Last updated on November 5, 2025
Volcanic Island | Illustration by Noah Bradley
Ah, lands. Arguably Magic’s most important card type. They make the game go ‘round, after all. Lands are a source of mana, without which you literally awouldn’t be able to do anything. But they can also be useful in loads of other ways.
I wanna talk about a special kind of land. At least, special in the sense that it’s pretty highly sought after. Dual lands. Specifically the 10 original dual lands, but we’ll get to all that in just a sec. If you’re not familiar with the term “duals,” they describe any nonbasic land that produces either of two different types of mana. They're printed in nearly every set, but those are not the original dual lands.
So why are the original dual lands so highly sought after? Let’s talk about that.
All About the Original Dual Lands
Underground Sea | Illustration by Cliff Childs
Dual lands, so named because they can produce two mana colors, were originally printed in Limited Edition Alpha in August 1993. They’re also more commonly called “duals” for short.
The lands are fairly basic among nonbasic lands. Each of the original duals can be tapped for one of two different mana colors. And that’s it. That’s all they do. They don’t enter the battlefield tapped, or Shock you, or have any special abilities whatsoever.
While they don’t do anything other than tap for mana, they do count as two different land types. For example, Dimir’s Underground Sea counts as both an Islandand a Swamp. I talked about this a little in my shock lands piece, but more on why this is so cool a bit later.
Fun facts! The original printings of the duals in Alpha had a couple of hiccups. First, Volcanic Island wasn’t printed in the set because of an internal error. WotC fixed this with the release of Beta. The second issue saw an alternate-art version of Plateau printed in Revised Edition thanks to the original art being corrupted and lost.
Before we get too deep into all this info, let’s take a look at the lands in question, shall we?
The Original Dual Lands Gallery
Allied Duals
Enemy Duals
The History of Dual Lands in MTG
The originals were first printed in 1993 in the Limited Edition Alpha set. Alpha is notable as the first-ever core set in Magic’s history.
It’s important to mention that “dual lands” has come to have more of a general meaning than the original dual lands from Alpha’s set of 10 cards. It basically refers to any and all lands that can produce two different types of mana. Which is a pretty long list. Including multiplayer-specific one on Battlebond lands.
Reprints
Badlands | Illustration by Daarken
Both the allied- and the enemy-colored duals were printed in just about all of the same sets and promos, with one exception. They were both printed in two Magic Online Masters Editions, but allied saw the press in II and IV, while enemies were III and IV.
Other than that, here’s the full list of reprints for all 10 original duals:
- Limited Edition Alpha
- Limited Edition Beta
- Unlimited Edition
- Collectors' Edition
- Intl. Collectors' Edition
- Revised Edition
- Foreign Black Border
- Summer Magic / Edgar
- Magic Online Masters Edition II / III
- Magic Online Masters Edition IV
- Magic Online Vintage Masters
- Magic Online Promos
- Legacy Championship (OLGC)
- 30th Anniversary Edition
Their Next Appearance: Why Doesn’t Wizards Reprint the Original Dual Lands?
Tundra | Illustration by Lars Grant-West
Wizards will not reprint the original dual lands because they're on the reserved list. To put it simply, cards that end up on this list won’t ever be officially reprinted by WotC for a variety of different reasons. There are 572 cards on this list, and the original duals are 10 of them. There’s a long, storied history behind the reserved list which includes potential legal repercussions if Wizards were to ever abolish the list and reprint the cards anyway.
Let’s say, that WotC did delete the list and get away with it. I still don’t think they’d ever reprint the original duals. These cards sell for crazy amounts of money on the secondary market, just like every other card on the reserved list. The original Alpha and Beta printings might not lose too much value if they were reprinted, but the Revised versions sure would.
If you’re hanging your head in disappointment as the conclusion that the original duals will never be reprinted dawns on you, hold on just a second. I want to look forward to them because they're kind of the perfect dual-colored land. There’s this nifty little thing called “functional reprints” that could serve as a fun workaround for WotC. These are cards that do the same things as previous iterations, they just have a different name and different art. Functionally the same, aesthetically and technically different.
The subtype can vary on functional reprints, so any untapped ETB duals that WotC reprints with the same rules text as the originals are unlikely to have the subtypes as well.
How Many Original Dual Lands are There in MTG?
There are 10 original dual lands. They remain some of the most sought-after and expensive Magic cards.
