Is Land a Permanent in MTG? A Comprehensive Guide
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Yes, land is indeed a permanent in Magic: The Gathering (MTG). This seemingly simple statement unlocks a cascade of rules and interactions that are fundamental to understanding how the game functions. A permanent is, in essence, a card or token that resides on the battlefield. It remains there indefinitely, until an effect or game rule causes it to move to another zone (like the graveyard, hand, or exile). Therefore, a land card, once successfully placed on the battlefield, fits this definition perfectly, making it a permanent card type within MTG.
The Essence of Permanents in MTG
To fully grasp why lands are classified as permanents, it’s crucial to define what a permanent truly is. In MTG, a permanent is any card or token that is actively on the battlefield. It’s the bedrock upon which much of the game’s strategy is built. Permanents include:
- Creatures: These are the fighters and strategists of the game, engaging in combat or using activated abilities.
- Artifacts: These represent magical items, animated constructs, and powerful devices, often with unique and game-changing effects.
- Enchantments: These are magical enhancements that can affect players, creatures, or even the overall game state.
- Planeswalkers: These represent powerful interdimensional beings with loyalty abilities and can dramatically alter the battlefield.
- Lands: These are the fundamental resources that provide mana, the energy source for casting spells.
- Battles: Representing sieges and conflicts, battles are a permanent type that players can attack.
- Tokens: Permanents created by other cards or effects that aren’t represented by actual cards.
Importantly, the opposite of a permanent is a non-permanent spell. Instants and sorceries, while spells, are transient actions that do not stay on the battlefield; thus they are not considered permanents. They enter the stack, resolve, and then are moved to the graveyard.
Lands as Permanents: Key Distinctions
While lands are indeed permanents, they have unique characteristics that set them apart from other permanent types.
Lands Are Not Spells
Lands are not considered spells in MTG. This is a significant distinction. When you play a land, it doesn’t go onto the stack like a spell. You simply place it onto the battlefield during your main phase, provided you haven’t already played a land this turn. Since they’re not spells, lands are unaffected by effects that specifically target spells or counter spells. This makes them a reliable resource, free from the interference that most other actions face.
Lands Provide Mana
The primary purpose of a land card is to provide mana, which is necessary to cast spells, activate abilities, and generally interact with the game. Each land card has its own unique mana production, be it basic (like Forest producing green mana or Island producing blue mana) or dual lands that produce two types of mana.
Lands Are Colorless (Usually)
Most lands are colorless by default. They have no mana cost, and thus they are colorless permanents. This means that they don’t contribute to things like “devotion” or trigger effects that specifically target colored permanents. However, there are exceptions. Some lands, such as Dryad Arbor, have color indicators and are therefore considered to be colored permanents.
Lands and Color Identity
Even though they’re generally colorless, lands play a crucial role in deck-building, especially in formats like Commander (EDH). A land’s color identity is determined by its mana symbols. This rule places restrictions on the lands you can include in a Commander deck. For instance, a card like Hallowed Fountain has a white and blue mana symbol and can therefore only be used in a deck with those colours in its Commander’s color identity.
Understanding Land Permanents: The Bottom Line
Lands are the foundation of any MTG game. As permanent cards, they represent the resources players need to engage with the game and implement their strategies. Their unique characteristics – as non-spells and generally colorless – make them a critical part of the game that can’t be ignored when navigating the game’s rules and interactions. Understanding that they are indeed permanents helps in deciphering how cards like board-wipes, enchantments, or other permanent-targeting effects interact with land cards.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Here are 15 frequently asked questions about lands as permanents in MTG:
1. Does playing a land count as casting a spell?
No, playing a land is not considered casting a spell. It’s a special action a player can take during their main phase. Lands go directly onto the battlefield and do not go onto the stack.
2. Do lands trigger effects that trigger when a permanent enters the battlefield?
Yes, lands entering the battlefield do trigger effects that specifically state they trigger when a permanent enters the battlefield. This is because lands are indeed permanents.
3. Are land cards affected by mass destruction spells that target permanents?
Yes, mass destruction spells that target permanents, such as Wrath of God or Farewell, will affect land cards unless they are specifically protected by another effect.
4. Can lands be targeted by spells that target specific types of permanents?
Yes. A spell that says “destroy target land” can target a land card. Lands are not inherently immune to targeting unless specifically stated otherwise.
5. Do lands count towards “devotion” in MTG?
No, basic lands do not count towards “devotion” because they are colorless. Devotion is based on the mana symbols of colored mana in the cost of other permanents you control.
6. If a land is animated into a creature, does it remain a land?
Yes, if a land is animated into a creature (such as via Awakening), it retains all of its existing types. It would be both a land and a creature, gaining the properties and vulnerabilities of both.
7. Can lands be bounced back to your hand?
Yes, lands can be bounced back to your hand by effects that bounce permanents. Examples include Boomerang or Cyclonic Rift.
8. Do lands contribute to the color identity of a Commander deck?
Yes, lands contribute to the color identity of a commander deck based on the mana symbols that they contain. Dual lands will add to the color identity of the deck in formats like Commander (EDH).
9. Are lands affected by effects that remove colorless permanents?
Yes, most lands are colorless and are therefore affected by effects that remove or otherwise affect colorless permanents.
10. If a land becomes an enchantment via another card, what type of permanent is it?
It would be both an enchantment and a land, similar to the creature interaction. The card would remain a land permanent and acquire the enchantment type.
11. Can a land be exiled as a permanent?
Yes, lands can be exiled as a permanent. Effects like Swords to Plowshares or Path to Exile can send a land to the exile zone.
12. Does a token copy of a land still count as a permanent land?
Yes, if you have a token copy of a land, it will act as a regular permanent land on the battlefield, unless otherwise stated.
13. Can I play a land on another player’s turn?
No, the ability to play a land is restricted to your own main phase, once per turn. There are exceptions, but these are through specific card effects.
14. Can a land be sacrificed?
Yes, lands can be sacrificed by cards that require you to sacrifice permanents.
15. Are basic lands the only type of land that exists?
No, there are many types of land cards in MTG, including non-basic lands. Non-basic lands can produce more than one type of mana, have special abilities, or both.