Commander Deck Budget Land Base
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on Aug. 24, 2015, 8:12 p.m. by srgpoofy
The land base of a commander deck is one of the more important parts of the deck. You can spend anywhere from hundreds of dollars for a tricked out land base or no money at all for all basics. This thread is created to discuss the land base specifically being the more budget lands available (around $5 or less for the land).
Obviously the best lands for commander decks are the Dual, Fetch and the Shock lands and that I think is an undisputed fact. Those lands however come with a fair price attached to them. So what about the next tier down of lands:
Check Lands (Hinterland Harbor etc.)
Temples (Temple of Epiphany etc.)
Pain Lands (Underground River etc.)
Vivid Lands (Vivid Grove etc.)
Tap Lands (Salt Flats etc.)
Fast Lands (Copperline Gorge etc.)
Tri Lands (Seaside Citadel etc.)
(and any other land category I missed)
what are your preferences for a budget land base that you include in the deck and how do you rank the effectiveness of the budget lands in terms of which are more effective vs least.
The guild gates are okay if you don't run more than two or three, Azorius Guildgate, etc. otherwise they can kind of hurt your tempo. Karoo lands are similar in that regard, Azorius Chancery, etc. Handy on a budget.
August 24, 2015 8:43 p.m.
FancyTuesday says... #4
Don't forget filter lands, which come in top tier (Sunken Ruins) and 2nd tier (Darkwater Catacombs) flavors.
Among that 2nd tier, my favorites are easily the checklands, since they're functionally duals for all practical applications. Non-tap painlands with painless colorless are good too, and Trilands are ok. After that though things are just kinda eh. I play scrys because I have too for mana fixing, not because I love 'em to death, and fastlands might as well be taplands in EDH.
August 24, 2015 9:05 p.m.
you would be better of just running guildgates or Mana Confluence over the Salt Flats cycle.
August 24, 2015 9:13 p.m.
As previously stated, the Panoramas are good fill in lands for fetches as the don't come in tapped. Budget wise, I'm aslo a big fan of Myriad Landscape, Evolving Wilds and Terramorphic Expanse (even in mono-coloured decks).
Check Lands are in my opinion the best out of the budget mana fixers. If your mana base is budget, there is a good chance you will be basic heavy, meaning the checks work well. And if you have a more advanced mana base you'll be running the shocks (and maybe ABURs) meaning the checks work well. They're basically win-win.
Unless you're running cards that benefit from gate (Gatecreeper Vine, etc) you're better off running the refuges (Sejiri Refuge, etc) or the new khans versions as you may as well take advantage of the lifegain.
I think for the fast lands you need to analyse your deck to see if they're a viable play - I've seen decks running fast lands with nothing less than 3 drops which doesn't make sense.
Filter lands are ok, however I would only recommend them for dual coloured decks. Above that, they start getting messy. My personal preference on cards like Darkwater Catacombs is don't. Lands that you need to put an investment into just to get mana out (with the exception of things like Cabal Coffers) is bad. I have had one land hands I've kept becasue they had good ramp, however T2 filters can't facilitate those kind of plays.
As for the bounce lands - gain I personally don't like them. While the give you additional mana (3 mana, 2 lands) they slow tempo. If you have a basic and a bounce and a Rampant Growth you have to wait until turn 3 to play it. Whereas if I had a refuge, a basic and a Rampant Growth I could lead with the refuge into the basic into ramp. They are also very open to land destruction - if a player is reliant on the bounce (especially for both its colours) one Strip Mine will wreck them. For super casual play they're ok but thats where I would leave them.
I'd like to take a second to talk about utility lands. One land I see a lot of decks run is Reliquary Tower - unless your deck is draw heavy (and two to three draws spells is not) then you probably don't need to run this. Instead of just putting it every deck, remember to analyse how much draw you actually have and only use accordingly. On the other hand, every deck should be running some form of land destruction. obviously Strip Mine is the best and more than that, it's not expensive depending on the version you get. But aside from it, there is Tectonic Edge (a good budget solution) and Ghost Quarter (an ok budget solution). These come in handy against a opponent's Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, Cabal Coffers, Maze of Ith, Mystifying Maze, Rogue's Passage, etc. Or if a control player is sitting on a big hand, destroying their Reliquary Tower can make them make hard decisions.
