Top Landfall Cards from Zendikar Rising

The release of Zendikar Rising brought back the exciting Landfall mechanic, rewarding players for playing lands with powerful effects. This set emphasized land strategies in both Limited and Constructed formats, creating explosive plays and resilient decks. Landfall triggers whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, often granting creatures buffs, tokens, or direct damage. In this article, we examine the standout cards that defined the format, offering insights into their strengths, synergies, and usage across game modes.

Understanding Landfall in Zendikar Rising

Landfall returned with a focus on modal double-faced cards (MDFCs) and party mechanics, but Landfall stood out for its ramp potential. In Limited, it encouraged aggressive land plays, while in Constructed, it powered midrange and ramp decks. Cards like those in green and red excelled due to their ability to chain triggers. Key archetypes included Naya Landfall, which combined resilience with value engines.

Draft environments favored colors like green-white and red-green, where commons and uncommons with Landfall provided consistent pressure. In Constructed, these cards filled roles in aggro, midrange, and even control shells, thanks to their efficiency.

Premier Landfall Creatures for Limited Success

In Limited, creatures with Landfall form the backbone of winning strategies. They offer immediate board presence and scale with land drops.

• Territorial Scythecat: A green common that gains +1/+1 and trample on Landfall. Its instant-speed trigger potential in green makes it one of the top performers, curving perfectly into midgame threats.
• Akoum Hellhound: Red uncommon hound that gets +2/+2 and haste. Ideal for aggressive red decks, it punishes opponents early and swings for lethal.
• Swarm Shambler: Green-black zombie that creates a 0/1 token on Landfall. Blocks early, then overwhelms later with modular growth.

These cards shine in pack 1 pick 1 scenarios for their archetypes, enabling 60%+ win rates in green-based drafts.

Constructed Powerhouses: High-Impact Landfall Threats

Constructed elevated certain rares and mythics to staple status. Here’s a breakdown of top performers:

Skyclave Shade dominated black decks, gaining lifegain to stabilize against aggro. Cragplate Baloth’s flash made it a defensive powerhouse in ramp strategies. Ancient Greenwarden amplified entire boards, turning single lands into double value.

Synergistic Engines and Support Cards

Beyond creatures, enablers like ramp spells and MDFCs fueled Landfall decks. Naya Landfall lists ran 28 creatures including Brushfire Elemental for reach. Nullpriest of Oblivion disrupted opponents while providing recursion.

In cube, cards like Glasspool Mimic copied Landfall threats, and Agadeem’s Awakening served as both land and finisher. These tools ensured decks hit land drops consistently, maximizing triggers.

Deckbuilding Strategies for Limited

Limited success hinged on archetype commitment. Green-red aggro packed Hellhounds and Baloths for speed. Green-white ramp used Scythecats and tokens for midgame bombs.

1. Prioritize Landfall commons in green/red picks.
2. Splash for bombs like Shade if black opens.
3. Run 17-18 lands to chain triggers.

Pro players noted 40-land decks in Bo1 for maximum value.

Constructed Archetypes Featuring Landfall

Naya Landfall emerged as a tier 2 contender, blending resilience with pressure. Sample build:

• Creatures: 4x Akoum Hellhound, 4x Swarm Shambler, Brushfire Elemental.
• Instants: Negate for protection.
• Lands: 24 including MDFCs.

Abzan variants added lifegain from Shade. Ramp shells with Greenwarden doubled triggers from Ashaya alternatives.

Comparing Landfall Across Formats

Limited favored commons for consistency, while Constructed prized scalable mythics.

Advanced Synergies and Combos

Pair Ancient Greenwarden with token makers like Phylath for exponential growth. Skyclave Shade + lifegain enablers stalled games indefinitely. In limited, chain Scythecat with fetchlands for repeated triggers.

Cube drafters loved Jace, Mirror Mage bouncing lands for recasts, triggering Landfall anew.

Challenges and Counters

Landfall decks struggled against board wipes and land destruction. Bloodchief’s Thirst countered early creatures, while Field of Ruin hit utility lands. Sideboard hate like Rest in Peace disrupted recursion.

Evolving Meta Post-Zendikar Rising

Landfall influenced Kaldheim and beyond, with Naya piles adapting to new tools. Limited bomb rares like these remained draft staples.

FAQs

What is the best Landfall card in Zendikar Rising?

Skyclave Shade for Constructed due to lifegain and evasion; Territorial Scythecat for Limited.

How many lands in a Landfall deck?

17-19 in Limited; up to 24+ with MDFCs in Constructed.

Which colors for Landfall archetypes?

Green-red aggro, green-white ramp primary; black splashes for Shade.

Are Zendikar Landfall cards still playable?

Yes, in cube, Historic, and budget decks.

Top Landfall combo?

Ancient Greenwarden + any doubler for infinite-like value.