Can Sundering Titan destroy wastes?

Can Sundering Titan Destroy Wastes?

When Sundering Titan enters the battlefield, it’s exciting to think about the vast amount of destruction it can bring. As a planeswalker, we often associate destructive cards with powerful, game-ending spells. But what if I told you that not all lands are created equal when it comes to Sundering Titan? In this article, we’ll delve into the specifics of which lands can and cannot be destroyed by Sundering Titan’s ability.

A Primer on Sundering Titan’s Ability

Before we dive into the details, let’s take a brief look at Sundering Titan’s ability:

"When Sundering Titan enters or leaves the battlefield, choose one basic land type. That land type gets destroyed for as long as it would take another permanent to produce the mana if it had to pay its mana cost. Then, it regains its previous state, not having been destroyed." (Sundering Titan’s ability text)

Now, the ability’s wording seems straightforward enough – choose a basic land type, destroy all that type, and then let them come back. So, can Sundering Titan destroy Wastes? We’ll explore the answer together!

Wastes are not Basic Lands

At the heart of the problem is the definition of Basic Land Types in the Magic: The Gathering glossary:

"Each card with a mana symbol requires one basic land type for its mana cost."

Notably, Wastes don’t have a basic land type specified in their text. Since Basic Land Types only include Plains, Islands, Swamps, and Mountains, Wastes aren’t part of the same pool. As a result, Sundering Titan can’t target Wastes specifically.

But That Doesn’t Mean You’re Helpless!

BUT WAIT! While Wastes themselves are off the table, other non-basic lands, like fetchlands, can still fall under Sundering Titan’s destructive gaze! With Sundering Titan, you might consider playing more non-basics in your land-base to exploit this edge.

Land Destroyability by Sundering Titan (Table)

For the sake of clarity, here’s a table that illustrates which lands can or can’t be destroyed by Sundering Titan:

Here’s the summary:
✗ denotes that a specific land type can not be destroyed by Sundering Titan’s ability.

The Takeaways:

• Sundering Titan can destroy non-basic lands (except for Wastes), including Fetchlands.
• Sundering Titan cannot destroy Wastes as they don’t possess a Basic Land Type.
• To reap the benefits of Sundering Titan’s destruction, it’s essential to play with a mix of non-basic lands in your deck!

What do you think, are you going to alter your land strategy to fit this new information? How about you?