Land Cap MTG Card

Rarity	Rare
Type	Land
Released	1995-06-03
Set symbol
Set name	Ice Age
Set code	ICE
Number	357
Frame	1993
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Allen Williams

Key Takeaways

Land Cap allows smoother mana draws and instant speed plays, essential for efficient board development.
It demands a land discard and specific mana colors, which may limit its versatility in some decks.
Despite a higher mana cost, Land Cap’s untapped entry provides subtle yet impactful game advantages.

Text of card

If there are any depletion counters on Land Cap, it does not untap during your untap phase. At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a depletion counter from Land Cap. oc T: Add o W to your mana pool. Put a depletion counter on Land Cap. oc T: Add o U to your mana pool. Put a depletion counter on Land Cap.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Land Cap provides a subtle form of card advantage by being a dual land that enables smoother draws. Unlike other dual lands, it doesn’t enter the battlefield tapped if you meet its condition, allowing for an uninterrupted development of your board. Efficient land plays are crucial for outpacing your opponent and curating the hand that can handle upcoming threats or opportunities.

Resource Acceleration: This card acts as a resource accelerator by potentially giving you access to two types of mana. This dual capability can be indispensable for decks that rely on a diverse color scheme. By ensuring you meet the condition to play Land Cap untapped, you can effectively accelerate your mana resources, which can be the difference between casting a crucial spell a turn earlier or achieving a winning state faster.

Instant Speed: Although Land Cap isn’t an instant, it facilitates instant speed plays. By entering the battlefield untapped under the right condition, it allows you to keep mana open for instant speed interactions without sacrificing your land drop for the turn. This added flexibility ensures that you’re always ready for whatever plans you need to execute or respond to during any phase of the game.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Land Cap necessitates discarding a land card to trigger its ability, which can lead to a decrease in your land resources, potentially hindering your ability to cast spells later in the game.

Specific Mana Cost: Land Cap’s activation cost is color-specific, demanding both green and white mana. This requirement can be restrictive, appealing mainly to players running decks that support its color identity.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a converted mana cost of five, Land Cap may come into play later than other land cards. By the time you are able to play it, opponents may have gained a significant advantage, limiting Land Cap’s impact on the game.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Land Cap finds a home in decks that value mana fixing and consistency, as it provides an additional option for reaching the necessary mana colors without entering the battlefield tapped if conditions are met.

Combo Potential: In combination with landfall abilities or other land interaction mechanics, Land Cap can help to fuel powerful plays and trigger effects that can swing the game in your favor.

Meta-Relevance: It is a solid choice for decks facing opponents that disrupt mana bases because its capacity to slip onto the battlefield untapped under the right circumstances can be a subtle yet crucial advantage.

How to Beat

Confronting the distinct challenges posed by Land Cap in MTG requires a strategic approach. With its ability to limit both you and your opponent to playing just one land per turn, Land Cap can dramatically alter the pace of the game. It’s particularly effective against strategies that aim to accelerate land plays or abuse landfall triggers. To navigate this constraint, consider adopting a deck that thrives under such restrictions or turning to land destruction abilities to nullify Land Cap’s influence.

Directly removing the card from play is another viable strategy. Including versatile removal spells in your deck can serve as an answer to Land Cap. By running a robust mix of counter spells, you can also preemptively deal with Land Cap before it takes effect. Adaptability is key — being prepared to adjust your game plan can aid in mitigating the impact of Land Cap and keeping your deck functioning optimally.

In essence, the methodology to outmaneuver Land Cap revolves around anticipation, flexible strategies, and maintaining a toolbox of removal and countermeasures. Successfully overcoming this obstacle can lead to a smoother flow of your own gameplay, while potentially disrupting your opponent’s setup.

Cards like Land Cap

Exploring the intricate world of Magic: The Gathering, Land Cap stands as a versatile card within the realm of mana-fixing lands. Its closest kin would be the “Vivid” land series, which also enters the battlefield tapped and offers a range of mana options. Yet, unlike Land Cap, Vivid lands come with charge counters, allowing them to tap for any color of mana a limited number of times.

Another comparable card is the Ravnica “Bounce Lands” like Izzet Boilerworks that return a land to the owner’s hand upon entry. These lands can effectively produce two mana of different colors, yet, unlike Land Cap, they don’t have the inherent limitation of being unusable if an opponent controls more lands.

Despite sharing similarities with other mana-generating cards, Land Cap’s unique appeal lies in its subtle balancing act between land count and color fixing. It holds a distinct position in MTG, offering strategic depth for players who are adept at managing their land plays in relation to their opponent’s board state.

Cards similar to Land Cap by color, type and mana cost

Hengegate Pathway // Mistgate Pathway - MTG Card versions

Temple of Enlightenment - MTG Card versions

Prahv, Spires of Order - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Land Cap MTG card by a specific set like Ice Age, 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 Land Cap and other MTG cards: