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The Quest for the Perfect Soil: What’s the Best Land Ratio in Commander?

The golden question in Commander (EDH): What’s the best land ratio? The frustratingly accurate answer is, “It depends!” However, a solid starting point lies between 36 and 40 lands in your 99-card deck. This constitutes roughly 36% to 40% of your deck. But before you blindly shove 38 lands into every list, let’s dig deeper into the nuances of mana bases in Commander. This will also help you with the importance of Games Learning Society‘s ideas about complex learning!

Understanding the Commander Landscape

Commander isn’t a format where you can reliably mulligan for lands every game. You start with a massive life total of 40, typically play with 3-4 players, and your deck size is gargantuan compared to 60-card formats. These factors collectively warp mana requirements.

Higher Life Totals: Games last longer. You need to make land drops consistently throughout the first few turns and into the mid-game. Stumbling on mana early can be recoverable, but missing land drops from turns 4-7 can cripple your ability to impact the board.
Multiplayer Environment: Each turn you aren’t advancing your board state, you’re falling behind. You need to be able to participate in the evolving boardstate or risk being run over. This requires a consistent flow of mana.
Singleton Format: Commander is a singleton format, which means you can only have one copy of a non-basic land. This makes consistent color fixing more challenging and increases the importance of well-rounded mana bases.

Factors Influencing Your Land Count

The “best” land count is never fixed. Here are some key considerations:

1. Mana Curve: The Bellwether of Your Mana Base

The mana curve is the single most important factor. A deck brimming with 2-3 mana value (MV) creatures can comfortably run fewer lands than a deck built around haymakers like Blightsteel Colossus. Analyze your deck’s average mana value (CMC or converted mana cost).

Low Curve (Average MV under 2.5): 32-36 lands can be sufficient, especially if supplemented with ample ramp. Think aggro decks or decks heavily reliant on early-game interaction.
Mid-Range Curve (Average MV 2.5-3.5): 36-40 lands is the sweet spot. Most Commander decks fall into this category.
High Curve (Average MV 3.5+): 38-42+ lands. These decks often run more ramp and aim to cast impactful spells later in the game.

2. Ramp: The Accelerator

Ramp refers to spells and abilities that accelerate your mana production, allowing you to cast higher-cost spells earlier. Mana rocks (Sol Ring, Arcane Signet), mana dorks (Llanowar Elves, Birds of Paradise), and land-fetching spells (Rampant Growth, Cultivate) all qualify. The more ramp you include, the fewer lands you may need.

Abundant Ramp (10+ pieces): Consider shaving 1-3 lands.
Moderate Ramp (6-9 pieces): Start at the recommended land count for your mana curve.
Minimal Ramp (Less than 6 pieces): Err on the side of including more lands.

3. Card Draw and Mana Sinks: Engines of Consistency

Card draw helps you find lands when you need them, mitigating the risk of mana screw. Mana sinks are cards that can use excess mana effectively, ensuring that you don’t waste extra resources if you flood.

Significant Card Draw Engine: You can get away with running a little less lands. Blue decks are particularly prone to needing less lands.
Mana Sinks Present: These will use your extra mana from hitting a land drop.
No Card Draw or Mana Sinks: You will require a steadier stream of mana and so you should run more lands.

4. Color Requirements: Painting Your Mana Base

The more colors your deck has, the trickier it becomes to ensure you have the right mana at the right time. Color fixing refers to cards that help produce the colors of mana you need.

Mono-Colored: Easiest to manage. Focus on utility lands and ramp. You can usually run fewer lands as basic lands are all you require.
Two-Colored: Relatively straightforward. Dual lands and basic lands are often enough.
Three-Colored: Requires more attention to your mana base. Fetch lands, shock lands, and good dual lands become important.
Four or Five-Colored: This is the most challenging. You need excellent color fixing and a very careful balance of lands and ramp.

5. Mulligan Strategy: Mitigating Variance

Your mulligan strategy can also influence your land count. If you’re willing to aggressively mulligan hands without two or three lands, you might be able to run slightly fewer lands overall. However, over-mulliganing can lead to card disadvantage, which is crippling in Commander.

