MTG Islandwalk and Landwalk Explained: How It Works, Which Decks It Beats, Every Landwalk Card and a $73 Wrexial Deck (2026)
Islandwalk is a Magic: The Gathering evasion ability: a creature with islandwalk can’t be blocked as long as the defending player controls an Island. It is one member of the landwalk family (swampwalk, forestwalk, mountainwalk, plainswalk, plus rarer forms such as nonbasic landwalk and desertwalk). Every landwalk works the same way: if the player you attack controls a land of the named type, nothing they control can block the creature.
We pulled every landwalk card from Scryfall, every deck count from EDHREC, and the colour identity of all 1,555 public Commander decks on KrakenTheMeta, then asked one question: how often is a landwalk creature actually unblockable? The answer turns on a fact few guides mention. All 43 Commander-legal lands with the Island type have blue in their colour identity, so islandwalk works only against blue decks, unless something changes land types. 51.6% of our Commander decks are blue, which means an islandwalker is unblockable against about half the table, and 88.7% of four-player pods have at least one blue opponent to swing at.
There are 132 cards with a landwalk ability (130 of them legal in Commander) and 75 more that grant, stop or care about it. 67 of the 132 were printed in the 1990s and not one new landwalk card was printed from 2015 to 2020. This guide covers the rules word for word, the rulings that matter, which decks each landwalk works against, every type counted, the most-played landwalk cards and commanders, the land-type changers that switch it on against everyone, the hosers, legality in every format, and a $73.14 budget Wrexial, the Risen Deep deck that walks through both Islands and Swamps.
What is islandwalk in MTG?
The Comprehensive Rules (effective 25 September 2026) put every landwalk ability under rule 702.14:
702.14a Landwalk is a generic term that appears within an object’s rules text as “[type]walk,” where [type] is usually a land type, but it can also be the card type land plus any combination of land types, card types, and/or supertypes.
702.14b Landwalk is an evasion ability.
702.14c A creature with landwalk can’t be blocked as long as the defending player controls at least one land with the specified land type (as in “islandwalk”), with the specified type or supertype (as in “artifact landwalk”), without the specified type or supertype (as in “nonbasic landwalk”), or with both the specified type or supertype and the specified subtype (as in “snow swampwalk”).
702.14d Landwalk abilities don’t “cancel” one another.
702.14e Multiple instances of the same kind of landwalk on the same creature are redundant.
So islandwalk reads: “This creature can’t be blocked as long as defending player controls an Island.” It costs nothing, needs no activation and never runs out. When the defender has no Island, it does nothing at all and the creature can be blocked as normal.
The word that does the work is Island as a land type, not a card name. The Stormtide Leviathan ruling says it directly: “Islandwalk cares about lands with the land type Island, not necessarily lands named Island.” A basic Island counts. So does a Watery Grave (Land — Island Swamp), a Tropical Island, a Snow-Covered Island, or any land an effect has turned into an Island. A Command Tower, a Dimir Aqueduct or a Darkslick Shores does not, even though they tap for blue. The Sheoldred, Whispering One ruling makes the same point for swampwalk: Graven Cairns “is neither a Swamp nor a Mountain, while Blood Crypt is both.”
How landwalk works: timing and rulings
It is checked only when blockers are declared
Landwalk is a blocking restriction, and rule 509.1b says restrictions are checked as the defending player declares blockers: “If an attacking creature gains or loses an evasion ability after a legal block has been declared, it doesn’t affect that block.” Two consequences follow. If the defender destroys or bounces their own Island before blockers, they can block normally. If your creature is already blocked, making a land an Island afterwards (say with Shimmering Mirage) does not unblock it. Change land types before the declare blockers step.
Only the defending player’s lands count
Your own Islands are irrelevant. In Commander, each creature attacks one player (or their planeswalker or battle), and rule 802.2a says “defending player” means the player that creature is attacking. An islandwalker attacking the mono-red player can be blocked by that player even if the other two opponents are blue. Landwalk is a reason to choose who you attack.
