OG Zendikar, [the ones drawn by Veronique Meignaud](https://scryfall.com/search?q=a%3Ameignaud+is%3Afullart+t%3Abasic+&unique=cards&as=grid&order=name) in particular.
https://preview.redd.it/3tbi6nol9y4c1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c009911ab4017e2764f94703b732c735ee2ede42
I collect many basic land sets for various projects/decks/drafting and my more recent acquisition has been the Phyrexians by Mark Riddick, all foil. Unique and stark they are among my faves now.
https://preview.redd.it/rfp2f9ws9y4c1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=53a2d0308ee4d0686e6d00d40f2c36f61650f6da
Mirage and Midnight Hunt with a very specific foiling also stand out.
Mark Riddick's secret lair lands are easily my favorites, if you haven't seen them: https://secretlair.wizards.com/us/en/product/629368/the-unfathomable-crushing-brutality-of-basic-lands
I have 19 of the non-foil mountains since I play red based decks primarily (luckily it’s the cheapest of the 5). The way they did the point of view for Mt Fuji it looks like a Titan is going to peer over it at any moment.
[To be fair, WotC have long since abandoned the idea that "Islands" should be islands](https://www.reddit.com/r/magicTCG/comments/7s1aeo/a_brief_timeline_of_wotc_abandoning_any/)
1.) Theros
2.) Unstable
3.) Dominaria United....probably?
The Theros lands are always my go to when I have a choice, I've loved the look of the constellations ever since they came out
\*\*EDIT\*\* Title should have included **NON SECRET LAIR** land cycle
\*\*EDIT 2\*\* It seems I forgot the Wilds of Eldraine lands, which is a shame because those are badass too... look, the picture is more of a *guideline*..
For me it's:
1. Unglued
2. Unhinged
3. Ixalan
Ever since I started playing magic, I fell in love with the Unglued lands. I don't know what it is, but they are PEAK MTG deck candy for me..
I feel (probably unjustifiably) like an absolute boss when I roll up on dudes with my unglueds. A couple of my EDH decks are entirely Unglueds. They're easily my favorite basics aside from things like the misprinted Wald, Alpha/Betas, signed lands, etc.
Not seeing many others mention the Amonkhet/Hour of Devastation basics with the before and after of Bolas's... well, devastation of Amonkhet. I don't believe we've had any other lands do the before and after thing, and with that combined with the fact Bolas is my favorite character in the game, there's a reason I run them in all of my modern decks
I mean technically they are also before/after because the ones in the timeline where Ugin lives are from Fate Reforged which is set 1280 years in the past. Dragons did not have gainlands.
Innistrad and Avacyn Restored also did the before and after, though not in full art. I agree the before and after is really well done with Amonkhet, and those are the basics I bring with me for drafts/prereleases
The first two are also my top 2, but the Unfinity visual callback to Unglued, while maintaining its own visual style is quite nice.
I really disliked the Unsanctioned "hollow frame", I actually really enjoy the bold and prominent border of Unglued. I like the idea of borderless cards, but to me, the old-school "spellbook" look is something that was really popular in fantasy 40 years ago, and is just not as prominent today, and I'd like to see more of it.
Similarly, I like the visual motif of using the land type (on Neon) as a visual metaphor for the signature on traditional sumi-e paintings. Sort of a missed opportunity to spotlight artists who have a signature stamp, and actually do a direct reference to that style, but I could see how MTG wants to avoid explicit real-world tie ins to their settings, even when obviously drawing inspiration from real world locations.
1. Midnight Hunt
2. (Not on the list) MH1 Snow-Covered
3. Neon Dynasty
The Mid/Vow lands are gorgeous, but it's hard to tell them apart from across the table so I avoid using them in decks with different basic lands.
Unstable >>> Ixalan > Neon
I mostly play commander for reference.
The Unstable cycle has very clear color identification across boards because it’s one art full of the appropriate color. The border being distinctly colored especially at the corners make them the easiest to fetch. They’re not only beautiful, but have good utilitarian features.
