Last updated on March 3, 2026
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 dual lands inspired by Horizon Canopy, which was printed into existence in Future Sight. I’ll go over what they are, where they’re best used, and how to get the most value ones.
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 1 life, they have an activated ability that allows you to tap them, pay , and sacrifice them to draw a card. Not bad, eh? They get their name from the original version, Horizon Canopy, that inspired a half-cycle released in Modern Horizons.
They’re one of the best untapped dual lands in all of Magic, show up in many Modern decks, 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 can only tap for their respective colors, no colorless mana here, and require you to pay 1 life each time you use them for mana. Their card draw ability requires you pay in addition to tapping them, 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
There are six lands similar to Horizon Canopy.
Then there's also a sort of “honorary seventh,” Horizon of Progress, which lets you produce any type of mana that a land you control could produce.
What Sets Are Horizon Lands From? How Many Are in Each Set?
Horizon Canopy was the original “Horizon Land,” hence the name. It was actually a one-off green-white land in Future Sight that was part of a cycle of lands where each dual in the cycle showcased a different template that Wizards might consider using in the future. Horizon Canopy has also seen reprints in Iconic Masters and as a Zendikar Expedition in both Zendikar Rising and Oath of the Gatewatch. It was also reskinned as Bag End in the Lord of the Rings Realms and Relics crossover.
In Modern Horizons we saw the birth of the Horizon Lands as an almost complete cycle of six cards as opposed to the standalone Horizon Canopy. This cycle introduced Fiery Islet (), Nurturing Peatland (), Silent Clearing (), Sunbaked Canyon (), and Waterlogged Grove ().
Notably, these lands were added to Magic Arena through the Historic Anthology 7.
The Doctor Who and Assassin's Creed Universes Beyond sets have reprinted all of the MH1 lands in some capacity. Some appear in one set or the other, with others like Sunbaked Canyon getting reprints in both, with an extra reprint in Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Modern Horizons 3 Commander added Horizon of Progress.
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, and you can't avoid paying life if you need mana (some other cycles of pain lands, like Adarkar Wastes, let you generate colorless mana without pain).
Control and slower midrange decks can’t consistently afford to deal with the persistent life loss. But horizon lands 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 3 life than one with just another card draw or removal spell.
What Kind of Decks Want Horizon Lands?
Horizon lands are mainly 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 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 Canopy prices on TCGplayer.com as of March 2026
Horizon lands can be found pretty much anywhere you could find Magic singles. They’re a normal 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 Horizon Canopies and other lands.
I also want to point out that most copies of these cards used to be north of $10-20, but some of their Universes Beyond printings are much cheaper, which makes them an affordable land pickup for all you Commander players out there.
Wrap Up
Horizon Canopy | Illustration by Noah Bradley
That concludes everything there is to know when it comes to the 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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