Battlefield Forge MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 14 setsSee all
RarityRare
TypeLand

Key Takeaways

  1. Battlefield Forge offers both color consistency and strategic flexibility in mana sources.
  2. It enables swift strategic plays, bolstering decks with instant speed cast potential.
  3. Cautious usage is advised due to the life cost for mana access in tight matches.

Text of card

oc T: Add one colorless mana to your mana pool. oc T: Add o R or o W to your mana pool. Battlefield Forge deals 1 damage to you.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Battlefield Forge offers consistency in mana availability, empowering you to cast multicolored spells without disruption, which is central to maintaining card flow and presence on the board during matches.

Resource Acceleration: As a land card, Battlefield Forge enables you to accelerate your mana resources by tapping for both colorless and colored mana, streamlining your ability to deploy threats or responses swiftly.

Instant Speed: This card itself may not operate at instant speed, but by providing dual colors, it enables diverse strategic plays, allowing you to cast spells at instant speed without the common limitations imposed by single-color lands.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: This land does not make you discard cards, but instead, it requires careful hand management due to its potential to deal damage to you.

Specific Mana Cost: While Battlefield Forge can provide either red or white mana, casting spells with strict color requirements can be challenging if you rely heavily on it.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Though the mana cost isn’t high in the traditional sense, the life payment for colored mana can be a significant drawback, especially in close games.


Reasons to Include Battlefield Forge in Your Collection

Versatility: Battlefield Forge is a nonbasic land that can be a great asset in multicolored decks, particularly those that run Red and White mana. Its ability to tap for colorless mana or either of its two colors makes it a flexible choice for various deck archetypes.

Combo Potential: With the ability to provide two different types of colored mana, Battlefield Forge enables combinations with cards that have stringent mana requirements, bolstering decks that rely on synergy between Red and White spells.

Meta-Relevance: As the competitive scene evolves, having land options that accelerate your strategy while also providing color fixing is pivotal. Battlefield Forge fits into this niche, maintaining a place in decks that need to respond to a diverse range of threats and pivot their strategies quickly.


How to beat

Battlefield Forge is a land card that’s been a staple in many Magic: The Gathering decks for its ability to tap for both red and white mana. What sets it apart from basic lands is the flexibility it offers, enabling a smoother mana curve for multicolored decks. However, this advantage comes at a price – the potential cost of one life to generate either colored mana.

To effectively counter Battlefield Forge, targeted land destruction is useful, preventing opponents from utilizing its mana-fixing capacities. Spells such as Ghost Quarter or Field of Ruin give you the chance to disrupt your opponent’s mana base, especially if they rely heavily on such nonbasic lands. Additionally, running life gain strategies can offset the life loss your opponent incurs, diminishing the aggressive edge that Battlefield Forge might provide in faster, damage-oriented decks.

Ultimately, understanding the importance of mana bases in MTG is key to overcoming cards like Battlefield Forge. Disruption, whether through direct land destruction or strategic life gain, could tilt the scales in your favor, potentially hampering your opponent’s deck efficiency and their game plan’s execution.


Cards like Battlefield Forge

Battlefield Forge serves as an important component in Magic: The Gathering’s pantheon of versatile land cards. This pivotal card offers both red and white mana, similar to sacred foundry, yet absent of the life cost up-front, synonymous with shock lands. While sacred foundry enters the battlefield untapped at the expense of 2 life, Battlefield Forge provides mana flexibility without immediate life loss, lending it an edge in slower-paced games or decks tolerant of life-payment for strategic gains.

Clifftop Retreat is another comparable card, it requires a mountain or a plains already in play to arrive untapped. This sets a condition not present with Battlefield Forge, which deftly avoids such restrictions. Despite this, Clifftop Retreat remains untapped without any life expenditure, irrespective of its conditional entry. On the broader spectrum, there’s Inspiring Vantage, entering the battlefield untapped earlier in the game. However, as the game advances, it lacks Battlefield Forge’s unconditional access to dual mana, reflecting a trade-off between initial speed and enduring utility.

In analyzing these options, Battlefield Forge emerges as a balanced land choice in MTG, offering untapped mana with life as a resource more within the player’s control, aligning well with both aggressive and control strategies.