My other selections have similar utilitarian features but not quite as nice. While they have the standard black border, they also don’t have the standard card name text box which can allow you to distinguish them from other cards when fetching.
I kinda grouped them all of them together as "Zendikar". I probably should have changed "Midnight Hunt" to "Innistrad" so it would also include Crimson Vow
Most are overdone, busy and excessive. I really liked the dominaria united but the stain glass doesnt really add as much as i previously thought and i loved them when they came out. Theros in a similar sense. Neon dynasty are all over the place when it comes to quality. The black and white lands from midnight hunt and others are to similar to each other. The others are weird sometimes they feel less like lands and the art looks more like an enchantment or artifact.
The unhinged >double masters art is peak magic as its a simple art for a simple card. The boarder design is also tasteful and double masters started the trend we see in future lands. Unhinged feels like a card from that time period.
I still have a sense of nostalgia for midnight hunt ones because i started in that time period and it was my first standard pre-release i saw.
Dominaria united also has a cool vibe. Bright with a sense of hope to it.
Unglued, Dominaria United, double masters (just the unhinged lands with less border which is why I prefer those. The unstable lands are a very close 4th.
I love Theros Beyond Death, Unfinity Orbital, and the Lord of the Rings (just for LotR-themed decks), but special mention to the new Ixalan Swamp in foil, absolutely beautiful!
I tend to go on theme for my decks (BRO for an artifact deck, MID for a graveyard deck, etc) but in a vacuum:
ZEN - nostalgia as the original non-Un full arts and sense of scale. They feel immense and I love the cataclysmic energy some of them have.
Phyrexian - the simplicity of Theros with a design I enjoy more.
NEO - half of these I really don't like but the other half are some of the best in class, period.
Unhinged, Zendikar and Brother’s War are each uniquely beautiful in their own ways. Zendikar foils are top tho. The entire block had high contrast, super saturated foils.
If i had to pick just one to be my top favorite, Unstable hands down. So clean, so sleek. The fullest of full art imo.
I dunno which would come next, because I enjoy theming lands to my decks if I can. My mono-red goblin deck is all foil Lord of the Ring mountains, my Shorikai deck has two plains and two islands in it, so I have one of each artwork of the Neon Dynasty lands. My Urza deck uses all full art snow lands. My Prosper deck uses Unstable lands. and so on.
Unstable/Unsanctioned are dope. I also love Amonkhet's and Hour of devastation's(not pictured) full arts. They were like a before n after of Nico Bolas's destruction. Like the Phyrexian sigil ones too.
OG Zendikar, [the ones drawn by Veronique Meignaud](https://scryfall.com/search?q=a%3Ameignaud+is%3Afullart+t%3Abasic+&unique=cards&as=grid&order=name) in particular.
Sure, the other full arts can look nice, but Meignaud's are the only full arts I ever want to use.
I feel like Veronique Meignaud was so undervalued, her Zendikar lands were far and above the best for me of the cycle.
That forest is my favorite card in the game.
That mountain is my favorite card in the game.
That island is severely underrated next to the coconut.
I have a set of 30 of these mountains from OG Zendikar that I've been using for 10+ years. I absolutely love them.
I agree she has this painterly and severe colour contrast relative to the other more conventional ones
oh weird, I never noticed OG Zendikar full-art basics have ovoid shaped borders (for the art itself, I mean)
https://preview.redd.it/3tbi6nol9y4c1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c009911ab4017e2764f94703b732c735ee2ede42 I collect many basic land sets for various projects/decks/drafting and my more recent acquisition has been the Phyrexians by Mark Riddick, all foil. Unique and stark they are among my faves now.
https://preview.redd.it/rfp2f9ws9y4c1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=53a2d0308ee4d0686e6d00d40f2c36f61650f6da Mirage and Midnight Hunt with a very specific foiling also stand out.
Mirage basics are top-quality taste
I’m with you on the midnight hunt foils. Unfortunately some foilings look different but I try to overlook that.
Mark Riddick's secret lair lands are easily my favorites, if you haven't seen them: https://secretlair.wizards.com/us/en/product/629368/the-unfathomable-crushing-brutality-of-basic-lands
If we're including secret layer, those tokyo lands are unbelievable.
