How Many Dual Lands Should a Two-Colored EDH Deck Contain?
Commander Deck Help forum
Posted on March 24, 2022, 9:08 p.m. by DemonDragonJ
I am planning to soon build my first two-colored EDH deck, so I would like some advice for it. More specifically, it shall be a two-colored deck with Liesa, Shroud of Dusk as the general, and I am wondering how many dual lands I should put into such a deck.
Obviously, lands such as Godless Shrine, Isolated Chapel, and Fetid Heath are a given, but, after that, I am less certain. In any other deck, I would never include a lifegain tapland, but a deck such as this could take advantage of the life gained from Scoured Barrens. Vault of Champions and Concealed Courtyard are too situational, but I would have no problem with Shattered Sanctum; Tainted Field and Temple of Silence are nice, but nothing spectacular, and what about Silent Clearing? Is it good, or does War Room render it obsolete?
What does everyone else say about this? How many dual lands should a two-colored EDH deck contain?
I say a dual colored deck should be running all of the untapped sources of its color combination it can afford, because there aren’t enough yet to be that picky. If you can’t afford them, there are tons of enters tapped options you should run, which is better than running too many basics. 2 color mana bases are among the harder ones to do properly. I honestly think 3 color mana bases are the sweet spot.
March 24, 2022 11:47 p.m.
FormOverFunction says... #5
Just make sure you’re not playing against an idiot like FormOverFunction who loves to run Primal Order.
March 25, 2022 10:58 a.m.
bushido_man96 says... #6
Playing in black and white, you don't have any issues with card draw, so I wouldn't concern yourself with putting card draw options in your mana base too much.
I personally don't like filter lands like Fetid Heath or Mossfire Valley, or anything from those cycles. It's like having signets in your mana base, and that just bothers me for some reason. I don't want to pay mana to tap a land for two mana.
I would say that you would probably want to run between 10 and 12 dual type lands in a two-colored deck, depending on the balance of the two colors in the deck. Of course, your mileage may vary. I like to run as many basics as I can. If budget isn't a concern for you, then running all the pricy duals may be your jam. My budget is limited, so I run rather budget mana bases, usually with tapped lands. Aside from the dual lands you run, staples like Command Tower and Exotic Orchard help to smooth things out. And don't forget about useful utility lands, based on what your deck wants to do. Ghost Quarter and Tectonic Edge are always pretty useful.
March 25, 2022 11:06 a.m.
bushido_man96 says... #7
FormOverFunction, I love seeing cards that punish nonbasic lands.
March 25, 2022 11:08 a.m.
Like FormOverFunction said, do be careful about those non-basic punishment cards. This will really depend on your local meta/specific play group. I used to be that player who punished those aggressive or ‘greedy’ land plays and, as a result, won quite a few games with either a Ruination, Blood Moon, Burning Earth, or (my personal favorite) Price of Progress.
March 25, 2022 11:32 a.m.
In regard to your question of Silent Clearing and War Room - card draw wins games, and you can never have too much of it unless you kill yourself with it. I would definitely run Silent Clearing, and possibly War Room.
If I were to build a Black/White deck, my base for lands that tap for either color would look something like this:
- Command Tower
- Godless Shrine
- Caves of Koilos
- Vault of Champions
- Tainted Field
- Silent Clearing
- Brightclimb Pathway Flip
Then, depending on if you feel like you need more, you could run the following:
I tend to stay away from lands that have a condition where they either entered tapped or untapped, and I straight up avoid lands that enter tapped. The Battlebond cycle, (Vault of Champions), is an exception because if you are playing commander, then they will enter untapped as you probably are playing multiplayer. Lands like Isolated Chapel more than likely will enter untapped, but there is a nonzero possibility of a situation like them being in your opening hand and you only have lands like Reliquary Tower or Command Tower in it as well, causing it to more than likely enter tapped.
March 25, 2022 4:55 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #10
Is Reflecting Pool good for a two-colored deck, or is it better in decks with three or more colors?
March 25, 2022 6:44 p.m.
It's fine in any deck with multiple colors provided it's serving it's specific purpose as a land you intend to play as your third land drop. If Reflecting pool is messing with the math and decreasing the statistical likelihood of your opening hands hitting their timing marks for deploying critical deck components then it's a no go. Outside of that situation, as long as your deck is at least 2 colors, it's an acceptable card to occupy a land slot.
March 25, 2022 7:49 p.m.
Ehh, I'm rather indifferent on Reflecting Pool. I don't run it because I don't own one, and I probably wouldn't run it because of - as jaymc1130 said - it can screw you over depending on what lands you have or not. I think it's neat, but not absolutely needed. I would personally just rather run a basic in it's place because you know what you're getting with a basic.
March 25, 2022 11:04 p.m. Edited.
bushido_man96 says... #13
I tend to save Reflecting Pool for my 3+ color decks. If I run at least 8 dual-colored lands in a two-color deck, I don't tend to have problems fixing mana.
March 25, 2022 11:08 p.m. Edited.
Gidgetimer says... #14
I run 8-9 dual colored lands in 2-color decks and it works out fine for me. Many of them are tapped lands and that also works out fine for me. Realistically most people are not playing at a high enough level that the difference is going to matter. People like to talk about how bad the slow lands are in that they will not come in untapped on the first two turns and then proceed to run a mana curve that is more like a wall at 7 and an average cmc of 4.5+. Pick a lane. If you are going to complain about my Golgari Guildgate being slow, you don't get to also complain that the deck as a whole is too efficient and consistent. (Yes, I have had the same person make both complaints about the same deck.)
Like, if you really want to nerd out about it Pip density, color balance, how much non-land fixing you have, and what color (if any) that fixing is in will all play a role in how many dual colored lands you will want to run. A good starting point is 25-30% of your lands making both colors and then adjust from there depending.
March 26, 2022 3:03 a.m.
If you're playing a deck that's going to be doing a fair bit of land searching, then you want to pay attention to how many basics are in your deck, & maybe run a few more than you otherwise would.
Liesa is not one of these decks, so (as long as the land comes into play untapped) run as many dual lands as you have access to.
When it comes to lands that enter the battlefield tapped, this is where you're going to run into differing opinions (and rightly so). Some decks are a lot more comfortable than others with playing lots of etb tapped lands. I'm going to give a Conservative estimate that you can get away with about 25% of your lands (most likely 8) entering tapped, but your experience may vary so be prepared to adjust this figure as you get a bit of play experience with the deck.
Grubbernaut says... #2
Obviously going to depend on your meta and budget, but: painland, fastland, bondland, pathway, canopy land, city of Brass, Mana Confluence, gemstone caverns, all the relevant fetches are a good start.
March 24, 2022 9:18 p.m.