Welcome to the Land Box! This is the curated set of 300 unique basic lands for use with my cube, which you can find here: [Miles' Cube](https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/miles) --- ## Philosophy Basic lands are a huge part of the **Magic** experience, and an opportunity for artists to deliver some of the best art that fantasy gaming has to offer. The unique 300 basic lands maintained in conjunction with this cube serve to reflect this. Most cubes seem to prioritize consistency by using a single artwork for each type of basic land. While this promotes tighter gameplay and ease of assessing board states, my particular cube does not maximize for competitive gameplay as much as it does for memorable experiences. By keeping the basic land box singleton and curating it with the same vigor as the main list, every part of the cube is thematically resonate and contributes to a more delightful draft each time. --- ## Goals - Maintain the **singleton spirit** of cube in the land box - Assemble the **best collection** of 60 lands for each type - Provide a **diversity of styles** for all kinds of players - Share **evocative and beautiful artwork** to contribute to a memorable cube experience - Represent the **history and breadth** of worlds Magic has to offer --- ## What makes a good basic land? For each basic land type, there are approximately 280 unique pieces of art available across 750 printings. Determining the top ~20% to meet the needs of a 720 card cube (while respecting logistics and space) sounds like it should be easy, but it's anything but. [Looking at the Scryfall query for every basic Mountain](https://scryfall.com/search?as=grid&dir=asc&order=released&q=%28%21%22mountain%22+or+%21%22snow-covered+mountain%22%29+include%3Aextras+prefer%3Aoldest+unique%3Aart+game%3Apaper&unique=prints), for example, will leave the romantics among you filled with a gut full of emotion and a tingling in your legs that begs you for a journey above the tree-line. Which 60 could you possibly select? In the lore of **Magic: the Gathering**, a basic land represents your connection to a place as a powerful sorcerer who can travel between worlds known as a planeswalker. The idea is that you are able to draw mana out of your personal bond to a particular area. As such, players having a bond to the basic lands they use should, theoretically, improve their gameplay. Fundamentally, art is subjective, so everyone is going to have their own perspective, but there are some obvious shared favorites among the community. While it is *my* cube and my opinion gets the final word, my cube is not just my own, and I try to approach the lands accordingly. >>> <<[[!Plains|feb949a6-9261-4175-bcf1-5519d82f9dc3]][[!Island|f0578f26-1396-4e1d-9986-8fc6c55aeb66]][[!Swamp|f52b53b7-4a20-48eb-a0bd-4ddf40aae740]][[!Forest|c726424a-3336-4e15-9055-4a26371df361]]>> <<< >>>_Novelty Lands as part of "Booster Fun" and Secret Lair_<<< With the advent of "Booster Fun" guaranteeing at least one [full-art land](https://scryfall.com/search?q=type%3Dbasic+include%3Aextras+unique%3Aart+game%3Apaper+is%3Afull&unique=prints&as=grid&order=released&dir=asc) per expansion starting with *Innistrad: Midnight Hunt* and *[Secret Lair](https://scryfall.com/search?q=type%3Dbasic+include%3Aextras+unique%3Aart+game%3Apaper+set%3Dsld&unique=prints&as=grid&order=released&dir=asc)* providing new styles, it'd be hard to maintain consistency. But! It's not actually important to do so. Many of the novelty lands are fun and exciting for all players - even for someone like myself who would typically prefer the characteristic **Magic** frame and bold mana symbol- and so including them has been enjoyable for the group. It's been fun to see players dig through the land box and find their favorites, and marvel at the novelties...which do get picked *much* more frequently than the more "traditional" lands. Therefore, lands should be curated appropriately, while still keeping some bias towards the old-fashioned style so that not every land is of radically different design. A basic land should: - Evoke a strong sense of place - Ignite a sense of wonder - Textually represent the land type - Inspire your playgroup - Reflect the color pie In terms of "textually representing the land type", I am referring somewhat to the popular notion of [WOTC abandoning any reasonable definition of the word "Island"](https://imgur.com/a/xVnyP), but rather, more to the intent behind each of the arenas chosen. Expecting an Island card to exclusively portray a singular piece of land surrounded on all sides by water is overly literal, but if water is not the focus, or if the image is more concerned with the majestic peaks in the background, then yeah, is it really an Island? Richard Garfield's [original intent with plains](https://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/679721472534659072/hey-marko-just-curious-why-plains-is-the-only) was to represent farmland, the countryside, pastures. So is a basic land that shows off a castle in the foreground a "plains"? I guess I need to finish writing this for you to find out! ## {W} Top 12 Plains {W} <<[[!Plains|888f32ad-3bdd-4c46-b3f0-522ac9763591]][[!Plains|a2f3809e-e08e-45ff-8324-4046022fc6dd]][[!Plains|be849ad5-9f96-4605-a0dc-8b9588ac7dd6]][[!Plains|023d333b-14f2-40ad-bb76-8b9e38040f89]][[!Plains|a1de52fb-796c-4146-b592-00ce0cc5a187]][[!Plains|20aec487-ac03-4912-969b-f537864902ce]][[!Plains|3d8d3cd4-0f5f-4424-82ee-d8ba81da47fd]][[!Plains|ca8fb179-7e81-4b20-8b81-ea1aa97afe58]][[!Plains|bcdd1595-d94d-46b1-b87f-b910ae35fa3a]][[!Plains|27ecf285-c48f-4ac3-9b75-0ee0ff052767]][[!Plains|b1b2f459-8878-4008-9c40-46f706d6872a]][[!Plains|524ff04c-932e-4441-a2a7-1416cd43d232]]>> -- ## {U} Top 12 Islands {U} <<[[!Island|a39fc1e0-caf0-4cfa-bbf2-fea7ca32c00d]][[!Island|92724530-9c7a-44ab-9381-ee56bfccb641]][[!Island|99702ff6-e496-422a-aa62-ec933110acf7]][[!Island|2bf6f14a-99d1-4abd-b36f-a5819718a43f]][[!Island|140d4a7b-95b6-4911-99b5-7e8586255fc7]][[!Island|161aaceb-d0bb-48c5-8bd4-bff321a94b2e]][[!Island|8221d15c-c993-4345-a6bb-6a7d215e3273]][[!Island|1e571f07-167f-4a7d-8f98-0c98d7d15e81]][[!Island|6abf0692-07d1-4b72-af06-93d0e338589d]][[!Snow-Covered Island|105b2118-b22c-4ef5-bac7-836db4b8b9ee]][[!Island|ff3ffe47-53a3-42ec-ae89-afc79793380d]][[!Island|92daaa39-cd2f-4c03-8f41-92d99d0a3366]]>> -- ## {B} Top 12 Swamps {B} <<[[!Swamp|f2d28477-8be1-4caf-8185-64f47905ccb1]][[!Swamp|2c0c5cf6-f91d-45eb-a5c1-5aacec9cda69]][[!Swamp|7d790d45-12b5-463f-bb3a-eea3511c3c27]][[!Swamp|50205489-2960-462c-a6cb-35a491dc54d5]][[!Swamp|5fd26e01-cbd2-4787-bc01-aff58c13840f]][[!Swamp|c50b3d79-2361-4858-98b0-64d83c4f7f70]][[!Swamp|9fc74272-8dc7-4a07-85e3-e7a13573345e]][[!Swamp|2c4be2d6-d168-4e67-8d75-a04f637b56dd]][[!Swamp|5f917d8d-7037-4f11-91f6-1ef96b3541bb]][[!Swamp|45cbe554-ffdc-4de6-bf27-57790b71effb]][[!Swamp|e4f184c5-4f3c-4aea-afa1-f0903d3cc71a]][[!Swamp|c2c1107c-5026-416f-88d4-543c5df26ca7]]>> -- ## {R} Top 12 Mountains {R} <<[[!Mountain|05712bcb-eb67-4e84-a640-7e507675756a]][[!Mountain|ee851c64-4bf9-4dde-b73e-41366828a1dc]][[!Mountain|fadd5e4b-9833-4564-a7d2-3ac1364f40d5]][[!Mountain|80a6f28b-6910-416e-86e1-bd428360bb27]][[!Mountain|4ecf39c3-3b5f-4263-a7b5-9881bded3494]][[!Mountain|bdfbb15a-d7f4-470a-9d36-78c710a6d397]][[!Mountain|af9ad645-e605-4048-bf4c-d636584f315b]][[!Mountain|025e57e4-d088-4ad9-b872-cba327f63e9c]][[!Mountain|42232ea6-e31d-46a6-9f94-b2ad2416d79b]][[!Mountain|40d07155-d45d-4fec-a15e-525df5010af3]][[!Mountain|b36c3a0c-554c-40e7-a443-951108c52487]][[!Mountain|621aa8e1-aebf-4eea-beb5-7fb47700a87a]]>> -- ## {G} Top 12 Forests {G} <<[[!Forest|356547d1-f97e-4ef6-ab32-43e4673393ff]][[!Forest|b37ea002-f81e-4fa6-ac24-bba1cb6d7edf]][[!Forest|a6e62fd9-c184-4763-ad6c-8d2d7560879b]][[!Forest|b44a98ba-d999-41b7-a5c6-f3efa6056800]][[!Forest|743f283c-8aae-44ab-b245-c239feb23c16]][[!Forest|9397010b-6116-4612-993a-11ec2a5d3115]][[!Forest|aa36a925-9be7-45ba-bf55-30f9a25c09c1]][[!Forest|5a3e1067-2658-4216-a2bd-1e6550baaaa3]][[!Forest|4fd257a5-439d-4ef8-9cc9-9741e99a04e3]][[!Forest|7b0af992-80e0-4ac6-a828-5eaac47eaff6]][[!Forest|92195708-cc07-44bf-85d8-6c5d6f0d789e]][[!Forest|ed189e2b-a4e5-493b-9085-a5aae892e5a8]]>>