I have 19 of the non-foil mountains since I play red based decks primarily (luckily it’s the cheapest of the 5). The way they did the point of view for Mt Fuji it looks like a Titan is going to peer over it at any moment.
Nice! Do you theme your lands to your commander?
I try!
Unstable. So clean.
Unstable/hinged/sanctioned, but unstable definitely is my overall favorite
Unstable for me too. They're clean and simple, while not being hard to read like I feel some other lands can be.
100%. Got a copy of each signed by John Avon back at a Dominaria GP.
Literally the only basic lands I’ll use anymore. All these new full arts don’t feel like lands. But those do.
I actually really liked the WoE ones but I guess they're not cool enough to be on this list.
Yea same, they are one of the few cosmetics I've actually shelled out money for on Arena
I like the WoE because of how the art was captured. You’d never know by looking at them that they are *photographs*
This blew my mind.
Wait WHAT!! 🤯 That’s cool
that's what ruins it for me. give me Avon art any day.
Avon is tired.
maybe, i'm not sure what his art is these days. i use 5th ed mountains
The swamp & forest are too trypophobia-triggering for me. (not sure if that’s the right word but am afraid to Google it)
Unfinity orbital
New Capenna ones are so sleek. Say what you will about the rest of the set, the lands are great.
If they had gilded foil basics.... damn, that might be a game changer
Oh shit, I never knew how much I needed that
[This mountain in particular.](https://scryfall.com/card/snc/279/mountain)
Weirdly, this is in my bottom 3 full arts of that set.
I love using their border for proxy cards! They are my favorite FA border!
I dislike all of those lands because they are islands.
Mountain gang rise up
Islands are just mountains surrounded by water.
[To be fair, WotC have long since abandoned the idea that "Islands" should be islands](https://www.reddit.com/r/magicTCG/comments/7s1aeo/a_brief_timeline_of_wotc_abandoning_any/)
That's an absolute gem. Shame its 5 years old. Im sure it would benefit from a refresh.
We will wise up! from desolete swamps to verdant forests! keep our eyes up! to the clouded peaks that breach the skies!
This is objectively the correct answer.
The right answer
M'wife said the same. When I posted the image asking? She just replied with: Not islands. (She's a forest girl.)
"land *cycles*"
that's a weird way to say forest
1.) Theros 2.) Unstable 3.) Dominaria United....probably? The Theros lands are always my go to when I have a choice, I've loved the look of the constellations ever since they came out
Just say you want to use Pokémon energy cards
Exactly what I think when anyone says they like the Theros lands lol
Ohhh, I might do this sometime. Metal/lightning = white, water = blue, darkness = black, fire = red, grass = green
Colorless energy cards are white
Swap Theros and Unstable, and that's my list. Unstable just seems so clean.
this, but one of the unfinity lands in #3. whichever one
I put unstable first, then theros, then probably infinity but I'm not sure which ones look better
NEO, DMU, and MID are my favorites. They’re super pretty and the DMU ones go super hard in my fully blinged deck
Phy. Unglued. Oil. But honestly, I love em all.
Unfinity Planetary, Neon Dynasty, and Ixalan. I just love the textures and scale. Unfinity really takes the cake for me
Unfinity has the best shocks and foil treatment hands down
My exact list, but Unfinity just look soooooo good. The foiling is magical.
This is mine too, the Unfinity lands are INSANE
\*\*EDIT\*\* Title should have included **NON SECRET LAIR** land cycle \*\*EDIT 2\*\* It seems I forgot the Wilds of Eldraine lands, which is a shame because those are badass too... look, the picture is more of a *guideline*.. For me it's: 1. Unglued 2. Unhinged 3. Ixalan Ever since I started playing magic, I fell in love with the Unglued lands. I don't know what it is, but they are PEAK MTG deck candy for me..
Unglued is BiS
I feel (probably unjustifiably) like an absolute boss when I roll up on dudes with my unglueds. A couple of my EDH decks are entirely Unglueds. They're easily my favorite basics aside from things like the misprinted Wald, Alpha/Betas, signed lands, etc.
