Forgotten Cave — Magic: The Gathering card

Forgotten Cave

Land

This land enters tapped.

{T}: Add {R}.

Cycling {R} ({R}, Discard this card: Draw a card.)

Set Commander 2021
Rarity Common
Mana Value 0
Artist Tony Szczudlo
Collector # 289

Why Play Forgotten Cave

Red decks that need consistent land drops early but want to avoid flooding out late game find excellent utility in this cycling land. The cycling ability provides crucial card selection and deck velocity for aggressive strategies that need to maintain pressure, while also enabling specific synergies with graveyard-based strategies. Play it when your deck can afford the tempo loss of entering tapped, particularly in midrange or control builds that prioritize card advantage over speed.

Format Notes

Most impactful in Pauper where the cycling lands provide essential late-game utility for budget decks lacking expensive card selection. Commander players frequently include it in mono-red and red-heavy multicolor decks as a low-opportunity-cost inclusion that rarely feels bad to draw. In faster formats like Modern, the enter-tapped drawback limits its viability to specific cycling-focused strategies rather than general inclusion.

Combos & Synergies

Cycling payoffs like Drake Haven and Lightning Rift transform the card into an engine piece rather than just utility. Astral Slide decks leverage the cycling to repeatedly flicker creatures for value, creating powerful synergy loops. Graveyard strategies benefit from the discard effect, making it useful alongside cards like Flamewake Phoenix or madness enablers that want cards in the graveyard.