LandslideHow it works & interactions with other cards

Understanding the Sacrifice

Landslide requires you to choose a target player or planeswalker when you cast it. However, you do not choose how many Mountains to sacrifice at that time. You only decide which and how many Mountains to sacrifice while the spell is actually resolving. This means your opponent must decide whether to counter the spell before they know exactly how much damage it will deal.

Step-by-Step Resolution

First, you cast Landslide and choose your target. If the spell resolves, you then choose any number of Mountains you control and sacrifice them all at once. The game counts the number of permanents sacrificed this way and immediately deals that much damage to the chosen target. If you choose to sacrifice zero Mountains, the spell still resolves but deals zero damage.

Common Mistakes

A frequent error is trying to sacrifice Mountains as an additional cost to cast the spell. Because the sacrifice happens during resolution, if Landslide is countered, you do not sacrifice any Mountains. Additionally, remember that you can only sacrifice permanents with the 'Mountain' subtype; non-Mountain lands cannot be used to fuel this spell.

Strategic Timing

Landslide is typically used as a 'finisher' because losing your lands makes it difficult to cast more spells in later turns. It is most effective when your opponent is within a specific life total range that matches your available Mountain count. Since it is a sorcery, you must plan your turn carefully to ensure you have enough mana to cast it before sacrificing your source of mana.

Interaction examples

Basic Damage Output

If you control five Mountains and cast Landslide targeting your opponent, you can choose to sacrifice all five during resolution to deal 5 damage directly to them.

Cycling for Value

Faithless Looting

If you have excess Mountains and Landslide in hand but your opponent's health is too high, you might choose to use Faithless Looting to draw into more threats and discard Landslide instead of sacrificing your board for non-lethal damage.

Clearing Artifacts First

Vandalblast

Before committing your lands to a Landslide, you might cast Vandalblast to destroy an opponent's Ensnaring Bridge or other utility artifacts. Once the path is clear or their defenses are down, you can then cast Landslide to sacrifice your Mountains for the win.