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The Eldrazi come back
What this set is
Battle for Zendikar returns to the plane five years after Rise of the Eldrazi, with the Eldrazi loose and Zendikar's people fighting back. The Eldrazi cards are colorless through devoid, and ingest and processors use the opponent's exiled cards. Zendikar's side has awaken, rally and converge, and landfall returns.
It was the first set of a two-set block, the structure Wizards used through the Ixalan block. The battle lands (Prairie Stream, Sunken Hollow, Smoldering Marsh, Cinder Glade and Canopy Vista) are allied dual lands with basic land types, and Zendikar Expeditions, full-art reprints of valuable lands, appeared as a rare bonus in packs.
For Commander, Omnath, Locus of Rage, Zulaport Cutthroat and Hedron Archive are from here.
Themes
Every mechanic in Battle for Zendikar
Devoid
The card has no color, even though its mana cost has colored symbols. The Eldrazi are colorless, and devoid lets them still need colored mana.
Ingest and processors
Ingest exiles the top card of the opponent's library when the creature deals combat damage to them. Processors put a card an opponent owns from exile into their graveyard to get an effect.
Awaken
Cast the spell for its awaken cost to also put +1/+1 counters on a land you control and turn it into a 0/0 Elemental creature with haste. It is still a land.
Rally
An ability word on Allies: it triggers whenever this or another Ally enters under your control.
Converge
An ability word: the effect counts the number of colors of mana spent to cast the spell.
Landfall
Back from the original Zendikar block on twenty-seven cards.
Where You Can Play It
Format legality
Battle for Zendikar is Pioneer-legal. The Expeditions inside its packs follow each land's own legality.
Expeditions are reprints of existing lands, so each is legal wherever that land already was. A fetchland Expedition is Modern-legal and banned in Pioneer, for example, exactly like the original.
Not Standard-legal. Standard only ever holds the last few years of sets, so everything this old has long since left it. These cards are still playable in Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, Vintage and Commander. Commons from any set are Pauper-legal; that isn't listed per set here.
Limited
The draft format
Drafted as three packs of Battle for Zendikar. Eldrazi colorless decks fight Zendikar's Allies and lands-matter decks.
Ingest and processors
Eldrazi
Ingest creatures exile the opponent's cards and processors spend them.
Allies
Rally aggro
Rally triggers stack as each Ally enters.
Landfall
Aggro
Landfall creatures and awaken spells.
Commanders
The most played commanders from Battle for Zendikar
The legends this set is best known for. Tap one for its printings and what it costs.
Boosters, precons and singles from Battle for Zendikar are on TCGplayer.
FAQ
Common questions
What does devoid mean?
A card with devoid has no color, even though its mana cost includes colored mana symbols. For Commander, its color identity still includes those mana symbols.
What are Zendikar Expeditions?
Full-art reprints of valuable lands, such as fetchlands, found as a rare bonus in Battle for Zendikar and Oath of the Gatewatch boosters. Each keeps the legality of the original land.
Is Battle for Zendikar legal in Pioneer?
Yes. It came after Return to Ravnica, where Pioneer begins.
All card names, art, and mechanics belong to Wizards of the Coast. Battle for Zendikar released on Oct 2, 2015; details reflect the set as published. Sources: Wizards of the Coast set pages and release notes, Draftsim, Untapped.gg.
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