Although I know it has some inherent flaws, Magic: The Gathering's land system hasn't really bothered me during my last decade or so with the game. My first experience with Magic was when a friend of mine, who I used to play Yu-Gi-Oh! with, showed up at my house with two starter decks. After the blistering pace of Yu-Gi-Oh! games, I really enjoyed how Magic: The Gathering's mana system slowed things down, and I've been hooked on the game since. However, after recently trying a new TCG, I may have a bit of trouble going back to Magic's lands.

When it comes to TCG design, a lot of games essentially just feel like the developers are trying to fix the issues they have with Magic: The Gathering. Most often, this means finding a new way to handle mana systems that avoid some of the more frustrating elements of Magic, like not drawing lands when you need them. A lot of the time, I end up liking these "solutions" less than Magic's system, but a newer TCG did finally show me how lands can be done better without losing their core appeal.

Despite Its Flaws, Magic's Lands Never Bothered Me

Lands Can Cause Clunky Gameplay, But I Still Like Building Around Them

Now, I do recognize the issues with Magic: The Gathering's land system. Even in a perfectly proportioned deck, you can still get unlucky and not draw enough lands. I don't mind losing a game if I misplay or my opponent has a better deck, but losing because I wasn't able to actually participate in the game is frustrating. Still, even though I occasionally experience what Magic players call being "mana screwed," I've never gotten to the point where I hate the land system.

Figuring out how to get mana is part of the strategy in Magic: The Gathering, and it isn't all based on luck. You can build ways to get mana into your deck that aren't just lands, like artifacts or creatures that tap for mana, or spells that let you grab lands from your deck. There are even entire decks built around lands and Landfall abilities like the one on the recently previewed Gladio Final Fantasy card. When other TCGs strip out lands altogether, they lose these types of strategies, and the game feels like it's missing something to me.

I also just have a strong affinity for land cards themselves. One of the cards I was most excited to get early on in my Magic: The Gathering tenure was Botanical Sanctum from the Kaladesh set. I love the visual design of dual lands being split down the middle and including both colors they tap for, and Botanical Sanctum's art also includes foliage and water as a visual cue for the fact that it creates green and blue mana. Even after years of playing, I love to see new land art, like the fetch lands from Tarkir: Dragonstorm.

Most TCGs Try To Fix Magic's Land System In Their Own Way

Other Trading Card Games Try To Find New Ways To Handle Mana

A lot of TCGs try to change Magic: The Gathering's land system to avoid the inherent frustration of being mana screwed. One tactic many card games take is to cut out lands and have you play normal cards as resources. I'm not a big fan of this for several reasons. First, it means that instead of looking at beautiful landscapes, I'm looking at (in Disney Lorcana's case at least) an ugly card back or a blank sleeve. Also, I'm forced to choose what cards in my deck I won't get to play, instead of having dedicated cards for resource generation.

Although I don't hate Flesh and Blood's style of pitching cards to generate resources, it does mean that cards are a little overwhelming for new players. Adding a pitch value to a card on top of all the other information that's already present leaves a lot to keep track of. Card games like Yu-Gi-Oh! don't use mana, but this can also lead to some ridiculous combos that make turns last a long time. I was starting to think I wouldn't like any TCGs answer to Magic's mana, until I played Sorcery: Contested Realm.

Sorcery: Contested Realm Land System Transforms TCG Gameplay

Sorcery's Lands Are Actual Locations To Travel Across

I'll it, when I first saw Sorcery: Contested Realm, I was a bit skeptical. A lot of TCGs ape too heavily off Magic: The Gathering, and seeing a game that was named "synonym for magic, colon, two more words," I was worried this would be another instance of that. However, I was pleasantly surprised by how unique and fun Sorcery: Contested Realm is. And, a large part of the game's appeal is how it handles lands.

Unlike a typical TCG where players just set up their cards in front of them, Sorcery: Contested Realm is played on a grid. Empty spaces on the grid are the Void, and players need to put land cards there to be able to place creatures on top of (or below) them. Expanding your lands gives you more mana to work with, but also opens you up to attacks from your opponent once they control ading lands.

Lands in Sorcery: Contested Realm aren't just a way to generate resources, but they are literal lands for your units to travel across and that you have to defend. This completely changes how cards like lands are treated in Magic or other TCGs that typically just use them as tools to cast spells. This added dimension gave me an even stronger connection with the land cards I played in Sorcery than my treasured Magic lands, and made me finally see why some people find Magic's lands a bit boring.

Having A Separate Land Deck Solves Magic's Mana Problem

Sorcery Allows You To Draw Land When You Need It

Sorcery: Contested Realm also has a unique way of handling Magic: The Gathering's mana problem. Instead of mixing your lands (or sites as the game calls them) into your deck, you have a separate deck for them. At the beginning of each turn, you can choose to either draw a land, or a playable card, meaning you can always draw resources when you need them. Your Avatar - your deck's leader - can also tap to draw a site, allowing you to draw both it and a card on the same turn, at the expense of playing a new site.

Having a separate deck for lands allows for them to still be part of the game, but without the risk of getting mana screwed. This solution essentially keeps everything I enjoy about land while taking away the only parts of it I don't like. While I don't see myself ditching Magic: The Gathering fully for Sorcery: Contested Realm, I can now concede that its land system did need some fixing, and Sorcery ​​​​​​​found a great way to do it.