| Cave | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Land Type | |
| (Subtype for land cards) | |
| Statistics |
20 cards
as of Modern Horizons 3 30%  5%  5%  15%  15%  10%  20% |
| Scryfall Search | |
| type:"Cave" | |
Cave is a nonbasic land type used for cards that depict deep caves and caverns. It was introduced in The Lost Caverns of Ixalan.[1]
Description[ | ]
Much like Deserts, Caves are utility lands. They don't have a unique mechanical identity but can be referenced by other cards. To differentiate from Deserts, the cards that refer to it scale up rather than use a binary; the fact that a portion of these lands is put in a large set land slot rather than a common in a small set changes the math slightly.
The Lost Caverns of Ixalan featured a cycle of common Caves that exist in the land slot. These Caves enable descending and represent a spell in the late game.
| Cycle name | 
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|
|
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caves | Hidden Courtyard | Hidden Cataract | Hidden Necropolis | Hidden Volcano | Hidden Nursery |
| Five common nonbasic Cave lands that enter tapped. Each land can sacrifice itself to discover 4. | |||||
Other Caves in the set are:
- Captivating Cave
- Cavernous Maw
- Echoing Deeps
- Forgotten Monument
- Geode Grotto (Transformed)
- Mycoid Maze (Transformed)
- Pit of Offerings
- Promising Vein
- Shadow's Lair (Transformed)
- Sunken Citadel
- Tecutlan, the Searing Rift (Transformed Legendary)
- The Tomb of Aclazotz (Transformed Legendary)
- Volatile Fault
Modern Horizons 3 and MH3 Commander added:
- Urza's Cave
- Sunken Palace
- Planar Nexus (every non-basic land type)
Caring about Caves[ | ]
Several cards from The Lost Caverns of Ixalan interact with Caves. Many also refer to them in the graveyard as well, given the graveyard theming of the set.
Trivia[ | ]
- Cave once was a proposed basic land type that would have been associated with Purple.[2][3]
- There are currently no plans to errata older cards that are flavored as caves (e.g. Bloodfell Caves, Gemstone Caverns, Cave of Temptation, Caves of Koilos, Cavern of Souls)[4][5]
References[ | ]
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (October 24, 2023). "Given the set name, why caves and not caverns?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (July 31, 2014). "What would the basic land for purple be?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (March 8, 2021). "27 Things You Might Have Not Known About Time Spiral Block". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (October 24, 2023). "Will any lands be getting errata to make them retroactively caves?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (October 29, 2023). "Why is Cavern of Souls not a cave?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
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