Pointed Discussion

Consecrate Land seems more solid.

I agree, however this could counter an Armageddon or other mass-destruction spell...however they both remain very narrow in application.

I like cards that can read the future.

How does this interact with, say, Genju of the Spires? Can you counter a creature that would destroy the land in combat?

@Ekko

This only counters spells. Creatures in play arn't spells.

How is consecrate land better? This can play D on all you lands including itself, for the same cost. Sure pesky black land auras maybe be out there, but Consecrate doesn't allow you to cast any buffs on yours. To be honest though, this is a sideboard/Wish card, and LD isn't as common as it once was so...

I don't get how this card functions. How can the ability determine whether or not something will destroy a land?

It doesn't really work very well under the rules. It has to see the future and if the spell would destroy your land if it were to resolve right then, Equinox will counter it. A misfit relic from the days of interrupts, I guess. Or maybe it didn't really work under that clunky system, either.

It works perfectly fine under the rules.

A) A spell that would destroy one of your lands goes on the stack. Priority passes.
B) You tap the enchanted land. This ability goes on the stack. Priority passes.
C) Barring any other responses, priority circles and Equinox's ability resolves. The first spell is countered.

It works the same as, say, Turn Aside, except where Turn's restriction is "that targets a permanent you control," this one's is "that destroys a land". It's not like any spells pull a sneaky trick and suddenly grow the ability to destroy land; if it's on the stack, it's been declared what it's going to do.

This only works on Sligh decks.

This is a card from the height of color hate. There were a relatively large number of spells, like Fissure, Flashfires, and Tsunami that flat out destroyed one or more lands. Honestly not a horrible card in that age.

The odd thing is that the Oracle wording gives your land an ability, whereas the original wording would be closer to "tap enchanted land: counter target spell...," an effect originating from Equinox, and thus white.

I'm not gonna dvelve into the rules, but believe me this card worked. Before and after the sixth rule revolution this card say: No way you can destroy my lands! As long I keep the land untaped.

So use your Icy Manipulator to tap my land enchanted by Equinox and cast your Armageddon next.

Use on a land that does not need to tap to be good. Question: Is there such a land?

The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale?!

O.K. So every card in this hellforsaken game really is actually broken. Especially if it has less than 2 stars on Gatherer. Good to know. >.>

This card is golden. "I play Mycosynth Lattice/Darksteel Forge or have an Elspeth Emblem, and try and blow up everything on the field"


"My land respectfully declines"

The rulings almost make it sound more complicated than it is though.

I could see this in EDH, if people ran Jokulhaups or Devastation or Armageddon or Ravages of War more often, but oh well. Prevents Land D in formats where it's powerful. *Shrugs*

Seems very limited. Perhaps put it on an artifact land in a Sharuum EDH deck, and use it to counter any mass artifact destruction, since it would destroy some lands as well? But it doesn't stop exiling, or sacrificing, or destruction from activated abilities.

In modern card design, this card might be written as "Enchanted land had 'T: Counter target spell, activated ability, or triggered ability that would destroy a land you control.'" Not sure if that would be preferable to "T: Lands you control are indestructible this turn." This ability might be nice to put on a fortification!

Braid_of_Fire's Card of the Day #4

So this card is the perfect example of why I think classic Magic is better than it currently is.

Stay with me now. Usually when people decry the present, it's due to nostalgia or some other irrational sentiment, and while I cannot deny that such contributes towards my perception of the game, I started playing in Dissension and only in the years since have I been able to go back and drink in the old-Magic flavor and texture.

This is a card that is more evocative than almost any other I have encountered. Its art is dramatic and surreal, with a meaningful connection to its name and a bizarre one to its effect. This disconnect is powerful, though, because it forces the player to ask questions of the game of Magic in a way a modern card would struggle to do. Why should I worry about lands being destroyed? Does the relation of the sun to the Earth really cause such a drastic reactionary response? What kinds of cards destroy lands?

And then, what individual lands are worth saving? Another MTG classic I have come to adore is Glacial Chasm, which again is a card with a unique effect that makes you want to build around it. Glacial Chasm also doesn't tap for mana, so the opportunity cost of keeping it untapped to have Equinox's effect available is slight.

The thing I like most about this card is that you can open a booster pack and although most will just dismiss its marginal effect or the fact that it's an aura, it provides so much creative space. This is what Magic, at its core, is about. And unlike the interesting cards of today, it provides a slight effect rather than a splashy one. It doesn't provide instant gratification like the Johnny bombs of today have, or even immediate satisfaction when it's used correctly. If you even counter one Armageddon with this, it's done its job.

This is not a good card, but I want to use it all the time. This card is neat, provocative, and unique. It's an incredible blend of flavor, atmosphere, and creativity. There was a day when a Magic booster held several such cards. I don't yearn for that day, but I wish I could have experienced it myself as a young player.

I'm a bit surprised this kind of effect doesn't show up more - it counters spells which "would destroy a land you control". The fact that it can counteract Armageddon and its ilk is a rather unique effect, and I don't believe there are any cards that are templated this way. Obviously, correct me if I'm wrong.

PS: I'm sure nobody is wondering, but no, I am not named after this card.

Usable, but not great. I wish they had saved such a hard-hitting name for a more important card.

It's one of the few useful non-"enchant creature" enchantments for {W} or less.

These enchantments go a long way to making a Serra's Sanctum deck actually playable. Not as broken as his cousin, but playable. Unfortunately, as I just pointed out, this is outclassed by other cheap white enchantments. I would, however, consider running one or two of this in a {U}/{W} manland deck, with Teferi's Response being the playset of counters.

If you think this card works properly in the rules, you don't understand the problem.

If I use this ability, and then the spell is redirected to point to a non-land target, technically the effect has no valid behaviour. Only errata can save it, and you have errata for every behaviour that comes up. Not to mention that strictly speaking, this effect is Schroedingers cat. If it counters the effect, the effect wouldn't destroy a land so this should fizzle, but then the effect would destroy a land so it won't fizzle and continue until bored.

Land destruction may not be as common as it once was, but this has a clever use for Commander. Run it alongside man lands and artifact lands as protection against board wipes. It won't stop a lot of things, but it will at least buy your massive token army more time against some of the most common wipes.

@deworde2510: Current oracle wording is fine. You can target any spell, and if, at the time of the Equinox ability's resolution, that target spell resolving would cause a land to be destroyed, it is countered. The infinite loop described would not happen, because the evaluation of whether the spell should be countered only happens once.

As for the card itself, it belongs in the sideboard if your metagame somehow calls for it. Otherwise, to the museum!