Fun fact: The reprinting of Farseek led many people to (correctly) believe the ‘shocklands’ were coming back.

Now, onto how they interact: Farseek nabs any Plains, Island, Mountain, or Swamp card you want out of your library and puts it onto the battlefield tapped. Prior to us Returning to Ravnica, you were only going to find basic lands with that in Standard. But thanks to the reprinting of the shocklands, you can find mana-fixing like Temple Garden or Steam Vents. That’s because these lands actually have the land types “Forest Plains” and “Island Mountain”, respectively, and that’s all Farseek cares about.

The only bad thing about it is, you will be totally unable to bring them in untapped. The default mode for the shocks entering the battlefield is ‘tapped’, and you can pay 2 life as they enter to get rid of that little downside. But that just removes the “I come in tapped” effect of the land itself; it doesn’t necessarily make the land come in untapped. Since Farseek says it comes in tapped, it’s coming in tapped whether or not you pay the 2 life. You can still pay the 2 life if you want to, for whatever reason, but the land’s going to enter tapped regardless.

Today’s Rules Tip written by
Trevor Nunez