Yawning Fissure MTG Card

Indirect card advantage by destabilizing opponents’ land base and disrupting mana sources. Slows opponent’s progress, allowing you to outpace with your gameplay and strategies. Combines well with land destruction tactics to maximize board control and player advantage.

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	5
Rarity	Common
Type	Sorcery
Released	2009-07-17
Set symbol
Set name	Magic 2010
Set code	M10
Number	164
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Véronique Meignaud

Text of card

Each opponent sacrifices a land.

The mapmaker scowled. He sighed, unrolled his parchment, and painted a large black blob where the Eternal Meadow was once marked.

Cards like Yawning Fissure

Yawning Fissure holds a unique spot in MTG’s array of red sorceries designed to manipulate land control. It stands alongside cards like Raze and Seismic Spike, which also target lands but do so in a manner that is distinct from Yawning Fissure. While Raze requires sacrificing one of your own lands as part of its casting cost, Yawning Fissure directly affects opponents, forcing them to sacrifice a land without any self-inflicted drawback.

Comparatively, Seismic Spike does destroy a land outright and generates two red mana, providing a direct and immediate impact. However, it doesn’t offer the broad-reaching effect of Yawning Fissure, which hits each opponent equally, potentially impacting the entire board. This wider scope can be crucial in multi-player formats where disrupting multiple opponents can provide a substantial advantage.

Evaluating cards like Roiling Terrain reveals another comparison point. Though Roiling Terrain deals damage to an opponent based on the number of lands in their graveyard, it lacks the preemptive disruption offered by Yawning Fissure. By forcing land sacrifices across the board, Yawning Fissure can strategically set back several players at once, making it a compelling choice in games where land control is paramount.

Cards similar to Yawning Fissure by color, type and mana cost

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Card Pros

Card Advantage: While Yawning Fissure doesn’t directly allow you to draw cards, it forces each player to sacrifice a land. In the case of an opponent who is land-light or dependent on specific mana sources, this sacrifices may tip the scales in your favor, creating indirect card advantage by disrupting their land base.

Resource Acceleration: By making each opponent sacrifice a land, Yawning Fissure can effectively slow down your opponents’ progress, preventing them from deploying their more costly spells on curve. This can allow you to maintain or even accelerate your relative board position without directly affecting your own resources.

Instant Speed: As a sorcery, Yawning Fissure cannot be cast at instant speed, which encourages strategic planning on how and when to deploy this spell to maximize its potential impact during your turn, particularly when combined with land destruction or denial strategies.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Thankfully, Yawning Fissure does not impose a discard requirement on players. This means you can safely keep those precious cards in your hand while casting this spell and focus on impacting the battlefield instead.

Specific Mana Cost: Yawning Fissure demands a certain blend of mana, specifically five with one being red. This mana setup can be restrictive, making it less versatile for decks that don’t heavily focus on red or have difficulties generating the necessary mana combination.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Requiring a total of five mana to play, Yawning Fissure is considered to have a high casting cost when compared to other land destruction options available in the game. This can be a drawback, especially when faster and more aggressive strategies are preferred.

Reasons to Include Yawning Fissure in Your Collection

Versatility: Yawning Fissure is a card capable of disrupting many types of strategies in the game. It’s especially potent in formats or decks that aim to control the board by forcing opponents to sacrifice their lands.

Combo Potential: This card synergizes well with land destruction strategies or effects that penalize opponents when they lose lands. Pair it with cards that inhibit land recovery, and you could dominate the game.

Meta-Relevance: Against decks that heavily rely on land bases to execute their win conditions, Yawning Fissure can be a serious game changer. If the current metagame favors ramp decks or those that require a stable mana base for success, including Yawning Fissure in your deck can give you a crucial advantage.

How to Beat Yawning Fissure

Yawning Fissure is an uncommon red sorcery card that forces each opponent to sacrifice a land. While seemingly simple, this can be a powerful blow to your adversary’s mana base, especially in multi-player formats. To counteract this disruption, one strategy is to ensure a robust land count or utilize cards that can pull lands from your deck or graveyard to the battlefield.

Another effective tactic is to employ counterspells or cards with abilities to cancel or negate the effect of sorceries, protecting your lands from being sacrificed. Alternatively, using cards that can bounce Yawning Fissure back to its owner’s hand or library gives you time to set up your defenses or hastens their depleted resources. Adequate preparation and reactive spells will make Yawning Fissure less of a threat to your game plan.

Understanding the timing of your opponent’s moves and keeping a wary eye on your mana base will bolster your resilience against such disruptive strategies. Consistently reviewing strategies against specific cards like Yawning Fissure equips you to maintain control and outmaneuver your opponents in Magic: The Gathering.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Yawning Fissure MTG card by a specific set like Magic 2010, 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 Yawning Fissure and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Yawning Fissure has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Predh	Legal
Penny	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2009-10-01	First the opponent whose turn it is — or, more likely, the first opponent to left of the player whose turn it is — chooses and announces which land they will sacrifice, then each other opponent in turn order does the same, then all lands are sacrificed at the same time.