Welcome to the largest undertaking I have ever attempted on Hive. My name is 
Credit:TuesdayTastic
For simple explanation purposes the following chart will be used:
White Mana Symbol = W
Blue Mana Symbol = U
Black Mana Symbol = B
Red Mana Symbol = R
Green Mana Symbol = G
Mana of any Color = (number)
Let's dig in!
Lands. Other than in a VERY few situations, you can't build a deck without them. They are the cards that produce the resources you need to cast spells. Without them, in 99.999% of all games, you will lose. You shouldn't even consider building a deck unless you have lands in them. The following, in alphabetical order, are the lands from Alpha.
Card Name: Badlands
Types: Land — Swamp Mountain
Card Text:(Tap: Add Black or Red.) (Tap: Add B or R)
Expansion: Alpha
Rarity: Rare
Artist: Rob Alexander
This is what is considered, by every Magic player, a "dual-land". When you use this, you have a choice of two different types of mana to produce. For this card, that is either B or R. Being able to produce multiple types of mana, or at least a choice, is invaluable if you are using these colors of spells in your deck.
Current price: 2499.99 USD in Heavily Played condition.
Card Name: Bayou
Types: Land — Swamp Forest
Card Text:(Tap: Add Black or Green.)(Tap: Add B or G)
Expansion: Alpha
Rarity: Rare
Artist: Jesper Myrfors
The Bayou is the B/G dual. It can be tapped to produce either black or green mana. Another very useful iteration of land if the deck you have built uses either of these colors.
Current price: 2499.97 for a damaged copy, 4111.11 for Heavily Played.
Card Name: Forest (A)
Types: Basic Land — Forest
Card Text:(Tap: Add Green.)(Tap: Add G)
Expansion: Alpha
Rarity: Basic Land (Common in the Alpha printing)
Artist: Christopher Rush
Ah yes, the first actual basic land in this post. So the basic land is a necessity for any deck. It produces mana that is used to cast spells. This is a forest, and therefore adds green mana upon "tapping". If you have a green spells in your deck, you have forests in your deck. A brief word about tapping: Tapping is the action you take to show that you are using the resources of the card. In this case, you would turn the card sideways and add G to your mana pool.
Current Price: 10.00 damaged or 13.00 heavily played.
Card Name: Forest (B)
Types: Basic Land — Forest
Card Text:(Tap: Add Green.)(Tap: Add G)
Expansion: Alpha
Rarity: Basic Land (Common in the Alpha printing)
Artist: Christopher Rush
Just another version of the basic forest. This one is slightly more sought after by collectors/players due to its aesthetic value. I have to agree, it is more visually appealing.
Current Price: 12.50 damaged or 15.09 heavily played.
Card Name: Island(A)
Types: Basic Land -- Island
Card Text: (Tap: Add Blue.)(Tap: Add U)
Expansion: Alpha
Rarity: Basic Land (Common in Alpha)
Artist: Mark Poole
This is the basic Island, and and icon when it comes to basic land. It operates in the exact same fashion as any other basic land, but adds blue (U). Since the dawn of the game, when you are sitting across from a player and they have 2 of these untapped, you are always leery about casting your next spell. I am that guy. People hate blue players. Blue is one of my go-to colors.
Current price: 20.25 damaged or 25.50 heavily played. Near mint, this card will fetch over 100 USD. People hate blue.
Card Name: Island(B)
Types: Basic Land -- Island
Card Text: (Tap: Add Blue.)(Tap: Add U)
Expansion: Alpha
Rarity: Basic Land (Common in Alpha)
Artist: Mark Poole
Again, this is just another version of the same Island. It does everything that the other one does, but this one is more sought after. It is also the basic that I prefer. If you are playing blue, you are using these.
Current Price: 23.50 damaged and 28.57 heavily played. Again, over 100 USD in pack fresh mint condition.
Card Name: Mountain (A)
Types: Basic Land -- Mountain
Card Text: (Tap: Add Red.)(Tap: Add R)
Expansion: Alpha
Rarity: Basic Land (Common in Alpha)
Artist: Douglas Shuler
Mountain is the basic land that produces red mana. Primarily found in mono-red decks (decks that only use red spells), and devastating, fast, and bloodthirsty. You need these, and most red decks will run fewer as the casting cost of their spells is significantly lower. Usually. Another juggernaut when it comes to recognizability.
Current price: 19.00 damaged, 18.74 heavily played. DEAL OF THE CENTURY! /s
Card Name: Mountain (B)
Types: Basic Land -- Mountain
Card Text: (Tap: Add Red.)(Tap: Add R)
Expansion: Alpha
Rarity: Basic Land (Common in Alpha)
Artist: Douglas Shuler
Just another version of the mountain. I didn't realize how difficult it would be to come up with a unique comment for every basic land.
Current Price: 9.99 damaged, 19.00 heavily played. Nice spread.
Card Name: Plains (A)
Types: Basic Land -- Plains
Card Text: (Tap: Add white.)(Tap: Add W)
Expansion: Alpha
Rarity: Basic Land (Common in Alpha)
Artist: Jesper Myrfors
Players that prefer white spells will use Plains. White can be just as fast, but far more annoying than red. Plains tap for one white mana. Just like all the rest of the basic lands, they are a necessity for your deck if you are using white.
