Scabland MTG Card

Scabland facilitates mana consistency, reducing color-based casting issues in your MTG deck. Dual nature offers speed in strategy execution but requires careful hand and life management. While versatile, the card’s high activation cost and life point trade-off can influence deck performance.

Tempest (TMP)
1997-10-14 - Number 325

Vintage Masters (VMA)
2014-06-16 - Number 312

Tempest Remastered (TPR)
2015-05-06 - Number 243

Card sets	Released in 3 setsSee all
Rarity	Rare
Type	Land

Text of card

Scabland comes into play tapped. oc T: Add one colorless mana to your mana pool. oc T: Add o R or o W to your mana pool. Scabland deals 1 damage to you.

Cards like Scabland

Scabland stands out in the Magic: The Gathering landscape as a dual land card that can be incredibly vital for mana fixing in decks requiring both red and white mana. This card is often compared with other “pain lands” such as Karplusan Forest or Brushland, which provide a similar utility. Pain lands, including Scabland, can tap for colorless mana or for one of two colors at the cost of a single life point, offering a flexible mana base for a multitude of deck archetypes.

However, Scabland is distinct from the cycle of lands like Battlefield Forge, which was introduced later in the Magic: The Gathering series. Though both serve similar purposes by providing red or white mana, Battlefield Forge allows its user to choose whether to take the life point loss, unlike Scabland which always inflicts pain when tapped for either colored mana. This makes Battlefield Forge a slightly more forgiving option for players looking to preserve their life total.

Overall, in the realm of MTG when analyzing the benefits and drawbacks of dual lands, Scabland offers a reliable but painful choice for players needing both immediacy and color versatility in their mana base.

Cards similar to Scabland by color, type and mana cost

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Card Pros

Card Advantage: Scabland doesn’t directly provide card draw, but its inclusion in a deck ensures better mana consistency, reducing the likelihood of being stuck without the proper colors to cast your spells. It can indirectly contribute to card advantage as part of a well-tuned mana base.

Resource Acceleration: As a dual land that can tap for both red and white mana, Scabland helps accelerate your resource development by allowing you to access two potential mana sources from a single land. This facilitates a faster execution of your strategy by providing the necessary mana for key spells ahead of schedule.

Instant Speed: While Scabland itself doesn’t operate at instant speed, it supports strategies that revolve around instant speed interaction. By ensuring your mana base supports two colors efficiently, you can confidently keep mana open for instant speed removal, counterspells, or end-of-turn plays which are critical for maintaining tempo and control during the game.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Scabland forces you to make some tough decisions, as it can demand you to discard cards to activate its potential. This can be particularly problematic when your hand size is dwindling and every card counts.

Specific Mana Cost: The Scabland card has a unique mana requirement, utilizing a mix of colorless and red mana which can be a bit restrictive. This nature makes it less versatile and sometimes challenging to fit into multi-color decks that can’t reliably produce the necessary mana types.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Scabland’s activation cost may weigh you down, as there are lands that provide similar benefits without the steep mana investment. Savvy players might opt for alternatives with lower or no activation cost to maintain tempo and resource advantage in the game.

Reasons to Include Scabland in Your Collection

Versatility: Scabland is a land card that has the flexibility to tap for colorless mana or can be tapped for both red and white mana, making it a versatile option for decks running those colors. Its dual nature allows for smoother mana fixing in multicolored decks.

Combo Potential: This card fits into strategies that capitalize on land types. It has the potential to synergize with landfall abilities or any other game mechanics that are triggered by land types, particularly Mountains and Plains, adding depth to your play.

Meta-Relevance: In game environments where mana bases are crucial, Scabland provides a reliable source for two colors of mana. This can be especially relevant in metagames where speed and color consistency are key to overcoming opponents.

How to Beat Scabland

In the landscape of dual lands within Magic: The Gathering, Scabland offers a blend of functionality and tactical consideration. This card provides mana flexibility essential for running a red-white deck, yet it comes with a price – the potential for life loss. Defeating a player utilizing Scabland involves exploiting this drawback. Denying them a comfortable life total by applying consistent pressure can turn Scabland into a liability, rather than an asset.

Consider land disruption techniques such as land destruction or effects that limit land use, forcing your opponent to rely more heavily on Scabland, thus potentially leading to further life loss. In contrast to Scabland, there are lands like Clifftop Retreat which can provide the same mana without the life penalty, though it has its own conditional requirements. Position your tools and plays to pressure life totals and you can make every tap of Scabland a difficult decision for your adversary.

By pushing an aggressive strategy and exploiting the subtle resource management aspects of Magic: The Gathering, Scabland can become a double-edged sword. Skilled players can navigate this to their advantage, ensuring that every point of life lost to Scabland counts towards nearing victory.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Scabland MTG card by a specific set like Tempest and Vintage Masters, 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 Scabland and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Scabland Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 1997-10-14 and 2015-05-06. Illustrated by Andrew Robinson.

#	Released	Name	Code	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	1997-10-14	Tempest	TMP	325	1997	Normal	Black	Andrew Robinson
2	2014-06-16	Vintage Masters	VMA	312	2015	Normal	Black	Andrew Robinson
3	2015-05-06	Tempest Remastered	TPR	243	2015	Normal	Black	Andrew Robinson

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Scabland has restrictions

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