Foreboding Ruins

Land

As this land enters, you may reveal a Swamp or Mountain card from your hand. If you don't, this land enters tapped.
{T}: Add {B} or {R}.

CMC
0
Mana cost
Color identity
BR
Rarity
rare
Set
Dominaria United Commander
Price
$0.28
EDHREC rank
#325
Buy on TCGplayer
Foreboding Ruins card art
Foreboding Ruins enters untapped as long as you reveal a Swamp or Mountain from your hand — a free dual that costs you nothing but a moment of transparency. In Rakdos builds like Sauron, Lord of the Rings where your hand is already packed with black and red spells, that condition is almost never a problem.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Sauron, Lord of the Rings

Sauron, Lord of the Rings

60.0% of decks · synergy 0.42

Sauron, Lord of the Rings runs a black-red engine that demands consistent early mana, and Foreboding Ruins delivers untapped BR on turn two without any life loss or sacrifice condition cluttering the equation.

02
Terra, Herald of Hope

Terra, Herald of Hope

50.2% of decks · synergy 0.39

Terra, Herald of Hope operates in a color identity that leans hard on reliable dual-color mana, and Foreboding Ruins fills that slot at near-zero cost in a hand stocked with basic land types.

03
Admiral Brass, Unsinkable

Admiral Brass, Unsinkable

57.6% of decks · synergy 0.39

Admiral Brass, Unsinkable needs black and red mana available early and consistently to rebuy Pirates from the graveyard, and Foreboding Ruins provides that without entering tapped and slowing the engine down.

04
Davros, Dalek Creator

Davros, Dalek Creator

48.0% of decks · synergy 0.30

Davros, Dalek Creator wants to be casting threats on curve, and Foreboding Ruins supports that by guaranteeing untapped black-red mana in a shell that naturally runs enough Swamps and Mountains to meet the reveal condition.

05
Abaddon the Despoiler

Abaddon the Despoiler

45.3% of decks · synergy 0.27

Abaddon the Despoiler cascades off high-cost spells, so every land that enters untapped accelerates toward that critical mass — Foreboding Ruins does exactly that in a Rakdos shell where the reveal condition costs you nothing.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander
legacy
modern
pioneer
standard
vintage
pauper
oathbreaker

In Commander, Foreboding Ruins is a reliable budget dual for any Rakdos, Grixis, or four-to-five-color deck running enough Mountains and Swamps to flip it untapped with regularity. In Pioneer and Modern, it sits behind fetchable duals and shock lands on the power curve, but it remains a legitimate budget option for two-color Rakdos aggro or midrange lists that can't afford Bloodstained Mire. Legacy and Vintage have better options at every price point, so Foreboding Ruins effectively sees no competitive play there. It's not legal in Standard or Pauper, which cuts off two of the formats where its price tag would matter most to new players.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

$0.28 bulk tier

At $0.28, Foreboding Ruins is deep bulk — you're paying for cardboard and shipping, not the card itself. It's a permanent fixture in the bulk bin and unlikely to spike unless a format-warping Rakdos deck drives demand, so there's no urgency in buying multiple copies beyond what you need now.

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Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.