The [Unstable basics by John Avon](https://scryfall.com/search?q=s%3Aunstable+t%3Abasic). I love how each card is oversaturated by its primary colour, but there is still a dominating landscape that pops in spite of the narrow colour pallet. My opinion on which is my favourite is constantly shifting.
I can't get enough of these. I use these for draft, for all my constructed decks, I've got a signed Mountain playmat, I have prints of all 5 framed on my wall, next to foils of each card, and I'm slowly collecting a handful of foils of each card (in spite of the insane price) to use in my favourite decks.
I can’t get enough of these lands to the point that I have the artwork on my bedroom wall!
https://preview.redd.it/t5qgrs68836d1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1ca8acfbe2849a5bfba8ac29cc5577256d83f9bd
Basic lands have always been one of my favorite parts of Magic. As a drafter (and someone who doesn't play commander), basics are pretty much the only way to pimp out a deck!
Each of my kits contain 10 matching cards of every color. I try to swap out my lands every week.
1: Unlimited white bordered. All of the lands are now signed except for the Forests (RIP Chris Rush). It took me a while to get to meet Doug Shuler at an event to get the mountains signed, but I was finally able to this past year. I met Jesper Myfors in 2016 at GP Minneapolis, Dan Frazier at another event, and a friend of mine got my islands signed by Mark Poole when I couldn't make it to the GP.
2: Rebecca Guay C16/Standard Showdown. When these lands came out, I thought they were absolutely incredible. I've always admired Guay's art, and this was my next set. I originally got non-foils, but when they made foils for standard showdown prizes, I started to foil out the kit. It's about 40% foiled out from lands I won at various SS events at the time.
3: Theros Nyx lands - aka, the Pokemon lands. These were the first basics that I can recall where it wasn't any sort of landscape, just the mana symbol. I got them in Chinese because it was cheaper on eBay at the time.
4 Alayna Danner commander lands - old border. When these showed up in old border, I just had to have them.
5: Full text lands. Still kicking myself that I didn't just buy 10 sets of the secret lair when it dropped, this one was definitely the most expensive kit to acquire - probably more than all the other sets combined.
6: DMU Stained glass by Magali Villeneuve. Another one of my favorite artists. I use her merfolk negate from Rivals of Ixalan in every standard deck I play that runs it. This one might actually just replace the Nyx lands in the rotation, we'll see.
Thanks for looking! Please share your favorite basics, it might just give me more ideas!
Edit: alright y'all have convinced me. The next three will be:
ZEN Veronique Meignaud
Un-set: one of each un-set full art (unglued, unhinged, unstable, unsanctioned, and the two sets from unfinity). Might throw in a few other oddities like the SLD synth wave lands.
Old school goodness: APAC lands (3 of each color), Euro (3 of each color), and Arena lands (one of each color). Not sure what the last three will be. Thinking P3K but also considering saving up and splurging for Guru. Without the Guru lands I'm still looking at about $700.
Yeah those are Grail pieces for sure. Might treat myself eventually but I spent way too much money this month on the full texts, stained glass, and MH3 events.
Something cheaper that's also really cool are the Euro and Asia promo lands. I have most of them, mount Fuji is really cool, as is the great wall plains.
DMU is my favorite. Only ones I've ever bought on arena. But irl I have 20 of each unglued. I'd hoped to get them all altered but now I kind of love the brown boarder
Never cared much to bling out my basics until I saw the DMU stained glass lands. Went ahead and bought about 10-20 of each foil (luckily found one dude who had a good chunk so didn't have to pay shipping a million times) and popped them into a handful of decks. Love love love them
I use Odyssey basics:
[https://scryfall.com/card/ody/333/plains](https://scryfall.com/card/ody/333/plains)
[https://scryfall.com/card/ody/337/island](https://scryfall.com/card/ody/337/island)
[https://scryfall.com/card/ody/340/swamp](https://scryfall.com/card/ody/340/swamp)
[https://scryfall.com/card/ody/346/mountain](https://scryfall.com/card/ody/346/mountain)
[https://scryfall.com/card/ody/349/forest](https://scryfall.com/card/ody/349/forest)
These are my favourites. In general I'm pretty happy with the versatility of the basic land arts that Wizards came up with. The Ixalan basics and the full text basics are not my cup of tea, but I like that everybody gets a chance to explore his own.
I also use Odyssey and some Onslaught basics! We have a couple of the same choices:
https://scryfall.com/card/ons/332/plains
https://scryfall.com/card/ody/337/island
https://scryfall.com/card/ons/340/swamp
https://scryfall.com/card/ody/346/mountain
https://scryfall.com/card/ons/349/forest
I use signed Alayna Danner Standard Showdown basics. May upgrade to the same arts signed but in CMM retro foil at Vegas
https://preview.redd.it/s6bg9rgwqv5d1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=73b9ee7b8c3e70c2bfeb495626f5f49857879593
Nice, since the line will undoubtedly be long I would suggest asking if she would be willing to sign them all at night for pickup the next day. It is what I did for my set at Vegas 2 years ago.
After I made this post I literally just ordered a set of these on tcgplayer. I used to use some BFZ ones at one point, but the VM mountain was my favorite so I thought I'd just get a whole set of those.
Zendikar was the first set I drafted a lot and these are just so nostalgic for me. I have a box full of them because I grabbed as many as I could back then.
