Ferrous LakeHow it works & interactions with other cards

What It Does

Ferrous Lake is a filter land. Unlike basic lands, it cannot produce mana by simply tapping it. Instead, you must pay one generic mana and tap Ferrous Lake to produce two mana: one blue and one red. This allows you to turn colorless mana or mana of another color into the specific combination needed for Izzet (Blue/Red) spells.

How It Resolves

Using Ferrous Lake is a mana ability, which means it doesn't use the stack and cannot be responded to. Step one: announce you are activating the ability. Step two: pay the cost of one generic mana from another source. Step three: tap Ferrous Lake. Once these steps are complete, you immediately add one blue and one red mana to your mana pool.

Common Mistakes

The most frequent error is attempting to tap Ferrous Lake for mana when you have no other mana sources available. Because the ability requires a payment of one mana, Ferrous Lake cannot be your very first mana source of a turn if your mana pool is empty. Additionally, remember that this land does not have the 'Island' or 'Mountain' basic land types, so it cannot be searched for by cards that specify those types.

When to Play It

Ferrous Lake shines in decks with heavy color requirements, such as those running spells with costs like Blue-Blue or Red-Red. It is best played alongside lands that produce colorless mana or in formats where you need to guarantee your access to both Izzet colors by turn two or three.

Interaction examples

Filtering with Command Tower

Command Tower

If you have a Commander with a color identity that includes Green, you can tap Command Tower for one green mana. You then spend that green mana to pay the activation cost of Ferrous Lake. Ferrous Lake taps and provides you with one blue and one red mana, effectively converting your green mana into two different colors.

Strategic Sequencing

Exotic Orchard

Suppose your opponent controls only a Forest. Your Exotic Orchard can only produce green mana. By tapping Exotic Orchard for green and using that mana to activate Ferrous Lake, you gain access to blue and red mana that you otherwise wouldn't have had from your current land set.