Budget Boros decks appreciate this dual land when faster options like Sacred Foundry or Battlefield Forge are too expensive. The enters-tapped drawback makes it unsuitable for aggressive strategies, but slower midrange and control decks can absorb the tempo loss more easily. Gate tribal decks specifically want this card to trigger synergies and reach critical mass of Gate permanents.
Format Notes
Pauper represents its strongest competitive showing, where the mana fixing often outweighs the speed penalty in slower builds. Commander players frequently include it as an affordable dual land in casual Boros decks, though competitive builds typically prefer untapped alternatives. Standard and Pioneer occasionally see play in budget versions of established archetypes, but rarely makes top-tier lists due to the tempo disadvantage.
Combos & Synergies
Gate tribal strategies revolve around cards like Gatebreaker Ram and Gates Ablaze, which scale directly with the number of Gates in play. Maze's End creates an alternate win condition when combined with all ten Guild Gates, making this a key piece in that combo deck. Guild Summit provides card advantage engines that specifically reward playing Gates, turning the enters-tapped downside into a meaningful upside through extra card draw.
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