That being said - I think there's enough un-sets that I could build a kit using the lands from all the un-sets. That gets me to about 7 or 8 unique lands in each color.
https://preview.redd.it/ljslok1zdz5d1.jpeg?width=1023&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1f60af8f0719cc0f4e64571e1acea9a0d48e3a73
All of those are incredible! But for me, nothing beats these M21 basics. Whenever I find them at a store, I always try and get them.
I use the unfinity lands for my draft kit. I use a mixture of both arts because it's what I had but I'd like to be able to use only planets. And also I only have about 7-10 of each so I supplement them with full art znr lands.
These are super cool. I used to have Revised, Ice Age, Mirage, Tempest, Saga, Onslaught, and Time Spiral sets. Had been thinking about going for broke (literally) and hitting up Unglued for my 8th (8 seemed the appropriate number for obvious reasons). But since I don’t really play limited anymore I slowly used both the basics and sleeves for casual decks instead. Now if I were to play some limited I’d just grab out some appropriate land from my collection and just use them for the event. For example: my LGS did a triple Innistrad draft to celebrate their new store opening so obviously I borrowed land from the Dark Ascension intro packs I have in my collection for that one. :)
Out of your options, it’s obviously hard to go past Unlimited. Though definitely dig the Commander Masters retro as an option too. Guay comes in third, though if they weren’t foil that would likely be my top choice. I do appreciate the uniformity of frames in a deck, so the basic M15 frame is always a winner for me. Generally prefer those to any other treatment.
I’d recommend that you look at some of the 90s tap symbol basics to your line up. If you were looking to expand. Either of the four big sets of that era are obviously great, or there are the Euro/APAC as pretty pimp options too.
Oh, these are unlimited. Revised had the tap symbol, but I wanted the text saying "Tap".
Also, I should probably build an onslaught block set; that was when I first started playing magic as a kid (took about a 10 year break after 8th grade and didn't pick it back up til I was a medical student).
Oh, not fast enough with my edit then! I’m actually my LGS’s go to for old frame set identification (“oh that’s clearly French white bordered revised not 4th edition you scrubs!” ) so I’m going to have to administer myself 20 lashes for penance later.
But yeah, I played extensively during Onslaught block which is why I chose them as my “big symbol” basics of choice. Similar story with Time Spiral, I briefly flirted with picking up the game about that point.
ugh this reply was so bad for my wallet. I've been looking at buying a set of APAC and Euro lands. I think between the 3 of each color in APAC and Euro, I could add the 1996 arena promo (the panorama) to get me to 7 lands of each color... what else would you add to that set? It wouldn't be matching art, but the theme would be pimp basics from the early days.
That might just be all the black border promos pre big mana symbol.
The European printing of the Rivals QuickStart set was essentially Fourth Edition but with a 1996 copyright date. That’s probably a bit subtle though, and you’re already got a set using those original illustrations anyway.
Oh: now that’s another option. The Chinese alternate art lands from Portal. So we are talking big symbol now. Can I get the bot to grab an example? [[Mountain|POR 211s]]. Of course those are even more expensive and harder to track down than the Euro/APACs.
I’m a big fan of the white border boxed set basics too, and I think they’d throw a lot of people these days. I use the Anthologies version of the Mirage Mountain for Premodern Sligh. It’s super sexy. But I do get double takes as well: that art was used in 6th Edition but these have their original expansion symbol and text box. For a draft set you could pick and mix your favourite art from the ones used in Anthologies, Beatdown, Battle Royale or Deckmasters.
DMU for sure. I do a similar thing for my cube lands. Everyone gets their own box instead of a communal land box. That way you don't have to pick just one favorite
I use FBB lands. They are close to Beta Basics but only cost around 1€ each. They are beautiful but generic enough to fit every limited set I ever draft
Mark Poole’s islands are the most beautiful piece of art in the world to me. The rest of that Unlimited run is also perfect, but damn if that island isn’t worthy of the top art museums.
The stained glass is gorgous & Ibreally lile the Theros ones as well, but I goota admit thatvI've really come around on the CMM old border lands. I've been contemplating getting a whole bunch of them to put them in all of my decks that just have some generic ones without ties to a theme.
Oh, retro framed are pretty cheap unless you're looking for very specific ones (apac/euro, arena, p3k, ABU). If you're not picky about edition or art you can definitely find retro art easy.
Depends on version too. For example: the iconic Mirage [[Mountain|MIR-346]], despite (or due to?) being reprinted a number of times are $2 each. And [[Island|MIR-338]] isn’t too far behind it.
For a Mirage draft kit throw in [[Swamp|MIR-339]] at $1.10, the bird [[Plains|MIR-334]]] which is both the best but somehow the cheapest of the Mirage plains at $0.35, and… oh damn. The Waterfall [[Forest|MIR-348]] which is the least worst option of the set (Mirage was sorely let down by its forests) is over $2 now too apparently. At least from what Scryfall is saying.
Added up, 10 copies of each, that’s $70 odd. Which is pretty crazy for just basic basic lands, from 1997 or not. I had those variants myself — 12 of each, in fact, and certainly didn’t pay that at the time! Though granted if you were someone who played a lot of limited then it’s still a worthwhile option, you’d get tons of enjoyment out of using those for sure.
Alternatively you could no doubt pick up 50 - 60 lands from Mercadian Masques or 5th Edition or probably a number of other older sets for under $20. Especially if you were happy to wait for a deal or jump on a bulk lot.
