The 31 Best Blue Red (Izzet) Lands in Magic

Last updated on November 6, 2024

Spirebluff Canal | Illustration by Adam Paquette

I’ve said it time and time again: Having an effective and consistent mana base is one of the best things you can do to improve your win rate and success in Magic. Izzet () is no an exception to this rule. And Izzet requires an efficient mana base to support its spells just like any other color combination or strategy.

That’s why today I’m coming to you with a complete breakdown of blue-red lands in Magic, including a ranking of the best ones and what makes them good.

Without further ado, let’s get started!

What Are Blue Red Lands in MTG?

Frostboil Snarl | Illustration by Sam Burley

A blue-red/Izzet land refers to a card with an exact blue and red color identity and the land card type. Most of these tap for and/or , while others use blue and red mana symbols in the costs of other activated abilities.

#31. Storm the Vault

Starting off with a card that only makes the list on a technicality. Vault of Catlacan is an improved Tolarian Academy, which is quite the accolade, but it's only an “Izzet land” in the sense that the front half gives it a blue-red color identity. Storm the Vault‘s also fine in some spots, but we're not here to talk about the merit of enchantments.

#30. Highland Lake + Izzet Guildgate

Next up is the slot we'll use for all UR taplands that don't do anything. This includes cards like Highland Lake and Izzet Guildgate, plus anything that’s the same card under a different name.

I suppose the Guildgates are slightly better since there are plenty of cards that synergize with them, but those are the only exceptions.

#29. Eroded Canyon

If you're looking for a small nudge up from a basic tapland, Eroded Canyon is probably the next step. This desert pings on ETB, which is the tiniest bit of value you could ask for, though it does synergize with commanders like Ghyrson Starn, Kelermorph and Marchesa, Dealer of Death.

#28. Library

Izzet has some amount of artifact play to it, so a land like Library looks a little more appealing in this color pair than some of the other Ravnica: Clue Edition duals look in other colors. Even with artifact synergies, this is a clunky token generator, and not a huge step up from a tapland with no utility at all.

#27. Silverbluff Ridge

Here we have Silverbluff Ridge, the artifact dual land from Modern Horizons 2. Artifact dual lands are essentially glorified Guildgates. They still enter tapped but also count as artifacts on top of having indestructible.

It’s important to remember that this lands taps for blue, which means it has use in various affinity decks, particularly in Pauper, but not much outside of that.

#26. Volatile Fjord

Volatile Fjord is a normal tapped dual land that counts as both an island and mountain, and it’s a snow land!

This means that it works perfectly with cards that care about snow mana or having a specific number of snow permanents on top of being able to be fetched. It’s best-in-show mana fixing in those cases, but it’s nothing special otherwise.

#25. Surtland Frostpyre

Surtland Frostpyre is a tapped red source with an Izzet activated ability. For you can sacrifice this land to scry 2 and deal 2 damage to each creature. Having a Pyroclasm with two cards worth of information on a land is pretty sweet value, even if it doesn’t tap for both colors.

#24. Swiftwater Cliffs

Swiftwater Cliffs, from Khans of Tarkir, is your standard run-of-the-mill tapped dual land that gains you 1 life on ETB. This isn’t really much of an upside, especially in a color combination like Izzet that has basically no lifegain synergy, but it’s still worth noting.

#23. Prismari Campus

Next up is Prismari Campus, a tapped dual that can scry 1 if you tap it on top of paying 4 mana. These are sweet in Limited and have some semblance of a home in Pauper control decks.

This is yet again another disappointing attempt at mana fixing other than that. But don’t worry, we have much better lands to come!

#22. Nivix, Aerie of the Firemind

Here we have another non-dual utility land, Nivix, Aerie of the Firemind. This land from Guildpact taps for one colorless and allows you to exile the top card of your library for , which you can then cast if it’s an instant or sorcery.

This is okay and has some room for play in casual Commander decks where games go very long and consistent card advantage goes a long way.

#21. Crackling Falls

Crackling Falls is one of the MDFC lands I don't feel compelled to slot into every deck. Rush of Inspiration is just such a smallball effect that it's not really giving you that much upside as an alternative to just playing a tapped dual. That said, if you're actually playing with energy or have a deck with card draw payoffs or discard payoffs, the stock on this goes way up.

#20. Ferrous Lake

The enemy-color filter lands got their first printing in Fallout, 22 years after the allied colors appeared in Odyssey. To be fair, there's nothing all that special about lands like Ferrous Lake; they're totally inoffensive mana fixing and reliable in 2-color decks, though they don't always make for the best turn-1 land drop.

#19. Izzet Boilerworks

Izzet Boilerworks is the blue and red bounce land, which means that it enters tapped and requires you to return a land you control to your hand when it enters the battlefield.

But as an upside it taps for both blue and red at the same time. That does mean that you can’t play this on turn 1 in any way since it’ll just end up bouncing itself in the process.

#18. Desolate Lighthouse

Desolate Lighthouse is a utility land that taps for a meager 1 mana, but it has the ability to loot a card at the cost of . Having card selection built into lands is always good. This is best used in casual EDH decks that can repeatedly put this card to use, just like Nivix, Aerie of the Firemind.

#17. Molten Tributary

Molten Tributary isn't much, but it can be fetched! That's super sweet. So even though it doesn't have any extra benefits, this makes it a lot better than some of the competition.

#16. Temple of Epiphany

Next up is the Izzet scry land, Temple of Epiphany, which always enters the battlefield tapped but lets you scry 1 when it does. This is great information that makes it a nice addition to slower decks, though these are more in line with budget manabases than competitive ones.