Multiple landwalks stack; the same one twice does not
Wrexial, the Risen Deep has “Islandwalk, swampwalk”: it is unblockable if the defender controls an Island or a Swamp. Different evasion abilities are cumulative (rule 509.1b), so a creature with islandwalk and flying is unblockable by anything against a player with an Island. Two instances of islandwalk on the same creature do nothing extra (702.14e).
Your landwalk does not cancel theirs
Rule 702.14d: if you control an Island and attack with an islandwalker into an opponent who also controls an islandwalker and an Island, their creature still can’t block yours. Landwalk only restricts blocks, and their islandwalk only matters when they attack you.
“Can be blocked as though it didn’t have islandwalk”
The 1994 Legends hosers (Undertow, Quagmire, Deadfall, Crevasse, Great Wall) and the legendary creatures Gosta Dirk, Ur-Drago and Lord Magnus switch off one or two landwalk types for everyone. The creature keeps the ability; it just stops restricting blocks while the hoser is out.
Which decks does each landwalk work against?
This is the question that decides whether a landwalk card is good, and it has a cleaner answer in Commander than in any other format. We checked every Commander-legal land carrying each basic land type. Every single one has the matching colour in its colour identity: 43 of 43 Islands are blue, 42 of 42 Swamps are black, and so on. A deck can’t run a land with a mana symbol outside its commander’s colours, so no non-blue Commander deck can run an Island-typed land by itself.
That turns “does the defender control an Island?” into “is the defender blue?”, with two exceptions covered below: land-type changers and lands that haven’t hit the table yet. Here is how often each colour shows up among the 1,555 public Commander decks on KrakenTheMeta, and the chance that at least one of your three opponents in a four-player game plays it:
| Landwalk type | Cards with it | Cards that grant it | Commander-legal lands with that type | KTM Commander decks in that colour | At least one of three opponents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Islandwalk | 34 | 11 | 43 (all blue) | 51.6% | 88.7% |
| Swampwalk | 42 | 13 | 42 (all black) | 50.9% | 88.1% |
| Forestwalk | 29 | 17 | 42 (all green) | 46.0% | 84.3% |
| Mountainwalk | 17 | 10 | 42 (all red) | 46.4% | 84.6% |
| Plainswalk | 4 | 1 | 41 (all white) | 48.0% | 85.9% |
| Other (nonbasic, legendary, desert, artifact, snow) | 6 | — | — | — | — |
Three things stand out. First, every basic landwalk works against roughly half of the decks you face, and against at least one opponent in about 84–89% of pods. Islandwalk and swampwalk are slightly better than the rest because blue and black are the two most common colours in our sample (51.6% and 50.9%). Second, a creature with two landwalks is much better than one: Wrexial’s islandwalk-plus-swampwalk works against 72.4% of decks and against at least one opponent in 97.9% of pods. Third, plainswalk barely exists: only four cards have it.
Two caveats. Colour identity tells you a deck can run Islands, not that one is on the battlefield; a blue deck in Commander almost always has basic Islands or Island duals, but on turn three it may not. And our decks are a sample of KrakenTheMeta’s community, which skews toward AI-built and budget lists.
