Gates: Ramp and Tips on How To Use These Lands in Your Deck!

Even the most inexperienced Magic: The Gathering players have heard about Ravnica guilds at least once. That's not surprising at all, considering two-color combinations are named after these guilds: for instance, Boros , Gruul , Selesnya , and Orzhov .

Each guild has their own land, and they all have the Gate subtype. They usually go in play tapped and can create two different colors of mana (according to the guild identity they're tied to).

Gates are very flexible lands for anyone who wants to correct the mana their deck creates.

In this article, we'll explore these lands and show you a few tips on how to use them in your deck, particularly the five-colored ones!

When Gate lands were released, they revolutionized mana fixing.

At first, we got a cycle with five Guildgates (in Return to Ravnica), and then we got five more in Gatecrash. Ever since then, Guildgates have been reprinted multiple times and even got special illustrations in a few sets, like in Dragon's Maze.

When Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate came along, we got more gates. This time, however, their identities weren't tied to any Ravnica guild.

Keep in mind that the Baldur's Gate set interacts directly with the universe of the same-name digital game, whose is owned by Wizards of the Coast.

If you'd like to use a gate mana base in your deck, you must play Gond Gate.

Besides letting you play your gates untapped, Gond Gate's activated ability creates mana of any color a Gate you control can create.

Another highlight is Baldur's Gate.

If you have the entire Guildgate cycle and this land in play, for instance, you'll be able to create 11 mana of any color you want.

Did you save mana for an answer, but didn't have to use it?

No biggie. With Heap Gate, you'll make any untapped Gates useful by creating Treasures with them.

The Black Gate and Talon Gates of Madara

There are two gates that, so far, are special because they came out in Commander decks and are not that well-known.

Besides creating black mana , this Gate's activated ability prevents the player with most life or tied for most life from blocking a certain creature of yours with their creatures.

This goes to creatures your opponents control that are attacking too.

When Talon Gates of Madara goes in play, it phases out a creature. If you're not familiar with this mechanic, don't worry:

When permanents "phase out", it's like they don't exist anymore. They can't be targeted by spells or abilities, their static abilities don't affect the game anymore, their triggered abilities can't trigger, they can't attack, can't block, and so on and so forth.

If an aura or equipment is attached to a creature that phased out, they leave as well, and return to the board attached to it.

Phased out cards return to the game before their controller's next untapping phase.

Now that you know all of this, you can certainly see why Talon Gates of Madara is such a strong land. But that's not all.

This Gate's ability also lets you pay four mana to put it on your battlefield directly from your hand.

You can use this land as a temporary removal or protection (for you or a creature you control), and it also creates mana!

Interesting Interaction: Field of the Dead

Imagine filling your board with Zombies just because of your Gates.

Field of the Dead is a really interesting land that, in general, is very valuable in decks with two colors or more.

The reason is its passive effect: when this or another land goes in play under your control, if you control seven or more lands with different names, you'll create a 2/2 Zombie token.

This ability triggers whenever a land under your control goes in play. If you put two Gates on your board, for instance, you'll get one token for each one of them.

Even though it's not a Gate, Field of the Dead undeniably interacts really well with these lands, as many of them have different names. The more of them you play, the more likely you are to trigger Field of the Dead's ability. And, of course, any passive effect that fills your board is welcome.

There are many sorceries and creatures that interact with Gates, either by putting these lands into play directly from your deck or drawing them.

A classic example that is very popular in Commander is Nine-Fingers Keene, the legendary creature.

When you deal combat damage to a player with this card, you get to look at the nine top cards on your deck, pick a Gate among them, and put it in play. This effect is great when Gond Gate is in play as well.

You can clearly see that most of the spells above that interact with Gates also get basic lands, and they're all commons or uncommons, so they're easy to find. They might not be as cool as a Cultivate, but they're certainly valuable in decks that use many Gates.

Win Condition: Maze's End

Maze's End is a win condition in any deck that interacts directly with Gates.

This land's activated ability states that you can return it to your hand to look in your deck for a Gate and put it in play. Afterward, if you control ten or more lands with different names, you simply win the game.

Currently, there are many Gates and cards that interact with them, so this win condition is quite easy to meet.

Decks That Use Gates

Here are some decks that use Gates:

Commander

Click here to see more about this list.

Pauper

If you'd like to know more about how Gates work in Pauper, click here.

Gates are interesting, flexible lands that fix the mana your deck creates.

The more colors you use in your deck, the more Gates you can play to possibly win with Maze's End.

In Commander, where matches often last a long time, this is one of the best mana bases for four or five color commanders because then you can build a list without spending so much money on other types of lands.

Some cards we highlighted in this article haven't been reprinted in a while, like Talon Gates of Madara, Gond Gate, and Baldur's Gate, but we're all anxiously waiting for them in the next sets.

Have you ever used a Gate in a deck? Tell us everything about it in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!