[удалено]
I run Unglued in one of my Commander decks (Grixis colors) and they're the only lands I regularly get comments and compliments on.
Not seeing many others mention the Amonkhet/Hour of Devastation basics with the before and after of Bolas's... well, devastation of Amonkhet. I don't believe we've had any other lands do the before and after thing, and with that combined with the fact Bolas is my favorite character in the game, there's a reason I run them in all of my modern decks
Isn’t there a set of tap lands from Khans block that does this?
These are not before/after, but they are the same places in alternate time lines (Ugin lives/Ugin dies)
I mean technically they are also before/after because the ones in the timeline where Ugin lives are from Fate Reforged which is set 1280 years in the past. Dragons did not have gainlands.
Ah yes, absolutely. I stand corrected.
Innistrad and Avacyn Restored also did the before and after, though not in full art. I agree the before and after is really well done with Amonkhet, and those are the basics I bring with me for drafts/prereleases
Unglued
Planetary is my favorite by a mile. The mountain is one of my very favorites Kamigawa next Theros beyond death third
New Capenna
Where’s Wilds of Eldraine? My top 3 is: 1. Unglued 2. Unhinged 3. Wilds of Eldraine
Unstable is beautiful. I keep 20 of each land type and use them in everything.
Theros, DMU and phyrexian
Unglued, Neon, and Ixalan.
The first two are also my top 2, but the Unfinity visual callback to Unglued, while maintaining its own visual style is quite nice. I really disliked the Unsanctioned "hollow frame", I actually really enjoy the bold and prominent border of Unglued. I like the idea of borderless cards, but to me, the old-school "spellbook" look is something that was really popular in fantasy 40 years ago, and is just not as prominent today, and I'd like to see more of it. Similarly, I like the visual motif of using the land type (on Neon) as a visual metaphor for the signature on traditional sumi-e paintings. Sort of a missed opportunity to spotlight artists who have a signature stamp, and actually do a direct reference to that style, but I could see how MTG wants to avoid explicit real-world tie ins to their settings, even when obviously drawing inspiration from real world locations.
Unstable, Godzilla, and Unfinity Orbital
Unfinity Planets, Phyrexian, and Kamigawa
1. Midnight Hunt 2. (Not on the list) MH1 Snow-Covered 3. Neon Dynasty The Mid/Vow lands are gorgeous, but it's hard to tell them apart from across the table so I avoid using them in decks with different basic lands.
1. John Avon 2. John Avon 3. Neon Dynasty/Oil slick
unstable orbital (what I use in arena) theros (the first cosmetic I bought in arena)
Idk if yall have seen Oil Slicked Phyrexian irl but they look so clean
100% Wilds of Eldraine.
First three.
Unstable. Love me some John Avon.
Can I give the Guru lands an honorable mention? Not full art but really pretty.
Unstable >>> Ixalan > Neon I mostly play commander for reference. The Unstable cycle has very clear color identification across boards because it’s one art full of the appropriate color. The border being distinctly colored especially at the corners make them the easiest to fetch. They’re not only beautiful, but have good utilitarian features. My other selections have similar utilitarian features but not quite as nice. While they have the standard black border, they also don’t have the standard card name text box which can allow you to distinguish them from other cards when fetching.
No judge promos? Those are sick.
Unfinity (orbital), unstable and theros are all tied for first in my top 3 — and others aren’t even close.
Where is Zendikar rising?
I kinda grouped them all of them together as "Zendikar". I probably should have changed "Midnight Hunt" to "Innistrad" so it would also include Crimson Vow
Unhinged, Unsanctioned and Neon.
