Secluded CourtyardHow it works & interactions with other cards

Choosing Your Path

As Secluded Courtyard enters the battlefield, you must choose a creature type. This is not an activated or triggered ability; it happens as part of the land entering, meaning your opponents cannot respond to the choice once the land has resolved. The choice lasts as long as the card remains on the battlefield, though if it somehow enters without a choice being made, its second ability will produce mana that cannot be spent on anything.

Mana for Spells and Abilities

The land offers two distinct mana abilities. The first is a simple tap for one colorless mana. The second allows you to add one mana of any color, but with strict spending restrictions. You may only use this colored mana to cast creature spells of the chosen type or to activate abilities where the source is a creature of that chosen type. This includes abilities of creature cards in zones other than the battlefield, such as cycling or activated abilities that function in the graveyard, provided the source has the chosen type.

Strategic Timing

Play Secluded Courtyard early to fix your mana for your deck's primary creature type. Unlike many other mana-fixing lands, it enters the battlefield untapped, allowing you to use it immediately. It is particularly effective in multicolored decks where you need specific colors for creatures but don't want to rely on lands that enter tapped or deal damage to you.

Interaction examples

Fixing Your Colors

Command Tower

If you are playing a Commander deck and have both lands out, Command Tower provides any color in your Commander's identity without restriction. However, if you need a second source of a specific color for a creature spell, Secluded Courtyard acts as a perfect backup. If your Commander is a Human and you chose 'Human' for the Courtyard, both lands can now tap for any color needed to cast your Commander.

Adapting to Opponents

Exotic Orchard

Suppose you are facing an opponent who controls only Forests, making your Exotic Orchard only able to produce green mana. By playing Secluded Courtyard and naming 'Elf', you can produce the blue or white mana you might need for specific Elf creatures in your hand, bypassing the color limitations imposed by your opponent's board state.