When Standard was Ravnica/Time Spiral/Coldsnap/10th, I used to have a fun four-color deck with Ink-Treader Nephilim, Tamanoa, Lightning Angel, and burn spells like Lightning Helix and Incinerate. The pain lands helped with the mana-fixing, and the damage was even negated by Tamanoa herself.
Khultar
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
every time i use this card for either color of mana it saves me, but it feels so painful losing 1life...like the sheer opposite of something like Jwar Isle Refuge
DacenOctavio
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
If they printed a Zendikar-style Refuge cycle of enemy-color duals, I could probably die happy. However, this works just fine, and is priced just right for the young and eager Counterburn player on-the-go. That being said, I already have my playset of Scalding Tarn, so I only have to pay life once.
Besides the original duals - which are, of course, absurdly powerful - virtually every multi-color land has some sort of drawback. Shivan Reef surely isn't the best of them, but the drawback isn't that bad either - it always comes in untapped, and doesn't hurt you unless you need it to. To compare it to some of the other drawbacks:
Steam Vents - 2 life or comes in tapped Cascade Bluffs - can only produce colorless unless you already have access to R or U Reflecting Pool - can potentially produce nothing depending on your other lands (I mention RP as my only more-than-2 producer in the list, simply because most of the time it is pretty brilliant) Sulfur Falls - tapped unless you already have a mountain or island
Shivan Reef is actually probably the worst of that list (depending on the rest of your land composition and number of colors you're running), but compared to everything else - that usually has a much bigger drawback, like Forbidden Orchard or City of Brass, or always comes in tapped, it's not bad at all. I know I run it in a few decks, and rarely have to hurt myself with it.
absreim
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Recently saw play in UR Storm decks in Modern, probably to deversify the mana base to take less damage off of it.
leomistico
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Has a lot of uses, very handy and stylish. The problem is that there are a lot of alternatives that don't involve losing life (and/or time under some circùmstances, for the matter...)
I like it very much for its semplicity and elegance. Once upon a time, this and its siblings were the standard and almost only choice for a dual land, now they are a quite appealing alternatives for a budget deck... However, not bad at all, and like poeticallybored said, there are ways to transform its drawback into advantage. 4.5/5
Edit: I'm starting to hate the Fetchlands. They are only good because of Shocklands, otherwise Fetchlands would be worse than Painlands, and I don't think that they would see so much play like now. And Checklands are good with basics, but are better with Shocklands. So maybe I'm starting to hate Shocklands, actually... They are synergic with a lot of things, and make everything better. I wonder how Modern would be if Shocklands hadn't basic land types...
Another thing that I wonder, is if R&D thinks that Painlands are really good, or if they don't like them only because noobs doesn't understand how nice is to take 1 damage for a colored mana.
And, lastly, I like Painlands and Checklands because they aren't a no-brain 4x in every deck. And Checklands, if it weren't for the Shocklands, was a really nice move to support basic lands, something that I think Magic needs more...
Comments (7)
UW - Adarkar Wastes
WR - Battlefield Forge
WB - Caves of Koilos
GW - Brushland
GR - Karplusan Forest
GB - Llanowar Wastes
UR - Shivan Reef
RB - Sulfurous Springs
UB - Underground River
GU - Yavimaya Coast
Steam Vents - 2 life or comes in tapped
Cascade Bluffs - can only produce colorless unless you already have access to R or U
Reflecting Pool - can potentially produce nothing depending on your other lands (I mention RP as my only more-than-2 producer in the list, simply because most of the time it is pretty brilliant)
Sulfur Falls - tapped unless you already have a mountain or island
Shivan Reef is actually probably the worst of that list (depending on the rest of your land composition and number of colors you're running), but compared to everything else - that usually has a much bigger drawback, like Forbidden Orchard or City of Brass, or always comes in tapped, it's not bad at all. I know I run it in a few decks, and rarely have to hurt myself with it.
I like it very much for its semplicity and elegance. Once upon a time, this and its siblings were the standard and almost only choice for a dual land, now they are a quite appealing alternatives for a budget deck... However, not bad at all, and like poeticallybored said, there are ways to transform its drawback into advantage.
4.5/5
Edit: I'm starting to hate the Fetchlands. They are only good because of Shocklands, otherwise Fetchlands would be worse than Painlands, and I don't think that they would see so much play like now. And Checklands are good with basics, but are better with Shocklands. So maybe I'm starting to hate Shocklands, actually... They are synergic with a lot of things, and make everything better. I wonder how Modern would be if Shocklands hadn't basic land types...
Another thing that I wonder, is if R&D thinks that Painlands are really good, or if they don't like them only because noobs doesn't understand how nice is to take 1 damage for a colored mana.
And, lastly, I like Painlands and Checklands because they aren't a no-brain 4x in every deck. And Checklands, if it weren't for the Shocklands, was a really nice move to support basic lands, something that I think Magic needs more...