#15. Cascade Bluffs

Here we have Cascade Bluffs, which is the better of the two Izzet filter lands. These lands enter untapped but require a blue or red mana on top of that. They then provide you with any combination of blue and/or red. They also tap for one colorless mana, which helps unlock mana that would otherwise be needed to turn this land on.

#14. Sulfur Falls

Up next we have Sulfur Falls, which enters tapped unless you already control an island or mountain. These check lands are pretty decent fixing, especially in formats where shock lands are readily available and legal. These can work well in both dual and tri-color decks!

#13. Wandering Fumarole

Wandering Fumarole is an Izzet manland, which enters tapped, can tap for blue or red, and for can become a 1/4 elemental creature with the ability to become a 4/1 for . That’s a lot of text, but put simply: This is bare minimum mana fixing with a reasonable activated ability.

Manlands are supremely important in control decks, which otherwise don’t have many ways to actually win the game. And this one does that pretty well. It also has some strange infinite combos with Crackdown Construct and Ceaseless Searblades.

#12. Stormcarved Coast

Getting into some of the actual best lands now, with Stormcarved Coast to start us off. This is the Izzet slow land, meaning it enters tapped unless you have two or more other lands already in play. This makes it a decent turn-1 land if you have nothing to play, but is otherwise reserved for turns 3 and onward.

Don’t be mistaken, this is good mana fixing, but having mana on those critical first few turns is the most important part. This is why the Coast is ranked a few places lower than its faster counterpart.

#11. Restless Spire

Restless Spire is a sweet creature land. It only costs to activate, and becomes a 2/1 with first strike (if it's your turn), and gets you a scry when it attacks. It's not a whole lot for a creature, but it's cheap, effective, and can work wonder in tempo decks. Cool!

#10. Riverglide Pathway / Lavaglide Pathway

The Pathways are some of the most unique and efficient dual lands in the game. The Izzet iteration, Riverglide Pathway, is a 2-faced card that enters as either a red or blue source. These work well with other nonbasic lands since they can help mold to what colors you’re missing.

#9. Frostboil Snarl

Frostboil Snarl is the Strixhaven dual land that enters untapped if you reveal an island or mountain from your hand. This works great in conjunction with other lands, specifically Steam Vents and lands that count as basic land types.

But it’s still decent in formats without much fixing where you’ll be playing more basics outside of that.

#8. Spirebluff Canal

Next up is Spirebluff Canal, the fast land for Izzet, which means it enters untapped if you have two or fewer other lands. Having access to mana on turns 1 through 3 is of the highest importance since it allows you to actually play your spells, interact with your opponent, and help set the pace of the rest of the game.

#7. Shivan Reef

Shivan Reef is a simple pain land in the Izzet colors. It enters the battlefield untapped, which is great, and costs 1 life to tap for blue or red. It can tap for 1 for free, which can be life-or-death in matchups where every life point matters.

But the most important thing is that this land offers either color the turn it comes in at any point in the game.

#6. Fiery Islet

Starting off the top five is the power crept Izzet pain land, Fiery Islet. This land taps for either color and taxes you 1 life when it does, but it has an important upside. For just 1 mana you can sacrifice the land to draw a card at instant speed. This is a great 1- or 2-of in Legacy or Modern Izzet Delver where tempo is king.

Drawing a card is the best thing you can do in just about every deck, and 1 mana to draw is unbeatable late game when you have more lands than you can use.

#5. Thundering Falls

It doesn't have the most evocative name in the surveil land cycle, but Thundering Falls and the rest of the Murders at Karlov Manor dual lands are truly excellent. Not only does surveil make this an upgrade to Temple of Epiphany already, but it has land types, which make it a great companion to Steam Vents and Scalding Tarn. When you don't need to fetch an untapped mana source, you can get value by fetching this instead.

#4. Training Center

Training Center is the Commander “bondland” that taps for both blue and red and enters untapped if you have two or more opponents. This is obviously really strong since it has no clear downside in Commander pods where there are three opponents.

It’s also only based on three opponents, which means you’re not stuck with a pseudo-Izzet Guildgate if one player has died or left early.

#2. Steam Vents

Next up is budget Volcanic Island, better known as Steam Vents. This is the Izzet shock land, which means it counts as both basic land types and can enter the battlefield untapped if you pay 2 life.

Not only does it offer both colors on turn 1, but you can also fetch this land on your opponent’s turn to avoid paying the tax if it isn’t necessary.

#2. Scalding Tarn

The runner-up is Scalding Tarn, which is the blue and red fetch land. There's not much to say about fetch lands that hasn't already been said; just no that these are the most versatile lands in Magic, since they can fetch all five colors depending on your assortment of other dual lands.

#1. Volcanic Island

Finally, in the #1 spot is Volcanic Island, the blue and red original dual land. This is one of the most expensive duals since it’s a very in-demand color pairing.

It’s the best dual land you can possible have not only because it enters untapped and offers both colors without compromise, but it also acts as both an island and a mountain. This means you can reveal it as well as fetch it, making your mana base in Eternal formats spectacular.

Wrap Up

Izzet Guildgate | Illustration by Kirsten Zirngibl

That wraps up just about all of the red and blue lands! I enjoy doing these rankings and love finding niche or older duals that I never considered or knew of, which then promptly go into some of my Commander and Pauper decks.

What did you think of the rankings? Were there any choices I made that you’d change around, or exempt from the list altogether? I want to hear your thoughts, so let me know down in the comments or over in the official Draftsim Discord.

Until next time, stay safe and stay healthy!