- Badlands
- Bayou
- Plateau
- Savannah
- Scrubland
- Taiga
- Tropical Island
- Tundra
- Underground Sea
- Volcanic Island
Interested in buying some of these? AncestralMTG has one of the best selections of dual lands online at competitive prices. They always have Revised dual lands in stock and even offer complete sets of all 10 Revised duals. They also have a wide range of Alpha, Beta, and Unlimited duals.
Why are Original Dual Lands Good?
Bayou | Illustration by Karl Kopinski
The dual lands are almost strictly better lands than basic lands. For only the mere cost of being a nonbasic, they allow you to get two colors from your lands instead of one. This greatly opens up the number of color combinations you can play in your decks.
It’s Free Mana
Tropical Island | Illustration by Franz Vohwinkel
The originals came in every color pair possible, either the allied or enemy pairs on one card, and there is no catch to them. No price for you to pay, no condition for you to meet, just a nice little land that could tap for one of two mana colors the same turn you put it on the battlefield.
This is another point to why they likely won’t ever be reprinted, though. All the other duals currently in Standard would be objectively worse and kind of pointless outside of specific jank uses. The original duals would just be better, and why would you ever use anything else anyway?
Can You Fetch Original Dual Lands?
The original duals can be fetched because they have what a lot of other dual lands lack: subtypes. They each have two subtypes from the lands whose mana they can produce, just like the shock lands that I’ve covered before. Take Dimir’s Underground Sea as an example. Let’s see it next to the shock land Watery Grave and the pain land Underground River:
Notice the type line between the card image and rule box. They all have “Land” there, which is their main card type, but the River has nothing else. No subtypes to speak of. The Sea and Grave, however, each have “Island Swamp” listed as their subtypes. Pretty cool, huh? But what does this mean?
The types on Tundra and Flooded Strand are the same, and either can be fetched if an effect looks for an “Island”.
Well, in simple terms, it means that the duals count as each of those subtypes. If you’re not sure why this matters, let me refer you to fetch lands. These are lands that can be sacrificed to search your library for a card of a certain land type, be it plains, island, swamp, mountain, or forest. Thanks to the handy subtypes, original duals can be fetched. Plus, any other fun combo or trick you can think of that uses basic lands by their land type, just substitute the duals in and sow chaos in your ranks. It’s fun (for you)!
Let’s Compare: Dual Lands
I already mentioned pain, fetch, and shock lands. Fetch lands are kind of in their own little bubble since their use is to retrieve better lands, not to give you mana. Pain and shocklands are similar in that they both cost you life to fully utilize.
Dual Lands vs. Pathways
Pathways fill a similar role in the land slot since they can provide either of two colors of mana. A Tundra is always able to tap for either or instead of you needing to choose one color as you play a Hengegate Pathway / Mistgate Pathway. The modal dual-faced lands are quite versatile and directly rival the mana production of an original dual on the first turn it's played, oh and there's no land type associated with pathways which is a bummer.
Dual Lands vs. Verges
The verges are great dual lands, but they require you to control a certain land type to access the Verge's second color. Notably, this is another case in which Scrubland helps another card by counting as either the Plains or the Swamp for Bleachbone Verge.
Dual Lands vs. Shock Lands
Shock lands require you to pay two life as they enter the battlefield or they’ll enter tapped. After that they're nearly identical to the original duals.
Dual Lands vs. Pain Lands
Pain lands enter untapped but take one life every time you tap them for colored mana. Not super great if you’re just looking for a good mana base, at least when compared to the original duals. Unless you need colorless mana or specifically have a deck that profits from you losing life, the originals are clearly better.
Dual Lands vs. Check Lands
Check lands enter the battlefield tapped unless you control one of two land types, also coinciding with the mana they tap for. You could combo these with the original duals instead of basic lands thanks to their subtypes. On their own, though, you could get stuck having to play them tapped which is never fun and sometimes loses you the game.
Dual Lands vs. Fast Lands
Fast lands and bond lands each have their own unique requirements to enter untapped, both of which involve two of something. Fast lands like to get things done sooner rather than later, and they enter untapped when you control two or less other lands. Fast lands fit in aggro or decks with fewer lands, but are otherwise incredibly restrictive.
Dual Lands vs. Bond Lands
Bond lands require you to be play in a multiplayer game, lest they enter tapped.
All in all, it’s pretty clear that the original duals are just plain better than all of their successors in almost every scenario. Unless you need to build around a specific infinite combo or trick that would benefit from lands with these qualities, the originals will always be your best bet.
