Land drop

The land drop is the one land you are allowed to play every turn in a game of Magic: The Gathering, as opposed to any other lands you may be able to get onto the battlefield.

Description

Once per turn, the active player may play a land from their hand during the main phase while the stack is empty. This is considered a special action which does not use the stack.

Playing lands is part of developing your board. Each land you play provides you one more mana every turn for the rest of the game. This is why progressive turns become more powerful, with wilder tempo swings as the game progresses. This is also why missing a land drop is so devastating; you fall behind on tempo right away and your ability to recover tempo on future turns is also damaged.

History

For Zendikar, R&D played around with the land drop as a cost or resource. What if a spell was much cheaper than normal and the additional cost was you had to use your land drop for the turn? The problem they quickly ran into is that the times you want the cheaper spells are the same time you need to be playing land. Players who opted to use the mechanic had slower mana development and tended to get beaten by the players with more mana. They then tried a kicker variant where the land drop didn't make it cheaper but increased the effect. They assumed early in the game you'd cast the cards for their smaller effect and later when you didn't have land to play, you could get the free upgrade. In playtesting, they found players were greedy and kept upgrading the spells even when they needed the land development more.

In 2024, the Mystery Booster 2 test card Boulder Jockey further explored this idea. It introduced , a cost that can be paid by giving up a land drop.

Example

Example

Boulder Jockey
Creature — Goblin
4/4
( is a land drop. You may give up one potential land drop this turn to pay for .)
Whenever Boulder Jockey attacks, you may pay . If you do, create a 3/3 colorless Construct artifact creature token named Boulder that’s tapped and attacking. Sacrifice that token at the beginning of the next end step.

Rules

From the Comprehensive Rules (September 20, 2024—Duskmourn: House of Horror)

• 305.1. A player who has priority may play a land card from their hand during a main phase of their turn when the stack is empty. Playing a land is a special action; it doesn’t use the stack (see rule 116). Rather, the player simply puts the land onto the battlefield. Since the land doesn’t go on the stack, it is never a spell, and players can’t respond to it with instants or activated abilities.

From the Comprehensive Rules (September 20, 2024—Duskmourn: House of Horror)

• 505.6b During either main phase, the active player may play one land card from their hand if the stack is empty, if the player has priority, and if they haven’t played a land this turn (unless an effect states the player may play additional lands). This action doesn’t use the stack. Neither the land nor the action of playing the land is a spell or ability, so it can’t be countered, and players can’t respond to it with instants or activated abilities. (See rule 305, “Lands.”)

Rulings

• represents an additional cost, not a mana symbol. {D} can be paid for by giving up one potential land play you have remaining this turn. Boulder Jockey's mana value is 3.
• To determine how many land drops you have remaining this turn, compare the number of lands you can play (which is normally one but can be increased by other effects) with the number of lands you've played and land drops you've given up this turn. If the number of lands you can play is greater, you can play a land or give up a land drop. You can't give up a land drop you don't have. You can never pay for when it's not your turn.