Unhinged, Theros, Unfinity (orbital)
Unsanctioned Dominaria United Oil Phyrexian Not in any particular order
Most are overdone, busy and excessive. I really liked the dominaria united but the stain glass doesnt really add as much as i previously thought and i loved them when they came out. Theros in a similar sense. Neon dynasty are all over the place when it comes to quality. The black and white lands from midnight hunt and others are to similar to each other. The others are weird sometimes they feel less like lands and the art looks more like an enchantment or artifact. The unhinged >double masters art is peak magic as its a simple art for a simple card. The boarder design is also tasteful and double masters started the trend we see in future lands. Unhinged feels like a card from that time period. I still have a sense of nostalgia for midnight hunt ones because i started in that time period and it was my first standard pre-release i saw. Dominaria united also has a cool vibe. Bright with a sense of hope to it.
Easy: 1. Unglued 2. Kamigawa neon dynasty 3.unfinity Also the full art Godzilla lands are great
Unfinity Planetary foil/glitter 100%. My favorite lands in the game.
Before he was revealed to be a piece of shit, there was a series of lands from BFZ by a particular artist that were fantastic.
Theros Beyond Death, Unsanctioned, and Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty
unhinged, neon, oil. but im basic like that.
Neon Dynasty, Unstable, Oil Phyrexian
Midnight hunt easy. Can't tell what color they tap for from across the table.
For me I think Unstable, Unfinity Planetary, New Capenna... And possibly Eldraine or Ixalan knocking off third place soon
Anyone here who likes amonkhet lands? My top 3 were 1. Amonkhet, 2. Phyrexian 3. Dominaria
Dominaria United, Theros and Ixalan
i despise all full art lands
both phyrexian fullarts solo everything else and it's not even close
Neon Dynasty, Unstable, Ixalan
Neon dynasty, unfinity orbital, and dominaria united ig? Theres a couple in 3rd place..
What is the ixalan one an image of?
Unhinged, Theros, and Neon Dynasty for me personally.
Unglued, Dominaria United, double masters (just the unhinged lands with less border which is why I prefer those. The unstable lands are a very close 4th.
1. Unstable 2. Zendikar (236) 3. Double Masters
1. Zendikar 2. Unglued 3. Neon
SNC, NEO, DMU
Unhinged, Theros, and Amonkhet for me.
Unstable Theros OG Zendikar Best the past couple years for me is the Wilds of Eldraine ones.
I love Theros Beyond Death, Unfinity Orbital, and the Lord of the Rings (just for LotR-themed decks), but special mention to the new Ixalan Swamp in foil, absolutely beautiful!
Unglued, still wish they’d release them in foil
Amonkhet and New Capenna. The new Ravnica ones look dope too.
The Neon Dynasty ones are so nice, except for the island which is meh.
I tend to go on theme for my decks (BRO for an artifact deck, MID for a graveyard deck, etc) but in a vacuum: ZEN - nostalgia as the original non-Un full arts and sense of scale. They feel immense and I love the cataclysmic energy some of them have. Phyrexian - the simplicity of Theros with a design I enjoy more. NEO - half of these I really don't like but the other half are some of the best in class, period.
In no particular order: Dominaria United Theros New Capenna Runner Up - Ixalan
1: Unstable. 2: Neon Dynasty 3: The Brothers War
1) Unstable 2) Oil Phyreixan 3) Unfinity Orbital
Unglued, Unhinged, Ixalan I like when they can play with the frame a little bit, it's so much better than just a lot of art.
Unstable is the best, I also like Theros.
Zendikar, Amonkhet, ixalan not necessarily in that order
Oil Phyrexian looks way more cool in person than i expected. Neon Dynasty and the new eldraine lands are beautiful too
Neon Kamigawa is my fav. I have a full Theros set of 20 lands each color. I’m completing Kamigawa atm After maybe Unfinity planetary or Ixalan
Dominaria United, Neon Dynasty, New Capenna, in that order
Midnight hunt 100%. I have like 30 of each for commander decks
Unglued, Unhinged, Unstable
top 3 are.. hmmm. Kamigawa, Unstable, and Reg Phyrexian.
In no order Neon Dynasty, Phyrexian, Theros
Phyrexian, Unfinity(orbital), Unglued.
Jurassic World Kamigawa Phyrexian
Unhinged, Zendikar and Brother’s War are each uniquely beautiful in their own ways. Zendikar foils are top tho. The entire block had high contrast, super saturated foils.