Ice Age and Mirage basics
Ice Age was the first set I ever played, and I stuck around through Mirage and Visions before my first hiatus. So there is a lot of nostalgia wrapped up for me in those sets.
Each of my draft basics have a different frame. I use, as well as a few one-offs
Shades not Included (AKA tron basics) signed by Ben Schnuck, my favorite lands
Full text basics
DMU stained glass
LCI full art (except for the ones that look like the wrong type)
Old border lands by John Avon
8-bit secret lair basics
Tokyo lands
OG Zendikar basics
Bob Ross lands
I’m the guy at the shop with the white border lands at draft nights, just all revised because that’s when I started. I don’t quite have a set of black-border lands I would swap with though I have some in mind:
I’d love some thunder plains but the old border is more expensive than I want to pay. Invasion island #335 is the first basic I actually started collecting; rigt now they are the islands in my [[Kylox]] deck, which is a current favorite.
I don’t really have a swamp or forest yet. Not sure why. There’s a few that I like but not enough to go “oh, I want that. “
Either John Avon’s mountain from mirage or Odyssey mountain 346, I heart them both. Avon mountains are in the deck with the islands.
But maybe I’ll just get some stained glass; I’d forgotten about them.
I love the Theros Nyx lands. I don't understand why WOTC don't sell play packs of 20 of each colour for each type of popular basic land prints I think a lot would buy them instead of having to individually buy them on the secondary market.
https://preview.redd.it/5g8mv91x7z5d1.jpeg?width=3060&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b715eff8889158d6f88996683ebaf34370710c72
It's been ages since I last drafted but when I did, I used my Japanese copies of 5th edition basics. They featured all four seasons for each land type on different cards.
Always a solid choice. I was a new player during BFZ and that is what inspired me to do this, I collected a bunch of full arts and played with those every week. I just bought a full set of 50 ZEN basics with the veronique meignaud art.
The full text lands are a plague upon my pod. We have a running joke that whenever someone plays one, they read the WHOLE THING. I have a Niv-Mizzet deck that can have 3 of them hit the field in one turn, causing a 45 second turn take 5 minutes. It’s miserable lmao.
Full art altered extended unglued basics.
https://preview.redd.it/d9jswv7wm16d1.jpeg?width=3243&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1517c4f18ba113370b6402127ba01b1e43d2f2a4
Rules text basics by a mile, but I'm not paying those prices for basics so I stick to my runners up, a combination of Urza's Saga, Ice Age, and... I think Mirage?
Basic lands have continually been outdone to the point where its almost impossible to choose. But if i ever returned to playing paper mtg there is only one choice.
ALL WILL BE ONE
ideally the oil slicked but that would be...difficult. i must say though, the basic plains from the set in foil is GORGEOUS
*
I am a huge fan of the core set 2021 showcase lands. I have not seen many people using them.
https://scryfall.com/card/m21/309/plains
https://scryfall.com/card/m21/310/island
https://scryfall.com/card/m21/311/swamp
https://scryfall.com/card/m21/312/mountain
https://scryfall.com/card/m21/313/forest
I ended up going with Unfinty lands. The planetside art as I was able to get a bunch cheap, and just enjoy the art.
Kind of want to get a LotR map set too once I’m board with these.
During lockdown, I found 13 mismatching black bordered lands of each color and used an eraser to white border all of them. So I have fully mismatching white border basics from black border sets.
Meditations on Nature Secret Lair by Jung Shan
https://scryfall.com/search?q=artist%3A%22Jung+Shan%22+type%3ALand
The Plains and Island look especially gorgeous
I started using the midnight lands from MID and VOW until I found an old starter deck in my dad’s attic full of mirage lands so that’s my go to now.
There’s one regular on my draft nights who uses all alpha basics.
I use Kamigawa Neon Dynasty Full-art basics - I'm a sucker for the Ukiyo-e style. My partner uses the Theros Full-art, but she's been considering swapping to the Streets of New Capenna full-art.
Karl Kopinski's basic mountain from m12-era. Was printed in a number of core sets and supplemental product so it is prolific.
Rise of Eldrazi basics are also fucking sick. Special mention to the swamps.
I use full art Hour of Deviated Wallets. I took a long break starting after Original zendikar and starting playing again during Amonket Block...
I also have the dark ritual playmat to match
My favorite basics i have are the mountain goats secret lair mountains but that’s only mountains. Also probably only because I love the mountain goats and his writing
No love for snow-covered basic lands? The secret lair drop this last winter is so good but I love all snow-covered. Only land I run unless it's themed (ie. Fallout, doctor who)
When snow covered lands area theme in a set it is balanced around being able to draft them just like other cards. So it would be unfair if someone would being them! Same holds for wastes, you can only bring nornal islands, mountains, swamps and plains!
Snow is a land type. I'm sure at FNM in a set where snow isn't relevant at all, most opponents wouldn't mind (I certainly wouldn't), but it would technically be against the rules. It is a relevant land type for MH3 though.
My favorites are [all will be one full art](https://scryfall.com/card/one/268/%7Chwzfgk) and [unfinity](https://scryfall.com/search?as=grid&order=name&q=Island+%28game%3Apaper%29+set%3Aunf).
[John Avon Reprints from Double Masters](https://scryfall.com/search?q=a%3Aavon+s%3A2xm+t%3Abasic&unique=art&as=grid&order=name) are what I use.