Turning landwalk on against everyone: land-type changers
The exception to “islandwalk only beats blue decks” is a family of cards that change land types. Some hit one land (Spreading Seas, Sea’s Claim, Evil Presence), some hit every land on the battlefield (Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth; Stormtide Leviathan; Blanket of Night). The global ones turn a landwalk creature into a flat-out unblockable one. Here they are, ranked by how many EDHREC decks play them:
| Card | Cost | Changes | Turns on | EDHREC decks | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth | — | Every land on the battlefield | Swampwalk vs everyone | 901,307 | $55.66 |
| Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth | — | Every land on the battlefield | Forestwalk vs everyone | 887,045 | $16.65 |
| Blood Moon | {2}{R} | Every nonbasic land (they lose their other types) | Mountainwalk vs any nonbasic | 106,143 | $6.68 |
| Stormtide Leviathan | {5}{U}{U}{U} | Every land on the battlefield | Islandwalk vs everyone | 57,555 | $1.64 |
| Magus of the Moon | {2}{R} | Every nonbasic land | Mountainwalk vs any nonbasic | 48,826 | $3.58 |
| Harbinger of the Seas | {1}{U}{U} | Every nonbasic land | Islandwalk vs any nonbasic | 42,456 | $1.91 |
| Xolatoyac, the Smiling Flood | {4}{G}{U} | One land per trigger (flood counter) | Islandwalk vs that player | 28,174 | $1.25 |
| Aquitect's Will | {U} | One target land (flood counter) | Islandwalk vs that player | 21,395 | $0.35 |
| Spreading Seas | {1}{U} | One target land | Islandwalk vs that player | 8,996 | $0.28 |
| Quicksilver Fountain | {3} | One land per player, every upkeep | Islandwalk, spreading | 6,841 | $3.65 |
| Shimmering Mirage | {1}{U} | One land, until end of turn | Any one landwalk, this turn | 6,463 | $0.23 |
| Zombie Trailblazer | {B}{B}{B} | One land, until end of turn | Swampwalk, this turn | 5,612 | $0.90 |
| Blanket of Night | {1}{B}{B} | Every land on the battlefield | Swampwalk vs everyone | 3,957 | $1.31 |
| Contaminated Ground | {1}{B} | One target land (+2 life loss per tap) | Swampwalk vs that player | 2,701 | $0.16 |
| Sea's Claim | {U} | One target land | Islandwalk vs that player | 1,792 | $0.22 |
| Evil Presence | {B} | One target land | Swampwalk vs that player | 1,574 | $0.15 |
The top of that table is not a landwalk table at all. Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth sits in 901,307 EDHREC decks and Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth in 887,045, about 8.8% and 8.6% of all decks, played for mana fixing. That has a side effect few players think about: when an opponent plays Urborg, every land at the table becomes a Swamp, including yours, and every swampwalker in the game becomes unblockable. With 8.8% inclusion, at least one of three opponents has Urborg in their deck in about 24% of pods.
The other direction matters too. Dryad of the Ilysian Grove (362,325 decks) and Prismatic Omen (47,672) make their controller’s lands every basic land type. A player running either of them can’t block any creature with a basic landwalk (islandwalk, swampwalk, forestwalk, mountainwalk or plainswalk) for as long as it stays on the battlefield. If you are on a landwalk deck, the green ramp player with Dryad is your target.
Blood Moon and Harbinger can switch landwalk off
Blood Moon, Magus of the Moon and Harbinger of the Seas replace types rather than add them. Rule 305.7: a land whose subtype is set to a basic land type “no longer has its old land type.” Under Blood Moon, a Watery Grave stops being an Island and a Swamp and becomes only a Mountain. A blue player whose only Islands are shocklands and original duals is suddenly safe from islandwalk, while mountainwalk works against every nonbasic land on the table. Harbinger does the reverse: every nonbasic becomes an Island, and nothing else. Basic lands are untouched by all three.
Every landwalk type, counted
Swampwalk is the most common landwalk (42 cards with it, 13 that grant it), then islandwalk (34 and 11), forestwalk (29 and 17), mountainwalk (17 and 10) and plainswalk (4 and 1). Six cards use rarer forms:
- Nonbasic landwalk: Dryad Sophisticate, and Trailblazer’s Boots grants it. Against Commander mana bases this is the strongest landwalk in the game: almost every Commander deck runs a nonbasic land, from Command Tower up.
- Legendary landwalk: Livonya Silone and Ayumi, the Last Visitor. Works against any legendary land (Urborg, Yavimaya, Boseiju, Otawara and the rest).
- Desertwalk: Desert Nomads and Hazezon, Shaper of Sand. Narrow outside Desert decks.
- Snow landwalk: Zombie Musher. Snow swampwalk and snow forestwalk also exist (rule 702.14c’s example uses a snow Forest).
- Artifact landwalk: Vectis Gloves grants it. Works against Seat of the Synod, the bridges and other artifact lands.
Magnigoth Treefolk has a domain version: for each basic land type among lands you control, it has landwalk of that type. With all five basic land types among your lands, it has all five.
