Tainted Wood MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 10 setsSee all
RarityUncommon
TypeLand

Key Takeaways

  1. Tainted Wood ensures colored mana for spells, enhancing hand flexibility and in-game responsiveness.
  2. It accelerates resources by providing black and green mana, enabling diverse plays early on.
  3. The requirement to discard can limit its late-game utility, impacting strategic hand conservation.

Text of card

oc T: Add one colorless mana to your mana pool. oc T: Add o B or o G to your mana pool. Play this ability only if you control a swamp.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Tainted Wood offers a seamless way to ensure you have the colored mana necessary for casting spells, thereby keeping your hand flexible and ready to respond to the evolving game state.

Resource Acceleration: As a dual land, Tainted Wood provides access to two types of mana (black and green), which is pivotal for accelerating your resource availability and enabling a more diverse array of plays earlier in the game.

Instant Speed: The ability to tap for mana at any time gives you the same flexibility as an instant, allowing you to decide the best moment to deploy your resources, whether it’s during your turn or in response to an opponent’s actions.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Tainted Wood necessitates players to relinquish a card to the graveyard, which could be particularly detrimental during the later stages of gameplay when hand options are critical.

Specific Mana Cost: The card dictates the use of both black and green mana, potentially restricting its inclusion to only certain deck types that can accommodate this necessity.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: While Tainted Wood offers mana flexibility, the investment might be considered steep for the benefit it provides, considering alternative lands available within the game that could serve a similar function at a lower cost or with additional advantages.


Reasons to Include Tainted Wood in Your Collection

Versatility: Tainted Wood offers a unique flexibility in land choice for decks that run on black and green mana. Its ability to provide either color without entering the battlefield tapped, as long as you control a Swamp, makes it an adaptable choice for various deck builds.

Combo Potential: This land is particularly beneficial in decks that capitalize on the synergy between land types and abilities that require specific mana colors. It can be a crucial part of activating key abilities at the right moment without slowing down your gameplay.

Meta-Relevance: As games evolve, having a strong mana base that can adapt to the shifting landscape of the meta is essential. Tainted Wood meets the demands of many popular black and green decks, retaining its relevance in various formats where these two colors dominate.


How to beat

Tainted Wood is a land card in Magic: The Gathering that provides a compelling blend of utility and flexibility for players utilizing black and green in their decks. To effectively challenge Tainted Wood, players should consider disruption strategies that target the player’s ability to benefit from its mana acceleration. Implementing land destruction or denial abilities can substantially reduce the advantage that Tainted Wood offers. Cards like Ghost Quarter or Field of Ruin can dismantle a mana base that relies on nonbasic lands like Tainted Wood.

For those opting for less direct approaches, utilizing cards that restrict the types of mana that can be produced or used, such as Containment Priest or Damping Sphere, can hinder the advantages provided by Tainted Wood. It is critical to understand the role of Tainted Wood in your opponent’s strategy, allowing you to tailor your approach to effectively neutralize or bypass its benefits. Whether by disrupting the land itself or by mitigating its effects, there are multiple avenues to dampen the impact of Tainted Wood and maintain a competitive edge in your MTG matches.


Cards like Tainted Wood

Tainted Wood is a unique land card that has found its place in many Magic: The Gathering decks, especially those running black and green colors. Its closest relatives in gameplay are the various dual lands that offer flexibility in mana generation. For instance, Overgrown Tomb is a card that can be compared to Tainted Wood, as it also provides both black and green mana. However, Overgrown Tomb comes with the optional cost of 2 life to enter the battlefield untapped, while Tainted Wood needs a Swamp to tap for both colors without any life payment.

Woodland Cemetery is another comparable land card, entering the battlefield untapped if you control a Swamp or a Forest, thus offering immediate mana acceleration. Tainted Wood doesn’t have this requirement but still ensures a stable mana base when a Swamp is in play. The Cemetery excels in an opening hand, while Tainted Wood shines in the mid to late game when you’re more likely to fulfill its condition.

