Creeping Tar Pit – Worldwake –> Doctor Who
Date Reviewed: August 28, 2025
Ratings:
Constructed: 3.00
Casual: 3.83
Limited: 3.58
Multiplayer: 3.25
Commander [EDH]: 3.43
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
Creature lands feel slightly commonplace now, although they probably aren’t in a statistical sense. I haven’t done the math. But there was a time when they had rarely been done, and Worldwake‘s cycle blew people away when they were revealed. It’s almost too obvious to mention, but they are also dual lands – a dual land that always enters tapped looks a lot more appealing when it has another use. And they are, on paper, generally stronger than the Urza’s Legacy cards that most people associated with the concept back then. I don’t think there’s a single member of the Worldwake cycle that’s actually weak. Having said that, power is also contextual. When the cards were new, there were grindy control decks in Standard, rivalling 1994’s “The Deck” in their trappings. Such decks needed dual lands and they welcomed ways to win the game that didn’t require them to set aside space that could have been used by other spells.
The bigger formats are a lot different now, of course, and Creeping Tar Pit isn’t quite fast enough for Modern as it stands now. A big part of this is just because it comes into play tapped, and the format is incredibly fast and explosive. But in casual settings, I would never be ashamed to put this card in a deck, and I would almost never be unhappy to have it in my hand.
Constructed: 3
Casual: 4
Limited: 3.5
Multiplayer: 3.5
Commander [EDH]: 3.5
Creeping Tar Pit has had a bit of a change in its perception from my recollection, going from being a potent win condition to…barely played, outside of Duel Commander settings. It’s part of the Zendikar creature land cycle, and while a couple have endured a bit better, Creeping Tar Pit has not quite made it.
Creature lands often have a tradeoff to them, and coming in tapped is a cost that makes this suitable for only a couple of style of decks. That said, when this can animate, it’s promising as an unblockable, seven-turn clock…with a toughness low enough leaving it prone to being blown out by instant-speed removal. Still, being unblockable does make this demand an actual spell for removal, and it’s in the color combination most fond of things like Ninjas, so there’s room for this to work some magic.
Again, though, this is mostly a card whose prime has passed. It’s certainly not terrible: an unblockable creature that dodges a lot of removal has always had benefits, as is one that bypasses countermagic. But this is definitely a more particular card, since its strengths feel more enabling and it has the issue of wanting to be aggro in a color pair that would rather sit back and play a longer game.
Constructed: 3
Casual: 4
Limited: 3.75 (it will win you the game if unanswered, but all of its Limited outings did offer ways to answer it)
Multiplayer: 3.25
Commander [EDH]: 3.75
Thijs
I love creature lands. The Adventures in the Forgotten Realms cycle is still one of my favorites (LSV agrees) and I think many will agree that having a creature land almost always gives you a little bit of an advantage.
In the case of Creeping Tar Pit, however, we see that it’s a bit beyond its prime. The power creep (no pun intended) is very real and this card will probably not see a lot of play anymore.
When you do play it, you have quite the threat. An unblockable 3/2 every turn is a threat to be dealt with – even though it only takes a tiny burn spell to get of rid – and that’s what makes creature lands so treacherous. In today’s Magic environment it won’t be as impactful as it once could be, but no longer, unfortunately.
Constructed: 3
Casual: 3,5
Limited: 3,4
Multiplayer: 3
Commander [EDH]: 3
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