The most-played landwalk cards in Commander
These are the 15 cards with landwalk printed on them that appear in the most Commander decks on EDHREC:
| Card | Colour | Cost | P/T | Landwalk | First set | EDHREC decks | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sheoldred, Whispering One | Black | {5}{B}{B} | 6/6 | Swampwalk | New Phyrexia (2011) | 192,652 | $20.66 |
| Chatterfang, Squirrel General | Green | {2}{G} | 3/3 | Forestwalk | Modern Horizons 2 (2021) | 120,246 | $9.83 |
| Cold-Eyed Selkie | Green/Blue | {1}{G/U}{G/U} | 1/1 | Islandwalk | Eventide (2008) | 77,483 | $0.24 |
| Stormtide Leviathan | Blue | {5}{U}{U}{U} | 8/8 | Islandwalk | Magic 2011 (2010) | 57,555 | $0.47 |
| Stonybrook Banneret | Blue | {1}{U} | 1/1 | Islandwalk | Morningtide (2008) | 53,815 | $0.28 |
| Filth | Black | {3}{B} | 2/2 | Swampwalk | Judgment (2002) | 34,327 | $4.70 |
| Inkwell Leviathan | Blue | {7}{U}{U} | 7/11 | Islandwalk | Conflux (2009) | 31,577 | $0.52 |
| Street Wraith | Black | {3}{B}{B} | 3/4 | Swampwalk | Future Sight (2007) | 29,184 | $0.19 |
| Wrexial, the Risen Deep | Black/Blue | {3}{U}{U}{B} | 5/8 | Islandwalk, swampwalk | Worldwake (2010) | 28,760 | $1.56 |
| Thada Adel, Acquisitor | Blue | {1}{U}{U} | 2/2 | Islandwalk | Worldwake (2010) | 26,662 | $10.60 |
| Dwarven Grunt | Red | {R} | 1/1 | Mountainwalk | Odyssey (2001) | 16,711 | $0.23 |
| Adrestia | Colourless | {3} | 4/3 | Islandwalk | Assassin's Creed (2024) | 15,677 | $0.42 |
| The Flood of Mars | Blue | {2}{U}{U} | 3/3 | Islandwalk | Doctor Who (2023) | 15,205 | $0.37 |
| Merrow Harbinger | Blue | {3}{U} | 2/3 | Islandwalk | Lorwyn (2007) | 13,958 | $2.81 |
| Jedit Ojanen of Efrava | Green | {3}{G}{G}{G} | 5/5 | Forestwalk | Planar Chaos (2007) | 12,801 | $1.03 |
Like most old keywords, landwalk is rarely why a card gets played. Sheoldred, Whispering One (192,652 decks) is a reanimation engine and edict that happens to have swampwalk. Chatterfang, Squirrel General (120,246) is a token doubler with forestwalk on top. Cold-Eyed Selkie (77,483) is where islandwalk does the real work: a three-mana 1/1 that draws a card for every point of damage it deals, and islandwalk is how it connects.
Cards that give landwalk: lords, Equipment and Auras
The single most-played landwalk card is not a creature with the keyword. It is Trailblazer’s Boots, in 208,763 EDHREC decks, a two-mana Equipment that gives nonbasic landwalk. Most of the rest are tribal lords, several of them from Alpha (1993): Zombie Master, Elvish Champion, Goblin King, Master of the Pearl Trident and Lord of Atlantis each give their tribe the matching landwalk.
