Last updated on March 14, 2024
Horizon Canopy (Zendikar Rising Expeditions) | Illustration by Alayna Danner
There are more than a few cycles of nonbasic lands floating around in the Magic universe. From tapped snow lands to the original dual lands, we’ve seen some creative and unique ways to get your hands on multiple colors of mana from just a singular land.
Today I’d like to focus in on the Horizon lands, a cycle of duals inspired by Horizon Canopy, which was printed into existence in the original Modern Horizons. I’ll go over what they are, where they’re used best, and how to get the most value as possible out of them.
Let’s jump in!
What Are Horizon Lands in MTG?
Waterlogged Grove (Modern Horizons) | Illustration by John Avon
Horizon lands are essentially the pain land cycle on steroids. On top of tapping for either of two colors for one life, they have an activated ability that allows you to tap it, pay , and sacrifice it to draw a card. Not bad, eh? They get their name from the original version, Horizon Canopy, that inspired a complete cycle to be released in Modern Horizons.
They’re one of the best untapped dual lands in the game, show up in many Modern games, and are especially prominent in aggressive decks that don’t need to worry about their own life total and can capitalize off of the extra card advantage.
How Do Horizon Lands Work?
Horizon lands are very simple. They can only tap for their respective colors, no colorless mana here, and require you to pay one life each time you activate them. Their card draw ability requires you pay in addition to tapping it, which means you can’t just use its own mana to pay for the cost on top of sacrificing it.
They’re great at providing a strong early mana base and offer great card draw later on in exchange for not being able to tap for colorless in any attempt to preserve your own life total.
List of Horizon Lands
What Sets Are Horizon Lands From? How Many Are in Each Set?
Future Sight, Zendikar (Rising) Expeditions, and Iconic Masters
The original Horizon land, Horizon Canopy, was first printed as a stand-alone land in Future Sight, and received reprints in Zendikar Expeditions, Zendikar Rising Expeditions, and Iconic Masters.
It was the only Horizon land to be reprinted in these sets since it wasn’t part of a cycle yet.
Modern Horizons
In Modern Horizons we saw the birth of the Horizon Lands as a complete cycle of six cards as opposed to the standalone Horizon Canopy before. This cycle introduced Fiery Islet (), Nurturing Peatland (), Silent Clearing (), Sunbaked Canyon (), and Waterlogged Grove ().
Are Horizon Lands Good?
Whether or not a land is good depends on what kind of deck you’re considering including it in. Horizon lands are aggressive. They offer no free mana source which takes a serious toll as the game progresses. Control and slower midrange decks can’t consistently afford to deal with.
But they really shine in aggressive decks. They offer untapped mana to fix colors without worry, and the extra card advantage means a lot more in a deck with 24 different Lightning Bolts and an opponent with three life than one with just another card draw or removal spell.
What Kind of Decks Want Horizon Lands?
Horizon lands are pretty good in the right kinds of decks. They don’t offer the colorless mana without the life toll like the convention pain lands, which means that they’re primarily reserved for aggressive decks that control the board and life totals, not longform control decks where every life point counts.
This works well in tandem with the card advantage ability, which helps to give these aggressive decks an extra card later on the down the line when they need to close out a match. With all of this, it’s clear why these Horizon lands have found a home in decks like Izzet () Murktide, burn, and Hammertime in various quantities.
Where to Find Horizon Lands?
Horizon lands can be found pretty much anywhere you could find Magic singles. They’re a common rare from one of the most popular sets of all time, and almost every online marketplace is full of them. I’d recommend going to TCGPlayer to pick up your copies.
They have thousands of stores selling them. None of the cycle sell for more than around $10, which makes them an affordable pickup for all you Commander players out there.
Wrap Up
Silent Clearing (Modern Horizons) | Illustration by Seb McKinnon
That concludes everything there is to know when it comes to the relatively new Horizon land cycle! They’re great lands, and I’m happy to know that Horizon Canopy isn’t all alone anymore.
What do you think of the cycle? Are you happy to have more cheap, untapped mana fixing floating around, or are you a control player who isn’t a fan? Let me know down in the comments below or over in the official Draftsim Discord.
Until next time, stay safe and stay healthy!
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