by Elton Gahr

Created on: September 24, 2009

Although creature enchantments still exist in the game of magic the real way to improve your creatures, if you are going to do it is through equipment. Often no more expensive than a creature enchantment of the same type it can be moved from creature to creature and you don't lose an extra card if it dies and though the more expensive equipment can look like the best option often those with smaller effects and smaller costs have a considerably bigger effect on the game.

In Zendikar, a world designed to feel like a place of adventure we have "Adventuring Gear" equipment. This costs only one colorless mana to put into play and one colorless mana to equip.

"Adventuring Gear" is a little more hit or miss than most equipment. Its ability is a landfall power. This mean it is triggered every time that a land is put into play and then "Adventuring Gear" gives your creature +2/+2 until end of turn.

Since you can typically only put one land into the game each turn, and will not do so on many turns this isn't a great bonus, and of course it will be difficult to surprise your opponent since you can't play land during the combat phase.

That said there are a great many ways in which land can be put into play in Zendikar. And all of them can help strengthen your creature. Consider Harrow, a common that has been brought back to Zendikar. It allows you to pay three and sacrifice a land to search out two more land. Assuming you put a land into play on the turn you play harrow that gives your creature +6/+6 until the end of the turn, and harrow is an instant allowing you to play it during combat.

As a limited card this is mostly useful because it is colorless, meaning that it will fit into any deck, and may be able to be picked up late in a draft.

This is not a great piece of equipment. It will not alter formats, but as a colorless card it can be useful in limited decks simply as a way to do a little extra damage and it might find its way into the occasional landfall deck though I suspect that being in most decks will simply be a sign that the person who made the deck didn't have the money to buy the rarer cards.

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