| Card | Cost | Type | What it gives | EDHREC decks | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trailblazer's Boots | {2} | Artifact — Equipment | Equipped creature has nonbasic landwalk. | 208,763 | $1.06 |
| Zombie Master | {1}{B}{B} | Creature — Zombie | Other Zombie creatures have swampwalk. | 61,315 | $0.45 |
| Elvish Champion | {1}{G}{G} | Creature — Elf | Other Elf creatures get +1/+1 and have forestwalk. | 53,280 | $13.29 |
| Goblin King | {1}{R}{R} | Creature — Goblin | Other Goblins get +1/+1 and have mountainwalk. | 49,407 | $3.21 |
| Master of the Pearl Trident | {U}{U} | Creature — Merfolk | Other Merfolk creatures you control get +1/+1 and have islandwalk. | 47,543 | $0.65 |
| Filth | {3}{B} | Creature — Incarnation | Swampwalk | 34,327 | $4.70 |
| Lord of Atlantis | {U}{U} | Creature — Merfolk | Other Merfolk get +1/+1 and have islandwalk. | 31,992 | $5.76 |
| Lord Windgrace | {2}{B}{R}{G} | Legendary Planeswalker — Windgrace | −11: Destroy up to six target nonland permanents, then create six 2/2 green Cat Warrior creature tokens with forestwalk. | 14,961 | — |
| Eladamri, Lord of Leaves | {G}{G} | Legendary Creature — Elf Warrior | Other Elf creatures have forestwalk. | 14,372 | $80.17 |
| Cairn Wanderer | {4}{B} | Creature — Shapeshifter | The same is true for fear, first strike, double strike, deathtouch, haste, landwalk, lifelink, protection, reach, trample, shroud, and vigilance. | 9,334 | $0.35 |
| Zombie Trailblazer | {B}{B}{B} | Creature — Zombie Scout | Tap an untapped Zombie you control: Target creature gains swampwalk until end of turn. | 5,612 | $0.90 |
| Traveler's Cloak | {2}{U} | Enchantment — Aura | Enchanted creature has landwalk of the chosen type. | 5,254 | $0.16 |
Note Chasm Skulker is not on this table even though it sits in 198,705 decks: it makes 1/1 Squid tokens with islandwalk when it dies, rather than giving the keyword to an existing creature. Filth is on both tables: as a creature it has swampwalk, and while it sits in your graveyard and you control a Swamp, every creature you control has swampwalk.
Landwalk commanders
Twenty legendary cards with or granting landwalk can lead a Commander deck. Ranked by how many EDHREC decks use them as the commander:
| Commander | Colours | Cost | Landwalk | EDHREC decks as commander | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chatterfang, Squirrel General | Black/Green | {2}{G} | Forestwalk | 27,918 | $9.83 |
| Lord Windgrace | Black/Green/Red | {2}{B}{R}{G} | Grants: forestwalk | 10,103 | — |
| Hazezon, Shaper of Sand | Green/Red/White | {R}{G}{W} | Desertwalk | 9,231 | $0.23 |
| Sheoldred, Whispering One | Black | {5}{B}{B} | Swampwalk | 1,244 | $20.66 |
| Thada Adel, Acquisitor | Blue | {1}{U}{U} | Islandwalk | 1,072 | $10.60 |
| Jedit Ojanen, Mercenary | Green/Blue/White | {1}{W}{U} | Grants: forestwalk | 958 | $0.43 |
| Eladamri, Lord of Leaves | Green | {G}{G} | Grants: forestwalk | 896 | $80.17 |
| Sol'kanar the Swamp King | Black/Red/Blue | {2}{U}{B}{R} | Swampwalk | 835 | $0.26 |
| Sygg, River Guide | Blue/White | {W}{U} | Islandwalk | 824 | $1.77 |
| Wrexial, the Risen Deep | Black/Blue | {3}{U}{U}{B} | Islandwalk, swampwalk | 655 | $1.56 |
| Mirri, Cat Warrior | Green | {1}{G}{G} | Forestwalk | 202 | $3.30 |
| Chorus of the Conclave | Green/White | {4}{G}{G}{W}{W} | Forestwalk | 199 | $0.30 |
The top three are not landwalk decks. Chatterfang (27,918 decks) is a token commander, Lord Windgrace (10,103) a lands commander whose ultimate makes Cat Warriors with forestwalk, and Hazezon (9,231) a Desert deck. The commanders that actually win through landwalk are further down. Thada Adel, Acquisitor (1,072 decks) steals an artifact from the defender’s library every time it connects. Wrexial, the Risen Deep (655) has islandwalk and swampwalk and casts a free instant or sorcery from the defender’s graveyard each time it deals combat damage. It costs $1.56, which is why it leads the deck below.
