Basic Lands are one of the core pillars of Magic: The Gathering. These essential mana producers - one for each of the game's five colors - allow you to cast spells and play cards. Basic Lands have appeared in virtually every major set, barring some second and third sets back during the Block era.

Every deck can play any amount of Basic Lands and they're generally indispensable until you discover the wonders of Nonbasic Lands. Nonbasics tend to be better in most decks, but several decks still want or need some number of Basics.

The format you're playing in may not have enough Nonbasics to make a functional deck, or you might need cards to fetch off of an Evolving Wilds or Cultivate. You might even need them as insurance to fight against hate cards like Blood Moon or Field of Ruin.

Whatever the case, chances are you'll find yourself playing some number of Basics in just about every format of Magic. But which Basic Lands should you run?

You can always use the simple Basics you got from your shop's Land Station, but why not express your personal taste by hunting down your favorite full-art Forest, or go all-in on Beta Islands?

I play a whole host of formats and have dozens of paper Magic decks. Trying to find fun and unique Basics for each of those decks has been a fun project.

More and more I find myself drawn to Promo Basics to give my favorite decks a bit more flair, especially if the decks in question only run a small number of Basic Lands.

The world of Promo Basic Lands in Magic is vast, and there are all kinds of aesthetics to choose from. From Arena League Basics to Secret Lair Promos, there're a lot of Lands to cover. So, let's dive right in.

Arena League Basics

The very first Promo Basic Lands came in 1996 as a part of the Arena League. This was a program that allowed stores to run tournaments of all levels and lasted until the late 2000s. Think of it as a precursor to events like Friday Night Magic or Standard Showdown.

Players could acquire special promos by participating in the Arena League. The earliest batch of these promos, from 1996, featured special art for Disenchant and Fireball, as well as a special panoramic set of Basic Lands. This artwork, done by Tony Roberts, was unique to these Promos and would form one greater picture when placed side-by-side.

Throughout the Arena League's entire existence, these specialty Basic Lands would become a mainstay of the program.

Once foils were introduced with the Urza's Saga Lightning Dragon Prerelease Promo in 1998 and the release of Urza's Legacy in 1999, things started heating up. Sets of Basic Lands that didn't previously get foil treatments began to get some retroactively through the Arena League program.

This includes Basics from Urza's Saga, Ice Age, Beta, and for some reason Mercadian Masques, despite being largely indistinguishable from their main set counterparts.

Starting in 2003 and going through the final round of Arena League promos in 2006, the program's Basics would look a little different.

Rather than going off of the existing arts and making special foil versions of them, they would instead be given all new art reflective of the plane that year's sets took place on. Thanks to this unique new art, they did not come in foil.

These would include the following:

• Otaria on Dominaria in 2003
• Mirrodin in 2004
• Kamigawa in 2005
• Ravnica in 2006

With the program's cancellation in 2007, no further Arena Basics were released.

APAC Basics

The next round of Promo Basics was a set of basic Lands distributed throughout the Asia Pacific (or APAC) region. Each of these Basic Lands were based on a specific location in that region, often depicting a real setting you could visit.

These Lands came in one of three different packs of five - Red, Blue, and Clear. These packs could be acquired only in participating APAC regions by players who bought Booster Boxes of Tempest in 1998.

Since these were release so long ago, and were region locked, these Basics have become some of the most sought after in the game.

Some of these Lands are among the most pricey options you can hope to find in Magic. Copies of the Japan Plains, Swamp, and Mountain are extremely sought after and command a price close to over $100 apiece.

Personally, these are some of my favorite Basic Lands of all time. These came to MTG Arena for a brief period in late 2020 and I love using them wherever I can. They have not shown up on the platform again since.

Guru Basics

The real prize among collectors when it comes to Basic Lands, however, are the five Guru Lands. These five Basics featured artwork by now-blacklisted artist Terese Nielsen and were emblazoned with a golden eye expansion symbol.

These cards were only given out if you participated in the Guru program from 1999 to 2000. This would coincide with the release of Starter 1999 as a way to incentivize established players to aid the newer players getting into the game via this release and the similar Portal sets.

As participants taught new players, they could earn points that would get them one of these special Basics at random.

Due to low participation in this program, Guru Basics have become among the game's rarest Basic Lands. As a result, they often command prices of several hundred dollars and are often seen as status symbols among the game's elite. The Islands often go for over $1,000.

Select misprints of these cards are notable for having their set symbol printed upside-down on the wrong side of the card. This was caused by sheets being printed incorrectly. When you look at the symbol upside-down, the stylization makes it look like a person drowning. This has earned these rare misprints the nickname "Drowning Man Gurus" among collectors.

Euro Basics

Similar to the APAC exclusive Basic Lands, Wizards would try a similar program in Europe.

Once again, three five card packs would be given out to players in the region. The packs this time would be colored Blue, Red, and Purple. You would get these if you bought Booster Boxes of Nemesis, Prophecy, and/or Invasion.

