Fork in the Road MTG Card


Fork in the Road - Shadows over Innistrad
Mana cost
Converted mana cost2
RarityCommon
TypeSorcery
Released2016-04-08
Set symbol
Set nameShadows over Innistrad
Set codeSOI
Number205
Frame2015
LayoutNormal
BorderBlack
Illustred byJung Park

Key Takeaways

  1. Grants card advantage by fetching two lands, improving deck consistency and aiding mana flow.
  2. Accelerates resources by placing a land onto the battlefield, facilitating quicker high-cost spell casts.
  3. Instant speed casting allows for flexible, responsive play and unexpected strategies during matches.

Text of card

Search your library for up to two basic land cards and reveal them. Put one into your hand and the other into your graveyard. Then shuffle your library.

"This is as far as I go." —Beckram, Skiltfolk escort


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Fork in the Road presents the valuable opportunity to search your library for not one, but two basic land cards. One lands in your hand while the other ramps up your battlefield. This dual action secures a steady land flow, enhancing your deck’s consistency throughout the match.

Resource Acceleration: By allowing you to place a land directly onto the battlefield, Fork in the Road accelerates your mana resources, crucial for casting high-cost spells sooner than usual. This effect promotes a faster-paced play style and can be a tactical advantage to outpace your opponents.

Instant Speed: The flexibility of being able to cast at instant speed gives you the distinct advantage of adapting to the evolving game state. You can respond aptly to your opponent’s moves, optimize your turn’s mana usage, or simply surprise an adversary who thought your lands were tapped out.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Fork in the Road demands a card discard to activate its advantageous effect. For players holding crucial cards tight, this requirement can backfire, stripping them of valuable hand assets at potentially critical moments.

Specific Mana Cost: Tailored for a dedicated mana base, Fork in the Road has a precise cost that necessitates both green and another color mana. This requirement might exclude the card from mono-green decks or any strategy that doesn’t consistently produce the required mana types.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Weighing the spell’s effect against its mana investment, some players might find Fork in the Road’s ask a tad steep. Other spells in MTG offer similar or broader utility without the need to part with a card from your hand and may do so at a more economical mana value.


Reasons to Include Fork in the Road in Your Collection

Versatility: Fork in the Road is a flexible card that allows players to shape their mana base efficiently. Suitable for any deck that struggles with color fixing or needs to ensure land drops, it helps smooth out draws and keeps your game plan on track.

Combo Potential: It synergizes with landfall strategies and graveyard mechanics. By placing a land card into the graveyard, you can set up powerful plays with cards that benefit from having lands in the graveyard or gain extra value whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta-game where mana consistency can make or break a match, Fork in the Road provides a low-cost, reliable method to stabilize your mana sources, making it a practical addition to decks that aim to operate seamlessly across multiple colors.


How to beat Fork in the Road

Fork in the Road is a versatile card that allows players to search their library for up to two basic land cards, placing one onto the battlefield tapped, and the other into their graveyard. This capability not only ramps up their mana resources but also sets up potential graveyard strategies.

One effective method to counter this card is by using land destruction or denial strategies, which can disrupt the player’s mana base that Fork in the Road has helped to build. Cards like Ghost Quarter can remove the key lands that have been strategically placed, while Leonin Arbiter can prevent searching the library altogether unless a cost is paid.

Graveyard hate cards can also be valuable. With cards like Scavenging Ooze in play, you can remove the key land put into the graveyard by Fork in the Road, nullifying part of its advantage. Alternatively, by applying pressure and increasing the pace of the game with aggressive creatures or direct damage, you can also outpace the advantages that Fork in the Road provides in slower, more gradual strategies.

Ultimately, understanding the synergy within your opponent’s deck and disrupting key components is just as crucial as knowing the strengths of Fork in the Road itself.


Cards like Fork in the Road

Fork in the Road is an intriguing option among land search cards in Magic: The Gathering. It’s akin to other land fetching cards such as Rampant Growth, which similarly allows a player to search their library for a land card and put it onto the battlefield. However, Fork in the Road requires the land to be placed in the graveyard, offering a unique angle of graveyard synergy for strategies focusing on land recursion or threshold benefits.

Exploration is another card in this landscape. While it doesn’t fetch land from the deck, it provides a different kind of advantage by allowing you to play an additional land on each of your turns. This can cumulatively have a more powerful effect on mana acceleration albeit with a dependency on having those lands in hand. Then there’s Harrow, which has a similar cost to Fork in the Road but instead allows putting two lands onto the battlefield at the price of sacrificing a land, instantly providing a mana advantage.

In summary, Fork in the Road offers a unique twist to the land search dynamic in Magic: The Gathering, carving its own niche for deck builders interested in leveraging their graveyard as a resource, making it a compelling choice for specialized deck themes.

Rampant Growth - MTG Card versions
Exploration - MTG Card versions
Harrow - MTG Card versions
Rampant Growth - MTG Card versions
Exploration - MTG Card versions
Harrow - MTG Card versions

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Regrowth - MTG Card versions
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Superior Numbers - MTG Card versions
Summer Bloom - MTG Card versions
Elven Rite - MTG Card versions
Verdant Touch - MTG Card versions
Rampant Growth - MTG Card versions
Canopy Surge - MTG Card versions
Gaea's Blessing - MTG Card versions
Monstrous Growth - MTG Card versions
Nostalgic Dreams - MTG Card versions
Nylea's Intervention - MTG Card versions
Sylvan Scrying - MTG Card versions
Wildcall - MTG Card versions
Revive - MTG Card versions
Weird Harvest - MTG Card versions
Farseek - MTG Card versions
Nature's Lore - MTG Card versions
Living Wish - MTG Card versions
Explore - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Fork in the Road MTG card by a specific set like Shadows over Innistrad, 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 Fork in the Road and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Fork in the Road has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PauperLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PioneerLegal
PennyLegal

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