How landwalk stopped being printed
| Years | New cards with landwalk | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1993–1999 | 67 | 50.8% |
| 2000–2006 | 21 | 15.9% |
| 2007–2010 (Lorwyn to Zendikar block) | 29 | 22.0% |
| 2011–2014 | 10 | 7.6% |
| 2015–2020 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 2021–2026 | 5 | 3.8% |
| Total | 132 | 100% |
Landwalk was everywhere in the 1990s: 67 of the 132 cards (50.8%) debuted from 1993 to 1999. It had a last run through Lorwyn, Shadowmoor, Zendikar and the core sets of 2010–2014, then stopped completely. Meandering Towershell (Khans of Tarkir, 2014) was the last new landwalk card for almost seven years. The likely reason: landwalk is all-or-nothing: against the right colour it is unblockable, against the wrong colour it is blank, and in two-player Limited that decided games before they started. Rule 702.14 is still there; Wizards just stopped printing it on cards.
The five cards since 2021 are all in supplemental sets: Rishadan Dockhand and Chatterfang (Modern Horizons 2, 2021), Hazezon, Shaper of Sand (Dominaria United Commander, 2022), The Flood of Mars (Doctor Who, 2023) and Adrestia (Assassin’s Creed, 2024). None went into a Standard set.
Landwalk hosers
Every answer to landwalk is from 1994 or 1995. The Legends set printed one enchantment per basic type and three legendary creatures that stop landwalk, and nothing has been added since:
| Card | Cost | What it does to landwalk | First set | EDHREC decks | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Urborg | — | {T}: Target creature loses first strike or swampwalk until end of turn. | Legends (1994) | 14,389 | $18.64 |
| Hammerheim | — | {T}: Target creature loses all landwalk abilities until end of turn. | Legends (1994) | 13,087 | $14.48 |
| Merfolk Assassin | {U}{U} | {T}: Destroy target creature with islandwalk. | The Dark (1994) | 236 | $0.34 |
| Great Wall | {2}{W} | Creatures with plainswalk can be blocked as though they didn't have plainswalk. | Legends (1994) | 147 | $1.30 |
| Gosta Dirk | {3}{W}{W}{U}{U} | Creatures with islandwalk can be blocked as though they didn't have islandwalk. | Legends (1994) | 105 | $18.71 |
| Lord Magnus | {3}{G}{W}{W} | Creatures with plainswalk can be blocked as though they didn't have plainswalk. | Legends (1994) | 98 | $3.49 |
| Scarwood Hag | {1}{G} | {G}{G}{G}{G}, {T}: Target creature gains forestwalk until end of turn. | The Dark (1994) | 90 | $0.89 |
| Staff of the Ages | {3} | Creatures with landwalk abilities can be blocked as though they didn't have those abilities. | Ice Age (1995) | 78 | $0.58 |
| Quagmire | {2}{B} | Creatures with swampwalk can be blocked as though they didn't have swampwalk. | Legends (1994) | 76 | $1.81 |
| Deadfall | {2}{G} | Creatures with forestwalk can be blocked as though they didn't have forestwalk. | Legends (1994) | 75 | $1.49 |
| Ur-Drago | {3}{U}{U}{B}{B} | Creatures with swampwalk can be blocked as though they didn't have swampwalk. | Legends (1994) | 73 | $18.08 |
| Crevasse | {2}{R} | Creatures with mountainwalk can be blocked as though they didn't have mountainwalk. | Legends (1994) | 64 | $1.46 |
| Undertow | {2}{U} | Creatures with islandwalk can be blocked as though they didn't have islandwalk. | Legends (1994) | 60 | $1.64 |
The two that get played, the legendary lands Urborg and Hammerheim, are almost certainly played for mana, not as hosers. In practice, the answers to a landwalk creature in Commander are the same as the answers to any unblockable creature: removal, a bounce, a fog, or a flier or chump blocker on a different turn. Or simply don’t control the land type: a blue player facing Wrexial can’t stop islandwalk except by not having Islands.