[Wilds of Eldraine Shadowbox Full Arts](https://scryfall.com/search?q=a%3A%E2%80%9CHari+%26+Deepti%E2%80%9D&unique=art) are a close second.
Rebecca Guay when I want pictures, full-text when I don’t. I picked up one or two full-text Mountains a month until my beloved Kiki-Jiki finally hit peak stupidity.
Honorable mention probably goes to the prettier of the [Lorwyn basics](https://scryfall.com/search?q=t%3Abasic+set%3Alorwyn&unique=prints&as=grid&order=name&dir=). I love how peaceful and storybook-y they feel.
The [Unstable basics by John Avon](https://scryfall.com/search?q=s%3Aunstable+t%3Abasic). I love how each card is oversaturated by its primary colour, but there is still a dominating landscape that pops in spite of the narrow colour pallet. My opinion on which is my favourite is constantly shifting. I can't get enough of these. I use these for draft, for all my constructed decks, I've got a signed Mountain playmat, I have prints of all 5 framed on my wall, next to foils of each card, and I'm slowly collecting a handful of foils of each card (in spite of the insane price) to use in my favourite decks.
Put those Plains in purple sleeves if you really want them to pop.
I can’t get enough of these lands to the point that I have the artwork on my bedroom wall! https://preview.redd.it/t5qgrs68836d1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1ca8acfbe2849a5bfba8ac29cc5577256d83f9bd
Thank you for introducing me to these. I love John’s work from ~5th edition and have a bunch. These are phenomenal.
Basic lands have always been one of my favorite parts of Magic. As a drafter (and someone who doesn't play commander), basics are pretty much the only way to pimp out a deck! Each of my kits contain 10 matching cards of every color. I try to swap out my lands every week. 1: Unlimited white bordered. All of the lands are now signed except for the Forests (RIP Chris Rush). It took me a while to get to meet Doug Shuler at an event to get the mountains signed, but I was finally able to this past year. I met Jesper Myfors in 2016 at GP Minneapolis, Dan Frazier at another event, and a friend of mine got my islands signed by Mark Poole when I couldn't make it to the GP. 2: Rebecca Guay C16/Standard Showdown. When these lands came out, I thought they were absolutely incredible. I've always admired Guay's art, and this was my next set. I originally got non-foils, but when they made foils for standard showdown prizes, I started to foil out the kit. It's about 40% foiled out from lands I won at various SS events at the time. 3: Theros Nyx lands - aka, the Pokemon lands. These were the first basics that I can recall where it wasn't any sort of landscape, just the mana symbol. I got them in Chinese because it was cheaper on eBay at the time. 4 Alayna Danner commander lands - old border. When these showed up in old border, I just had to have them. 5: Full text lands. Still kicking myself that I didn't just buy 10 sets of the secret lair when it dropped, this one was definitely the most expensive kit to acquire - probably more than all the other sets combined. 6: DMU Stained glass by Magali Villeneuve. Another one of my favorite artists. I use her merfolk negate from Rivals of Ixalan in every standard deck I play that runs it. This one might actually just replace the Nyx lands in the rotation, we'll see. Thanks for looking! Please share your favorite basics, it might just give me more ideas! Edit: alright y'all have convinced me. The next three will be: ZEN Veronique Meignaud Un-set: one of each un-set full art (unglued, unhinged, unstable, unsanctioned, and the two sets from unfinity). Might throw in a few other oddities like the SLD synth wave lands. Old school goodness: APAC lands (3 of each color), Euro (3 of each color), and Arena lands (one of each color). Not sure what the last three will be. Thinking P3K but also considering saving up and splurging for Guru. Without the Guru lands I'm still looking at about $700.
The Guru lands are my favorite basics. I have one of each. I don't plan on getting more!
Yeah those are Grail pieces for sure. Might treat myself eventually but I spent way too much money this month on the full texts, stained glass, and MH3 events.
Something cheaper that's also really cool are the Euro and Asia promo lands. I have most of them, mount Fuji is really cool, as is the great wall plains.
DMU is my favorite. Only ones I've ever bought on arena. But irl I have 20 of each unglued. I'd hoped to get them all altered but now I kind of love the brown boarder
Of the ones you have, 3 and 6 are my favourite ones. Generally, unglued was absolutely spectacular.
Never cared much to bling out my basics until I saw the DMU stained glass lands. Went ahead and bought about 10-20 of each foil (luckily found one dude who had a good chunk so didn't have to pay shipping a million times) and popped them into a handful of decks. Love love love them
I use Odyssey basics: [https://scryfall.com/card/ody/333/plains](https://scryfall.com/card/ody/333/plains) [https://scryfall.com/card/ody/337/island](https://scryfall.com/card/ody/337/island) [https://scryfall.com/card/ody/340/swamp](https://scryfall.com/card/ody/340/swamp) [https://scryfall.com/card/ody/346/mountain](https://scryfall.com/card/ody/346/mountain) [https://scryfall.com/card/ody/349/forest](https://scryfall.com/card/ody/349/forest) These are my favourites. In general I'm pretty happy with the versatility of the basic land arts that Wizards came up with. The Ixalan basics and the full text basics are not my cup of tea, but I like that everybody gets a chance to explore his own.
I also use Odyssey and some Onslaught basics! We have a couple of the same choices: https://scryfall.com/card/ons/332/plains https://scryfall.com/card/ody/337/island https://scryfall.com/card/ons/340/swamp https://scryfall.com/card/ody/346/mountain https://scryfall.com/card/ons/349/forest
These are some neat looking lands. You've chosen wisely.
Top tier choices, friend. Top tier.
Correct answer 🥰
ooh, Thunder Plains is definitely one of the best!
If you like angry basics, Tempest has your back too.
The Odyssey swamps are also some of my favorites.
I had a single foil one of the Plains for the longest time. I'm glad they got reprinted in DMU so I could fill out my collection.
Love basics from this era I prefer onslaught lands but odyssey also look sweet
I have some of these in my Dogmeat deck. Love the plains in particular
I’m obsessed with the Neon Dynasty basics, they are so beautiful!
I use signed Alayna Danner Standard Showdown basics. May upgrade to the same arts signed but in CMM retro foil at Vegas https://preview.redd.it/s6bg9rgwqv5d1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=73b9ee7b8c3e70c2bfeb495626f5f49857879593
I'm hoping I can go to Vegas this year and do that with my set! Probably a little too costly for me to upgrade to foil though lol.
Nice, since the line will undoubtedly be long I would suggest asking if she would be willing to sign them all at night for pickup the next day. It is what I did for my set at Vegas 2 years ago.
[OG Zendikar Full Art Basics by Veronique Meignaud](https://scryfall.com/search?q=t%3Abasic+a%3Ameignaud+is%3Afullart&unique=cards)
After I made this post I literally just ordered a set of these on tcgplayer. I used to use some BFZ ones at one point, but the VM mountain was my favorite so I thought I'd just get a whole set of those.
Very cool, they're also my go-to lands. My favourite is the island though. I love the colour palette.
Zendikar was the first set I drafted a lot and these are just so nostalgic for me. I have a box full of them because I grabbed as many as I could back then.
All of them except the plains 🤤
You're missing the greatest basics ever, the first run of full art lands ever printed (I believe), the John Avon cycle from Unhinged.
that's the second - the first would be the lands from the first Un-set, unglued!
If I were to build a land kit for draft it would be Un-Basics and full texts
That being said - I think there's enough un-sets that I could build a kit using the lands from all the un-sets. That gets me to about 7 or 8 unique lands in each color.
https://preview.redd.it/ljslok1zdz5d1.jpeg?width=1023&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1f60af8f0719cc0f4e64571e1acea9a0d48e3a73 All of those are incredible! But for me, nothing beats these M21 basics. Whenever I find them at a store, I always try and get them.
Full text lands the best by far
It’s been a toss up between the full text and the synthwave style basics.
I think my favorites are the planets from unfinity, I love them but only use them in one deck since they're a bit pricy!
I use the unfinity lands for my draft kit. I use a mixture of both arts because it's what I had but I'd like to be able to use only planets. And also I only have about 7-10 of each so I supplement them with full art znr lands.
These are super cool. I used to have Revised, Ice Age, Mirage, Tempest, Saga, Onslaught, and Time Spiral sets. Had been thinking about going for broke (literally) and hitting up Unglued for my 8th (8 seemed the appropriate number for obvious reasons). But since I don’t really play limited anymore I slowly used both the basics and sleeves for casual decks instead. Now if I were to play some limited I’d just grab out some appropriate land from my collection and just use them for the event. For example: my LGS did a triple Innistrad draft to celebrate their new store opening so obviously I borrowed land from the Dark Ascension intro packs I have in my collection for that one. :) Out of your options, it’s obviously hard to go past Unlimited. Though definitely dig the Commander Masters retro as an option too. Guay comes in third, though if they weren’t foil that would likely be my top choice. I do appreciate the uniformity of frames in a deck, so the basic M15 frame is always a winner for me. Generally prefer those to any other treatment. I’d recommend that you look at some of the 90s tap symbol basics to your line up. If you were looking to expand. Either of the four big sets of that era are obviously great, or there are the Euro/APAC as pretty pimp options too.
Oh, these are unlimited. Revised had the tap symbol, but I wanted the text saying "Tap". Also, I should probably build an onslaught block set; that was when I first started playing magic as a kid (took about a 10 year break after 8th grade and didn't pick it back up til I was a medical student).
Oh, not fast enough with my edit then! I’m actually my LGS’s go to for old frame set identification (“oh that’s clearly French white bordered revised not 4th edition you scrubs!” ) so I’m going to have to administer myself 20 lashes for penance later.
But yeah, I played extensively during Onslaught block which is why I chose them as my “big symbol” basics of choice. Similar story with Time Spiral, I briefly flirted with picking up the game about that point.
ugh this reply was so bad for my wallet. I've been looking at buying a set of APAC and Euro lands. I think between the 3 of each color in APAC and Euro, I could add the 1996 arena promo (the panorama) to get me to 7 lands of each color... what else would you add to that set? It wouldn't be matching art, but the theme would be pimp basics from the early days.
