Pointed Discussion

the best use of this land will be buffing Domain effects...

It also blows Henge of Ramos and Shimmering Grotto out of the water.

Yeah, Henge of Ramos got owned. It's about the same value as Shimmering Grotto, though.

Fun card in draft. Suddenly, a 3-colour deck gets to pull off 4-colour domain stuff! Not much value otherwise though.

throw it in any deck with Obelisk of Alara great card

Its not really a great card for regular play, but in the draft I recently played it won me quite a few matches.

I'm new to drafts so I don't know the types, but ours had the rules:

1. open a booster
2. throw in 3 basic lands of each type
3. play an opponent
4. winner takes other's deck and gets a chance to remake deck (30 card min)
5. repeat

Wouldn't this be good in Valakut Ramp? Couldn't you counter a Goblin Ruin Blaster by turning your non-basic land into a basic land?

@Khias

The Frontier doesn't turn non-basic lands into basic lands, it gives a land a basic land type. So, no, your trick won't work.

@RafiqTheMiststalker

Did you miss the part where the target land has to be one you control? The Frontier doesn't help landwalk.

Strictly better than Shimmering Grotto. It does everything that SG does, but can benefit you if you have cards that only affect certain basics (Patron of the Orochi, for example). And yes, this makes Henge of Ramos/School of the Unseen look bad.

@ClockworkSwordfish

No, it's not strictly better than Shimmering Grotto. This requires that you control another untapped land in order to work, whereas Shimmering Grotto can use mana from other sources. They each have their benefits; neither is strictly better.

Powerful defense against Spreading Seas.

Note that this does not make the land basic, it just gives it a basic land type. So if you turn Valakut into a Mountain, it'll be a nonbasic Mountain (sort of like Madblind Mountain, except without the extra ability).

This card's fun with City of Traitors, and potentially helpful in green-red Valakut builds (because Frontier can target itself). I also like pairing it with Glacial Chasm (what do you mean, creatures I control can't attack?) But I'm disappointed by the fact that this card can't rescue man-lands from Path to Exile. It would be very fun to have a "target land you control becomes a basic Forest (this effect lasts indefinitely)" land.

Still, Knight of the Reliquary + Unstable Frontier is fun, so let's say 4/5.

P.S. Fifty points and a salute to the first person who figures out how to combo this with Quicksilver Fountain or something similarly crazy. There's got to be a way...

I run two of these as crux cards in a deck abusing Allied Strategies. This leaves people guessing when I have three lands untapped including Frontiers. I could be sitting on Diabolic Edict, Tribal Flames, Harrow OR an Evasive Action.

Fixes mana and patches up Domain. Overall I think I prefer it to Shimmering Grotto, but they're both handy, inexpensive cards for mana fixing.

T: Cast the Submerge or Massacre that you sided in.

@Salient with the Quicksilver Fountain.

Change an island you control to a forest. Put a flood counter on it. Lather, flood, repeat.

Can I take my 50 points in cash?

Not bad for budget magic.
Taps for , so in a mono deck that has a light splash this land works fine.

Here's my continuing saga of multilands in Magic, which I started in Castle Sengir and continued in Darigaaz's Caldera and Pillar of the Paruns.

So, after this third colorfest, that actually ended in Alara Reborn, the multilands (including lands that not necessarily produce multiple colors of mana but help otherways to diversify mana production) to follow were:

Magic 2010: Terramorphic Expanse and allied color comes in tapped unless you control appropriate basic land lands (Dragonskull Summit etc.)
Zendikar: Enemy color fetchlands (Arid Mesa etc.) and allied color comes into play and gain life lands (Akoum Refuge etc.)
Worldwake: Allied color comes in tapped manlands (Celestial Colonnade etc.)
Rise of the Eldrazi: Evolving Wilds.
Magic 2011: Terramorphic Expanse and Magic 2010 allied color lands (Dragonskull Summit etc.)
Scars of Mirrodin: Allied color comes in tapped unless you have two or fewer other lands lands (Blackcleave Cliffs etc.)
Mirrodin Besieged: No color producing lands.
New Phyrexia: No color producing lands.
Commander: Command Tower (1).
Magic 2012: Magic 2010 allied color lands (Dragonskull Summit etc.)
Innistrad: Shimmering Grotto and enemy color comes in tapped unless you control appropriate basic land lands (Clifftop Retreat etc.)
Dark Ascension: Evolving Wilds.
Avacyn Restored: Cavern of Souls.
Magic 2013: Evolving Wilds and Magic 2010 allied color lands (Dragonskull Summit etc.)
Return to Ravnica: Transguild Promenade, , , , and versions of pay life or comes in tapped dual lands (Blood Crypt etc.) and comes in tapped gates (Azorius Guildgate etc.)
Gatecrash: Thespian's Stage , , , and versions of pay life or comes in tapped dual lands (Breeding Pool etc.) and comes in tapped gates (Boros Guildgate etc.)
Dragon's Maze: Maze's End and all gates (Azorius Guildgate etc.)

That's the fourth colorfest and the duals in Return to Ravnica & Gatecrash were reprints from the originals in Ravnica block.

I continue this saga when more sets are published. You can easily check what was in Modern Masters, Magic 2014 and Theros, those being only sets I've left out as I write this.

(1) I only list Commander here because it introduced Command Tower. The various Duel Decks, From the Vault, Box Sets and Casual Supplements contain many multilands, but outside Commander series they all are reprints.