Rishadan Port (Limited Edition Repaint)

Featured here is Repaint # 3 of 10 by beloved Magic artist Jerry Tiritilli. The artist has agreed he will never paint any more exact replicas of this original art as it appears on the card, other than this limited edition of 10. Tiritilli’s most stunning and iconic piece, Rishadan Port is also widely recognized as one of the most hangable landscapes in the game. The viewer is placed above the Port, peering down from a high vantage point on the vibrant colors combinations and complex elements woven into the tapestry of the Port scene below. The viewer is rewarded the more time they spend with this piece, a hallmark of a successful work of art. Rishadan Port is a land originally printed in Mercadian Masques that can add one colorless mana or lets you tap an opponent’s land for one mana by tapping itself. Its activated ability serves as an interactive mana denial/tax tool as you can force your opponent to lose access to one land each turn. This can be very useful to slow down your opponent’s development by cutting them off of certain colors or utility lands in their upkeep. It fits extremely well in decks that are already build around disruption, tempo, or “lock” strategies (e.g. Goblins, Death and Taxes, Lands,..). During the Masques-Invasion era Tom van de Logt won the 2001 World Championship playing an aggressive black-red deck with the full playset of Rishadan Port in it (“Machine Head”). It was also featured in quarterfinalist’s Jan Tomcani’s green-red-black “Fires” deck which used early mana-producing creatures to play a quick Fires of Yavimaya. Shortly thereafter, big-hasted creatures would make fast work of his opponents. Rishadan Port is mostly known for being a longtime staple in the Legacy format. Decks like Death and Taxes (white-based hatebear decks) and Goblins aim to disrupt the opponent’s resources while building a board presence, often in combination with Aether Vial. It’s also played in the Lands deck which focusses on mana denial and land destruction. These decks use cards such as Wasteland, Ghost Quarter, Life from the Loam etc., to deny opponent’s lands and build a slow lock. Rishadan Port also sees occasional play in other formats like Vintage, Commander and Premodern. Rishadan Port is not on the reserved list. Mercadian Masques was the first set not protected by the Reserved List. Rishadan Port has seen a few reprints (Masters 25, Mystery Booster). Also, repaints of this image are limited to 10 copies ever produced, keeping the overall paintings of this subject matter low.