Much like the APAC Lands, these would each depict a real life location found throughout Europe. Unlike the APAC Lands, however, these Lands would clearly mark at the bottom where they were meant to represent.

Also like the APAC Basics, some of these count themselves among the most sought after Lands in Magic. The Venice Island in particular frequently goes for more than $100. The Netherlands Plains, France Swamp, and United Kingdom Forest each go for around or over $50 each.

Many of these can be found in the $10-20 range as well, making for a set of Basics that can be acquired at a modest rate while still being a solid flex.

Japanese MPS Basics

One more region-exclusive batch of Basic Lands would show up throughout the 2000's and would remain the last for quite some time.

The Japanese-exclusive Magic Premiere Shop Promos - or MPS for short - were released to incentivize play in the country. Japan is well known for its many other trading card games and this was meant as a way to help Magic compete with them.

The first batch released in 2005 and coincided with the release of Ravnica: City of Guilds. Each Basic Land coincided with one of the ten guilds and had something unique on them. The guild's symbol and its name would appear as watermarks beside the mana symbol in the text box.

This series of Basics would continue until 2011 with the release of Innistrad. Much like the prior Arena League Basics, these would often offer new images to represent the accompanying plane of that year. Only the initial selection reused artwork from the main Ravnica set.

Judge Promo Basics

Throughout Magic's history, Judges have been the backbone of the tournament scene. From 1998 until 2023, Judges would get special foil Promo printings of rare, high value cards. Many of these Judge Promos have become highly coveted among players as a way to bling out their decks and Cubes.

In 2014, Wizards went out of their way to celebrate Judges around the world in a special way. Rather than providing promos for judging events or attending Judge Conferences, they mailed every certified Judge packs of five full-art Basic Lands. Each of these would be illustrated by Terese Nielsen, a clear nod to the iconic Guru Basics of the past.

Much like the Gurus, these have also become quite sought after and have high price tags to match, with the Island once again commanding the highest price. Each goes for about or over $50 apiece with the Island once again commanding the highest price of around $170 at the time of writing.

One more set of Basic Land Judge Promos would be released in 2023 as a part of the Judge Academy. These would act as the final Judge Promos (currently, anyway) and each featured an owl in the art.

As they were the final Judge Promos, they caused quite a bit of controversy among Judges at the time. This was primarily due to a steep drop off in quality of cards offered which had included the likes of Painter's Servant, Mycosynth Lattice, and Retrofitter Foundry earlier that year.

Standard Showdown Basics

Over the past several years, Wizards has utilized a program called the Standard Showdown to incentivize players to compete in the game's premiere Competitive format. The promotion continues to this very day, where you can compete for sweet promos themed after the most recent expansions.

Several periods of Standard Showdown have featured Basic Lands as their promos of choice.

The first of these were printed in 2017 when Standard Showdown began, providing special prize packs to players who did well in the events. These acted as the precursors to the current Promo Packs and were inspired by the Treasure Chests players could win by competing in events on Magic Online.

The first run of Standard Showdown Basics featured special foil printings of the Rebecca Guay Lands from Commander 2016. These were immensely popular among fans at the time, which would lead to multiple additional printings in other sets in the years since.

In 2019, the Basic Lands would return once again. This time, fresh yet beloved Magic artist Alayna Danner tackled a set of Basics. These too would show up in Standard Showdown boosters. Unlike the 2017 version, though, these were exclusive artworks to this specific printing.

Later Commander-centric releases would reprint this artwork in non-foil as well as a Retro Frame treatment in Commander Masters.

The years during and shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic brought events to a screeching halt. Standard Showdown events had taken a pause much like everything else. This meant no fancy Promos and, importantly, no fancy new Basic Lands.

We would ultimately see Basic Lands return to Standard Showdown once again in 2023 to coincide with the release of Murders at Karlov Manor. Winners of the Standard showdown events could take home sets of these cool full-art Basics. Each one features an Omenpath on them prominently, highlighting their importance in the story at the time.

Also, while they're not quite Standard Showdown Lands, I did also want to shout out the Core Set 2020 Promo Pack Basics as well. These Promo Packs were the successor to the initial Standard Showdown prize packs, so while they're technically different, they're largely cut from the same cloth.

Each of these Lands featured new artwork by a variety of artists. This marked a departure from the previous concept of focusing on a single artist.

Gift Pack 2017 Basics

While most of the Promo Basics throughout this list come from participating in various events or promotions at local game stores, there is one exception.

The 2017 Gift Pack box came with three then-current Booster Packs, a spindown die, and Promo printings of Kari Zev, Skyship Raider and Metalwork Colossus.

More interesting, though, were the set of five Basic Lands that were exclusive to this set. Each was a foil version of a special Mark Poole illustrated art, known for their shooting stars in their backgrounds.

These Lands initially debuted in Commander 2016. This would be the only foil version of them until their reprinting in Commander Masters with an all-new Retro Frame treatment.

