Swiftwater Cliffs MTG Card
2014-09-26 - Number 243
2015-01-23 - Number 172
2015-11-13 - Number 310
2016-06-10 - Number 245
2016-11-11 - Number 330
2017-03-31 - Number 27
2017-08-25 - Number 283
2018-08-09 - Number 284
2019-07-12 - Number 252
2019-08-23 - Number 279
2019-11-07 - Number 1689
2020-04-24 - Number 255
2020-07-03 - Number 251
2022-02-18 - Number 277
2022-10-07 - Number 296★
2022-10-07 - Number 296
2023-04-21 - Number 273
2020-09-26 - Number C18-284
| Card sets | Released in 18 setsSee all |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Land |
Text of card
Swiftwater Cliffs enters the battlefield tapped. When Swiftwater Cliffs enters the battlefield, you gain 1 life. : Add or to your mana pool.
Cards like Swiftwater Cliffs
Swiftwater Cliffs joins the ranks of dual lands in Magic: The Gathering with a twist that benefits the life total. It stands alongside fellow gain lands from the Khans of Tarkir set, such as Blossoming Sands or Scoured Barrens, which provide an immediate life boost upon entering the battlefield. While Swiftwater Cliffs offers both red and blue mana, these alternatives cater to other color combinations like green-white and white-black respectively.
Comparatively, Swiftwater Cliffs may remind players of the iconic Izzet Boilerworks, which also produces red and blue mana. However, the Boilerworks bounces a land back to the owner’s hand, allowing for potential reuse of other lands with entering the battlefield effects. This mechanic is absent in Swiftwater Cliffs, trading off the bounce for a simpler, more straightforward ability to gain life. Lastly, the Ravnica dual land, Steam Vents, may come to mind given its mana flexibility without entering the battlefield tapped, but at the expense of life unless you choose to have it come into play tapped.
Considering the trade-offs between mana efficiency, life gain, and board presence, Swiftwater Cliffs holds its own as a reliable land card in slower decks or those optimizing for life total, without the immediate need for untapped dual mana sources.
Cards similar to Swiftwater Cliffs by color, type and mana cost
Decks using this card
MTG decks using Swiftwater Cliffs. Dig deeper into the strategy of decks, sideboard cards, list ideas and export to play in ARENA or MOL.
| # | Name | Format | Archetype | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Calibrated Blast | Modern | Calibrated Blast | Modern Preliminary 2024-04-23 (1) |
 | Izzet Control | Legacy | Charlotte Legacy League Season 4 Week 12 | |
 | Decklist | Free form | 88#CS | |
 | UR | Pauper | Pauper Challenge 32 2023-12-02 (1) | |
 | Five-color Midrange | Free form | Standard Pauper Tournament Feb 2024 | |
 | Grixis Control | Free form | Standard Pauper Tournament Feb 2024 | |
 | Izzet Aggro | Standard | Izzet Aggro | Japan Standard Cup: Murders at Karlov Manor |
 | Turbo Fog | Pauper | Turbo Fog | Pauper League 2024-01-27 |
| Rogue Decklists | Pauper | Nacional Pauper 2023 |
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Swiftwater Cliffs helps stabilize your hand by replacing itself as a land card when you’re managing your resources. It ensures that you maintain parity in the number of cards in your hand, which is vital to sustained control over the course of a match.
Resource Acceleration: Entering the battlefield tapped, Swiftwater Cliffs may seem slow, but it essentially combines the functions of two basic lands. By having access to both red and blue mana from a single land, it accelerates your resource availability, allowing for a smoother and more flexible game plan.
Instant Speed: While Swiftwater Cliffs does not operate at instant speed, its immediate life gain upon entering the battlefield can be a subtle yet pivotal advantage. This small life boost can occur at a crucial moment, putting you just out of reach of aggressive strategies and buying you the time needed to deploy your strategy effectively.
Card Cons
Unsuitable for Fast Paced Decks: Swiftwater Cliffs enters the battlefield tapped, which can cause delays and potentially disrupt the tempo for aggressive strategies that rely on speed and efficiency.
Specific Mana Reflection: Swiftwater Cliffs provides only one color of mana at a time, either red or blue, which might not cater to the multi-color mana needs of complex decks during crucial turns.