Budget Wrexial, the Risen Deep landwalk deck ($73.14)
Wrexial is a 6-mana 5/8 Kraken with islandwalk and swampwalk. Whenever it deals combat damage to a player, you may cast an instant or sorcery card from that player’s graveyard without paying its mana cost, and the card is exiled afterwards. The plan has three parts:
- Make it unblockable. Wrexial already walks through 72.4% of decks. Ten land-type changers cover the rest: Spreading Seas, Sea’s Claim, Aquitect’s Will and Shimmering Mirage hit one land; Evil Presence and Contaminated Ground make a land a Swamp (Contaminated Ground also drains 2 every time it taps); Harbinger of the Seas makes every nonbasic an Island; Quicksilver Fountain makes each player flood one of their own lands at their upkeep; Blanket of Night and Stormtide Leviathan make every land a Swamp or an Island.
- Fill their graveyards. Wrexial needs good spells in the defender’s graveyard. Hedron Crab, Ruin Crab, Jace’s Erasure, Psychic Corrosion, Glimpse the Unthinkable, Mind Sculpt, Mind Funeral, Traumatize, Cut Your Losses, Fleet Swallower and Nemesis of Reason do it, and Consuming Aberration grows from it.
- Back it up. Inkwell Leviathan, Colossal Whale, The Flood of Mars and Chasm Skulker’s Squids are extra islandwalkers; Filth gives the whole team swampwalk from the graveyard; Trailblazer’s Boots makes anything unblockable against a nonbasic land. Memory Plunder and Extract from Darkness use opposing graveyards on your own turn.
Budget Wrexial, the Risen Deep Landwalk - Commander Deck
100 cards — one click loads the full list into a TCGplayer cart so you can check real prices and grab the whole deck at once.
Buy this deck on TCGplayerAffiliate link — buying through it supports KrakenTheMeta at no extra cost to you.How it plays
Turns one to four: ramp (Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Dimir Signet, Talisman of Dominance, Mind Stone, Fellwar Stone, Thought Vessel, Commander’s Sphere) and start milling with the Crabs and Jace’s Erasure. Put Spreading Seas or Evil Presence on a non-blue, non-black player’s land before Wrexial lands. Turn five or six: cast Wrexial with Lightning Greaves or Swiftfoot Boots ready. Attack whoever has the best spell in their graveyard; a free Day of Judgment, Windfall or Time Warp from an opponent’s yard is exactly what the commander is for.
Two traps to know. Stormtide Leviathan stops your own creatures too: “Creatures without flying or islandwalk can’t attack,” regardless of controller, so Fleet Swallower, Nemesis of Reason, Consuming Aberration and Sepulchral Primordial stay home while it is out. Cast it when Wrexial and the islandwalkers are your attackers. And Blanket of Night and Stormtide make your own lands Swamps and Islands, so an opponent’s swampwalker or islandwalker becomes unblockable against you. Check the table first.
Whelming Wave is a one-sided board wipe here: it returns every creature to its owner’s hand except Krakens, Leviathans, Octopuses and Serpents. Wrexial is a Kraken; Stormtide Leviathan, Inkwell Leviathan and Nemesis of Reason (Leviathan Horror) stay too.
Where the $73 goes
| Card | Role in the deck | Cheapest printing | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Psychic Corrosion | Mill engine (each draw = 2 cards per opponent) | M19 | $4.80 |
| Filth | Swampwalk for the whole team from the graveyard | PLST | $4.70 |
| Traumatize | Mill half a library | M14 | $4.05 |
| Lightning Greaves | Haste + shroud for Wrexial | FIC | $3.81 |
| Quicksilver Fountain | Turns every land into an Island over time | MRD | $3.65 |
| Glimpse the Unthinkable | Mill 10 for two mana | 2X2 | $3.52 |
| Hedron Crab | Landfall mill 3 | ZEN | $3.23 |
| Nemesis of Reason | Mill 10 on every attack | CLB | $3.10 |
| Thought Vessel | Ramp + no maximum hand size | FDC | $2.30 |
| Counterspell | Protection | FDC | $2.21 |
Nothing in the deck costs more than $5. The obvious upgrades are Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth (the best Blanket of Night: swampwalk against the whole table, on a land), Mesmeric Orb, Rhystic Study and better dual lands. Run the list through the MTG budget swaps tool to find cheaper replacements for any card, or check prices in the card finder.
