanding the timing and controlling the board can be crucial when playing against decks that include Prairie Stream. A careful strategy of land disruption can throw off your opponent’s pace and give you the upper hand, enabling you to lead the game towards victory.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Prairie Stream MTG card by a specific set like Battle for Zendikar Promos and BFZ Standard Series, 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 Prairie Stream and other MTG cards:
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- eBay
- 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 Prairie Stream Magic the Gathering card was released in 20 different sets between 2015-10-02 and 2024-06-14. Illustrated by 6 different artists.
Show/hide all sets# | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2015-10-02 | Battle for Zendikar Promos | PBFZ | 241p | 2015 | Normal | Black | Adam Paquette | |
2 | 2015-10-02 | BFZ Standard Series | PSS1 | 241 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Titus Lunter | |
3 | 2015-10-02 | Battle for Zendikar | BFZ | 241 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Adam Paquette | |
4 | 2015-10-02 | Battle for Zendikar Promos | PBFZ | 241s | 2015 | Normal | Black | Adam Paquette | |
5 | 2015-10-02 | Zendikar Expeditions | EXP | 1 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Titus Lunter | |
6 | 2019-08-23 | Commander 2019 | C19 | 265 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Adam Paquette | |
7 | 2020-04-17 | Commander 2020 | C20 | 299 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Adam Paquette | |
8 | 2021-07-23 | Forgotten Realms Commander | AFC | 256 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Adam Paquette | |
9 | 2021-11-19 | Crimson Vow Commander | VOC | 179 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Adam Paquette | |
10 | 2022-02-18 | Neon Dynasty Commander | NEC | 175 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Adam Paquette | |
11 | 2022-04-29 | New Capenna Commander | NCC | 421 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Adam Paquette | |
12 | 2022-09-09 | Dominaria United Commander | DMC | 225 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Adam Paquette | |
13 | 2022-10-07 | Warhammer 40,000 Commander | 40K | 290 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Henry Peters | |
14 | 2022-10-07 | Warhammer 40,000 Commander | 40K | 290★ | 2015 | Normal | Black | Henry Peters | |
15 | 2022-11-18 | The Brothers' War Commander | BRC | 193 | 1997 | Normal | Black | Adam Paquette | |
16 | 2023-04-21 | March of the Machine Commander | MOC | 420 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Adam Paquette | |
17 | 2023-06-23 | Tales of Middle-earth Commander | LTC | 324 | 2015 | Normal | Black | David Frasheski | |
18 | 2023-08-04 | Commander Masters | CMM | 1020 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Adam Paquette | |
19 | 2023-10-13 | Doctor Who | WHO | 886 | 2015 | Normal | Black | JB Casacop | |
20 | 2023-10-13 | Doctor Who | WHO | 295 | 2015 | Normal | Black | JB Casacop | |
21 | 2023-10-13 | Doctor Who | WHO | 1099 | 2015 | Normal | Black | JB Casacop | |
22 | 2023-10-13 | Doctor Who | WHO | 508 | 2015 | Normal | Black | JB Casacop | |
23 | 2024-02-09 | Murders at Karlov Manor Commander | MKC | 281 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Adam Paquette | |
24 | 2024-03-08 | Fallout | PIP | 280 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Marina Ortega Lorente | |
25 | 2024-03-08 | Fallout | PIP | 1031 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Marina Ortega Lorente | |
26 | 2024-03-08 | Fallout | PIP | 808 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Marina Ortega Lorente | |
27 | 2024-03-08 | Fallout | PIP | 503 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Marina Ortega Lorente | |
28 | 2024-06-14 | Modern Horizons 3 Commander | M3C | 365 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Adam Paquette |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Prairie Stream has restrictions
Format | Legality |
---|---|
Historicbrawl | Legal |
Commander | Legal |
Historic | Legal |
Legacy | Legal |
Modern | Legal |
Oathbreaker | Legal |
Vintage | Legal |
Duel | Legal |
Explorer | Legal |
Gladiator | Legal |
Pioneer | Legal |
Timeless | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Prairie Stream card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
Date | Text |
---|---|
2015-08-25 | Even though these lands have basic land types, they are not basic lands because "basic" doesn't appear on their type line. Notably, controlling two or more of them won't allow others to enter the battlefield untapped. |
2015-08-25 | However, because these cards have basic land types, effects that specify a basic land type without also specifying that the land be basic can affect them. For example, a spell or ability that reads "Destroy target Forest" can target Canopy Vista, while one that reads "Destroy target basic Forest" cannot. |
2015-08-25 | If one of these lands enters the battlefield at the same time as any number of basic lands, those other lands are not counted when determining if this land enters the battlefield tapped or untapped. |