Outlaws of Thunder Junction Land Review: Duals, Full-Art Basics, and More

Plains | Illustration by Salvatorre Zee Yazzie

Howdy, Magic players! We know many of you have been waiting on a Wild West themed Magic set. Outlaws of Thunder Junction is that long-awaited set release where outlaws like Tinybones, Geralf, Gisa, Annie Flash, Eriette, Kellan and many other notable Magic characters come to life on a never-before-seen desert plane called Thunder Junction.

Today, let’s review the land cycles from Outlaws of Thunder Junction including fast lands, new desert lands, and desert duals that ping opponents when they enter the battlefield. Don't worry, it's not a crime to get familiar with these lands!

Enemy-Colored Fast Lands

Inspiring Vantage | Illustration by Volkan Baǵa

The fast land cycle featured in Outlaws of Thunder Junction originally debuted Scars of Mirrodin and was completed in Kaladesh. Here we have the five enemy-colored fast lands, which enter the battlefield tapped unless you control two or fewer other lands.

For best results in Constructed formats, prioritize fast lands as your land drop for turns 1-3. The longer the game goes, the more likely these will always enter tapped, so try to get them into play as soon as possible to build your army of creatures and/or interact with your opponent in the early turns of the game.

• Blooming Marsh comes in Golgari colors (),
• Botanical Sanctum is in Simic colors (),
• Concealed Courtyard is in Orzhov colors (),
• Inspiring Vantage is in Boros colors (),
• Spirebluff Canal is in Izzet colors ().

The normal versions of these cards have collector numbers #266-#270 in alphabetical order, but the fast lands also comes as borderless art cards from numbered #300-#304.

Dual-land Deserts

While these 10 desert lands all enter tapped regardless of how many lands you control and aren’t as quick as the fast lands, they all ping a target opponent when they enter the battlefield. Downing an opponents’ life total as fast as possible in Constructed, even with a ping from one of these deserts, can be the difference between winning and losing a game. Just think of the beauty of winning a round because you docked down an opponent’s last life total point from the ETB trigger on one of these lands!

And remember that targeting an opponent counts as committing a crime, which is an important subtheme in this set and likely where these cards will shine brightest.

These are the desert lands that ping your opponent, and they tap for one or the other of the colors from these guilds:

• Abraded Bluffs (Boros) ()
• Bristling Backwoods (Gruul) ()
• Creosote Heath (Selesnya) ()
• Eroded Canyon (Izzet) ()
• Festering Gulch (Golgari) ()
• Forlorn Flats (Orzhov) ()
• Jagged Barrens (Rakdos) ()
• Lonely Arroyo (Azorius) ()
• Lush Oasis (Simic) ()
• Soured Springs (Dimir) ()

New Thunder Junction Deserts

On top of the “desert pingers,” there are five new deserts that'll benefit Commander players who already utilize the other 20 desert lands from Amonkhet and Hour of Devastation. Looking at you, Commander players who run Hazezon, Shaper of Sand!

With the 15 new desert lands from Outlaws of Thunder Junction (10 deserts that ping 1 damage and the five new deserts), there are 35 deserts total in Magic’s arsenal. 

These are more unique desert lands that don’t fall under the fast lands or ETB pinger land categories, and can be grouped as utility lands.

Of all the new desert cards, Mirage Mesa may be included in the most Constructed decks because of its prowess as a flexible mana-fixer. Mirage Mesa comes in handy if you don’t have access to a fast land or a basic land of the other color you need.

Arid Archway isn't ramp, but it taps for 2 colorless mana once you've bounced a land back to your hand. The Surveil 1 ability that triggers if you return a desert to your hand can be useful if you’re running graveyard recursion decks.

Conduit Pylons is also useful for graveyard recursion decks because of its Surveil 1 ability. However, it doesn’t mana-fix as well as Mirage Mesa does because it costs you a mana to produce a mana of any color.

Sandstorm Verge can help you land combat damage, or put an opponent in a position where they have to chump with a smaller creature by making a larger creature unable to block. Also, remember that targeting stuff your opponent controls counts as a crime!

Bucolic Ranch is the most unique of all the new desert lands because you can only tap it for any colored mana if you’re casting a mount spell. Otherwise it just taps for a colorless mana. If you’re having trouble drawing mount spells, Bucolic Ranch can also help you dig for them.

Western Landscape Basic Lands

To fit the Wild West theme, there are five Western landscape basic lands that you can pull from Play Boosters. Plains, Mountain, Island, Forest, and Swamp basic land cards are getting a makeover fit for navigating an outlaw’s greatest adventure throughout Thunder Junction!

Where to Get Them

You can pull the Western landscape basic lands from Outlaws of Thunder Junction Play Boosters, Bundles, Collector Boosters, or prerelease packs. They come in regular printings, traditional foil versions, or full art treatments.

Every Collector Booster is guaranteed to include one traditional foil Western landscape. The regular printings of these Western landscape basic lands are contained in Play Boosters. About 1-in-6 Play Boosters will include a Western landscape basic land. About 20% of Play Boosters will have a traditional foil of a Western land.

Any of the desert land cards or fast lands can also be found in Outlaws of Thunder Junction Play Boosters, Collector Boosters, prerelease packs, and Bundle boxes.

Round Up

Creosote Heath | Illustration by Leon Tukker

Now that you’re prepared with the knowledge of these new lands from Outlaws of Thunder Junction, it’s time to saddle up and get ready to play the set itself. Dress in your best Western-themed getup and have fun playing!

You can learn more about the new set release by browsing the latest updates on the Draftsim blog. Keep up with the most recent updates on Outlaws of Thunder Junction when you aren’t reading along on the blog by following the Draftsim Facebook page.

Until next time, stay vigilant of the outlaws coming your way in this new set!