My take on this proposal is around how the land rarity distribution was explained by Matt earlier on. My understanding is with or without the the Land Potions, the size of the land pie is the same, so the Land Potion essentially becomes a land tax and divides the community into the haves and have nots. If you can afford or willing to pay for the Land Potion, you have a higher chance of getting a better plot, if not, you diminish your chances.

If the purpose is to just burn DEC earlier, why not just phase the the surveying of land into tranches?

1st Tranche (Land Survey available immediately upon implementation) - 50k DEC per plot which can be use for buildings on that plot in the future. No limit to number of plots in tranche.

2nd Tranche (Land Survey available 1-2 weeks upon implementation) - 20k DEC per plot which can be use for buildings on that plot in the future. No limit to number of plots in tranche.

Last Tranche (Land Survey available 3-4 weeks upon implementation) - No cost.

This way, all plots are equal and it's just a matter of losing a month's worth of production if you do not have DEC upfront. This also has the benefit of getting DEC locked up much earlier then waiting for Land Potions to be usable.