Landwalk legality in every format
| Format | Cards with landwalk legal | All landwalk-related cards legal |
|---|---|---|
| Commander | 130 of 132 | 204 of 207 |
| Legacy | 130 of 132 | 204 of 207 |
| Vintage | 130 of 132 | 204 of 207 |
| Pauper | 76 of 132 | 99 of 207 |
| Modern | 66 of 132 | 95 of 207 |
| Premodern | 52 of 132 | 82 of 207 |
| Pioneer | 6 of 132 | 8 of 207 |
| Historic (Arena) | 5 of 132 | 10 of 207 |
| Timeless (Arena) | 5 of 132 | 10 of 207 |
| Standard | 0 of 132 | 0 of 207 |
Every landwalk card is legal in Commander except two Un-cards (Hurloon Wrangler and Old Fogey). Pauper has 76 landwalk cards, because so many were printed at common. Pioneer has six and Standard none: the keyword has not been in a Standard set since Khans of Tarkir in 2014.
Landwalk compared with other evasion abilities
Landwalk is the most conditional evasion in Magic. Flying can be blocked by fliers and reach creatures; fear and intimidate by artifact creatures and creatures that share a colour; skulk by creatures with equal or greater power; shadow and horsemanship only by creatures with the same ability. Landwalk is the only one where the defender’s lands decide, and against the right player it is total: no creature, flier or not, can block. Menace is the opposite case: it is never total, but it always does something.
That makes landwalk a targeting decision more than a creature decision. In a two-player game it is a coin flip on the opponent’s colours. In Commander, with three opponents and an 84–98% chance that at least one of them is the right colour, it is a reliable source of damage, as long as you attack the right player.
Islandwalk and landwalk FAQ
What does islandwalk mean in MTG?
The creature can’t be blocked as long as the defending player controls an Island (rule 702.14c). Any land with the land type Island counts, including dual lands such as Watery Grave and lands turned into Islands by an effect.
Does islandwalk work if I control an Island?
Your lands don’t matter. Only the defending player’s lands count: the player your creature is attacking.
Is a land that taps for blue an Island?
Only if its type line says Island. Command Tower, Dimir Aqueduct and the fast lands tap for blue but are not Islands. Shocklands, original dual lands, snow-covered basics and some others (Tropical Island, Watery Grave, Hallowed Fountain) are.
Can a creature with landwalk be blocked after the land leaves?
Landwalk is checked when blockers are declared. If the defender has no Island at that moment, they can block. Once the block is legal, gaining or losing an Island later does not change it (rule 509.1b).
Does landwalk work in multiplayer?
Yes, against each defending player separately. A creature attacking a blue player is unblockable; the same creature attacking a mono-red player can be blocked.
What is the best landwalk commander?
For landwalk as the plan, Wrexial, the Risen Deep (islandwalk and swampwalk, unblockable against 72.4% of our decks) or Thada Adel, Acquisitor (mono-blue, steals artifacts). Chatterfang and Sheoldred, Whispering One are more popular but are played for other reasons.
Is landwalk still printed?
Rarely. No new landwalk cards appeared from 2015 to 2020, and the five since 2021 are all from supplemental sets (Modern Horizons 2, Dominaria United Commander, Doctor Who, Assassin’s Creed).
What is nonbasic landwalk?
The creature can’t be blocked as long as the defending player controls a land without the basic supertype. Trailblazer’s Boots grants it, and in Commander it is the most reliable landwalk because almost every deck runs Command Tower or another nonbasic land.
Do Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth and Yavimaya turn on landwalk?
Yes. Urborg makes every land a Swamp, so every swampwalker becomes unblockable against everyone, including against you. Yavimaya does the same for forestwalk. They sit in roughly 900,000 EDHREC decks each.
What does swampwalk do?
The same thing for Swamps: the creature can’t be blocked as long as the defending player controls a land with the Swamp type. It is the most common landwalk, with 42 cards.
For more old combat keywords, see our guides to intimidate and combat damage keywords, or browse the community decks for a Wrexial or Thada Adel list to start from.
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