u/zebraman7

First of all, some general notes about MLD:

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Mass Land Denial as cards, combos, or game plans that regularly destroy, exile, bounce, tap down, or restrict the mana production of four or more lands per player without replacing them. [1, 2, 3]

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Definition of Mass Land Destruction (MLD)

• Threshold: Affecting roughly 4+ lands per player.
• Examples: Cards like Armageddon, Ruination, Sunder, Winter Orb, and Blood Moon.
• Repeated Effects: Using cards like Strip Mine or Demolition Field combined with recursion to consistently lock players out of lands is considered MLD.
• Acceptability: These cards are heavily discouraged in lower-power games (Brackets 1–3) and are considered appropriate only for high-power (Bracket 4) play. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Key Distinctions

• Not MLD: Spot removal (e.g., Beast Within on a Cabal Coffers) is not considered MLD.
• Intent: The definition focuses on the intent to ruin resources, not just accidental damage from a board wipe (e.g., a high-cost card that wipes lands and creatures).
• Social Contract: The core definition relies on the "social contract" of Commander, where MLD is frowned upon if it does not immediately win the game, as it simply extends game time. [1, 2, 3, 4]

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Please vote in this format for ease:

1. yes/no
2. yes/no...etc. You're voting on whether you think the scenario qualifies according to the above criteria.

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Scenario 1: You assemble a peregrine drake deadeye navigator combo to make infinite mana. You then play Rishadan Brigand, pair it with navigator, then you blink it over and over until the opponents have sacrificed all their permanents. You then flicker a generic creature with a token making etb and pass the turn with infinite creatures in play to your opponents who have no permanents. So yes, this destroys all their lands, but each brigand only hits one land, PLUS this combo threatens to end the game immediately, not just extend it, which is a noted distinction above. Also, note that your own lands are unharmed, and MLD states 4 lands per player.

Scenario 2: Same as 1 above, but replace brigand with agent of treachery stealing their lands.

Scenario 3: Opponent plays wrath of God. You respond with natural affinity, turning all lands in play into 2/2 creatures. So, technically their wrath is killing all the lands, not your card. :P. Pulled this off today.

Scenario 4: Playing Alaundo, you assemble a tap untap engine that goes infinite. Somewhere along the line, you get tidespout tyrant in play, and with each shrieking drake you infinitely cast, you bounce a permanent, including all lands.

Scenario 5: You assemble Crucible of worlds + strip mine. You don't have any extra Land drop effects. Each turn, you replay your strip and crack it, and you pick on the same player each turn. So, not 4 lands per player.

Scenario 6: With a board of 4 deadly planeswalkers, you cast jokulhaups, destroying all artifacts, creatures, and lands. Apparently, something that destroys creatures AND lands is an exception. Also, with this board of planeswalkers who might be unharmed, this could qualify as game ending, thus making it okay?

Ok interested to see your votes.

Cheers

EDIT: two typos removed, Teeg and wiry.