Unlike a few past Universes Beyond sets, it seems like every nook and cranny of the MTG Avatar release has interesting cards to find. Not only does the main set host multiple powerful gems taking over the entirety of competitive Magic, but even Avatar’s Jumpstart set has a bunch of hidden gems to power up all kinds of Commanders.
One MTG Avatar Jumpstart card, in particular, is gaining a lot of traction at the moment. Thanks to this video from DeckedOutEDH, players are just now finding out about Tectonic Split’s devastating potential in Commander.
Tectonic Split MTG
Tectonic Split offers players an extremely powerful ability at a hefty cost. In addition to paying six mana for this enchantment, having to sacrifice half of your lands is one hell of a burden. If you can pop off with it, though, that cost is more than worthwhile. On top of this value upside, this enchantment comes with Hexproof, so once you resolve Tectonic Split, getting rid of it is difficult.
While many ramp decks are naturally equipped to take advantage of Tectonic Split, there are certainly a few strategies that can push Tectonic Split to the extreme. The biggest of which are decks that care about sacrificing their lands.
Hearthhull, The Worldseed helmed an entire preconstructed Commander deck with this theme and, needless to say, is extremely powerful when combined with Tectonic Split. If Hearthhull is fully Stationed, Tectonic Split’s cast trigger will massively damage the table. Since this deck cares about sacrificing lands anyway, you also have a bunch of cards that can recur all the lands you lost, like Will of the Sultai, Summon: Titan, Lumra, Bellow of the Woods, and Splendid Reclamation. This not only completely reverses the downside of Tectonic Split, but effectively triples the amount of mana you can use.
Tectonic Split’s detrimental sacrifice trigger can also be turned into a boon alongside some other Commanders that care about sacrificing lands. Korvold, Fae-Cursed King and The Gitrog Monster, for example, will turn your sacrificed lands into card draw. Alternatively, Yuma, Proud Protector and Titania, Protector of Argoth can turn your sacrificed lands into an unassailable army of creature tokens.
While this clearly creates a sub-niche for Tectonic Split, if you can’t get value off of the sacrifice trigger that Tectonic Split forces upon its caster, it remains a very risky play, even with Hexproof attached. Fortunately, there are some ways to get around the cast trigger altogether.
Ignoring the Cast Trigger
It’s rare for a Commander deck to have a Stifle theme attached, but for the unique few who want to build a deck around this, Tectonic Split loses all of its downsides. So long as you can counter a triggered ability consistently, Tectonic Split just becomes a massive mana generator with built-in protection.
Of all the available Commanders for this extreme niche, Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath is the one that fits the bill the best. This Commander already wants effects like Stifle and Consign to Memory to counter the detrimental entry trigger that kills Uro off, and they double as a way to counter Tectonic Split’s casting trigger. Since Uro is also a typical Simic Ramp commander, the amount of mana Split can make is ridiculous.
Zooming out a bit, Tectonic Split is also an effective card in decks that can get the enchantment into play without casting it. There are a whole bunch of different ways you can do this, but the easiest among them is including Tectonic Split in an enchantress-focused deck with a bunch of Replenish effects. Since you’re just putting the card into play from your graveyard, you’re never casting Tectonic Split in the first place. In a similar vein, Anikthea, Hand of Erebos can exile Tectonic Split from your graveyard and make a copy of it.
Following this idea, there are a surprising number of Commanders that can get Tectonic Split into play without casting it. Kona, Rescue Beastie, for example, can cheat the permanent into play on your second main phase, getting around the cast trigger entirely. Zimone, Mystery Unraveler is capable of flipping the card face-up if it enters play via a Manifest Dread-style effect.
Surprisingly Cheap
Honestly, the upside of Tectonic Split is so high that players will likely adapt the card into their decks, even if they can’t properly deal with the triggered ability. Even if you sacrifice half your lands, tripling your mana means that you’ll always be ahead, in theory, at least. This makes Tectonic Split a very powerful and unorthodox way to generate tons of mana out of nowhere.
Better yet, Tectonic Split won’t break your bank, either. The card has dropped in price steeply since preview season, available now for just $3. It’s not exactly a budget option at this price point, but should easily create enough value to justify the purchase, especially if you have additional synergy with it. So long as you have a reason to try Tectonic Split, there’s nothing really stopping you from doing it.
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