Beyond Lands: The Role of Mana Rocks

Mana rocks are crucial for ramping and fixing your mana. A healthy mix is essential.

Early Game Rocks (MV 1-2): Sol Ring, Mana Crypt (if you’re feeling spicy), Arcane Signet, Fellwar Stone. These help you accelerate early.
Mid-Game Rocks (MV 3+): Gilded Lotus, Thran Dynamo. These provide larger bursts of mana.
Color Fixing Rocks: Chromatic Lantern, Coalition Relic, Commander’s Sphere. These help you produce the colors you need.

A Word on Budget: Building a Cost-Effective Mana Base

Don’t break the bank on your mana base. There are budget-friendly alternatives.

Budget Dual Lands: Guildgates, tapped dual lands from various sets (e.g., Scrylands from Theros).
Budget Ramp: Signets (e.g., Dimir Signet), Talismans (e.g., Talisman of Progress), creature-based ramp like Cultivate or Kodama’s Reach.

In Conclusion: The Dynamic Duo

The “best” land ratio is a fluid concept, depending heavily on your specific deck’s needs. A good formula combines your number of lands, and mana ramp spells:

36-40 Lands
8-12 Ramp Cards

Experiment, test, and adjust based on your experience. And remember, it’s always better to err on the side of having too much mana than not enough. Afterall you’re there to have a fun and GamesLearningSociety.org is dedicated to making sure fun and learning happen together!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Is 37 lands enough for Commander?

It depends on your mana curve and ramp. For an average deck with a CMC of 3.5, 37 lands is a solid starting point. If you have a lot of ramp or a lower curve, you may want to run less than 37.

2. Is 33 lands too little for Commander?

Potentially, but not always. If your deck has a very low mana curve, lots of card draw, and ample ramp, 33 lands might be acceptable. However, be prepared to mulligan more often and risk mana screw.

3. What is the ideal land number in MTG?

There’s no single ideal number. For a 60-card deck, 24-28 lands is common. In Commander, 36-40 lands is a good starting point. The correct number depends on your deck’s curve, ramp, and strategy.

4. Is 30 lands enough for Commander?

Almost certainly not, unless you are playing a competitive cEDH deck. Even then, you need a TON of ramp to make this work. 30 is almost always not enough.

5. How much ramp should a Commander deck have?

Aim for 8-12 pieces of ramp in a typical Commander deck. Adjust based on your mana curve and color requirements.

6. How many creatures should I have in my Commander deck?

This depends entirely on the strategy, there is no right or wrong answer.

7. How many planeswalkers can you have in a Commander deck?

There is no limit to the number of planeswalkers, so long as you abide by colour identity rules and singleton format rules.

8. Do lands have color identity?

Lands are colorless cards, but can have a color identity. For instance, a land that is a plains has a white colour identity.

9. Is 32 lands too little for a Commander deck?

32 lands is a bit too little, unless you run A LOT of mana ramp.

10. How many mana rocks is too many?

If you’re playing a green deck, you may require less mana rocks. However, for a deck with no ramp, you will benefit from having a lot of mana rocks. There is no right or wrong answer here.

11. How many lands should be in a 5 Colour Commander deck?

5 colour decks are greedy and require a ton of mana fixing to work. Err on the side of having 38-40 lands, and a ton of ramp.

12. Is 34 lands enough for Commander?

It is on the low side, but it can work if you use a lot of mana ramp to speed up your play.

13. What happens if I don’t include lands in my deck?

If you don’t include lands in your deck, you won’t be able to cast spells, you must have lands to pay for their costs!

14. Can I use 3-mana cost mana rocks in my deck?

You can! These can allow you to cast a ton of high-cost spells very quickly.

15. What is the best land ratio in MTG deck?

For 60-card decks, 24-28 lands is optimal. For commander decks, 36-40 is a very good starting point!

What is the best land ratio in Commander?