Are the Original Dual Lands Basic Lands?
No, the original duals are not basic lands. Basic lands have a supertype of “Basic” that allows you to put 5 or more of them in any Magic deck you play. Plus many land searching effects refer to “basic lands” and while that could be a Snow-Covered Island, or a Wastes, it cannot get Tundra.
Which Formats Allow Original Dual Lands?
Plateau | Illustration by Mark Poole
The original dual lands have a short list of eligible formats, and the main ones are Commander, Legacy and Vintage. Let’s go over their impact and use in some different formats.
Cube
Let’s start with a fun, non-competitive format: Cube. If you want to encourage your players to draft multicolored decks, your Cube needs some duals. Since Cube is for fun, I wouldn’t suggest going out of your way to get the original duals to add in. If you’ve already got them, great! Pop them in there. If not, either get some proxies or pick some other duals to slide in. The price and headache of getting original duals for your Cube is honestly not worth it.
Commander
You find some mixed voices in the community here, but overall the original duals are great in Commander. Especially if you run a 5-color EDH monstrosity. It’s generally agreed upon that decks that pop out original duals are more powerful and threatening. Do with that info what you will.
Vintage and Legacy
Ah, the big boys. I know there’s a pretty big difference between the two since the Legacy format bans the big guns while Vintage tends to just restrict them, but when we’re talking about the original duals, they’re mostly on the same playing field. This is where the original duals really shine. Mostly because this is where the big ticket decks usually live, anyway.
How to Get Duals (and Other Options)
Scrubland | Illustration by Eytan Zana
Here we are, at arguably the most important part of our talk today! Where can you get your hands on these beautiful, beautiful duals. I’m unfortunately about to burst your bubble quite a bit.
The Price of Original Duals
I mentioned already that the original duals are crazy rare, but I didn’t specify.
The cheapest of the lot sell for a pittance of $350 to $400 for a Revised copy, provided it’s in good condition. If you’re looking for a copy from the Alpha print, though? Roughly somewhere in the $2,000 ballpark. The most valuable is Underground Sea, though Tropical Island isn’t far behind it. The Sea goes for over just under $1,000 for a Revised copy, while the high-end Alpha print varies between $4,000 to about $6,000 and up.
Can I get a yikes? I know some players can afford these prices without batting an eye. I am, clearly, not one of those people.
The original dual lands were reprinted a few times before they were put on the reserved list, and there are some alternate border versions. These run a little cheaper, and they’re your best bet if you need to keep on a budget.
Fun fact: the most expensive of the original duals tend to be Underground Sea, Tropical Island, Tundra, and Volcanic Island, all of which are half blue.
Let’s look at Underground Sea to get an idea of how the most expensive of the lot drops in price with some other sets and border options. I looked at MTGstocks, and TCGplayer for Underground Sea prices to get a decent sense of the pricing online.
The cheapest you’ll find (though it’s not tournament-legal) is either the International Edition or the Collector’s Edition, both of which are around $400. If you want tournament-legal, the cheapest option is the foreign white border version of Revised, which is around $500. You’ll often find these out of stock, in other languages, or in poor condition, though. Bargain-hunting has its downsides.
Because these are so expensive and in such high demand, there’s also the potential for fakes. This is something you have to keep an eye out for if you do not want know the difference betwee proxies and counterfeits. As your own authentication, you may consider conducting your own green dot test.
Cheaper Alternatives
Savannah | Illustration by Charles Urbach
Now that I’ve gone over the pricing of the originals, what do you do if you can’t afford them? The first option are proxy lands. If you just want them for casual games to make your decks better, you can either make your own or buy proxies for much, much cheaper.
For example, you can go MTG Proxy and get them for a couple bucks each. End of story.
If you want real, official cards to add to your collection or you want them for competitive play, you need some alternatives. I’m personally a fan of shock lands because I love decks that play around with your life total. Outside of jank shenanigans, though, shock lands have subtypes just like the original duals which are great to pair with fetch or check lands.
Wrap Up
That’s all, folks! I am a jank player at heart, so while I can understand the power behind the original duals and why they’re so much better than anything we have in Standard now, I’d much rather mess around with the new duals and build something fun around their mechanic or effects that only works a fraction of the time. It’s not frustrating if you expect it to fail!
If you go this deep on your mana base, you must already have a good idea of how many lands to put in a Commander deck. Thank you for reading Draftsim articles to your heart's content and have a great day.
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