Similarly, if you run a commander like Sliver Overlord or Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund then Homeward Path is a MUST for your deck. Nothing worse than having your commander cloned then stolen.
August 24, 2015 9:54 p.m.
killroy726 says... #7
I'm a fan of the tri-lands and the vivids. But I also love to use the any color lands like Rupture Spire. I'm a very budget player and most of these are go to for me they may be slower but I'm not shelling out that kind of cash for a mana base
August 25, 2015 12:23 a.m.
If you don't mind sorting through a bunch of information check manabasecrafter.com . just select your commander and price limits. Otherwise, for a three colored deck, I'd just run command tower, the tapped tri land, 2-3 cycles of tapped duals (khans gain lands are cheap and scry lands will be tank when they rotate), basics, and your favorite utility lands. Your mana base will be solid
August 25, 2015 5:17 a.m.
Karns_Pyromancer says... #9
I'm a huge proponent of the Mirage fetches (Grasslands) and stuff like Krosan Verge or Tainted Field.
Refuges are some of the better budget duals for EDH. Checklands, Temples, Painlands and Taplands are definitely better, but not always budget viable as Standard and Modern can affect those prices.
I am very excited to see what the teased BFZ duals look like. WotC has been focusing on more common duals for Limited lately and I think these should be good.
August 25, 2015 8:24 a.m.
MagicalHacker says... #10
Here's what I run in terms of color fixing:
5 or less colors:
- THE fetchlands
- ABUR duals
- Shocklands
- Command Tower, except mono colored
3 or less colors:
- Checklands
- Hybrid filters
- Old filter lands
- Timeshifted duals
- Tainted lands
2 or less colors:
- Temples
- Ravnica karoos
- Fastlands
1 or less colors:
- Cycling lands
Obviously, utility lands are always useful, but I know that the more colors in the deck, the fewer utility lands you can run, because colorscrew is a real thing.
As for budget options, some of the above cards aren't expensive at all.
August 25, 2015 8:51 a.m.
the.beanpole says... #11
There was a run of uncommon allied fetchlands in Mirage that tap on ETB and let you fetch a land untapped: Bad River, Flood Plain, Rocky Tar Pit, Grasslands, and Mountain Valley. It is kind of a neat twist on Evolving Wilds. On the even-more-plus side, they have the ability to fetch up shocklands too if you happen to have them! :D
August 25, 2015 9:15 a.m.
MagicalHacker says... #12
Dude those fetch lands are actually really good for a budget deck, as they're dirt cheap but work for three colored decks amazingly.
August 25, 2015 9:33 a.m.
Karns_Pyromancer says... #13
Don't forget Riftstone Portal, Krosan Verge, River of Tears or Nimbus Maze.
August 25, 2015 9:48 a.m.
MagicalHacker says... #14
Oh yeah, and the new Krosan Verge, Myriad Landscape, although it's not actually as much of a budget option on magic online.
August 25, 2015 10:05 a.m.
ComradeJim270 says... #15
Checklands are a great budget option. Theros scrylands are also especially good in a singleton format and there are times I'd rather see those than a shock! In general though, lands coming in tapped is a very minor drawback in EDH. The games go so long that it rarely hurts you, especially since any well-designed EDH deck should have a solid ramp package.
mathimus55 says... #2
I've always been a huge supporter of the panorama's(Esper Panorama, Jund Panorama etc) as a cheap alternative to fetches. They aren't a terrible top deck like Evolving Wilds since they will tap for color less mana themselves and will fix colors for your early. For 25-30 cents each they're criminally overlooked if you're building budget 3+ color decks.
August 24, 2015 8:20 p.m.