Current Price: 11.50 damaged, 13.50 heavily played.
Card Name: Plains (B)
Types: Basic Land -- Plains
Card Text: (Tap: Add white.)(Tap: Add W)
Expansion: Alpha
Rarity: Basic Land (Common in Alpha)
Artist: Jesper Myrfors
Again, just another version of Plains from the Alpha set. Basic lands, including this one, are printed in nearly every set. God, I hope I have the strength to do this.
Current Price: 9.45 damaged, 13.50 heavily played.
Card Name: Plateau
Types: Land — Mountain Plains
Card Text: (Tap: Add Red or White.)
Expansion: Alpha
Rarity: Rare
Artist: Drew Tucker
Seems as though we have come back around to another dual land, this time the Plateau. This functions exactly like the other dual lands, as you can tap it to add either color the land produces to your mana pool. I cannot express enough how efficient it is to be able to produce the color of mana you need when you need it. The dual lands allow you that luxury. Also, big fan of Drew Tucker's art.
Current Price: 2795.00 USD moderately played.
Card Name: Savannah
Types: Land — Plains Forest
Card Text: (Tap: Add Green or White.)
Expansion: Alpha
Rarity: Rare
Artist: Rob Alexander
Another dual, this time the Savannah. It produces W or G, and is functionally similar to the other dual lands. And still pricy as hell.
Current Price: 2000 USD damaged. Honorable mention, 2200 USD Lightly Played, and if this sale is legit, not a bad deal.
Card Name: Scrubland
Types: Land — Plains Swamp
Card Text: (Tap: Add Black or White.)
Expansion: Alpha
Rarity: Rare
Artist: Jesper Myrfors
The B/W version of the dual, the Scrubland. If you play Magic, you know how potent these things are. I am running out of steam talking about lands.
Current Price: 1995 USD damaged. Heavily played is over 500 bucks more at 2599 USD.
Card Name: Swamp (A)
Types: Basic Land -- Swamp
Card Text: (Tap: Add Black.)(Tap: Add B)
Expansion: Alpha
Rarity: Basic Land (Common in Alpha)
Artist: Dan Frazier
The last of the cycle of basic lands is the Swamp. Just like the rest of the basic lands, this produces the mana you need to cast your spells, in this case Black. As you have no doubt figured out by this point, there are 5 color, and therefor 5 basic lands in Magic. This is the color that would have most likely gotten Magic banned back in the 90's. Thankfully, it did not.
Current Price: 20.60 damages, 26.10 heavily played.
Card Name: Swamp (b)
Types: Basic Land -- Swamp
Card Text: (Tap: Add Black.)(Tap: Add B)
Expansion: Alpha
Rarity: Basic Land (Common in Alpha)
Artist: Dan Frazier
The other version of the Swamp basic land. I actually prefer the look of the other one.
Current Price: 21.75 damaged, 23.00 heavily played.
Card Name: Taiga
Types: Land — Forest Mountain
Card Text: (Tap: Add Green or Red.)
Expansion: Alpha
Rarity: Rare
Artist: Rob Alexander
Taiga is the R/G iteration of the dual land. This card can make for some explosive and dangerous plays, as both red and green can ramp out of control very quickly.
Current Price: 2555.55 damaged or 2999 heavily played.
Card Name: Tropical Island
Types: Land — Forest Island
Card Text: (Tap: Add Green or Blue.)
Expansion: Alpha
Rarity: Rare
Artist: Mark Poole
So, in Magic, there is a color pie. Back when the game was conceived, each of the individual colors did things the other could not, and there were always two opposing colors. Tropical Island is the U/G version of the dual land, and blue and green are enemy colors. When played together, they can be very dangerous. The tropical island works in the same way the other duals do; it gives you a choice of resources.
Current Price: 3200 in heavily played condition.
Card Name: Tundra
Types: Land — Plains Island
Card Text: (Tap: Add White or Blue.)
Expansion: Alpha
Rarity: Rare
Artist: Jesper Myrfors
The Tundra is not a vehicle made by Toyota, but rather the Blue/White version of the dual land. A popular choice for many control players. Just like the other dual lands, it provides one of two colors.
Current Price: 3000 USD in heavily played condition.
Card Name: Underground Sea
Types: Land — Swamp Island
Card Text: (Tap: Add Black or Blue.)
Expansion: Alpha
Rarity: Rare
Artist: Rob Alexander
Last, but certainly not least in the dual land cycle is the foreboding Underground Sea. This is undoubtedly the most sought after Alpha dual land, because it is used in a far more variety of deck archetypes than any other land. And the price reflects that. Substantially so.
Current Price: 4995 USD of a damaged version of this card. 5 grand for a damaged piece of cardboard. Not gonna lie...if money were no option, I would snag a playset of these.
So, in the printing of this initial, Alpha set, one color combination was not printed in the dual land cycle. See if you can figure out which one it was and leave a comment below!
Thanks for reading. Next up in the archive: Artifacts!
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