Pointed Discussion

Cool concept...

I like this card. Plus it can go in any deck.

I'm not fond of this card. You might as well add one more basic land in your deck except for this, or Terramorphic Expanse.

Good for landfall maybe?

4/5 for artwork alone.

IMO it would've been much better if it was 1, T:

a slow, blue control deck (like the one they put this in) doesn't need mana ramp. At most, you should play retraced image instead, at least it has some other uses.

Example:

This
Saprazzan Skerry or any of the depleting cards.
Azorius Chancery or analogues.

Have Skerry down (or even better, two of them) , play this as your turn land, tap skerry for two then tap this in response to yourself. Return Skerry to your hand, throw down Chancery, comes in already tapped, pick up something you already tapped. (Or the other Skerry if you're elite or something.)

Or just throw down one of those pay 2 lands like

Hallowed Fountain

And it's basically an extra land for next turn if you have the mana free.

Even better, get a Voltaic Key and/or an Unwinding clockand have Liquimetal Coating or Myr Landshaper on standby. Untaps during your turn, feed mana into it, and it's good mana accel paired with any of those 2 mana depletion lands.

The one thing I -don't- like about this card is the artwork <.<

Portkins - it's basic lands only. I thought the exact same thing about the lands that already come into play tapped, but then I read it closer. ^^'

Good for triggering landfall on your opponents turn.

This and Krosan Verge are both lands that can ramp! They are both great.

Looks good for Fireball decks.

I think this is made for non-ramp decks when they have excessive mana.

In truth, the cost is since you're tapping a land that could give you (itself).

The card that is pretty similar to this is Sakura-Tribe Scout. I'll compare them so you could decide which is better:

PROS

- Generator can be played in any deck. Scout is restricted to Green
- If you have no basic lands to play, you can tap Generator for mana. Scout can only put lands into play.
- Generator is a land, which is harder to kill than Scout, which is a creature
- Generator is technically free, while Scout costs
- Generator doesn't suffer from summoning sickness

CONS

- You have to pay for Generator's effect. Scout's effect is free.
- You can only play Basic Lands with Generator. Scout puts down any land
- The land Generator puts into play is tapped. Scout's land comes in untapped.
- Generator can't deal damage or block if you're desperate.
- Generator can't be played in Modern or Pauper

So, is Generator better than Scout? I suppose it is, since it can go into any deck, but if you're playing Green, Sakura-Tribe Scout is the way to go.

@PolskiSuzeren: Derp. You can activate its ability at the end of their turn, if you haven't used you mana for counterspells, thus essentially giving you access to extra, free mana. How does this not fit into a control deck's strategy?

I really wish that this made land tokens.

Staple in all EDH decks that are not running green.

Let's see...how can I abuse this in EDH? Land Tax certainly comes to mind...

Well, being a 2-of in a deck is a good way to ramp as well. Great for something like black or blue who don't have natural (permanent) ramp. Notice that 2-3 mana is perfect for kill/counter spells, so you can be ready to own and if you don't need to, just ramp! Who cares!?

I forgot about these guys and they're going straight into my {U}{B} control deck

Journeyer's Kite and this in a blue control deck. Thin your deck out faster and get mostly spells every turn, and POOF!! You decks has no more lands in it.

@Ferlord
Terrain generator is better. Even if you are playing green. Why? Because this takes a land slot. All you lose in a deck with this card is a tiny bit of consistency due to the loss of a coloured land.

Sakura-Tribe Scout requires one of your actual card slots to be in the deck.

That's at least the most common reason anyway. There may be decks that actually prefer the scout.

You must have drawn 4 lands by turn 3 to get the benefit. Next turn it's 5 lands or if you already used it turn 3, it's 6 lands. Basicly it works best when you have bad luck with the draws. Works nicely with some additional draw though.