Invasion Tap Lands

As you probably gathered the other day, I've never been a fan of the strictly better/strictly worse debate. I never cared that Frozen Shade's power is lower than Looming Shade's; the flavor text and the more menacing name were all I needed to hear. Still, it's easy to argue that a land that has the exact same game text as a Tundra but makes you wait for its first use is a gameplay downgrade.

Why were these lands so significant? Because of the color of their rarity symbol. They were the first attempt to get solid dual lands into the hands of a large number of players, and they were quite successful at that. They even saw Pro Tour play, with control decks based on Dromar the Banisher packing large numbers of the relevant ones. And, much like the Tempest lands from yesterday, they helped set the Invasion block's vibrant, swashbuckling, comic book-style tone, which I adore to this day.

As far as their design, they are of course the template for Zendikar's Refuges and Tarkir's cycle of ten that operate the same way, as well as the Alara and Tarkir tri-lands. I'm glad newer players got a chance to see them in the Phyrexia vs. the Coalition duel deck, but I must admit I find it somewhat bemusing that they felt the need to tack on more bonuses with the Refuges and the like. Producing two colors of mana already is the upside.

Constructed: 2/5
Casual: 4/5
Limited: 5/5
Multipayer: 4/5
EDH/Commander: 3/5

Today's cards of the day are the tap dual lands from Invasion with the drawback of entering play tapped.  While costing a land drop with no mana and thus some potential tempo, these are above average choices, though many strictly better options have been released with the same base mechanic.  In Commander or a Limited format these are quite playable, otherwise using more modern options like the shard lands, gain a life, become a creature, or have/reveal to play untapped would be the better choice in the design stage.
 
Constructed: 3.0
Casual: 3.0
Limited: 4.0
Multiplayer: 3.0