Opportunity Cost: While gaining one life can be marginal yet beneficial, the fact that Swiftwater Cliffs doesn’t offer any additional abilities means you could be foregoing the use of lands with more impactful game effects.
Reasons to Include Swiftwater Cliffs in Your Collection
Versatility: Swiftwater Cliffs offers a dual land option beneficial in any red or blue deck, especially in those looking to stabilize their mana base without compromising color accessibility.
Combo Potential: While not directly involved in combos, this land supports complex strategies by providing the necessary mana fixing to execute multi-color combo pieces with greater consistency.
Meta-Relevance: With a constantly evolving game landscape, having reliable lands like Swiftwater Cliffs can be crucial. It’s particularly relevant in formats where life gain and color fixing are valuable assets against aggressive decks.
How to beat
Swiftwater Cliffs often finds its way into decks that require a reliable mana base that can prolong the game while offering a tiny yet significant life boost. This land card comes into play tapped, granting you one life and the ability to tap for blue or red mana, adding to the resiliency of decks that run it. Despite its benefits, opponents can exploit its come-into-play-tapped drawback, which slows down the tempo.
To gain an edge against Swiftwater Cliffs, consider using land destruction or denial strategies to capitalize on the tempo loss your opponent faces. Cards like Ghost Quarter can transform any potential mana advantage into a setback, forcing your opponent to find basic lands instead. Likewise, pressure can be mounted with aggressive low-cost creatures that establish board presence before your opponent can fully utilize their mana. This approach can often lead to early game advantage before Swiftwater Cliffs’ color-fixing benefits come into full effect.
Adapting a strategy that outpaces or disrupts the stable mana base that Swiftwater Cliffs attempts to create can be the key to success, allowing you to maintain an upper hand throughout the game.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Swiftwater Cliffs MTG card by a specific set like Khans of Tarkir and Fate Reforged, 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 Swiftwater Cliffs 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
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Printings
The Swiftwater Cliffs Magic the Gathering card was released in 17 different sets between 2014-09-26 and 2023-04-21. Illustrated by 5 different artists.
Show/hide all sets| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2014-09-26 | Khans of Tarkir | KTK | 243 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Eytan Zana | |
| 2 | 2015-01-23 | Fate Reforged | FRF | 172 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Eytan Zana | |
| 3 | 2015-11-13 | Commander 2015 | C15 | 310 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Eytan Zana | |
| 4 | 2016-06-10 | Eternal Masters | EMA | 245 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Eytan Zana | |
| 5 | 2016-11-11 | Commander 2016 | C16 | 330 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Eytan Zana | |
| 6 | 2017-03-31 | Duel Decks: Mind vs. Might | DDS | 27 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Eytan Zana | |
| 7 | 2017-08-25 | Commander 2017 | C17 | 283 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Eytan Zana | |
| 8 | 2018-08-09 | Commander 2018 | C18 | 284 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Eytan Zana | |
| 9 | 2019-07-12 | Core Set 2020 | M20 | 252 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Eytan Zana | |
| 10 | 2019-08-23 | Commander 2019 | C19 | 279 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Eytan Zana | |
| 11 | 2019-11-07 | Mystery Booster | MB1 | 1689 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Eytan Zana | |
| 12 | 2020-04-24 | Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths | IKO | 255 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Adam Paquette | |
| 13 | 2020-07-03 | Core Set 2021 | M21 | 251 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Eytan Zana | |
| 14 | The List | PLST | C18-284 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Eytan Zana | ||
| 15 | 2022-02-18 | Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty | NEO | 277 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Alayna Danner | |
| 16 | 2022-10-07 | Warhammer 40,000 Commander | 40K | 296★ | 2015 | Normal | Black | David Álvarez | |
| 17 | 2022-10-07 | Warhammer 40,000 Commander | 40K | 296 | 2015 | Normal | Black | David Álvarez | |
| 18 | 2023-04-21 | March of the Machine | MOM | 273 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Julian Kok Joon Wen |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Swiftwater Cliffs has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Standard | Legal |
| Historicbrawl | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Alchemy | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Future | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Explorer | Legal |
| Brawl | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |