Why Are Guru Lands So Expensive? Plus, How to Get Them for Cheap

Last updated on November 28, 2025

Plains (Guru Lands) | Illustration by Terese Nielsen

Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, Forest. Something that every Magic player has in common is that they learned how to play with these basic lands. The lands that you use often say something about you since every player has access to them. Some players play their favorite artwork, or lands from the latest set, or lands from the set they used to learn how to play.

So what kind of basic lands are out there? There are plenty of choices among the promotional cards on top of the basics that are released with most sets. But what, you might ask, is the coolest, rarest, most impressive basic land to sleeve up for only the finest of occasions?

An answer that many (if not most) players would give you is the Guru land cycle. Let’s talk about that!

What Are the Guru Lands?

Island (Guru Lands) | Illustration by Terese Nielsen

The Guru lands are a set of promotional basic lands that feature a very distinct art style from Terese Nielsen. They were in circulation for only about a year and half and are the most rare and expensive version of any basic land with any legitimate printing.

A single Guru land in good condition is worth at least $400-$500.

How Did You Get Guru Lands?

The origin of the term “Guru” comes from the Guru Program that Wizards introduced in the summer of 1999 and ran until the spring of 2001. This program was created as part of an effort to introduce more players to the game via personal mentorship.

As part of this program a player could order a demonstrative version of Magic, including two 12-card decks, a playmat, a set of rules, and a rebate book. Players that signed up for this, termed “Gurus,” then taught new players the rules of the game, filled out a postcard with that players information, and got five “Guru points” and an entry into a prize drawing along with the player they taught.

Gurus could later convert their points into promotional basic lands and booster packs of the most recent set. These would have been Mercadian Masques, Nemesis, Prophecy, Invasion, or Planeshift at the time. The rate for exchange was 10 points per land.

The program was discontinued in favor of Magic Academy in the spring of 2001, which was a program designed around promoting gameplay in stores rather than person-to-person. Unfortunately it didn’t offer any of the rewards of the Guru program.

List of Guru Lands

• Plains
• Island
• Swamp
• Mountain
• Forest

Above are the Guru lands under a detail of the eclipses that are depicted in each of their respective arts. Each shows a part of a double eclipse at different stages.

What are Guru Lands Worth?

A Guru Plains is on the low end of the Guru lands with a market price of $450, and the Guru Island is on the high end at $1,100. The Forests, Mountains, and Swamps, can be found for around $500.

These are luxury collectibles, so small differences in condition can tremendously change the card's value. Being evaluated as “moderately played” can reduce a card’s cost by $100 compared to a “lightly played” evaluation. Given that these cards have existed for 20 years it’s generally very rare to find “near mint” copies, which command an extra $100 to $200 over lightly played copies.

“Drowning Man” Guru Island

There are a couple misprints beyond these copies, both of which have astronomical value. The two most well-known misprints are versions without the bronze eye stamp that takes the place of the set symbol, and the “drowning man” misprint. The stamp is flipped upside down and shifted up and to the left in the latter, looking almost like a person trying (and failing) to swim.

Why Are Guru Lands So Expensive?

Guru lands are expensive because there are so few of them. The Guru program existed for less than two years and needed a big time investment from players signing up to it to reap any rewards from it. Very few of these basic lands were ever printed. As is with most cards commanding such a high price tag, the primary driver of its value is extreme scarcity.

It’s also seen as a status symbol to some extent. Pretty much every player can use basic lands which is why they’re a very prominent means for self-expression. Some players use basics from the land box at their local game store. Some use full-art lands from Zendikar, Bloomburrow, or their favorite set, or snow-covered lands from Modern Horizons and Kaldheim.

A lot of long-time players and collectors who are deeply invested in the game see Guru basics as the crowning star of their collection, one that’s instantly recognizable for its unique art.

Where to Get Guru Lands Now

It’s hard to find Guru lands for sale at any store that isn’t a dedicated Magic vendor these days. TCGplayer generally always has a few listings as a large site that hosts hundreds of sellers, but even those fall to single-digit-number copies now.

Another way to get your hands on the Guru lands is at large events with international sellers. Vendors at events like SCG Con might have a few in stock.

A good way to find the best deals on these Guru lands is on various high-end Facebook groups. This is still the best way to find trustworthy people looking to piece apart their collections. These cards are often marked down from the lowest prices on TCGplayer.

Can I Craft Guru Lands on Magic Arena?

No, many basic lands with specific art need to be purchased with gold or gems when they are occasionally available through the Arena store. There are several versions you get unlimited copies of, but basic lands are not craftable with wildcards.

Can I Get Guru Lands on Magic Online?

Yes, the Guru lands were released as promos on Magic Online, meaning that there are plenty of copies available at online vendors. Most sell them for about 0.35 to 0.40 Tickets, which translates to about 35 cents per land.

Wrap Up

Forest (Guru Lands) | illustration by Terese Nielsen

Basic lands are a mundane side of gameplay for a lot of players. Ubiquitous, functional. For others basics are there to add to the deck's theme, scenery, to tell a story.

For the fortunate players who seek out the rarest and most prized among the basic lands to add to their collections, Guru lands represent the superlative basic land. Rare, unusual, and costly, it’s the be-all-end-all of playing the absolute fanciest version of a basic land outside of anomalies like test prints.

Are you one of the many collectors who curates their list of basic lands for your deckbuilding? Do you enjoy matching (or purposefully mismatching) your own set of basics? What do your lands mean to you, and what do you want to say about them? Let me know in the comments or over on the Draftsim Discord.

Until next time!

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