Understanding the Evolving Wilds Rule in Magic: The Gathering
The Evolving Wilds rule revolves around a specific land card in Magic: The Gathering, a card that introduces an interesting strategic element to mana bases. Essentially, Evolving Wilds is a colorless land card that enters the battlefield untapped, but it doesn’t produce mana by itself. Instead, it has an activated ability that requires you to sacrifice it to search your library for a basic land card and put that card onto the battlefield tapped. This action helps accelerate your mana development while also thinning your deck, which improves the odds of drawing non-land cards later on. It’s a simple yet versatile effect that has made Evolving Wilds a staple in many deck types, especially in formats where mana consistency and color fixing are crucial. The beauty of Evolving Wilds lies in its ability to provide any basic land, regardless of color, thereby providing a form of color fixing. However, it’s important to note that the land brought onto the battlefield by Evolving Wilds does not count as playing a land for turn.
The Mechanics of Evolving Wilds
Evolving Wilds’ functionality is relatively straightforward, but understanding its mechanics in detail is critical. The card has the following text:
{T}, Sacrifice Evolving Wilds: Search your library for a basic land card, put it onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle your library.
Let’s break this down:
- {T}: This indicates the activation cost is to tap Evolving Wilds.
- Sacrifice Evolving Wilds: This means you must put Evolving Wilds into your graveyard as part of the activation cost.
- Search your library for a basic land card: You get to look through your entire deck for any basic land (Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, or Forest).
- Put it onto the battlefield tapped: The chosen basic land enters the battlefield tapped.
- Shuffle your library: You must shuffle your deck after finding the basic land to randomize your deck once more.
The key to understanding the Evolving Wilds rule is that it is a triggered ability that does not produce mana directly. Rather, it allows you to search for a land. Evolving Wilds acts as an initial land, then is sacrificed for a second one. This is the central part of its value, making it a great early-game tool for accelerating mana and fixing colors.
Why Is Evolving Wilds Important?
While it may seem counterintuitive to include a card that you immediately sacrifice, Evolving Wilds provides several important advantages:
- Color Fixing: The ability to fetch any basic land allows you to ensure you have the right colors available when you need them, making it useful for multicolor decks.
- Mana Acceleration: While you don’t get the land immediately, you are replacing Evolving Wilds, which is an early-game land, with a basic land from your library.
- Deck Thinning: By removing two cards from your deck (Evolving Wilds and the basic land), your deck is essentially reduced in size, which improves the odds of drawing non-land cards later in the game.
- Landfall Triggers: The act of playing Evolving Wilds and then putting a basic land onto the battlefield using its ability can trigger multiple landfall effects, which can be advantageous in certain decks.
- Versatility: Its simple, low cost nature makes it usable in a wide variety of decks, from casual to competitive.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Evolving Wilds
Here are 15 frequently asked questions to further clarify the Evolving Wilds rule and its implications:
Can Evolving Wilds fetch snow lands?
Yes, Evolving Wilds can fetch snow-covered basic lands as they have the basic land type (Snow-Covered Plains, Snow-Covered Island, Snow-Covered Swamp, Snow-Covered Mountain, or Snow-Covered Forest). This is important in decks that rely on snow mana.
Does Evolving Wilds count as playing a land?
No, playing Evolving Wilds counts as your land drop for the turn. However, the action of putting a basic land onto the battlefield using Evolving Wilds’ ability does not count as playing a land. You are putting it onto the battlefield using the card’s ability, not by playing the card itself from your hand.
Can you tap Evolving Wilds immediately after playing it?
Yes, as long as it has no summoning sickness, you can tap Evolving Wilds immediately after it enters the battlefield to activate its ability.
Does Evolving Wilds trigger landfall twice?
Yes, Evolving Wilds can trigger landfall twice. Once when you play Evolving Wilds onto the battlefield, and again when you use its ability to put a basic land onto the battlefield.
Is Fabled Passage better than Evolving Wilds?
Fabled Passage is generally considered better because it can fetch any land even in the late game, but it has some constraints that make it better in some cases. Fabled Passage is strictly better in the late game, but in the early game Evolving Wilds is fine.
Can Evolving Wilds fetch shock lands?
No, Evolving Wilds cannot fetch shock lands. Shock lands have basic land types, however, the text on Evolving Wilds indicates that it can only get “basic land cards,” and shock lands do not have the supertype “basic” so are not eligble.
What makes Evolving Wilds good for deck thinning?
Evolving Wilds lets you take two cards out of your deck (Evolving Wilds and the fetched basic land) and reduce it by two, making it more likely to draw other non-land cards in your deck.
Do you have to sacrifice Evolving Wilds?
Yes, the sacrifice is required as part of the activation cost of its ability. You must sacrifice Evolving Wilds to get a basic land.
Does sacrificing Evolving Wilds get around totem armor?
No, totem armor does not protect against sacrifice. Totem armor protects against destroy effects only, and sacrificing a permanent does not count as being destroyed.
Is the Legendary Rule a sacrifice?
No, the Legendary Rule is not a sacrifice. While the legendary permanent will go to the graveyard, this is different from a sacrifice action.
Does sacrifice trigger totem armor?
No, sacrifice does not trigger totem armor. Totem armor only replaces destroy effects, so if the permanent is sacrificed the totem armor is not applied.
Do lands count as 0 mana?
Yes, lands have a mana value of 0. This is important for cards that trigger when a card of a certain mana value is cast or put onto the battlefield.
Is Evolving Wilds a spell?
No, Evolving Wilds is not a spell. It is a land card, and lands are not spells. It’s activated ability is also not a spell.
Can Evolving Wilds fetch triomes?
No, Evolving Wilds cannot fetch Triomes. Triomes do not have the basic land supertype so are therefore illegible.
Do Fetch Lands count as lands?
Yes, fetch lands are considered lands because they have the land card type. They sacrifice to get a basic land on to the battlefield tapped.
Conclusion
Evolving Wilds is a simple yet powerful land card that has found its way into countless Magic: The Gathering decks due to its color-fixing ability, deck-thinning effect, and potential for multiple landfall triggers. While it might not be as powerful as some other fetch lands, its low cost and versatility make it a crucial tool for mana consistency and strategy. Understanding the Evolving Wilds rule, along with its nuances and strategic implications, is a fundamental aspect of effective deck building and gameplay in Magic.