Assessing the versatility and utility in a deck containing black and green, Tainted Wood presents a reliable option for mana fixing without the downside of life loss or conditional untapped entry, making it a solid choice for players managing their life total cautiously.

Overgrown Tomb - MTG Card versions
Woodland Cemetery - MTG Card versions
Overgrown Tomb - Ravnica: City of Guilds (RAV)
Woodland Cemetery - Innistrad (ISD)

Cards similar to Tainted Wood by color, type and mana cost

Bayou - MTG Card versions
Llanowar Wastes - MTG Card versions
Undergrowth Stadium - MTG Card versions
Twilight Mire - MTG Card versions
Temple of Malady - MTG Card versions
Necroblossom Snarl - MTG Card versions
Deathcap Glade - MTG Card versions
Golgari Rot Farm - MTG Card versions
Darkbore Pathway // Slitherbore Pathway - MTG Card versions
Overgrown Tomb - MTG Card versions
Svogthos, the Restless Tomb - MTG Card versions
Gilt-Leaf Palace - MTG Card versions
Golgari Guildgate - MTG Card versions
Grim Backwoods - MTG Card versions
Pine Barrens - MTG Card versions
Jungle Hollow - MTG Card versions
Hissing Quagmire - MTG Card versions
Foul Orchard - MTG Card versions
Blooming Marsh - MTG Card versions
Woodland Cemetery - MTG Card versions
Bayou - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Llanowar Wastes - The Brothers' War Promos (PBRO)
Undergrowth Stadium - Commander Masters (CMM)
Twilight Mire - Double Masters (2XM)
Temple of Malady - Commander Masters (CMM)
Necroblossom Snarl - Commander Masters (CMM)
Deathcap Glade - Innistrad: Double Feature (DBL)
Golgari Rot Farm - Ravnica: Clue Edition (CLU)
Darkbore Pathway // Slitherbore Pathway - From Cute to Brute (PCTB)
Overgrown Tomb - Ravnica Remastered (RVR)
Svogthos, the Restless Tomb - Commander Anthology Volume II (CM2)
Gilt-Leaf Palace - The List (PLST)
Golgari Guildgate - Ravnica Remastered (RVR)
Grim Backwoods - Commander 2020 (C20)
Pine Barrens - Vintage Masters (VMA)
Jungle Hollow - March of the Machine (MOM)
Hissing Quagmire - Oath of the Gatewatch (OGW)
Foul Orchard - Shadows over Innistrad Remastered (SIR)
Blooming Marsh - Kaladesh Remastered (KLR)
Woodland Cemetery - Fallout (PIP)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Tainted Wood MTG card by a specific set like Torment and Duel Decks: Mirrodin Pure vs. New Phyrexia, 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 Tainted Wood and other MTG cards:

Continue exploring other sealed products in Amazon
See Magic products

Printings

The Tainted Wood Magic the Gathering card was released in 9 different sets between 2002-02-04 and 2024-03-08. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12002-02-04TormentTOR 1431997normalblackRob Alexander
22011-05-14Duel Decks: Mirrodin Pure vs. New PhyrexiaTD2 822003normalblackRob Alexander
32014-03-14Duel Decks: Jace vs. VraskaDDM 782003normalblackRob Alexander
42015-11-13Commander 2015C15 3122015normalblackRob Alexander
52017-06-09Commander AnthologyCMA 2762015normalblackRob Alexander
62021-04-23Commander 2021C21 3212015normalblackRob Alexander
72023-02-03Phyrexia: All Will Be One CommanderONC 1682015normalblackRob Alexander
82023-08-04Commander MastersCMM 10402015normalblackRob Alexander
92024-03-08FalloutPIP 8292015normalblackJarel Threat
102024-03-08FalloutPIP 3012015normalblackJarel Threat

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Tainted Wood has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PremodernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal

Recent MTG decks

Continue exploring other format decks
More decks