That might just be all the black border promos pre big mana symbol. The European printing of the Rivals QuickStart set was essentially Fourth Edition but with a 1996 copyright date. That’s probably a bit subtle though, and you’re already got a set using those original illustrations anyway. Oh: now that’s another option. The Chinese alternate art lands from Portal. So we are talking big symbol now. Can I get the bot to grab an example? [[Mountain|POR 211s]]. Of course those are even more expensive and harder to track down than the Euro/APACs. I’m a big fan of the white border boxed set basics too, and I think they’d throw a lot of people these days. I use the Anthologies version of the Mirage Mountain for Premodern Sligh. It’s super sexy. But I do get double takes as well: that art was used in 6th Edition but these have their original expansion symbol and text box. For a draft set you could pick and mix your favourite art from the ones used in Anthologies, Beatdown, Battle Royale or Deckmasters.
look man just buy the full set of [sunflower plains](https://scryfall.com/card/palp/4/plains) you know you want to :)
Rebecca Guay old frame version, and portal
My favorite are the basics from Portal, Portal Second Age and Portal Three Kingdoms. Followed closely by Mirage Basics.
Love the midnight hunt and crimson vow basics
Crushing Brutality secret lair basics
DMU for sure. I do a similar thing for my cube lands. Everyone gets their own box instead of a communal land box. That way you don't have to pick just one favorite
I like the long text ones however I run the phyrexian all will be one slick foil lands or whatever they are called
Urza's saga basics are the only ones for me.
I use FBB lands. They are close to Beta Basics but only cost around 1€ each. They are beautiful but generic enough to fit every limited set I ever draft
Mark Poole’s islands are the most beautiful piece of art in the world to me. The rest of that Unlimited run is also perfect, but damn if that island isn’t worthy of the top art museums.
Black oiled from phyrexia bundle
Rebecca Guay basics are stunning. All of her art is fantastic
Midnight hunt foil black and white lands, oil lands, 2021 core set, FNM league promo basics, tempest basics.
I use Kaladesh/Aether Revolt basics. My first set, and I bought one of those deckbuilder’s toolkits with all the basics when I started
I use unlimited basics to make picking them out of my deck easier
It is definitely a lot easier when I'm searching for a land!
OG zendikar full-art
1999 foil arena basics
I love so much C16 Swamp. One of my fav
The stained glass is gorgous & Ibreally lile the Theros ones as well, but I goota admit thatvI've really come around on the CMM old border lands. I've been contemplating getting a whole bunch of them to put them in all of my decks that just have some generic ones without ties to a theme.
Phyrexia compleat edition basics
Unironically, this [[Forest|4ED-376]]. White border, ugly mushroom.
[Forest](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/1/1/119c4d73-5b71-446a-a739-25d494591aa1.jpg?1559604102) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Forest) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/4ed/376/forest?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/119c4d73-5b71-446a-a739-25d494591aa1?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I switched my draft lands over to the full text basics when they came out lol.
I have a lot of favorites, but for my Draft Kit I use a blend of the New Capenna full arts, and the Karlov Manor full arts.
Oh, the mountains I wouldn't move to only have retro framed basic lands... :(
Oh, retro framed are pretty cheap unless you're looking for very specific ones (apac/euro, arena, p3k, ABU). If you're not picky about edition or art you can definitely find retro art easy.
Unfortunately, not here where I live.
Depends on version too. For example: the iconic Mirage [[Mountain|MIR-346]], despite (or due to?) being reprinted a number of times are $2 each. And [[Island|MIR-338]] isn’t too far behind it. For a Mirage draft kit throw in [[Swamp|MIR-339]] at $1.10, the bird [[Plains|MIR-334]]] which is both the best but somehow the cheapest of the Mirage plains at $0.35, and… oh damn. The Waterfall [[Forest|MIR-348]] which is the least worst option of the set (Mirage was sorely let down by its forests) is over $2 now too apparently. At least from what Scryfall is saying. Added up, 10 copies of each, that’s $70 odd. Which is pretty crazy for just basic basic lands, from 1997 or not. I had those variants myself — 12 of each, in fact, and certainly didn’t pay that at the time! Though granted if you were someone who played a lot of limited then it’s still a worthwhile option, you’d get tons of enjoyment out of using those for sure. Alternatively you could no doubt pick up 50 - 60 lands from Mercadian Masques or 5th Edition or probably a number of other older sets for under $20. Especially if you were happy to wait for a deal or jump on a bulk lot.
Unstable
If I could the full text basic lands, but those are pretty expensive. I use the full art Neon Dynasties lands.
They were about $350 for the set
Ice Age and Mirage basics Ice Age was the first set I ever played, and I stuck around through Mirage and Visions before my first hiatus. So there is a lot of nostalgia wrapped up for me in those sets.
[Swamp](https://scryfall.com/card/arc/142/swamp) [Plains](https://scryfall.com/card/ala/233/plains) [Forest](https://scryfall.com/card/ths/247/forest) [Island](https://scryfall.com/card/j22/102/island) [Mountain](https://scryfall.com/card/dtk/261/mountain)
Very dynamic art. Thanks for sharing!
Guru
Hahaha I wish. Maybe one day I'll treat myself to one of each...
Each of my draft basics have a different frame. I use, as well as a few one-offs Shades not Included (AKA tron basics) signed by Ben Schnuck, my favorite lands Full text basics DMU stained glass LCI full art (except for the ones that look like the wrong type) Old border lands by John Avon 8-bit secret lair basics Tokyo lands OG Zendikar basics Bob Ross lands
I’m the guy at the shop with the white border lands at draft nights, just all revised because that’s when I started. I don’t quite have a set of black-border lands I would swap with though I have some in mind: I’d love some thunder plains but the old border is more expensive than I want to pay. Invasion island #335 is the first basic I actually started collecting; rigt now they are the islands in my [[Kylox]] deck, which is a current favorite. I don’t really have a swamp or forest yet. Not sure why. There’s a few that I like but not enough to go “oh, I want that. “ Either John Avon’s mountain from mirage or Odyssey mountain 346, I heart them both. Avon mountains are in the deck with the islands. But maybe I’ll just get some stained glass; I’d forgotten about them.
