Price of Progress 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
Price of Progress deals damage to each player equal to twice the number of nonbasic lands that player controls.
Complete guide
Price of Progress is a powerful red instant that punishes players for over-relying on complex mana bases. In a format full of nonbasic lands, this two-mana spell can often deal more damage than a high-cost finisher. It serves as a check against greedy deckbuilding by turning utility lands and duals into liabilities.
Scaling Damage
When Price of Progress resolves, it checks the battlefield for every land that does not have the 'Basic' supertype. For each such land a player controls, the spell deals 2 damage to that player. Because Price of Progress does not target players, it bypasses hexproof or shroud on your opponents, hitting everyone at the table simultaneously, including yourself if you control nonbasic lands.
Resolving the Spell
The number of nonbasic lands is counted only as the spell resolves. If a player loses or gains lands while the spell is on the stack, the final damage tally will reflect the state of the board at the moment of resolution. The damage is dealt as a single event to each player, meaning effects that prevent damage or interact with damage instances apply to the total sum per player.
What Counts as Nonbasic?
A land is nonbasic if it lacks the 'Basic' supertype. Common examples include dual lands, fetch lands, and utility lands. Even if a land has basic land types (like Forest or Island), it is still considered nonbasic if the word 'Basic' is absent from its type line. Since Price of Progress checks the current type of permanents, any effect changing a land's type must be active before resolution to affect the damage calculation.
Interaction examples
Chaos WarpIf you cast Price of Progress while an opponent has five nonbasic lands, they might respond with Chaos Warp. If they target one of their own nonbasic lands and the revealed card is a Basic Mountain, the land is shuffled away. When Price of Progress eventually resolves, it will only see four nonbasic lands, dealing 8 damage instead of 10.
Deflecting SwatIf an opponent attempts to use Deflecting Swat to protect themselves from Price of Progress, they will find it ineffective. Price of Progress does not use the word 'target' in its Oracle text; it simply affects 'each player.' Since there are no targets for Deflecting Swat to change, the spell's effect remains exactly the same and will still deal damage to all players as normal.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : Price of Progress
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
No additional ruling has been published for this card.
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Meta decks with Price of Progress
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