Tropical Island MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 16 setsSee all
RarityRare
TypeLand — Forest Island

Key Takeaways

  1. Its ability to tap for green and blue mana without delay escalates its strategic value.
  2. Its inclusion ensures a smooth mana curve, optimizing the casting of pivotal spells.
  3. Vital for competitive play, this dual land is a mainstay in Legacy and Vintage formats.

Text of card

Counts as both forest and islands and is affected by spells that affect either. Tap to add either o G or o U to your mana pool.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Tropical Island doesn’t directly allow you to draw more cards, but by ensuring your mana base is stable, it gives you the ability to reliably play card draw spells and other crucial cards to maintain momentum.

Resource Acceleration: This dual land taps for both green and blue mana, offering excellent resource acceleration. Having access to two types of mana from a single land ensures a smoother and more efficient mana curve, allowing for quicker deployment of threats and answers alike.

Instant Speed: While Tropical Island itself is a land card, it enables the casting of many spells at instant speed. With no enter-the-battlefield tapped restrictions, it keeps your options open, allowing for a highly responsive play style.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While there’s no direct discard cost attached to Tropical Island itself, it does count towards the maximum hand size limit. In game states where your hand is full, drawing into this land might force a discard of a potentially more impactful card.

Specific Mana Cost: Tropical Island provides only blue or green mana, which makes it exclusively beneficial in decks that require these colors. Players not using these colors in their deck could find the card less useful in terms of the mana base.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Although Tropical Island doesn’t cost any mana to play, its high market value can be a considerable setback. For many players, the investment in this dual land might not equate to a substantial improvement in the deck’s performance when compared to other available land options.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Tropical Island is a dual land card, seamlessly blending into decks that run on green and blue mana. It eases the mana base and is a crucial component for multi-colored decks, increasing consistency in gameplay.

Combo Potential: This card enables combinations and synergies in green-blue decks. As it can provide both types of mana without entering the battlefield tapped, it sets the stage for potential turn-one plays and smooth execution of combos.

Meta-Relevance: In competitive formats where the speed and efficiency of your mana base can make or break a game, Tropical Island holds its value. It’s a powerhouse in Legacy and Vintage formats, supporting strategies that dominate in current and ever-evolving metagames.


How to beat

Understanding the strengths and vulnerabilities of the Tropical Island card can be crucial to outmaneuvering opponents in MTG. As a dual land, this card provides both green and blue mana without incurring any life penalties or entering the battlefield tapped, a major advantage for players looking to accelerate their manabase. Its value on the board is immeasurable, especially in multi-color decks seeking consistency and speed.

To effectively counter this card, focus on land disruption strategies. Utilize cards capable of targeting nonbasic lands, as Tropical Island falls into this category. Consider leveraging spells like Blood Moon, which can render Tropical Island just a basic mountain, thus stripping away its dual-color benefits and hindering your opponent’s mana flexibility. Field of Ruin is another tactical choice, forcing a trade with a basic land, reducing the influence of Tropical Island’s otherwise unassailable advantage.

Another avenue is to implement strategies that punish the use of nonbasic lands. Cards such as Price of Progress can deal damage proportional to the number of nonbasic lands the opponent controls, turning the Tropical Island’s strength into a potential liability. By focusing on these angles, you can effectively minimize the impact of a Tropical Island and keep the match in your favor.


Cards like Tropical Island

The illustrious Tropical Island stands as a premier land card for players looking to smoothly cast spells within the Simic color combination (green and blue). It shares this dual mana flexibility with other original dual lands like Tundra and Bayou. Still, Tropical Island has the unique advantage of not entering the battlefield tapped, allowing for immediate mana access – a trait not found in its modern counterparts like the “shock lands” (Breeding Pool) or the “check lands” (Hinterland Harbor).

Likewise, the fetchable aspect of Tropical Island through cards like Fetch Lands (Polluted Delta, Misty Rainforest) makes it a powerhouse in deck building. While other non-original duals like the “battle lands” (Sunken Hollow) and “bicycle lands” (Irrigated Farmland) can also be fetched, they don’t offer the immediate untapped playability that defines Tropical Island.

Evaluating these similarities and differences, Tropical Island’s value remains unmatched in MTG. Its synergy with various strategies and its scarcity being part of the Reserved List solidify its status as a highly sought-after card for competitive and casual formats alike.