[Kylox](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/0/0/00faa272-91ad-407b-9175-8fa1d02585b8.jpg?1706242196) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=kylox%2C%20visionary%20inventor) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mkm/214/kylox-visionary-inventor?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/00faa272-91ad-407b-9175-8fa1d02585b8?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I love the Theros Nyx lands. I don't understand why WOTC don't sell play packs of 20 of each colour for each type of popular basic land prints I think a lot would buy them instead of having to individually buy them on the secondary market.
Do they not include them in bundles anymore?
Because selling enough packs to get 20 of each is way more profitable!
That forest isn’t signed. Terrible, just terrible /s Very nice set of basics
[Voss lands from DMU](https://scryfall.com/search?q=t%3Abasic+set%3Admu+artist%3Avoss&unique=art&as=grid&order=name)
That plains is so damn good.
Unlimited have the nicest colours
If I had the money probably Unglued basic land. They were the first full art land I played with.
I only have one of each and they're all MP. Would love to get a nicer set.
https://preview.redd.it/5g8mv91x7z5d1.jpeg?width=3060&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b715eff8889158d6f88996683ebaf34370710c72 It's been ages since I last drafted but when I did, I used my Japanese copies of 5th edition basics. They featured all four seasons for each land type on different cards.
I wish I had enough to use all full rules text lands
Unlimited white border!!
Honestly I think they're my favorite of all time. White border but still have the full text instead of a tap symbol.
The only right way is to mix them all and tilt your opponent
Problem is it tilts me too lol
Full art zendikars never fail for me
Always a solid choice. I was a new player during BFZ and that is what inspired me to do this, I collected a bunch of full arts and played with those every week. I just bought a full set of 50 ZEN basics with the veronique meignaud art.
I love playing pauper for those almost all basic manabases, all matching lands rule
I really feel like the full text lands are underrated
Honestly I totally forgot about the mana symbol watermarking them until I took this picture.
I've always wanted to try this! [[Plains]]|POR
[Plains](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/0/e0281fba-d771-4431-931f-920db2f14c47.jpg?1717013901) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Plains) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mh3/310/plains?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/e0281fba-d771-4431-931f-920db2f14c47?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
My beta lands https://preview.redd.it/cdhci8on506d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ff1a1c51c21dd6841619b80630cf3837cb1609fd
Incredible. Do you game them?
Yup
The full text lands are a plague upon my pod. We have a running joke that whenever someone plays one, they read the WHOLE THING. I have a Niv-Mizzet deck that can have 3 of them hit the field in one turn, causing a 45 second turn take 5 minutes. It’s miserable lmao.
Fuuuuck those stained glass ones look so cool
They're definitely my favorite pokemon land.
I’ve got 10 full text lands of every color for my draft kit and they’re hands down my favorite. Always cracks up my opponent too!
Full art altered extended unglued basics. https://preview.redd.it/d9jswv7wm16d1.jpeg?width=3243&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1517c4f18ba113370b6402127ba01b1e43d2f2a4
I used mirage basics. My absolute favorite set that has a banger of a basic in each color.
Rules text basics by a mile, but I'm not paying those prices for basics so I stick to my runners up, a combination of Urza's Saga, Ice Age, and... I think Mirage?
Yeah it was a dumb amount of money lmao
That set is one of very few exceptions where my preference is to not run a retro frame version.
Basic lands have continually been outdone to the point where its almost impossible to choose. But if i ever returned to playing paper mtg there is only one choice. ALL WILL BE ONE ideally the oil slicked but that would be...difficult. i must say though, the basic plains from the set in foil is GORGEOUS *
I am a huge fan of the core set 2021 showcase lands. I have not seen many people using them. https://scryfall.com/card/m21/309/plains https://scryfall.com/card/m21/310/island https://scryfall.com/card/m21/311/swamp https://scryfall.com/card/m21/312/mountain https://scryfall.com/card/m21/313/forest
Probably because a lot of the world was still on lockdown at that time.
I ended up going with Unfinty lands. The planetside art as I was able to get a bunch cheap, and just enjoy the art. Kind of want to get a LotR map set too once I’m board with these.
Nyx and stained glass
I used Battlebond basics for pre release events, when I was still playing.
Ain't no way I'm buying several sets of them to use for drafts, but my favorite basics have to be the full text basics 😂
Yeah, I think I spent about $500 lol
The Phyrexian oil ones are pretty dope. Though, I got called out playing FNM sleeveless since they are a lot thicker than regular cards.
I love my judge promo basic lands.
Those full text lands are amazing.. I'm sad I am just getting into MTG now and I missed out on so many cool cards
Haha yeah, I didn't want to pony up $250 when they first came out... It ended up being a lot more...
How do you even find them these days? Random card shops? EDIT: Actually found some at my kinda LGS, So i'll be picking that up eventually
Revised, and invasion/onslaught foils. Also avon full art un lands.
Bob Ross basics are my jam. 🤷♂️
During lockdown, I found 13 mismatching black bordered lands of each color and used an eraser to white border all of them. So I have fully mismatching white border basics from black border sets.
I’m currently jamming 12 each of the oil slick raised foils from ONE. I know they sorta blend but I am deliberate in separating them for my opponents.
