Awaken in MTG: Rules, History, and Best Cards

Planar Outburst | Illustration by Vincent Proce

With so many commanders these days that rely on attacking with lands or turning lands into creatures with +1/+1 counters, from Toph, Greatest Earthbender to Bumi, Unleashed, there’s never been a better moment to look at older mechanics that turn lands into creatures.

Awaken fits these decks really well. Released in Battle for Zendikar in 2015, this mechanic turns your useless basics into fierce warriors. Let’s take a deep look and see how you can awaken your lands straight into the red zone!

How Does Awaken Work?

Clutch of Currents | Illustration by Igor Kieryluk

Awaken N is a mechanic present on instants and sorceries, and you have two options to cast it: the main cost and the alternative awaken cost.

When you cast an awaken card for its printed mana cost, you get the effect of the sorcery or instant spell. Cast Ruinous Path for , and you destroy a creature or planeswalker, simple as that. However, if you cast it for its awaken N cost, not only do you get the spell’s effect, but you also get N +1/+1 counters on a land you control, and you can attack with the land right away.

You’re basically turning a simple spell effect into a creature of sorts that “enters the battlefield” with the same spell effect, if you want a quick comparison. In this sense, it’s like a reverse evoke.

For another example, Planar Outburst destroys all creatures for 5 mana, something you’d expect from a rare white sorcery. But by paying , you get to awaken 4, so one of your lands permanently becomes a 4/4 creature. 

The History of Awaken in MTG

Awaken is present in only one MTG set, Battle for Zendikar from 2015. There are 15 cards printed with the mechanic across all colors and rarities, but it’s mainly in blue and white. Battle for Zendikar focuses on many themes, like +1/+1 counters, lands-matter and landfall, or ramp for Eldrazi, so awaken is a nice middle point.

While some awaken cards like Ruinous Path and Planar Outburst have been reprinted in Commander precon decks, the awaken mechanic hasn’t been reused outside of BFZ, not even in Oath of the Gatewatch, its small set expansion.

What’s the Mana Value of an Awaken Spell?

The mana value of an awaken spell is always the printed mana cost, whether you cast it for its awaken cost or not. For example, Ruinous Path costs and always has a mana value of 3, even if you cast the spell for its awaken cost.

Do Awakened Lands Have a Color? A Creature Type?

Awakened lands will still be colorless, but they’ll have the elemental creature type. Awaken doesn’t change the color of the land or creature, and most lands are usually colorless anyway.

Can You Attack with an Awakened Land Right Away?

Yes. The awaken designers probably perceived this as a problem and put haste in the mechanic’s reminder text: You “put N +1/+1 counters on target land you control and it becomes a 0/0 elemental creature with haste,” so it can attack right away. Of course, you can’t attack if you use the awakened land’s mana and tap it, because awaken doesn’t untap the land.

Can You Awaken a Land That’s Already a Creature?

You can. Awaken rules say that you’ll put +1/+1 counters on a land, and it becomes a 0/0 creature. But if you awaken a creature land like Mutavault, it gets the +1/+1 counters, but the base creature is a 0/0 elemental creature permanently, not a 2/2 creature with all creature types. If your deck has a lot of awaken spells, you can make a really huge land creature just by piling counters onto it.

Can You Cast an Awaken Card without Using Its Other Effects?

No, you can’t. According to WotC’s Matt Tabak: “You can't cast Ruinous Path without choosing a creature or planeswalker as a target, even if all you want is your land creature.” When an awaken spell specifically targets something, like a creature, you can't cast it on an empty board just to get the +1/+1 counters on your land.

What If You Destroy the Land in Response?

It depends on how many legal targets the spell has. For example, Coastal Discovery doesn’t normally have a target, so if you awaken a land you control and give it a target, and the land is destroyed in response, the whole spell will fizzle, and you won’t get cards or a 4/4 land.

Clutch of Currents, when cast for the awaken cost, has two targets: the creature that you’ll bounce and the land that you’ll awaken. In this case, destroying the land won’t prevent the spell from resolving since it has a legal target. You won't get your awakened land, but the bounce effect will still resolve.

Will We Ever See Awaken Again?

Awaken is a 4 on the Storm Scale (an informal scale used by WotC when evaluating if a mechanic is likely to return in Standard). When reviewing the mechanic, Mark Rosewater said: “I think awaken was both popular enough and flexible enough that we'll find a home for it again.” The mechanic was praised for having good game play and big enough design space, and it’s easy to mix themes like creature lands and +1/+1 counters in any given set.

Awaken vs Earthbend

Awaken and earthbend are very similar mechanics in that both turn lands into 0/0 creatures and put +1/+1 counters on them so that they can attack and block. There are minor differences, however. Awaken turns a land into a 0/0 elemental creature, while earthbend turns a land into a 0/0 creature with no creature types. Another subtle difference is that, when an earthbent land dies, it returns to its owner’s hand, which doesn’t happen with awakened lands. Earthbend is usually a triggered or activated ability, like on Badgermole Cub and Ba Sing Se. Awaken, on the other hand, is an alternative cost, so you won’t see card text like: “When this creature attacks, awaken 2”. Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper aside, that is, but that card doesn't use a keyworded form of awaken.

Gallery and List of Awaken Cards

• Encircling Fissure
• Ondu Rising
• Sheer Drop
• Clutch of Currents
• Coastal Discovery
• Part the Waterveil
• Rush of Ice
• Scatter to the Winds
• Mire's Malice
• Rising Miasma
• Boiling Earth
• Earthen Arms
• Roil Spout
• Ruinous Path
• Planar Outburst

Best Awaken Cards

Honorable Mention: Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper

Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper isn’t an instant or sorcery with awaken, but it’s one of the most powerful cards that aludes to the mechanic. Each time you cast a sorcery or instant, you essentially awaken 3.

#4. Scatter to the Winds

MTG has many 3-mana counterspells with upside, and many creatures that enter the battlefield and counter a spell. Scatter to the Winds is a nice mix of both. For a time, it was an interesting control deck device that let you counter an expensive card and attack for 3 next turn.

#3. Ruinous Path

Spot removal cards these days are much more efficient than Ruinous Path, but at the time, a Hero's Downfall with extra gravy on it was very playable. This card is still played in some EDH decks if you care about attacking with lands or +1/+1 counters.

#2. Planar Outburst

Planar Outburst, like many awaken cards, is showing its age. But a 5-mana wrath with upside is far from unplayable. Plus, the best part of this card is that you can exploit destroying just nonland creatures. If you’re into earthbending and turning lands into creatures, be sure to check this card out.

#1. Part the Waterveil

Part the Waterveil has a special place in extra turns decks, partially because you get a win condition. Awaken 6 is a great way to close out games while you take extra turns with cards like Time Warp and the like. Play an extra turn, swing with a 6/6, play an extra turn, and so on.

Wrap Up

Boiling Earth | Illustration by Titus Lunter

Awaken is a cool mechanic that covers a lot of bases. It’s good and flexible enough to add some endgame to Limited decks, but it suffers from being in a weak set overall (BFZ) for Constructed formats. The mechanic is good, but the cards are on the weak side, a comparison highlighted by more recent earthbending cards. Awaken has a strong Zendikar plane flavor, and for this reason I doubt we’re seeing this mechanic again soon. But I’m never dismissing mechanics that turn lands into creatures.

What’s your take on awaken? Do you still play any of these cards? Let me know in the comments section below, or on our Draftsim Twitter/X.

Thanks for reading, guys, and I’ll see you next time.