Hi Team,
I'm a big fan of basic land art and I spend a lot of time (perhaps too much) selecting the ones I personally love. However, over time, as designs have become more intricate, it’s become harder to distinguish one land from another. For example, the black-and-white basics from Phyrexia: All Will Be One can easily be confused. Similarly, in Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, the full-art lands can be tricky; one of the islands clearly looks like a forest, one of the swamps looks like a mountain, and the mountains themselves are gray. And these are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head.
My vision isn't the best but not so bad and I'm often impacted by this. I wonder what it must be like for players with significant visual impairments. Additionally, screen quality and graphic settings can also impact how clear these lands appear, potentially disadvantaging players with less capable devices.
I’d like to suggest an option that would allow players to select which basic lands are displayed when their opponent is using them. This would give players the ability to see the lands as they’ve chosen, avoiding confusion. In Magic, we’re often making important decisions under time pressure, and any hindrance to quickly and clearly understanding the board state could be seen as an unfair disadvantage—particularly for those with visual impairments. At worst, this could be exploited by malicious players, and at best, it’s just a nuisance that could cause players to lose a match occasionally.
With this option, everyone could still enjoy the land art they love, while making the game fairer and more accessible for all.
I understand this issue exists in real life as well, but I’ve heard pros say that players should always be cautious when an opponent is using Phyrexia basic lands, due to their visual similarities. While this can't really be enforced in paper Magic, it would be fantastic if we could address this in MTGO.
Thanks for your attention—I hope this suggestion resonates with the community!
I'm a big fan of basic land art and I spend a lot of time (perhaps too much) selecting the ones I personally love. However, over time, as designs have become more intricate, it’s become harder to distinguish one land from another. For example, the black-and-white basics from Phyrexia: All Will Be One can easily be confused. Similarly, in Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, the full-art lands can be tricky; one of the islands clearly looks like a forest, one of the swamps looks like a mountain, and the mountains themselves are gray. And these are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head.
My vision isn't the best but not so bad and I'm often impacted by this. I wonder what it must be like for players with significant visual impairments. Additionally, screen quality and graphic settings can also impact how clear these lands appear, potentially disadvantaging players with less capable devices.
I’d like to suggest an option that would allow players to select which basic lands are displayed when their opponent is using them. This would give players the ability to see the lands as they’ve chosen, avoiding confusion. In Magic, we’re often making important decisions under time pressure, and any hindrance to quickly and clearly understanding the board state could be seen as an unfair disadvantage—particularly for those with visual impairments. At worst, this could be exploited by malicious players, and at best, it’s just a nuisance that could cause players to lose a match occasionally.
With this option, everyone could still enjoy the land art they love, while making the game fairer and more accessible for all.
I understand this issue exists in real life as well, but I’ve heard pros say that players should always be cautious when an opponent is using Phyrexia basic lands, due to their visual similarities. While this can't really be enforced in paper Magic, it would be fantastic if we could address this in MTGO.
Thanks for your attention—I hope this suggestion resonates with the community!