That comment might sound stupid on first blush, but this is actually a legitimate problem on cards as of recent. Too many "islands" are actually rivers or lakes or open oceans or rocks floating over the water or even buildings with a blue tint to them. It's kind of odd.
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@Kirbster Yeah, islands and particularly swamps and sometimes even forests tend to be susceptible to such an improper representation, particularly on planes with a more unnatural setting that strictly speaking don't have these type of areas at all. But i'd simply say the basic land types we know and love in Magic are somewhat different from the general concept of the respective term.
Additionally, "island" is different from the other four basic land types since i'd say it falls into a different category. Each island is likely to have mountains, as well as forests, maybe plains or even swamps. Yet you can't have an island within a mountain, forest or plains. It does work with swamps, but mostly because it's some pool of liquid. It was probably chosen for blue because you had some clear connections to water, yet also solid ground so you didn't restrict yourself to just sea creatures.
If we're talking about islands in magic, we rarely mean the common definition of it - the subtype "Island" has been considered as a subtype on a land that simply contains water in some way ever since Alpha. Half of the dual lands that produce blue mana aren't "islands": There's Tropical Island and Volcanic Island, but there's also Underground Sea and Tundra.
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But i'd simply say the basic land types we know and love in Magic are somewhat different from the general concept of the respective term.
Additionally, "island" is different from the other four basic land types since i'd say it falls into a different category.
Each island is likely to have mountains, as well as forests, maybe plains or even swamps.
Yet you can't have an island within a mountain, forest or plains. It does work with swamps, but mostly because it's some pool of liquid.
It was probably chosen for blue because you had some clear connections to water, yet also solid ground so you didn't restrict yourself to just sea creatures.
If we're talking about islands in magic, we rarely mean the common definition of it - the subtype "Island" has been considered as a subtype on a land that simply contains water in some way ever since Alpha.
Half of the dual lands that produce blue mana aren't "islands":
There's Tropical Island and Volcanic Island, but there's also Underground Sea and Tundra.