Sacred Foundry - MTG Card versions
Clifftop Retreat - MTG Card versions
Inspiring Vantage - MTG Card versions
Sacred Foundry - Ravnica: City of Guilds (RAV)
Clifftop Retreat - Innistrad (ISD)
Inspiring Vantage - Kaladesh Promos (PKLD)

Cards similar to Battlefield Forge by color, type and mana cost

Plateau - MTG Card versions
Scabland - MTG Card versions
Needleverge Pathway // Pillarverge Pathway - MTG Card versions
Sundown Pass - MTG Card versions
Boros Garrison - MTG Card versions
Sacred Foundry - MTG Card versions
Temple of Triumph - MTG Card versions
Furycalm Snarl - MTG Card versions
Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion - MTG Card versions
Ancient Amphitheater - MTG Card versions
Rugged Prairie - MTG Card versions
Boros Guildgate - MTG Card versions
Wind-Scarred Crag - MTG Card versions
Needle Spires - MTG Card versions
Inspiring Vantage - MTG Card versions
Stone Quarry - MTG Card versions
Clifftop Retreat - MTG Card versions
Sunbaked Canyon - MTG Card versions
Slayers' Stronghold - MTG Card versions
Spectator Seating - MTG Card versions
Plateau - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Scabland - Vintage Masters (VMA)
Needleverge Pathway // Pillarverge Pathway - From Cute to Brute (PCTB)
Sundown Pass - Doctor Who (WHO)
Boros Garrison - Dominaria United Commander (DMC)
Sacred Foundry - Ravnica: Clue Edition (CLU)
Temple of Triumph - Fallout (PIP)
Furycalm Snarl - The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander (LCC)
Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion - Murders at Karlov Manor Commander (MKC)
Ancient Amphitheater - Lorwyn (LRW)
Rugged Prairie - Double Masters (2XM)
Boros Guildgate - Ravnica Remastered (RVR)
Wind-Scarred Crag - March of the Machine (MOM)
Needle Spires - Oath of the Gatewatch Promos (POGW)
Inspiring Vantage - Secret Lair Drop (SLD)
Stone Quarry - Commander Legends (CMR)
Clifftop Retreat - Fallout (PIP)
Sunbaked Canyon - Doctor Who (WHO)
Slayers' Stronghold - Commander 2021 (C21)
Spectator Seating - Commander Masters (CMM)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Battlefield Forge MTG card by a specific set like Apocalypse and Magic Online Promos, 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 Battlefield Forge and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Battlefield Forge Magic the Gathering card was released in 12 different sets between 2001-06-04 and 2023-06-23. Illustrated by 5 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12001-06-04ApocalypseAPC 1391997normalblackDarrell Riche
22002-06-24Magic Online PromosPRM 1058822015normalblackRob Alexander
32005-07-29Ninth Edition9ED 3182003normalwhiteDarrell Riche
42005-07-29Ninth Edition9ED 318★2003normalblackDarrell Riche
52007-07-13Tenth Edition10E 3482003normalblackDarrell Riche
62014-07-18Magic 2015M15 2402015normalblackDarrell Riche
72015-07-17Magic OriginsORI 2442015normalblackDarrell Riche
82019-12-02Secret Lair DropSLD 6692015normalblackMSCHF
92020-04-17Commander 2020C20 2572015normalblackDarrell Riche
102021-04-23Commander 2021C21 2782015normalblackDarrell Riche
112022-09-09Dominaria United CommanderDMC 1982015normalblackDarrell Riche
122022-11-18The Brothers' WarBRO 2572015normalblackThomas Stoop
132022-11-18The Brothers' WarBRO 2972015normalborderlessRob Alexander
142023-06-23Tales of Middle-earth CommanderLTC 2962015normalblackVictor Harmatiuk

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Battlefield Forge has restrictions

FormatLegality
StandardLegal
HistoricbrawlLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
GladiatorLegal
AlchemyLegal
PioneerLegal
CommanderLegal
ModernLegal
PremodernLegal
FutureLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
PredhLegal
BrawlLegal
PennyLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Battlefield Forge card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

DateText
2015-06-22 Like most lands, each land in this cycle is colorless. The damage dealt to you is dealt by a colorless source.
2015-06-22 The damage dealt to you is part of the second mana ability. It doesn't use the stack and can't be responded to.

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