MTG Check Lands Explained: Rules, List & Uses
Check lands are one of the most budget-friendly dual land cycles ever printed, and one of the most misunderstood. Their condition for entering untapped is not about which cards you control — it's about basic land types, a distinction that trips up newer players constantly.
This guide covers exactly how the condition works, the complete cycle of ten, and how they compare to the other tapped dual land cycles in Commander.
What Are Check Lands?
Check lands are a ten-card cycle of dual lands: five allied-colour pairs from Magic 2010, completed with five enemy-colour pairs from Innistrad. The rules text reads: "[Land] enters the battlefield tapped unless you control a [Type] or a [Type]."
For example, Glacial Fortress enters tapped unless you control a Plains or an Island. If you do, it enters untapped and taps for white or blue.
The Detail Most Players Get Wrong: It Checks Land Types, Not Card Names
This is the single most important thing to understand about check lands. The condition is not "do you control a card named Plains" — it's "do you control a land with the Plains subtype." Those are different questions, and the second one is much easier to satisfy:
- Basic lands obviously count — a Plains is a Plains.
- Shock lands count. Hallowed Fountain has both the Plains and Island subtypes, so it satisfies a check land that wants either one.
- Triome lands count, since they carry three basic land subtypes at once — one Triome can satisfy several different check lands in the same deck.
- Original dual lands and surveil lands count too, for the same reason — anything with the matching subtype works, regardless of the card's actual name.
This is exactly why check lands pair so well with the rest of a typed mana base: the more fetchable, typed duals you run, the more consistently your check lands enter untapped.
The Complete List of 10 Check Lands
| Land | Colours | Guild | Original Set |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glacial Fortress | W/U | Azorius | Magic 2010 |
| Drowned Catacomb | U/B | Dimir | Magic 2010 |
| Rootbound Crag | R/G | Gruul | Magic 2010 |
| Sunpetal Grove | G/W | Selesnya | Magic 2010 |
| Dragonskull Summit | B/R | Rakdos | Magic 2010 |
| Isolated Chapel | W/B | Orzhov | Innistrad |
| Sulfur Falls | U/R | Izzet | Innistrad |
| Woodland Cemetery | B/G | Golgari | Innistrad |
| Clifftop Retreat | R/W | Boros | Innistrad |
| Hinterland Harbor | G/U | Simic | Innistrad |
This cycle isn't currently in our catalogue in depth, but every colour pair it covers is well served by our shock lands and surveil lands, which — as explained above — are exactly the kind of typed land that makes a check land reliable in the first place.
Check Lands vs Shock Lands vs Fetch Lands
- vs Shock Lands: Shock lands guarantee untapped entry for a one-time 2 life, every single time. Check lands are free but conditional — they only guarantee untapped entry once your mana base is already established.
- vs Fetch Lands: Check lands have no basic land subtypes of their own, so fetch lands cannot search for them directly. They rely on other typed lands already being on the battlefield rather than being fetched into play themselves.
- Best used together: A mana base with shock lands, Triomes, and surveil lands gives your check lands plenty of basic types to check for — the cycles reinforce each other rather than competing.
Are Check Lands Good in Commander?
They are strongest in two-colour decks with a reasonable number of basic lands, where the condition is easy to satisfy from turn one or two onward. They get noticeably worse in three-or-more-colour decks, where you may not have the right basic type down yet when you need the check land to work.
Their biggest appeal is price — check lands are among the most heavily reprinted dual lands in Magic, which keeps proxy and paper costs low for what is still a genuinely useful budget fixer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do check lands check for card names or land types?
Land types. A check land cares whether you control a permanent with the matching basic land subtype — Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, or Forest — not whether you control a card that happens to be named one of those basics.
Does a shock land satisfy a check land's condition?
Yes. Any land with the matching basic land subtype satisfies the condition, including shock lands, Triomes, original dual lands, and surveil lands — as long as they carry that specific subtype.
What's the difference between check lands and slow lands?
Check lands enter untapped if you control a matching basic land type. Slow lands, from Innistrad: Midnight Hunt and Crimson Vow, use a completely different condition — they enter untapped if you control two or more other lands of any kind, with no type requirement at all.
Are check lands better in two-colour or three-colour decks?
Two-colour decks get the most consistent value, since satisfying one of two basic types is easier with a simpler mana base. Three-colour decks can still benefit, but the condition becomes less reliable the more colours compete for your early basic lands.
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