Entering tapped IS a drawback for faster decks, but manlands are one of the few instances where the upside outweighs the potential drawback. I've won far more games with manlands activating than I've lost because they ETBT. The same can't be said of something like a Temple ...but free threat density is a huge upside for decks that win games through the red zone. There can certainly be cases where it hurts the curve, but more often than not I can play a 2nd 2-drop on T3 alongside my tapped land, or a 2nd 1-drop on T2 and play my Spires ...rarely does it consume an entire turn in a deck that's loaded with 1- and 2-cc cards. It's usually pretty easy to find a place in your curve to insert the tapped land.
I think my slower BR decks have lost more games because they topdeck Blackcleave Cliffs as land 4+ and can't cast their 4- or 5-drop on curve than times when my faster decks have lost games because Lavaclaw Reaches came into play tapped. I still think that overall the ETBT drawback is more significant for faster decks, but every land has some give and take to it. And manlands are just better options in a greater % of situations for a greater % of decks, in my experience.
I think the ETBT clause is hugely overstated, because even in tempo-oriented decks, the free increased threat density (that's immune to sorcery removal) is arguably even more valuable. I wouldn't be willing to run like a Temple or something over Blackcleave Cliffs, but Lavaclaw Reaches is an outstanding BR aggro card. Increased threat density + fixing on a relatively low opportunity cost is great. Manlands in general are just fantastic.
Manlands are good in everything. I think they're super underrated for even faster decks, and I'd probably just run all 10 of 'em in my #4 land spot. The only land that's clearly better than its respective manland in the #4 slot is Horizon Canopy, and you can always run that as a guild card (since it often gets stolen by non-WG decks).
I think my slower BR decks have lost more games because they topdeck Blackcleave Cliffs as land 4+ and can't cast their 4- or 5-drop on curve than times when my faster decks have lost games because Lavaclaw Reaches came into play tapped. I still think that overall the ETBT drawback is more significant for faster decks, but every land has some give and take to it. And manlands are just better options in a greater % of situations for a greater % of decks, in my experience.
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!