Sand Silos 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
This land enters tapped. You may choose not to untap this land during your untap step. At the beginning of your upkeep, if this land is tapped, put a storage counter on it., Remove any number of storage counters from this land: Add
for each storage counter removed this way.
Complete guide
Sand Silos is a classic storage land that trades immediate mana for long-term power. By remaining tapped across multiple turns, it gathers storage counters that can eventually be converted into a massive influx of blue mana.
Accumulating Storage
Sand Silos enters the battlefield tapped. During your untap step, you have the choice to leave it tapped. If you do, and it remains tapped at the start of your upkeep, its triggered ability adds a storage counter. This allows you to bank resources over several turns rather than using them immediately.
Step-by-Step Resolution
The upkeep trigger is a 'conditional intervening if' clause. First, the game checks if the land is tapped as the upkeep begins; if it is untapped, the ability never triggers. Second, the ability checks again upon resolution. If an effect untaps Sand Silos while the trigger is on the stack, you will not receive a storage counter.
Converting Counters to Mana
To generate mana, you activate the mana ability by tapping Sand Silos and choosing any number of storage counters to remove. You receive one blue mana for every counter removed. Note that if the land is already tapped (perhaps from a previous turn's upkeep cycle), you can still activate this ability by removing counters, as tapping is part of the cost.
Common Pitfalls
It is important to remember that being tapped by an external effect does not remove counters. Additionally, if Sand Silos loses its abilities or changes types, the counters remain on the permanent but cannot be used until it regains its mana ability. Finally, the land must be tapped at the start of the upkeep to gain a counter; you cannot tap it in response to the trigger to satisfy the condition.
Interaction examples
On Turn 1, you play Sand Silos tapped. On Turn 2, you choose not to untap it. During your Turn 2 upkeep, the land is tapped, so the trigger puts a storage counter on it. You can repeat this over multiple turns to build a large reserve of blue mana for a high-cost spell.
Command TowerIf your commander is blue, you can play Command Tower for immediate blue mana while Sand Silos stays tapped to accumulate counters. This ensures you aren't falling behind on tempo while your storage land prepares for a later payoff.
Exotic OrchardIf an opponent controls Sand Silos, your Exotic Orchard can tap for blue mana only if Sand Silos could currently produce blue mana (meaning it must have at least one storage counter and be able to be tapped). If the opponent's Silos has zero counters, it cannot produce mana, and your Orchard cannot copy that color from it.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : Sand Silos
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
It is only considered “tapped for mana” if you activate its mana ability and generate mana from it.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #2· Wizards of the Coast
If the land is tapped by some external effect, no counters are removed from it.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #3· Wizards of the Coast
Counters are not lost if the land is changed to another land type. They wait around for the land to change back.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #4· Wizards of the Coast
Whether or not it is tapped is checked at the beginning of upkeep. If it is not tapped, the ability does not trigger. It also checks during resolution and you only get a counter if it is still tapped then.
No other card is named in this ruling.
Legal formats
Commentaires
- Sois le premier à commenter cette carte.
Read next
Meta decks with Sand Silos
No archived Top 8 deck with this card yet.