Building a Budget Commander Mana Base: Best Cheap Dual Lands by Color Pair

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The mana base is the least exciting part of a Commander deck to shop for, and often the most expensive. Some famous dual lands cost hundreds of dollars, which can make it feel like a smooth mana base is out of reach.

It is not. Frequent reprints in Commander products mean dozens of very good dual lands cost well under a dollar. This guide walks through every common type of dual land, tells you which cheap cycles are worth your money, and gives you a ready-made shopping list for all ten two-color pairs.

Best budget dual lands by color pair

Start here. This is the shopping list for all ten two-color pairs: one check land, one pain land, one slow land and one scry land each. Prices are the TCGplayer market price of the cheapest printing at the time of writing, and the card shown is that printing. Under each budget row you will also find typed, fetchable upgrades like shock lands and fetch lands for when you want to spend a bit more. Prices move, so check the current price before you buy. New to these land types? They are explained further down.

Jump to:  Azorius ·  Dimir ·  Rakdos ·  Gruul ·  Selesnya ·  Orzhov ·  Izzet ·  Golgari ·  Boros ·  Simic

White-blue (Azorius)

All four: about $2.02. Even cheaper backups: Tranquil Cove (~$0.07) and Azorius Guildgate (~$0.08).

Typed and fetchable picks: these lands are Plains and Islands by type (“Land — Plains Island”), so fetch lands and spells like Farseek or Nature’s Lore can find them. Prairie Stream is the budget pick: it enters untapped once you control two basic lands. Irrigated Farmland (~$0.16) is another cheap typed option that enters tapped but can be cycled away late in the game.

Blue-black (Dimir)

All four: about $2.70. Even cheaper backups: Dismal Backwater (~$0.13) and Dimir Guildgate (~$0.13).

Typed and fetchable picks: these lands are Islands and Swamps by type (“Land — Island Swamp”), so fetch lands and spells like Farseek or Nature’s Lore can find them. Sunken Hollow is the budget pick: it enters untapped once you control two basic lands. Fetid Pools (~$0.28) is another cheap typed option that enters tapped but can be cycled away late in the game.

Black-red (Rakdos)

All four: about $2.35. Even cheaper backups: Bloodfell Caves (~$0.14) and Rakdos Guildgate (~$0.10).

Typed and fetchable picks: these lands are Swamps and Mountains by type (“Land — Swamp Mountain”), so fetch lands and spells like Farseek or Nature’s Lore can find them. Smoldering Marsh is the budget pick: it enters untapped once you control two basic lands. Canyon Slough (~$0.22) is another cheap typed option that enters tapped but can be cycled away late in the game.

Red-green (Gruul)

All four: about $1.55. Even cheaper backups: Rugged Highlands (~$0.10) and Gruul Guildgate (~$0.11).

Typed and fetchable picks: these lands are Mountains and Forests by type (“Land — Mountain Forest”), so fetch lands and spells like Farseek or Nature’s Lore can find them. Cinder Glade is the budget pick: it enters untapped once you control two basic lands. Sheltered Thicket (~$0.18) is another cheap typed option that enters tapped but can be cycled away late in the game.

Green-white (Selesnya)

All four: about $1.67. Even cheaper backups: Blossoming Sands (~$0.14) and Selesnya Guildgate (~$0.10).

Typed and fetchable picks: these lands are Forests and Plains by type (“Land — Forest Plains”), so fetch lands and spells like Farseek or Nature’s Lore can find them. Canopy Vista is the budget pick: it enters untapped once you control two basic lands. Scattered Groves (~$0.28) is another cheap typed option that enters tapped but can be cycled away late in the game.

White-black (Orzhov)

All four: about $2.33. Even cheaper backups: Scoured Barrens (~$0.15) and Orzhov Guildgate (~$0.11).

Typed and fetchable picks: these lands are Plains and Swamps by type (“Land — Plains Swamp”), so fetch lands and spells like Farseek or Nature’s Lore can find them. This color pair has no cheap typed dual, so Godless Shrine is the first one worth buying.

Blue-red (Izzet)

All four: about $2.81. Even cheaper backups: Swiftwater Cliffs (~$0.11) and Izzet Guildgate (~$0.11).

Typed and fetchable picks: these lands are Islands and Mountains by type (“Land — Island Mountain”), so fetch lands and spells like Farseek or Nature’s Lore can find them. This color pair has no cheap typed dual, so Steam Vents is the first one worth buying.

Black-green (Golgari)

All four: about $3.89. Even cheaper backups: Jungle Hollow (~$0.15) and Golgari Guildgate (~$0.13).

