[Single Card Discussion] Volrath's Stronghold & Yavimaya Hollow

[Amber VII]

As lands, these are among my two favorite cards. I was wondering, outside of casual play, do these cards see competitive play?

I use Volrath's Stronghold in decks that run few, vital creatures, so being able to preserve my threats is critical.

Yavimaya Hollow plays neat combat tricks and is in a color that has many good creatures to support it. And many times the opponent forgets that it's there.

[Goaswerfraiejen]

Intuition-based aggro-control makes good use of Volrath's Stronghold, and 43 Lands might, if it decides to run Countryside Crusher. Since Wasteland is running around again, you really want to use it with some form of recursion, like Life from the Loam. Yavimaya Hollow, on the other hand, seems to have much less of a role to play.

[Amber VII]

Thanks for the reply Goaswerfraiejen :laugh:

What piqued my curiosity with both lands was the amazing effectiveness they had with some of the newer cards from Lorwyn.

For Instance, Volrath's Stronghold will allow you to recast Shriekmaw every turn. Beyond Darkblast, reusable removal is very hard to come by. I use both cards in blue-black control, where the impact of both cards has been wonderful.

Yavimaya Hollow has found a place in my Elf Deck. In a recent game I played, Yavimaya Hollow and a single Wren's Run Vanquisher were able to hold off my opponent of 2 Tarmogoyfs and 1 Mongoose. I was able to stall long enough to draw into a Sylvan Messenger, which promptly won me the game.

A second reason why I like to play Hollow is because it protects against potentially devastating board sweepers like Engineered Explosives or Pyroclasm. It won't protect everything, but it will protect the absolutely vital cards like Imperious Prefect.


Both cards are susceptible to Wasteland and are Legendary, which can be nuisances. However, since both lands require a minimal investment to use, provide (colorless) mana themselves, and are greatly benefited from creatures of their own color, I think they are worth considering.

[hi-val]

I ran a single Stronghold in my Junk deck and have run it in Survival decks as well. It's really good as a 1-of in any deck that supports 5+ creatures. Usually 4 of those creatures should be Tarmogoyf, btw. The biggest hinderances are that it produces colorless mana and that the only two creatures I'd like to recur are Shriekmaw and Tarmogoyf.

[TrialByFire]

The biggest hinderances are that it produces colorless mana and that the only two creatures I'd like to recur are Shriekmaw and Tarmogoyf.

E. Wit is fun as well.

[scrumdogg]

E. Wit is fun as well.

Agreed, Eternal Witness + Genesis or Volrath's Stronghold (or both..) lets you recur everything interesting in your deck (and if it's not good &/or interesting/powerful, why are you playing it?). The problem isn't the power level, it's surviving to the point where you can abuse that sort of recursion without simply desperately tapdancing around your imminent death. That implies a control deck, which are often short on critters - creating a deckbuilding Catch-22.

[Jak]

Stronghold + Krosan Tusker + Sensei's Diving Top = Awesome. Draws a card, shuffle effect, and grabs land. I put the engine in my BG Control deck and Truffle Shuffle.