Lotus Field is absolutely terrifying. It also happens to be my favorite card. Leveraging three mana on tap and boasting Hexproof, this land can be rather difficult to deal with. Combine it with untap effects, and you generate a disgusting amount of resources. Despite its uses, the card only functions because it is Hexproof. If someone could blow up your Lotus Field, they would get three lands for the price of one. This shows just how powerful Hexproof can be on a land. Valgavoth’s Lair introduces yet another Hexproof land to the world of MTG.
This is no Lotus Field, but Valgavoth’s Lair should give some much-needed fixing to Standard and Commander decks everywhere. Standard, in particular, is in serious need of it.
Valgavoth’s Lair
- Rarity: Rare
- Card Type: Enchantment Land
- MTG Sets: Duskmourn
- Card Text: Hexproof, Valgavoth’s Lair enters tapped. As it enters, choose a color. (tap): Add one mana of the chosen color.
Valgavoth’s Lair provides some much-needed fixing to Standard, but it actually does a lot more than that. This is an Enchantment Land, which is incredibly relevant for a bunch of different reasons.
For Standard, we have a ton of enchantment support coming in Duskmourn. The Eerie mechanic is dedicated to enchantments entering play alone. Valgavoth’s Lair will become one of the premier ways to trigger that mechanic in Standard once released. So, if there’s an Eerie ability strong enough to see Standard play, Valgavoth’s Lair will become pretty popular.
In Commander, plenty of decks care about the number of enchantments in play. Sythis, Harvest’s Hand won’t draw a card off Valgavoth’s Lair, but plenty of cards in that deck will care about it. Eidolon of Blossoms is an example of this.
There are also plenty of other cards that care about the number of enchantments you control. Sphere of Safety is a powerful pillow fort piece that becomes even stronger with the number of enchantments you control. Destiny Spinner can make creatures and enchantment spells uncounterable, and Valgavoth’s Lair can help make its activated ability a bit more efficient.
If a reanimator deck becomes Standard legal, Valgavoth’s Lair and Lich-Knight’s Conquest create some scary synergies. Conversely, Valgavoth’s Lair can be sacrificed to Bargain costs.
As cool as Hexproof is on Valgavoth’s Lair, the enchantment portion of the card seems stronger. Hexproof is relevant, however, to prevent the card from being blown up from lands like Wasteland and Field of Ruin. Players may need to watch for things that board wipe enchantments, as those will kill Valgavoth’s Lair.
No Land Cycle?
Valgavoth’s Lair appearance suggests that Duskmourn may lack a rare land cycle. While this has yet to be confirmed, the chances of this being the case aren’t unlikely. We saw a Fabled Passage reprint in Bloomburrow instead of a land cycle, and Valgavoth’s Lair looks similar.
While there may not be a rare land cycle, there is an interesting common dual land cycle. The condition for these lands entering untapped is particularly unique. You can check them out here.
Despite Valgavoth’s Lair entering tapped, our bet is that the card is going to be expensive. Besides being good fixing for the Standard format, Valgavoth’s Lair being an enchantment is incredibly unique and powerful. Expect a decent amount of demand for this card upon the release of Duskmourn.
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