Typed and fetchable picks: these lands are Swamps and Forests by type (“Land — Swamp Forest”), so fetch lands and spells like Farseek or Nature’s Lore can find them. This color pair has no cheap typed dual, so Overgrown Tomb is the first one worth buying.

Red-white (Boros)

All four: about $2.96. Even cheaper backups: Wind-Scarred Crag (~$0.08) and Boros Guildgate (~$0.08).

Typed and fetchable picks: these lands are Mountains and Plains by type (“Land — Mountain Plains”), so fetch lands and spells like Farseek or Nature’s Lore can find them. This color pair has no cheap typed dual, so Sacred Foundry is the first one worth buying.

Green-blue (Simic)

All four: about $1.54. Even cheaper backups: Thornwood Falls (~$0.13) and Simic Guildgate (~$0.11).

Typed and fetchable picks: these lands are Forests and Islands by type (“Land — Forest Island”), so fetch lands and spells like Farseek or Nature’s Lore can find them. This color pair has no cheap typed dual, so Breeding Pool is the first one worth buying.

What a good budget mana base needs

A good mana base does two jobs. It lets you cast your spells on time, and it gives you the right colors when you need them. Everything else is a bonus.

For a casual deck, that means three simple goals:

• Enough lands overall. Usually 36 to 38. If you are not sure, our guide on how many lands a Commander deck should run has a simple formula.
• Enough sources of each color. Roughly 20 or more for your main color and 15 or more for your second color.
• Not too many lands that enter tapped. Each tapped land costs you a little tempo. Three to five is fine. Ten is a problem.

You do not need perfect lands to hit those goals. You need sensible ones.

Dual land types explained

Magic has printed a lot of dual land cycles over the years. Here is what each common type does, in plain terms, and roughly what it costs.

Taplands: guildgates, gainlands, scry lands and thriving lands

These always enter the battlefield tapped, but give you two colors and sometimes a small bonus.

• Guildgates like Orzhov Guildgate have no bonus, but cost around 10 cents.
• Gainlands like Scoured Barrens gain you 1 life when they enter. Also around 10 to 15 cents.
• Scry lands (the Temples) like Temple of Silence let you scry 1 when they enter, which helps you avoid flooding. Usually around 15 to 25 cents.
• Thriving lands like Thriving Heath make one fixed color plus a second color you choose when they enter, so they fit any deck with that color.

Taplands are the cheapest way to fix your colors, but they slow you down. Use them as filler, not as the backbone.

Check lands

Check lands like Isolated Chapel enter untapped if you already control a basic land type that matches one of their colors. In a two-color deck with plenty of basics, they are untapped most of the time after your first turn. Thanks to constant reprints, the cheapest printings cost roughly 20 to 60 cents.

Slow lands

Slow lands like Shattered Sanctum enter untapped if you control two or more other lands. That makes them tapped on turns one and two but untapped afterward, which is exactly when Commander decks start casting their important spells. The cheapest printings cost roughly $0.70 to $2.50.

Pain lands

Pain lands like Caves of Koilos always enter untapped. They tap for colorless for free, or for one of their two colors at the cost of 1 damage. With 40 starting life, that damage rarely matters. The cheapest printings cost under 60 cents.

Pathways

Pathways like Brightclimb Pathway are double-sided lands that always enter untapped. The catch is that you choose which side to play, so each one only makes one color for the whole game. They usually cost around $4 to $9, so they sit at the top of a budget.

Bond lands (battlebond lands)

Bond lands like Sea of Clouds enter untapped as long as you have two or more opponents, which is almost always true in Commander. They are excellent, but most cost $8 to $30, so they are an upgrade for later rather than a budget pick.

Tri-lands

Tri-lands like Mystic Monastery enter tapped but make three colors. For a three-color deck, that extra color is worth the tempo. Most cost 15 to 35 cents.

Pricier cycles that keep getting cheaper

Shock lands and fetch lands used to be the expensive part of every serious mana base. That is changing. They get reprinted regularly, in premium sets, Commander products and special releases, and every big reprint pushes the price of the cheapest printing down. None of these lands are needed for a fun casual deck, but they are now a realistic upgrade you can make one card at a time.

Shock lands

Shock lands like Overgrown Tomb can enter untapped if you pay 2 life, or tapped for free. They have both basic land types, so they work with fetch lands, Farseek and Nature’s Lore, and they turn on your check lands. The cheapest printings cost roughly $7 to $10 each.

