MTG fetch lands explained

MTG fetch lands are a huge boon to the mana-screwed masses of Magic: The Gathering. Able to grab exactly the land you need at the perfect time, it’s no wonder MTG fetchlands are so prized. However, they’re only prized in certain formats – so if you need a refresher on fetchlands, we’ve got you covered.

Though they’re not the most expensive Magic cards out there, MTG fetch lands can still set you back a pretty penny. But they can be more than worth it in MTG Commander decks, or in formats like MTG Modern. Below you’ll find a full explainer of fetch lands, as well as the kind of prices you can expect to pay for the best MTG fetchlands.

What are MTG fetch lands?

The phrase ‘fetch land’ refers to a non-basic MTG Land card that can be sacrificed to search your library for a specific land. You’ll sometimes need to pay a life for the privilege, and your deck is shuffled after you’ve found your new land and put it on the battlefield. Generally, a fetch land lets you choose from one of two MTG colors when deciding on a land to search for.

They were first introduced in the 1996 MTG set Mirage, but variations on the original fetch lands have cropped up in plenty of other places – including Onslaught, Zendikar, and Streets of New Capenna.

Why are MTG fetch lands so expensive?

While reprints have helped bring down the price of some fetch lands, others still remain pricey. Why? Power has a lot to do with it. MTG fetch lands help ensure you get the exact mana you need (a simple feature that cannot be overestimated).

Additionally, it gives you a free shuffle of your deck, and it helps trim down your deck for later on when pulling a basic land would be less helpful. Fetch lands also synergise well with cards that have the Landfall ability.

Plus, you don’t necessarily have to pick a basic land when you search your deck. Any non-basic land which comes under one of the two land types specified by your fetch land can be added to the battlefield. That means dual lands, shock lands, and more are on the table.

Because of their power, you’ll find fetch lands on the MTG banlist for plenty of MTG formats.

A complete list of MTG fetch lands

Here’s a complete list of MTG fetch lands, complete with their current market price on TCGPlayer (these obviously fluctuate, but they’re all accurate at the time of publication).

Mirage fetch lands

Here are the original MTG fetch lands:

Onslaught fetch lands

These are the Onslaught fetch lands:

Shards of Alara fetch lands

The Shards of Alara fetch lands aren’t true fetch lands – instead, they’re Panoramas. These are non-basic lands that operate as fetch lands if you pay a mana and sacrifice the card. Here’s the list:

Zendikar fetch lands

Here are the Zendikar fetch lands:

Streets of New Capenna fetch lands

Streets of New Capenna fetch lands are another slightly different variant, this time called Locales. These sacrifice themselves automatically, and you gain a life rather than lose one. Here’s each of them:

If you’re looking to learn more about rare MTG cards, we can tell you all there is to know about MTG power nine cards like the MTG Black Lotus. For power, check out the best MTG Commanders in the format right now. And, if you’re just after something new and shiny, here are the latest MTG Arena codes and sets from the MTG 2023 release schedule.