Grand Prix and MagicFest Basics

For a few years beginning in 2018, players who attended Grand Prix - later MagicFest - events would find themselves obtaining special Basic Land Promos for doing so.

The 2018 Grand Prix Basics all feature beautiful art by the renowned Donato Giancola. This follows the trend of early Standard Showdown Basics which prominently featured art by a single artist. Each also included a watermark in the text box which read "Grand Prix."

2019 saw the branding shift to the term MagicFest in place of Grand Prix, as players would now get these by attending events within MagicFest. The Grand Prix was now considered a part of MagicFest instead of its own thing. Rather than having a watermark on them like in 2018, these simply wrote the text "MagicFest" in the lower left hand corner of the card.

Each of this year's five Basics features art by Sam Burley, with each Land depicting a different plane that had been seen in a recent release.

The final iteration of these Promos would be the 2020 set of cards. Each of these featured new art by Jonas De Ro and highlighted the stadium on Kylem - the setting for Battlebond just a few years prior. Additionally, this cycle would see the return of a watermark once more, this time saying "MagicFest" in their text box.

With the cancellation of MagicFests and Grand Prixs due to the pandemic, this would mark the end of this style of promo. You can find all of the versions of them quite cheaply if the art interests you.

Ravnica Weekend Basics

In 2018 and 2019, we saw the release of both Guilds of Ravnica and Ravnica Allegiance. Each set contained five of the ten guilds to show off the plane as a build up to the epic climax of the Bolas Arc that was War of the Spark.

Alongside both of these releases came a set of five Guild Kits. These special decks were chock full of classic Ravnica cards for that specific guild as well as a cool pin with the respective guild symbol.

One prominent element of these Guild Kits were the Basic Lands, which featured special art and frames themed after the affiliated guild. These would become highly sought after by fans looking to represent their favorite guild in Casual and Competitive play alike.

To go alongside with these releases, Wizards held a series of "Ravnica Weekend" events to promote the return to the beloved plane. Those who performed well would receive a special foil version of these Basic Lands, with the Lands offered up changing from week to week.

As of now, both the Guild Kits and the special foil Promo versions are the only way you can get these fancy Basics. Following several years of fancy Basic Land releases, however, they've gotten quite affordable and are easy to pick up if you know where to look.

Moonlit Crimson Vow Basics

To help promote the release of Innistrad: Crimson Vow and the special edition release of Innistrad: Double Feature, Wizards released a set of special Basic Lands.

These Lands, dubbed the Moonlit Lands, featured a silver foiling emphasized by a foil etching treatment. These stylistic Lands would play up the Lands' traditional black-and-white horror look, which was further emphasized by removing the color from the mana symbol and pin lines.

Roughly 20 copies of each of these Lands were provided to WPN (Wizards Play Network) Premium stores. They were recommended to be used with Commander Party events and Innistrad: Double Feature Preview Events.

Lunar New Year Basics

Beginning in 2021, Wizards once again began releasing some special promos for various APAC regions. These promos were crafted to coincide with the Lunar New Year, with 2021 celebrating the Year of the Ox. Many of these cards would feature new artwork, with all of them eventually having new art in later years.

Starting in 2024 with the Year of the Dragon celebration, every year has included a new Basic Land featuring the animal of that year. The Year of the Dragon Land was a Mountain, with a Forest representing the Year of the Snake in 2025 and a Plains for the Year of the Horse in 2026.

Much like their APAC brethren before them, these Lands are extremely sought after by collectors due to their region exclusivity. The Mountain and Forest currently go for around $50 with the Plains commanding much higher numbers, likely due to the recency compared to the others.

Secret Lair Promos

There were a handful of Secret Lair Promos Lands in addition to the usual Secret Lair releases.

There are two sets of bonus cards that are worth considering. Early Secret Lair releases would include special foil versions of the much-lauded Jumpstart Basic Lands. The most notable of these was quite possibly the Phyrexian language Swamp, which remained a fan favorite until the release of Phyrexian language Basics in Phyrexia: All Will Be One.

More recent releases have included a set of cryptic looking pieces featuring art by Alexander Khabbazi. These are clearly inspired by his work for other Secret Lair releases.

The one real batch of Secret Lair Promos are the ones that came out via MagicCon events. Fans could acquire them either at the MagicCon events in person or by purchasing select Festival in a Box releases on the Secret Lair website.

Each of these Lands is notable for being full art and featuring Lotuses in their artwork. The art in question was done by John Avon and marks his final works in the game prior to his retirement in 2025.

Conclusion

There are tons of incredible ways to bling out your favorite deck. I'm quite partial to the APAC and Euro Lands from the late 90s and early 00s, but there are plenty of excellent choices.

Naturally, you don't need to go high end just to make your decks look nice. There's no shortage of fantastic Basic Lands from over the years of all kinds, and you can get very nice looking Lands for a good rate.

Find something that speaks to you and rock it. Make your deck something special and completely unique with whatever Basic Lands you want.

Paige Smith

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