Rugged Highlands

Land

Rugged Highlands enters the battlefield tapped.

When Rugged Highlands enters the battlefield, you gain 1 life.

{T}: Add {R} or {G}.

Set March of the Machine
Rarity Common

Why Play Rugged Highlands

Budget Red-Green decks rely on Rugged Highlands as an affordable mana fixing option when dual lands are too expensive. The life gain helps stabilize against aggressive decks, making it particularly valuable in slower midrange strategies that need time to deploy threats. While entering tapped is a significant drawback, the consistent mana and life buffer can justify the tempo loss in casual formats where perfect mana bases aren't accessible.

Format Notes

Pauper represents the strongest competitive home for Rugged Highlands, where the common rarity restriction makes it one of the better dual land options available. Commander players often include it in budget builds or lifegain-focused strategies where the incremental life matters. In faster formats like Modern or Legacy, the enters-tapped drawback is too punishing to see serious play outside of extreme budget constraints.

Combos & Synergies

Lifegain synergies make Rugged Highlands more appealing in decks built around cards like Ajani's Pridemate or Soul Warden, where the single point of life becomes a genuine resource. Landfall triggers from cards such as Akoum Hellkite provide additional value when the land enters the battlefield. In Pauper lifegain decks, pairing it with Pulse of Murasa creates a repeatable source of both mana fixing and life total padding.

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Land