Image courtesy of Scryfall.com
Forsaken Crossroads: Performance by Deck Archetype Explored
In the fog of multicolor mana woes, Forsaken Crossroads stands out as a lane that doesn’t demand a price of mana itself. This Mystery Booster 2 entry is a land that enters tapped and invites you to pick a color the moment it hits the battlefield. Then, on the very next moment, you see the future a little clearer with a scry 1, and you may untap it if you weren’t the starting player. That combination of flexibility and information makes it a peculiar hero for players building around color-fix and color-splitting needs 🧙♂️🔥. Its ability to tap for any color once you pay the price of the ETB and scry is not just a gimmick; it’s a practical tool for five-color ambitions in Historic and other non-Commander formats where it’s legal and foil-ready—an artifact of thoughtful land design that leans into the agenda of mana resilience and board clarity ⚔️💎.
From a design perspective, this land rewards planning. It enters tapped, which is a small tempo tax, but the choice of color upon entry gives you a glimpse into your upcoming draws and lines up with midgame or late-game spell commitments. The Scry keyword is a nod to the long tradition of giving players agency at the moment-of-play, rather than simply dumping a colorless fixer onto the board. This makes Forsaken Crossroads a natural fit for decks that want to push through multi-colored spells—think five-color ramp, midrange control shells, or synergy-heavy multicolor lists in Historic and Brawl formats 🧙♂️🎲.
“A land that feels like a crossroads in a story—where the path splits, but your draw steps get a little more predictable.”
Archetype analysis: where Forsaken Crossroads shines
Five-color mana bases and ramp shells benefit most from a reliable fixer that doesn’t demand a specific color of mana in advance. Forsaken Crossroads is the kind of piece that helps you stabilize while you search for the right lands and spells to color your future. In a world where Historic decks often weave together a patchwork of fixes, scry synergy, and conditional untapping, this land delivers both information and utility. Its untap condition adds an interesting twist: if you aren’t the starting player, you may reset the land and use it again. That subtle interaction enables more aggressive early-game tempo in formats where you’re allowed to recast mana sources in quick succession 🧙♂️⚡.
Control and midrange configurations also find value here. You’re often staring down a field of multi-colored threats and permanent answers; Forsaken Crossroads smooths color access while hoarding a small advantage in the form of a scry. In a deck that leans on long games and a careful turn-by-turn plan, having a flexible mana base that can produce any color becomes a form of inevitability—enabling you to keep up with threat density and respawn a suite of answers, rather than being locked into one color identity 🔥🎨.
There’s an undercurrent of collector appeal too. As an uncommon foil from Mystery Booster 2, it sits at a sweet spot for budget-conscious players who want a touch of nostalgia and a splash of color-fix without breaking the bank. Foil copies carry a premium—data suggests a strong foil market at around $32.30 USD—while nonfoil values aren’t listed here, the foil cap reflects the card’s enduring appeal in certain formats and stacks nicely with its ability to fix mana across five colors. For players chasing both playability and collectability, Forsaken Crossroads offers a durable claim to a deck’s mana architecture 🧙♂️💎.
Practical deck-building notes
- Plan color paths in advance. Since you pick the color when it ETBs, map your likely color requirements for the next few turns and keep a rough mental ledger of what colors you’ll need to cast your spells.
- Use scry to sculpt draws. The scry 1 is a quality-of-life upgrade—set up your next draw to hit a key land, a ramp spell, or an answer.
- Pair with fetches or cycling options. In formats where fetch lands or cycling spells exist, Forsaken Crossroads can slot into a bigger plan to hit five colors or stabilize after a disruption.
- Avoid opponent detours on untap timing. If you weren’t the starting player, you may untap it—this can be leveraged to tempo-reopen your mana flow in a critical moment, especially in Historic matchups 🧙♂️.
- Mind the legality. Commander-players should note it isn’t legal in that commander context, but Historic, Gladiator, and Brawl players can still reap the color-fixing rewards. It’s a keeper for niche multicolor builds that want a flexible backbone without overcommitting to a single color curve ⚔️.
Art and flavor also connect with the idea of crossing choices. The piece by Kasia “Kafis” Zielińska conjures the moment a traveler stands at a fork in time—the kind of decision that alters draw steps and mana pools in subtle, strategic ways. The card’s lore-friendly naming pairs with its practical gameplay, inviting players to imagine where a road might lead—perhaps toward a five-color dream or a compact, tightly tuned two-color strategy that still needs a splash of the unexpected 🎨.
For builders who enjoy a blend of nostalgia and practical function, Forsaken Crossroads delivers a small, reliable edge. It’s not a slam-dunk slam dunk fix like a fetchland or dual land, but it’s a flexible lane with a local champion’s heart—one that rewards thoughtful sequencing and a willingness to lean into the chaos of five colors with a tactful, scried glance 🧙♂️🔥.
Community and network reading
Curious about related ideas and other takes on design, probability, and color balance in MTG? The following links offer varied perspectives, from motion-pattern analysis to color-balance metrics and practical probability guides. They’re a nice complement to thinking about how a card like Forsaken Crossroads can slot into a deck’s broader strategy.
More from our network
- https://transparent-paper.shop/blog/post/motion-patterns-reveal-hidden-binaries-in-a-31000-k-star/
- https://blog.rusty-articles.xyz/blog/post/chameleon-blur-design-chaos-and-what-it-reveals-about-mtg-players/
- https://blog.digital-vault.xyz/blog/post/reddened-hot-giant-at-38-kpc-constraining-the-galactic-potential/
- https://blog.digital-vault.xyz/blog/post/restrain-trigger-odds-a-practical-mtg-probability-guide/
- https://blog.digital-vault.xyz/blog/post/color-balance-metrics-for-joiner-adept-in-un-sets/