Seaside Citadel MTG Card

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Seaside Citadel doesn’t directly provide card draw, but by ensuring land drops combine three colors of mana, it can indirectly lead to greater card efficiency. This lets players utilize a wider variety of spells in their hand without being limited by color requirements.

Resource Acceleration: While Seaside Citadel enters the battlefield tapped, it compensates by offering mana acceleration in the form of access to three different colors. This enables players to cast spells ahead of the curve by effectively expanding their mana base’s versatility.

Instant Speed: Although Seaside Citadel isn’t played at instant speed, its ability to tap for three different mana types supports the casting of instant speed spells by ensuring that mana requirements are met, regardless of the color needed.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Seaside Citadel does not have a discard requirement itself, playing this card might necessitate holding onto other cards to ensure a balanced mana base, potentially causing a slowdown in your hand if you’re waiting to draw into the right colors.

Specific Mana Cost: Seaside Citadel can be restrictive due to its exact mana output, offering only white, blue, or green mana. This makes it less compatible with decks that also require red or black mana, limiting its versatility in multi-color decks.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Entering the battlefield tapped means you’re essentially paying a mana cost in terms of speed. This delay can be significant, especially compared to other land options that may offer immediate mana access or additional benefits upon entering the battlefield.

Reasons to Include Seaside Citadel in Your Collection

Versatility: Seaside Citadel shines in multicolored decks by ensuring you have the right mana at the right time. Its ability to tap for white, blue, or green mana makes it a must-have for any deck running these colors, allowing for smooth early-game development and seamless casting of key spells.

Combo Potential: This land is ideal for setting up game-winning combos by smoothing mana issues, ensuring the necessary colors are available when you need them. Its inclusion can be the linchpin in executing complex strategies without being hindered by color restrictions.

Meta-Relevance: In a game where the mana base can make or break your strategy, Seaside Citadel holds its ground. It provides consistent color fixing, which is critical in formats such as Commander, where decks tend to run multiple colors and seek efficiency in their mana sources.

How to beat

Seaside Citadel can be a valuable asset for players running multicolor decks in Magic: The Gathering, particularly those that encompass the Bant colors (White, Blue, Green). Its ability to tap for any of these colors without any additional cost makes it a reliable source of mana fixing. However, one strategy for overcoming a deck that utilizes Seaside Citadel is to implement land disruption. Targeted land destruction or cards that restrict the use of nonbasic lands can hinder a player’s ability to harness the Citadel’s full potential. Cards such as Ghost Quarter or Field of Ruin can assist in removing Seaside Citadel from play, thereby disrupting your opponent’s mana base and tempo.

Another approach is to leverage the speed disadvantage that comes with Seaside Citadel entering the battlefield tapped. Aggressive decks can take advantage of this by establishing a strong board presence before the Citadel can be used for mana. By applying pressure early in the game, you may be able to outpace a player reliant on Seaside Citadel, ensuring they won’t have the time to stabilize with their multicolor resources. Thus, through land disruption or rapid assault, there are effective ways to challenge and beat decks that include Seaside Citadel.