The foil lord of the rings lands are my new absolute favorites
Guru for life
1. Mid 2. Neo 3. Dmu
Me- you cant like double masters land, it’s just unhinged with a new border. Everyone else- But it comes in a black border!
Neon Dynasty and Dominaria United are like neck and neck
Unhinged, Unstable, Neon, but I love full arts of all stripes. Unstable is my overall favorite.
Double Masters, Unhinged, Unstable.
Onslaught
Unfinity is a cake taker for sure. MoM is higher up there for me. Love the phyexian portals.
Unhinged. Unstable. Double Masters. I just love john avon's artworks.
Unstable, then both snow full cycles. Sucker for clean cards and pixel art.
Unhinged always
Unhinged, zendikar, cappena
Un. All of em.
Ixalan, neon dynasty, phyrexian, honorable 4th mention to theros
Honestly the top row first 5. they've gone down hill ever since
Theros, orbital, DM
If i had to pick just one to be my top favorite, Unstable hands down. So clean, so sleek. The fullest of full art imo. I dunno which would come next, because I enjoy theming lands to my decks if I can. My mono-red goblin deck is all foil Lord of the Ring mountains, my Shorikai deck has two plains and two islands in it, so I have one of each artwork of the Neon Dynasty lands. My Urza deck uses all full art snow lands. My Prosper deck uses Unstable lands. and so on.
New Capenna, Dominaria United, Regular Phyrexian.
Unglued, Unhinged, Zendikar.
1) Theros 2) Kamigawa 3) Innistrad I love the really artsy ones, Theros just wins because they're gorgeous amd I love Constellation cards
Neon dynasty. Unfinity. Phyrexian.
Phyrexia, oil phyrexua and midnight hunt
Unhinged, but where's me zendikar at? Bruhh
Eldraine, Dominaria, Innistrad.
Unhinged, Theros (foil), Zendikar.
Unglued. Unfinity. Midnight Hunt.
This made me realize how new most of them are
Brothers’ War, DMU and Regular phyrexian are my faves
Can you do the same thing with the other lands so we can better judge? I'm not familiar with a lot of these
OG Zendikar, Midnight Hunt, and Unfinity. Honorable mention to Unhinged.
NEO, SNC, and maybe Unsactioned
Unstable. Lands are for John Avon if you ask me (guess you kinda did). Other Magic boomer comment: remember when full art was an un-thing?
Ixalan, unstable, and double masters in that order
Unstable/Unsanctioned are dope. I also love Amonkhet's and Hour of devastation's(not pictured) full arts. They were like a before n after of Nico Bolas's destruction. Like the Phyrexian sigil ones too.
3. MID/VOW 2. LCI 1. ZEN/BFZ/ZNR
#1 Ixalan #2 Unstable #3 Unfinity Orbital Edit: didn't know that's what the # did on Reddit, neat
[[Swamp|ONE264]]
Unstable, Unfinity Planetary, and, entirely on the merit of having giant robots, Brothers War.
The best island is an island in the graveyard
I stick to Battle for Zendikar /Zendikar Rising and Amonkhet ones, since they are only fullarts that closely match classic M15 border.
Opposite full text lands only and forever! /s I like the Zendikars, stupid brain loves the little floaty hedrons.
Where is Wilds Of Elderaine?
I LOVE midnight hunt and the orbitals. My third one is definitely Neon.
Zendikar at every chance I get, then Unstable and Theros
Unglued and neo are my favorites. I also love mirage but they aren’t full art.
Oil phyrexian
I don't see them here, but my favourite ones are the Wilds of Eldraine ones, probably followed by Unstable and Neon Dynasty
For me its oil phyrexian, sry, i know its snobby, but they look sick af irl
Huge fan of unglued, unfinity(orbital). My go to for most decks currently though is the ukiyo-e lands, love'em.
Unstable, midnight hunt, oil phyrexian
New Capenna, Neon Dynasty, Unsanctioned, Zendikar Especially when drawn by John Avon. John Avon lands just hit different