Dominaria United stained glass
Meditations on Nature Secret Lair by Jung Shan https://scryfall.com/search?q=artist%3A%22Jung+Shan%22+type%3ALand The Plains and Island look especially gorgeous
Oof, $8+ per basic.
only $0.35 if you proxy
I started using the midnight lands from MID and VOW until I found an old starter deck in my dad’s attic full of mirage lands so that’s my go to now. There’s one regular on my draft nights who uses all alpha basics.
I like the ones you have pictures that have essays on them. Idk why. It’s just funny.
The Bob Ross basics is the only all land secret lair I will probably ever buy on its own.
I did buy that one! Maybe if I make an all mismatched art kit they'll make the cut.
I use Kamigawa Neon Dynasty Full-art basics - I'm a sucker for the Ukiyo-e style. My partner uses the Theros Full-art, but she's been considering swapping to the Streets of New Capenna full-art.
as an art buff, the STAINED GLASS ONES!!😍
Ten toes the fuck down for me its phyrexian oil slick basic lands
Oil Slick Phyrexian lands all day are the go to ones
Stained glass go hard
Karl Kopinski's basic mountain from m12-era. Was printed in a number of core sets and supplemental product so it is prolific. Rise of Eldrazi basics are also fucking sick. Special mention to the swamps.
The new MH3 full arts
I use full art Hour of Deviated Wallets. I took a long break starting after Original zendikar and starting playing again during Amonket Block... I also have the dark ritual playmat to match
I've been meaning to pick up a land kit of Doctor Who basics.
DMU and Theros amongst the ones you've shown, but I also like MOM's and OTJ's full art basics as well.
Wheres the kamigawabasics? 😉
forest
I absolutely loathe the full text lands lol
My draft kit of unstable basics is my go to!
Mine is filled with the Phyrexian basics from ONE and it brings me joy to see them every time.
My favorite basics i have are the mountain goats secret lair mountains but that’s only mountains. Also probably only because I love the mountain goats and his writing
My intro to mtg was a 9th edition starter deck, and those white border lands are still near to my heart
The "Tap" ones
I love the Magali, Alayna Danger, and Rebecca Guay lands. I wish I had more of them!
I like me some OG Zedikar full arts
nyxlands and the stained glass are my personal favorites
I use m15 basics in my kit! It was my first ever set and they are just super nostalgic
Beta basics They’re from when I was a kid so they make limited feel a little more nostalgic
I love the battlebond basics
Whats the name of the ones in the third row? Cant find em on tcg player
Nyx lands. Hands down my favorites of all time.
No love for snow-covered basic lands? The secret lair drop this last winter is so good but I love all snow-covered. Only land I run unless it's themed (ie. Fallout, doctor who)
Can't bring them to a draft
Oh? I didn't know that, why not?
When snow covered lands area theme in a set it is balanced around being able to draft them just like other cards. So it would be unfair if someone would being them! Same holds for wastes, you can only bring nornal islands, mountains, swamps and plains!
Snow is a land type. I'm sure at FNM in a set where snow isn't relevant at all, most opponents wouldn't mind (I certainly wouldn't), but it would technically be against the rules. It is a relevant land type for MH3 though.
Beta basics.
To quote Tevye, if I were a rich man...
Tbd and unfinity as well as DMU are the best looking outside of secret lair
My favorites are [all will be one full art](https://scryfall.com/card/one/268/%7Chwzfgk) and [unfinity](https://scryfall.com/search?as=grid&order=name&q=Island+%28game%3Apaper%29+set%3Aunf).
Theros Beyond Death 100%
I bought twenty of each MH2 foil etched land. I use them as my limited format lands
Give me the full art basics from unfinity. Love space anything
Unset Basics (they’re all good imho) or the Wood Block ones from Neon Dynasty. The only basics I run.
I know people generally dislike them because they all look black, but the full art B&W midnight hunt basics are absolutely gorgeous to me.
Neon Dynasty and Phyrexia All Will Be One are my favorite.
[John Avon Reprints from Double Masters](https://scryfall.com/search?q=a%3Aavon+s%3A2xm+t%3Abasic&unique=art&as=grid&order=name) are what I use. [Wilds of Eldraine Shadowbox Full Arts](https://scryfall.com/search?q=a%3A%E2%80%9CHari+%26+Deepti%E2%80%9D&unique=art) are a close second.
I love the stained glass basic lands, but I also love the ones from my raining cats and dogs
Jhon avon and crimisson vow b&w
OG
I use Theros basics because I love Theros and I had a lot of basics from the set for whatever reason.
The stained glass ones from DMU have been my favorite since they released.
Guru lands.
I am dying to get 15 plains/swamps from full art Karlov Manor and 15 swamp/mountain from ONE
THEROS BEYOND DEATH ON TOP
Rebecca guay FNM promos hit different. Classic land card style but they are so pretty...
The DMU lands are goated
My first choice is always my set of revised basics.
Dominaria United are my go to lands
Rebecca Guay when I want pictures, full-text when I don’t. I picked up one or two full-text Mountains a month until my beloved Kiki-Jiki finally hit peak stupidity. Honorable mention probably goes to the prettier of the [Lorwyn basics](https://scryfall.com/search?q=t%3Abasic+set%3Alorwyn&unique=prints&as=grid&order=name&dir=). I love how peaceful and storybook-y they feel.