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by Jonathan Evans
Urza's Universe Hello, allow me to introduce myself. Urza's the name, rules are my game. How did I get stuck with this, you ask? Well, when I got the editor position here at Beyond Dominia, it came with a chance to contribute. And when I asked for ideas, rules always came up. So here I am, the resident rules guru. I'm also the guy behind the letters column, which is where I'll directly answer your rules questions every issue. For this first column, I couldn't decide which part of the rules I wanted to write about. I knew I wanted it to be something about creature abilities, but I just couldn't make up my mind. Then it hit me: Landwalk. It's an incredible power that I'm sure everyone has at least 2 cards dealing with. It's an excellent ability, at the very least in sideboards, that is a basic part of many creature decks. It includes the various types, such as islandwalk, mountainwalk, and the other ones for each of the other three basic land types. There is also, of course, Desert Nomads, with desertwalk, but that really doesn't apply much anymore. The premise of landwalking is very simple: If the opponent you attack with the landwalking creature has a land of that type in play, then they cannot block it, and the damage goes straight through. That isn't to say that it is direct damage, however. Although the creature cannot be blocked, all spells and effects that apply to attacking creatures still work. For instance, if you and your opponent are playing green, and you attack with a Shanodin Dryads (1/1 with forestwalk), a quick sandstorm (an instant that deals one damage to all attacking creatures) by your enemy will get rid of it. One thing I must point out here, though, is that the cards, which makes a target unblocked creature become blocked, cannot be used, as that does exactly what landwalk protects the creature against. There are also some cards that put an interesting twist on landwalking. Erhnam Djinn, a 4/5 green creature with a lower casting cost than normal, makes you choose any non-wall creature an opponent controls to give forestwalk. For tips, let's start with that Erhnam Djinn example. Without some way of stopping it, the creature who now has forestwalk could be deadly. One solution is to destroy one of your forests, if it is the only one of yours in play, using any land destruction card. Unfortunately, there aren't many choices for this if you are playing green, as well as it being highly impractical. To protect yourself, I'd suggest a Staff of the Ages in your deck if you want to protect yourself against landwalking. It is an Ice Age Artifact which negates all landwalking cards, allowing them to be blocked normally. Of course, this wouldn't be very helpful if you have landwalking cards yourself. Last but not least of the blocking suggestions is the all-powerful Magical Hack, a blue rare available in the basic set. It is an interrupt that allows you to change all occurrences of one basic land type in a card's text to another. For example, if my opponent had Shanodin Dryads out, I could change it from "Forestwalk" to "Islandwalk", suiting my needs. This card is also very useful in offensive landwalking. Being able to change the land that is can walk on enables you to have a distinct and powerful advantage. It's very handy with some cards that I will explain now. One such card is Lord of Atlantis. It's a 2/2 blue creature that gives all Merfolk +1/+1 and islandwalk. Use a Magical Hack on it to change, say, islandwalk to mountainwalk, and you've got a force to attack your opponent, playing red. If you have enough Merfolk out, you can have an army that will severely damage the enemy. That combo also works for Goblin King and an army of Goblins, as with the other cards that work in the same way. I chose to mention the Lord of Atlantis because the army can be created with a pure blue deck. Also, if you are planning on dueling with an opponent using a deck with the same color(s) as you, consider adding one or more of the landwalk enchantments, such as Fishliver Oil or Burrowing. Blue and red, respectively, they (also respectively) give Islandwalk and Mountainwalk. If anything, they can be used with Magical Hack. As you can see, you have many possibilities for playing with or against landwalking creatures. It's a very powerful section of the game, especially when put in sideboards. I hope this article has cleared some things up about the ability, and given some useful tips. This is Urza, signing off. If you have any rules questions, or comments, send them to me at z***u@m***i.com. I'll pick out a rules question to answer for the next issue!
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