I hate speculation. It’s a waste of time.
So of course, I’m kinda doing it here. Why? Because we all wanted the Ravnica Dual Lands to be reprinted in M13. They weren’t. I argued last year why that was ok, and I’m still sticking to those points. With, sigh, a “Return to Ravnica” around the corner, we know it’s going to be a multi-colored set (Zac Hill even said as much today). It wasn’t a surprise, that’s the plane; it’s like going back to Mirrodin and having us care about the Graveyard. Flavor just doesn’t work that way.
Back to speculation. Sometimes you have no facts to back it up, but just a “gut feeling.” Everywhere people were talking about how Noble Hierarch was “Absolutely” going to be in M13 since they brought back Exalted. “Why not? It fit the name/number crunch and Exalted was in the set.” That was all the evidence that people needed. The evidence against was A) Exalted was only seen in White and Black (The other returning mechanics had splashes), and B) no three colors were ever seen on a card, unless they dealt with Nicol Bolas (Blue/Black/Red). Obviously pushing a Bant card in a set with no “Bant” wasn’t going to happen.
We have evidence though for Dual Lands with Basic Land types for Return to Ravnica. Evidence in this Core Set, M13. We know this because Wizards puts cards in the Core Set that work with the Block printed before, and after (though mostly after). That’s another post in itself, but you get things like Index (helps Miracles) and Disciple of Bolas (Undying and Morbid) that help out the previous block. What “evidence” do we have this time? What could possibly happen that would make me believe that Dual Lands are going to happen in Return to Ravnica.
Because of the increase use of the Basic Land type in M13.
Only two cards in M13 reference “Basic” lands: Boundless Realms (Where WotC learned that issue with Primeval Titan), and the reprint Evolving Wilds. Only two cards in a Core Set isn’t exactly new. Here’s how many cards in each Core Set from 7th Edition to now refer to “Basic Lands”.
- 7th – 4
- 8th – 3
- 9th – 3
- 10th – 3
- M10 – 4
- M11 – 3
- M12 – 2
- M13 – 2
- 7th – 25
- 8th – 20
- 9th – 22
- 10th – 12
- M10 – 13
- M11 – 16
- M12 – 8
- M13 – 22
- 7th – 350
- 8th – 350
- 9th – 350
- 10th – 383
- M10 – 249
- M11 – 249
- M12 – 249
- M13 – 249
- 7th – 7.1%
- 8th – 5.7%
- 9th – 6.3%
- 10th – 3.3%
- M10 – 5.2%
- M11 – 6.4%
- M12 – 3.2%
- M13 – 8.8%
- 7th – 11 (14 non *Walk)
- 8th – 6 (14 non *Walk)
- 9th – 9 (13 non *Walk)
- 10th – 7 (5 non *Walk)
- M10 – 2 (11 non *Walk)
- M11 – 6 (10 non *Walk)
- M12 – 2 (6 non *Walk)
- M13 – 4 (18 non *Walk)
Eleven of the 18 cards that are non *Walk are new (or 6 of the 13 non uncommon cycle ones if you want to think of it that way. Five of non *Walk cards search for Basic Land types including Rampant Growth’s “replacement” Farseek, which was in Ravnica the last time it was printed. Gem of Becoming might have said “Basic” on it if it was printed in another Core Set. Even a new Planeswalker, Liliana, references Swamps in all of her abilities even though she previously never had an ability to connect her to Swamps. Her common “helper” card, Liliana’s Shade, goes get any Swamp as well.
Now, here’s the trick with speculation: in three months, this post could turn out all wrong. There were never any Dual Lands in Return to Ravnica only more cards that helped push basic lands. I’m just presenting one piece of evidence, backed up by data. And WotC is known to throw curveballs from time to time (See: Nicol Bolas as the only Multi-colored card in the Core Set).
In fact, we may get Dual Lands with basic land types but not the ones we’ve seen before. It’s possible, and even likely, that we could get new lands besides the Ravnica Shocklands. They might be pushed to help out in Legacy (this would be the perfect time for them) and to go along side the ones in Modern. For that, I have no idea; there’s no proof of any other type of land (but there wouldn’t be). All I can say is that I’m looking at the numbers for some sort of Dual Lands with basic land types, and they point towards yes.
But what do I know?
This is all speculation.
For those that don’t like Bullet Points, here’s a chart of the relevant info.
MTG Color Pie 
Interesting post. I think all the hints that aren’t really hints, so to speak, from Wizards of the Coast are a little frustrating, but it definitely makes it look like they have something – of some kind – planned for Return to Ravnica. Personally, I find some of the constant speculation people have a little annoying – they’ve been predicted to be returning in nearly every set since Ravnica, and often in not as nuanced a way as you’ve done (“the definitely maybe is good enough for me!”). As you said, all we can do is wait and see.
“Actual dual lands”? Doesn’t the shocklands have basic land types as well? The only difference between an Underground Sea and Watery grave is an additional line of text mentioning that it comes into play tapped.
“Dual Lands” meaning lands that can produce two colors, like the M10 Dual lands. I was referring to the Shocklands or some equal that includes basic lands types.