Tundra - MTG Card versions
Bayou - MTG Card versions
Breeding Pool - MTG Card versions
Hinterland Harbor - MTG Card versions
Polluted Delta - MTG Card versions
Misty Rainforest - MTG Card versions
Sunken Hollow - MTG Card versions
Irrigated Farmland - MTG Card versions
Tundra - Limited Edition Alpha (LEA)
Bayou - Limited Edition Alpha (LEA)
Breeding Pool - Dissension (DIS)
Hinterland Harbor - Innistrad (ISD)
Polluted Delta - Onslaught (ONS)
Misty Rainforest - Zendikar (ZEN)
Sunken Hollow - Battle for Zendikar (BFZ)
Irrigated Farmland - Amonkhet (AKH)

Cards similar to Tropical Island by color, type and mana cost

Barkchannel Pathway // Tidechannel Pathway - MTG Card versions
Yavimaya Coast - MTG Card versions
Rejuvenating Springs - MTG Card versions
Simic Growth Chamber - MTG Card versions
Breeding Pool - MTG Card versions
Novijen, Heart of Progress - MTG Card versions
Hinterland Harbor - MTG Card versions
Alchemist's Refuge - MTG Card versions
Simic Guildgate - MTG Card versions
Temple of Mystery - MTG Card versions
Thornwood Falls - MTG Card versions
Lumbering Falls - MTG Card versions
Woodland Stream - MTG Card versions
Botanical Sanctum - MTG Card versions
Flooded Grove - MTG Card versions
Littjara Mirrorlake - MTG Card versions
Rimewood Falls - MTG Card versions
Vineglimmer Snarl - MTG Card versions
Quandrix Campus - MTG Card versions
Dreamroot Cascade - MTG Card versions
Barkchannel Pathway // Tidechannel Pathway - From Cute to Brute (PCTB)
Yavimaya Coast - Dominaria United (DMU)
Rejuvenating Springs - Commander Masters (CMM)
Simic Growth Chamber - Ravnica: Clue Edition (CLU)
Breeding Pool - Ravnica Remastered (RVR)
Novijen, Heart of Progress - Commander 2021 (C21)
Hinterland Harbor - Fallout (PIP)
Alchemist's Refuge - The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander (LCC)
Simic Guildgate - Ravnica Remastered (RVR)
Temple of Mystery - Fallout (PIP)
Thornwood Falls - Tales of Middle-earth Commander (LTC)
Lumbering Falls - Forgotten Realms Commander (AFC)
Woodland Stream - Tales of Middle-earth Commander (LTC)
Botanical Sanctum - Kaladesh Remastered (KLR)
Flooded Grove - Tales of Middle-earth Commander (LTC)
Littjara Mirrorlake - New Capenna Commander (NCC)
Rimewood Falls - Kaldheim (KHM)
Vineglimmer Snarl - The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander (LCC)
Quandrix Campus - Strixhaven: School of Mages (STX)
Dreamroot Cascade - Doctor Who (WHO)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Tropical Island MTG card by a specific set like Limited Edition Alpha and Limited Edition Beta, 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 Tropical Island and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Tropical Island Magic the Gathering card was released in 15 different sets between 1993-08-05 and 2022-11-28. Illustrated by 3 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
11993-08-05Limited Edition AlphaLEA 2831993normalblackJesper Myrfors
21993-10-04Limited Edition BetaLEB 2841993normalblackJesper Myrfors
31993-12-01Unlimited Edition2ED 2841993normalwhiteJesper Myrfors
41993-12-10Intl. Collectors' EditionCEI 2841993normalblackJesper Myrfors
51993-12-10Collectors' EditionCED 2841993normalblackJesper Myrfors
61994-04-01Revised Edition3ED 2881993normalwhiteJesper Myrfors
71994-04-01Foreign Black BorderFBB 2881993normalblackJesper Myrfors
81994-06-21Summer Magic / EdgarSUM 2881993normalwhiteJesper Myrfors
92002-06-24Magic Online PromosPRM 436201997normalblackFranz Vohwinkel
102009-09-07Masters Edition IIIME3 2131997normalblackJesper Myrfors
112011-01-02Legacy ChampionshipOLGC 20192015normalblackMark Poole
122011-01-10Masters Edition IVME4 2541997normalblackJesper Myrfors
132014-06-16Vintage MastersVMA 3212015normalblackFranz Vohwinkel
142021-08-26Jumpstart: Historic HorizonsJ21 7922015normalblackFranz Vohwinkel
152022-11-2830th Anniversary Edition30A 5761997normalblackJesper Myrfors
162022-11-2830th Anniversary Edition30A 2792015normalblackJesper Myrfors

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Tropical Island has restrictions

FormatLegality
OldschoolLegal
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2008-10-01 This has basic land types, but it isn’t a basic land. Things that affect basic lands don’t affect it. Things that affect basic land types do.
2008-10-01 This has the mana abilities associated with both of its basic land types.

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