Dual lands have been with the game since its inception and we are probably most familiar with the first dual lands, like Tundra and Taiga, which still have a tremendous impact on Extended and are a staple of Vintage or Type 1. Realizing that these dual lands were too powerful, offering far more than a basic land with no apparent drawback, Wizards R&D did two things. One, they began to develop spells like Blood Moon from the Dark and Primal Order from Homelands which punished players for using non-basic lands. Two, they went back to the drawing boards and attempted to make a balanced dual land.

For years, now, Wizards has been trying to create that balanced dual land. Some have been close to perfection, primarily the so-called painlands from Ice Age like Adarkar Wastes and Sulfurous Springs that produce allied colors. Others have been a bit further off the mark, like the opposing color painlands like Salt Flats and the allied color depletion lands like Mogg Hollows from Tempest. So how do these new dual lands measure up?

They only produce allied colors, but they seem to do it well. They have one major drawback, aside from the fact that they are non-basic lands and are subject to hosers like Price of Progress, which prevent them from being strictly superior to basic lands. They come into play tapped. Their primary drawback only has an effect on the game when they come into play. After that turn, they look, feel, and work just like the old-school dual lands. After the turn that its played, that Salt Marsh might as well be an Underground Sea. How do they stack up compared to other newer dual lands? They are superior to the opposing color painlands from Tempest like Scablands. Not only does Scablands come into play tapped, but it causes a point of damage when its tapped for colored mana. This, of course, makes sense, as it should be more difficult for a land to produce opposing colors than allied colors. Then how does Elfhame Palace compare to Brushlands, from Ice Age? Both lands can produce a Green and a White. Elfhame Palace comes into play tapped, while Brushland comes into play untapped but deals a point of damage when tapped for Green or White mana. They seem to be on the same playing field, each having advantages and disadvantages. In an aggressive Green/White beatdown deck that has a tight mana curve and doesn't really care how much damage it deals to itself, Brushland seems superior. In a more defensive or controlling Green/White deck that doesn't have to tap out each turn to cast beasties, Elfhame Palace seems superior. In reality, though, they'll both probably end up in either deck.

Any land on par with Brushland will certainly see play in constructed. And what effect will these new dual lands that come into play tapped (or "taplands", for short) have on the Standard format? It's hard to tell for sure, but it will most likely promote multicolor decks, specifically those decks containing two allied colors. Between the Ice Age painlands, which were reprinted in the basic set (6th Edition), and these new taplands from Invasion, any decks containing two allied colors will have a solid mana base. With the departure of Urza's block from Standard, decks and deck archetypes will be in flux for some time to come. Expect to see a new crop of two color decks rise up to take advantage of these dual lands. Blue/White and Blue/Black control, Red/Green and Red/Black beatdown decks, and maybe even a return to Green/White decks of old, featuring big creatures and Armageddons.

Aside from their constructed use, the new taplands will also be a welcome addition to Limited. In Sealed Deck, players are often forced to play three colors and having a dual land in the card mix will certainly help solidify the mana base. There is nothing worse than losing because you can't draw the right color mana and one of these lands can make a small but significant difference to the chances that you draw the colors that you need. Similarly, most participants in Booster Draft and Rochester Draft end up with two-color decks. If you happen to be playing with two allied colors and the appropriate land shows up, chances are you can pick it up pretty late and it'll make a perfect addition to your draft deck. Sure, its no Two-Headed Dragon, but consistency is almost as important as power in Limited environments.

We'll have to wait and see what else Invasion brings before we can be certain of what impact the new dual lands like Urborg Volcano and Shivan Oasis will have on the tournament scene. It should be noted, however, that in addition to these new lands, there are a number of new tournament viable gold cards in Invasion that require allied colors in the casting cost. You'll hear about them as soon as I learn more, but there appears to be some grand Wizards R&D plan unfolding to make multicolor decks more viable. Will their diabolical plot come to fruition or will the one rogue member of R&D who slipped Rishadan Port into Mercadian Masques foil their master plan? Only time will tell.

Up next: Zvi Mowshowitz tackles Teferi's Response.