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Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle is recent addition to Modern \u2013 it was banned fairly early on after the format was created, but it was unbanned about a year ago. Once unbanned, it immediately became a popular deck, usually involving Scapeshift and\/or Prismatic Omen to quickly assemble lethal damage for the opponent. With this article, we\u2019re going to go through some of interactions you might see involving Valakut at your next Modern tournament.<\/p>\n
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\nValakut triggers when you play a Mountain and you control five other mountains. The name doesn\u2019t matter, having the land subtype \u201cMountain\u201d is what matters. This is why shocklands like Stomping Ground work well in the deck. Since Stomping Grounds count as a Mountain (as well as other types), having it enter the battlefield under your control will cause Valakut to trigger as long as you control enough Mountains.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\nValakut and Prismatic Omen<\/b><\/h1>\n
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\nWhen we check for enter the battlefield triggers, we look at how the card looks on the battlefield. In the case of the Omen, it will make your lands Mountains (as well as other basic land types) before we check to see if Valakut will trigger. This is why Valakut and Prismatic Omen combo well together: once you\u2019ve reached five lands, any other lands you play with the Omen on the battlefield will cause Valakut to trigger (even if the new land you just played is Valakut).<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\nValakut and Scapeshift<\/b><\/h1>\n
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\nThis is where things start to get fun. When Scapeshift resolves, you sacrifice any number of lands you control, then search your library for that many lands and put them onto the battlefield. The lands enter the battlefield at the same time, so they will see each other entering the battlefield if needed. So if you sacrifice seven lands and search for a Valakut and six Mountains, each Mountain will see that you control five other Mountains when it enters the battlefield and \u00a0Valakut will trigger a total of six times (once for each Mountain) for a total of 18 damage.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\nValakut and Land Destruction<\/b><\/h1>\n
So, looking at the paragraphs above, Valakut seems to be a powerful card, with some powerful interactions. But it\u2019s not unstoppable. For instance, Valakut\u2019s triggered ability has an intervening if. That means that Valakut checks the number of Mountains you control two times: to see if the ability should trigger in the first place, and again when the trigger goes to resolve. If the condition is no longer true when the trigger goes to resolve, then nothing happens when the trigger resolves. That means if, between the ability being added to the stack and the ability resolving, that player loses some Mountains, the ability won\u2019t do anything when it resolve.<\/p>\n
<\/p>Let\u2019s look at an example. Let\u2019s say you have a Tectonic Edge on the battlefield, and I cast Scapeshift, sacrificing seven lands, and searching out a Valakut, four Stomping Grounds, and two Steam Vents. This causes Valakut to trigger a total of six times. Tectonic Edge can stop most of the damage. You don\u2019t want to destroy Valakut, because Valakut\u2019s triggered ability exists independent of the source that made it. No, what you want to do is destroy one of the other lands that just entered the battlefield. Since each trigger will check to see if you control five other Mountains when the trigger goes to resolve, by destroying one of the lands, you can prevent most of the triggers from resolving (the Valakut trigger from the land you destroyed will still resolve, however, since I still control five other Mountains when the trigger resolves).<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\nValakut and Blood Moon<\/b><\/h1>\n
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\nAnd just for fun, let\u2019s look at Valakut and Blood Moon. You think that Valakut would love Blood Moon, since the Moon makes nonbasics into Mountains. However, Blood Moon goes a little too far for Valakut\u2019s own good. Blood Moon will cause Valakut to lose all abilities and just has the ability to tap for red mana, so playing Mountains would not cause Valakut\u2019s ability to trigger, since it doesn\u2019t have that ability anymore.<\/p>\n
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And that\u2019s it for my analysis of Valakut. Join me next time when we flash back to our favorite blue two drop, Snapcaster Mage.<\/p>\n