Magic: The Gathering's widely popular Commander format allows players to build 99-card singleton decks that synergize with a legendary creature a player selects as their Commander. As a non-rotating eternal format, the Commander format allows players to choose from among a staggering number of legal cards. With such an enormous pool of cards to choose from, it can often be difficult to determine which types of cards will best suit a deck, especially when budget is accounted for.RELATED: The Origin Of Magic: The Gathering, Explained
We're going to shine a light on some of the best land cycles that players should consider using when building their next Commander deck!
Before we begin, we should note that while some cards on this list will be more valuable than others, we will be accounting for budget to some extent, so notably pricy lands such as the cycle of original Alpha dual lands will be omitted from this list.
8 Triomes
For those playing a deck that features three or more colors, Triomes are a must-have. Though these lands enter the battlefield tapped, they can produce three different colors of mana, maintaining the land types of their corresponding colors of mana, allowing them to be searched for with relevant effects.
In addition to providing flexible mana fixing, if a player draws into a Triome when it isn't needed, these lands have a Cycling cost of three mana, meaning they can be discarded to draw a card. While the first cycle of Triomes only included the three-color wedges, the cycle is confirmed to be completed within the upcoming set, Streets of New Capenna.
7 Pain Lands
One of the defining elements of the Commander format is that, unlike traditional sixty-card formats in which players begin games with twenty life, players in Commander games begin with forty life. This makes the use of Pain Lands much less taxing within Commander. Pain Lands are lands that can be tapped to produce one colorless mana, or one of two potential colors dictated by the given land.
If a player uses a Pain Land to produce colored mana, that player loses one life. Due to the high life totals of Commander, this damage is often negligible. However, if a player's life total becomes low enough that the use of such a land could become a factor, Pain Lands can still offer value through the production of colorless mana.
6 Slow Lands
Printed between Innistrad: Midnight Hunt and Innistrad: Crimson Vow, the Slow Lands are among some of the most underrated lands in Commander. Capable of producing one of two colors of mana, Slow Lands enter the battlefield tapped unless their owner controls two or more other lands. This means that unless a Slow Land is played within the first two turns of the game, it will enter the battlefield untapped.
As it's safe to say that Commander games most often exceed two turns, in most cases, a player will be able to have their Slow Lands enter the battlefield untapped without any trouble.
5 Check Lands
Check Lands are an excellent budget land option in Commander that, like Slow Lands, enter the battlefield untapped if a key condition is met. While these lands are capable of producing different colors of mana, they enter the battlefield untapped if the land's owner controls a land whose type corresponds to the colors the Check Land at hand can produce.
For example, the Rakdos Checkland, Dragonskull Summit, can produce Black and Red mana and therefore enters the battlefield untapped if its owner controls a Swamp or a Mountain. It's important to note that the lands in play of these types aren't required to be basic, so the presence of something like a Triome would allow a Check Land to enter the battlefield untapped.
4 Pathway Lands
Pathway Lands were printed between Zendikar Rising and Kaldheim, and are among the most straightforward cycles on this list. Modal double-faced cards, the two faces of a Pathway Land, each enter the battlefield untapped and are each capable of producing a different color of mana.
This means that if a player needs more sources of a given color of mana, they can simply play the face of their Pathway land that will better serve them in that moment. This allows Pathway Lands to effectively function as two drawn cards in one.
3 Shock Lands
Heavily played in a variety of formats, Shock Lands are easily among the strongest Dual Lands players can employ in Commander. Capable of producing two different colors of mana, when one of these lands enters the battlefield, the land's controller may choose to "shock" themselves, sustaining two damage. If they do, that land enters the battlefield untapped.
As life totals are quite high in Commander, much like Pain Lands, this loss of life is even more negligible than that of a Pain Land. Additionally, if a player doesn't have need for a single mana on the turn a Shock Land is played, they can simply allow it to enter the battlefield untapped.
2 Channel Lands
Recently printed in Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, Channel Lands are a cycle of legendary Mono-colored lands that can comfortably fit in any one-color, two-color, or even three-color deck. Entering the battlefield untapped, these lands can be tapped to produce one mana of their corresponding color, meaning they will often offer similar value to that of a basic land.
However, each of these lands have Channel abilities with mana costs reduced by the number of legendary creatures their owner controls. By Channeling a card, it is discarded, providing a one-time effect comparable to an instant. This allows these lands to offer additional flexibility and utility when drawn, potentially serving as a mana source or an alternative form of value.
1 Bond Lands
Printed within Battlebond and Commander Legends, Bond lands are among the consistently strongest dual lands that players can access in the Commander format outside of the original Alpha Dual Lands.
Capable of producing one of two colors of mana, a Bond Land enters the battlefield untapped as long as its controller has more than one opponent. As Commander is a multiplayer format traditionally played with four players, this means that Bond Lands are reliable untapped dual lands with virtually no drawback.
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