Price$0.12 – $0.34
Buy on TCGplayerScoured Barrens
Land
LegalRank #704
This land enters tapped.
When this land enters, you gain 1 life.
: Add 
or 
.
Why is this card good?
Scoured Barrens is a budget-tier dual land for Orzhov (W/B) decks. It fixes both colors, which is genuinely valuable in a format where casting cost-intensive spells on curve matters, and the incidental 1 life is a small bonus that occasionally feeds lifegain payoffs.
The catch is the tapland clause. Entering tapped costs you tempo, and that drag adds up in lower-power or fast metas. This is a card you run when you can't afford better fixing — true duals, Godless Shrine, Fetid Heath, or Caves of Koilos all enter untapped and serve the same role.
Play it when: you're on a budget, building casual Orzhov, or running a slower lifegain/aristocrats deck (Karlov, Liesa) where the tempo loss barely registers and the life trickle is upside.
Skip it when: your deck is competitive, mana-hungry, or wants to deploy threats early. The tapland tax is the kind of thing that quietly loses you turns in tight games.
Related cards
Orzhov Guildgate
Tapped WB dual land in same color identity.
Tranquil Cove
Tapland that gains 1 life, WU version of same cycle.
Jwar Isle Refuge
Same lifegain tapland cycle, different colors.
Akoum Refuge
Lifegain tapland cycle, BR version.
Graypelt Refuge
Lifegain tapland cycle, GW version.
Sejiri Refuge
Lifegain tapland cycle, WU version.
Silverquill Campus
WB tapland with cantrip option, similar budget fixing.
Bloodfell Caves
Tapped dual with lifegain, BR Khans cycle.
Printings (18)
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Played by these commanders
Sam, Loyal Attendant100% of 1
Edgar Markov100% of 1
Daxos the Returned100% of 1
Frodo, Adventurous Hobbit100% of 1
Kathril, Aspect Warper100% of 1
Inquisitor Greyfax100% of 2
Jirina Kudro100% of 1
Aminatou, the Fateshifter100% of 1