Magic: The Gathering’s upcoming set, Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, is bringing back a cycle of rare Legendary land cards.
With one card representing each of the game’s colors, there are five in total, and each makes use of the re-introduction of the “Channel” mechanic that was originally introduced in Saviors of Kamigawa in 2005.
Channel as a mechanic allows players to pay a certain amount of mana and discard the Legendary land card to produce a desired effect. What makes the Channel abilities on these Legendary lands especially unique is that their cost is reduced by one generic mana for each Legendary creature a player controls.
Because of the flexibility many of these lands present, some of them will likely find their way into constructed formats. Players will likely find them highly useful in situations where drawing a land would otherwise be suboptimal.
Here are all five Legendary lands coming to MTG in Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty.
Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
Eiganjo might be the White Legendary land, but it’s the only one that does damage. For three mana, its Channel ability will deal four damage to an attacking or blocking creature.
In decks that use Legendary creatures, this ability will prove to be extremely powerful. It will allow players access to a White kill spell for just one or two mana.
Otawara, Ethereal City
The Blue Legendary land can also be used as a bounce spell for any number of permanents. For four mana, its Channel ability can return an artifact, creature, planeswalker, or enchantment to its owner’s hand.
Four mana is a relatively high cost for a bounce spell, but if you have Legendary creatures, it becomes a more sensible play. Additionally, the ability to return such a wide array of non-land permanents to their owner’s hand makes it easy for you to out-tempo your opponent or protect a permanent of your own that an opponent has targeted with a removal spell.
Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
Takenuma is a card that players who enjoy graveyard play will want to potentially incorporate into their decks. With a Channel ability that allows players to mill themselves and return a creature or planeswalker to their hand, it’ll be useful in Jund decks that want to grind out games.
Similar to Otawara, the downside to Takenuma is the cost of its Channel ability. Costing four mana, you may want to try to use it in decks that have at least a few copies of a Legendary creature so that you can pay the Channel ability at a reduced cost.
Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
Sokenzan will be a strong addition to aggressive decks that don’t want to be flooded with lands. For four mana, you’ll be able to create two 1/1 Spirit tokens with Haste via the card’s Channel ability.
Four mana might seem like a high cost for a pair of 1/1 tokens, but it will likely only be used in hyper-aggressive Red decks. In such decks, being flooded with lands is almost always a surefire loss, so having this type of aggressive utility may very well be the difference between a win and a loss.
Boseiju, Who Endures
With a cost of only two mana, Boseiju is the cheapest to Channel of all the Legendary lands—and it’s well worth playing in any Green deck.
It can be Channeled to destroy an artifact, enchantment, or nonbasic land, but in return, your opponent can search for a land card with a basic land type and put it onto the battlefield. While you typically don’t want to give your opponent a land advantage, it’s likely a debt you’ll be willing to pay to take out a highly powerful artifact, enchantment, or land with a special activated ability.
