Barkchannel Pathway // Tidechannel Pathway is one of those cards players keep asking about. Here is, in plain words, what its official text says, the rulings published by Wizards of the Coast, and the combos players actually run.
Official card text
: Add
.
.
Complete guide
Barkchannel Pathway and its reverse side, Tidechannel Pathway, represent one of the most versatile land cycles in Magic: The Gathering. As a modal double-faced card, it offers you the choice between two different colors of mana, ensuring you always have the right resource at the right time. Unlike traditional dual lands, your choice is permanent once the land hits the battlefield.
Choosing Your Path
When you play this card, you choose which face to play: Barkchannel Pathway for Green mana or Tidechannel Pathway for Blue mana. You do not cast this card; you simply play it as your land for the turn. Once it is on the battlefield, it stays on the side you chose. You cannot switch between faces while it is in play.
Understanding Modal Double-Faced Cards
In your hand, library, or graveyard, only the front face (Barkchannel Pathway) exists for most rules checks. However, if an effect allows you to play a land from your graveyard or the top of your library, you can still choose to play either side. If an effect puts a land directly onto the battlefield without you 'playing' it, it must enter as the front face, Barkchannel Pathway.
Common Mistakes
A frequent error is trying to 'transform' the Pathway. Modal double-faced cards (MDFCs) cannot transform; ignore any instruction to do so. Additionally, remember that while this card provides Green or Blue mana, it does not have the basic land types 'Forest' or 'Island.' You cannot search for it with effects that specifically look for those types.
When to Play It
These lands are best played when you need to fix your mana colors early in the game without the drawback of a land entering tapped. Because it enters untapped, it provides immediate utility. In Commander, its color identity is both Green and Blue, regardless of which side you intend to play.
Interaction examples
Command TowerIf your Commander is Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait (Green and Blue), you can include Barkchannel Pathway in your deck. Because the card contains both Green and Blue mana symbols across its two faces, Command Tower will be able to produce either color if this land is part of your commander's identity.
Exotic OrchardIf your opponent controls Tidechannel Pathway (the Blue side), your Exotic Orchard can tap for Blue mana. Even though the card is technically a double-faced card, Exotic Orchard only looks at what the land currently on the battlefield can produce.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : Barkchannel Pathway // Tidechannel Pathway
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
There is a single triangle icon in the top left corner of the front face. There is a double triangle icon in the top left corner of the back face.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #2· Wizards of the Coast
To determine whether it is legal to play a modal double-faced card, consider only the characteristics of the face you’re playing and ignore the other face’s characteristics.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #3· Wizards of the Coast
If an effect allows you to play a specific modal double-faced card, you may cast it as a spell or play it as a land, as determined by which face you choose to play. If an effect allows you to cast (rather than “play”) a specific modal double-faced card, you can’t play it as a land.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #4· Wizards of the Coast
If an effect allows you to play a land or cast a spell from among a group of cards, you may play or cast a modal double-faced card with any face that fits the criteria of that effect.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #5· Wizards of the Coast
The mana value of a modal double-faced card is based on the characteristics of the face that’s being considered. On the stack and battlefield, consider whichever face is up. In all other zones, consider only the front face. This is different than how the mana value of a transforming double-faced card is determined.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #6· Wizards of the Coast
A modal double-faced card can’t be transformed or be put onto the battlefield transformed. Ignore any instruction to transform a modal double-faced card or to put one onto the battlefield transformed.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #7· Wizards of the Coast
If an effect puts a double-faced card onto the battlefield, it enters with its front face up. If that front face can’t be put onto the battlefield, it doesn’t enter the battlefield.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #8· Wizards of the Coast
If an effect instructs a player to choose a card name, the name of either face may be chosen. If that effect or a linked ability refers to a spell with the chosen name being cast and/or a land with the chosen name being played, it considers only the chosen name, not the other face’s name.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #9· Wizards of the Coast
In the Commander variant, a double-faced card’s color identity is determined by the mana costs and mana symbols in the rules text of both faces combined. If either face has a color indicator or basic land type, those are also considered.
No other card is named in this ruling.
Legal formats
Commentaires
- Sois le premier à commenter cette carte.
Read next
Meta decks with Barkchannel Pathway // Tidechannel Pathway
No archived Top 8 deck with this card yet.