Fetch lands

Fetch lands like Windswept Heath let you pay 1 life and sacrifice them to search your deck for a land with one of two basic land types. On their own they just find a basic, but paired with shock lands and other typed duals, one fetch land can grab whichever two colors you need. The allied fetch lands (the ones for neighboring colors) cost about $12 to $19, the enemy ones about $29 to $37.

Surveil lands

Surveil lands like Lush Portico always enter tapped, but they let you surveil 1 and they have both basic land types, so they are fetchable. Expect to pay about $6 to $16. In a budget deck they are a nice extra, not a priority.

Triomes

Triomes enter tapped, make three colors and have all three basic land types, so a single fetch land or Farseek can find one. You can also cycle them for 3 mana late in the game. Most cost $9 to $21. See the three-color section for the full list.

Original dual lands

The original dual lands like Underground Sea are untapped, painless and fetchable, but they are on the Reserved List and will never be reprinted. The cheapest copies cost well over $1,000. Skip them.

Fetchability: why basic land types matter

Look at the type line of a dual land. Some say just “Land”, but others say something like “Land — Swamp Forest”. That second kind really is a Swamp and a Forest as far as the rules go, so any card that searches for “a Forest card” can find it. This is called fetchability, and it quietly makes your whole mana base better.

• Ramp cards like Nature’s Lore, Three Visits and Wood Elves put any Forest card onto the battlefield. In a black-green deck, that can be Overgrown Tomb instead of a basic Forest, so your ramp spell fixes black too.
• The ramp spell Farseek finds a Plains, Island, Swamp or Mountain card, so in a red-white deck it can grab Sacred Foundry or Elegant Parlor. In three-color decks it can even find a triome.
• The ramp spell Skyshroud Claim finds two Forest cards, which can be two typed duals.
• Fetch lands search for either of two land types, so Flooded Strand can find Hallowed Fountain, but also Watery Grave or Breeding Pool in a deck with more colors.

Cards that only search for a basic land, like Evolving Wilds, Fabled Passage, Rampant Growth and Cultivate, cannot find typed duals. They are still great, just not in the same way.

Typed lands have one more bonus: they turn on check lands. Glacial Fortress checks for a Plains or an Island, and Hallowed Fountain or Prairie Stream counts as both.

Typed duals on a budget: the battle lands (Prairie Stream (~$0.18), Sunken Hollow (~$0.29), Smoldering Marsh (~$0.27), Cinder Glade (~$0.25), Canopy Vista (~$0.26)) enter untapped once you control two basic lands, and the cycling lands (Irrigated Farmland (~$0.16), Fetid Pools (~$0.28), Canyon Slough (~$0.22), Sheltered Thicket (~$0.18), Scattered Groves (~$0.28)) enter tapped but can be cycled for 2. Both cycles only exist for the five allied color pairs (neighbors on the color wheel). For the enemy pairs, the cheapest typed duals are the surveil lands and shock lands.

Which cheap cycles are worth it

If you only remember one section, make it this one. Here is our ranking of the cheap cycles for casual Commander:

1. Check lands. Untapped most of the time in two-color decks, and dirt cheap thanks to reprints.
2. Pain lands. Always untapped, and the life loss rarely matters with 40 life.
3. Slow lands. Great from turn three onward, which is when most Commander games really start.
4. Scry lands. The best of the taplands, because the scry helps every time.
5. Gainlands and guildgates. Perfectly fine filler when you need a few more dual lands.

For three-color decks, add tri-lands right after the pain lands. They are slow, but fixing all three colors is very valuable.

Tri-lands for three-color decks

If your commander has three colors, tri-lands are some of the best value in the game. They enter tapped, but every one of them fixes your whole deck. Most cost around 25 cents.

In a three-color deck, a good budget recipe is one tri-land, two or three duals for each color pair, and Command Tower. That alone gives you a dozen or so lands that fix more than one color.

Upgrade: triomes. Triomes also enter tapped, but they have all three basic land types, so fetch lands and Farseek can find them (Nature’s Lore too, if the triome includes Forest), and you can cycle them for 3 mana when you no longer need lands. They cost more, roughly $9 to $21, but like shock lands they keep getting reprinted.

Utility lands worth including

Not every land needs to be a dual. These cheap lands earn a slot in almost any budget deck:

• Command Tower taps for any color in your commander’s identity and always enters untapped. Play it in every deck with two or more colors.
• Exotic Orchard taps for any color an opponent’s land could make. In a four-player game, that usually covers your colors.
• Path of Ancestry taps for any color in your identity, enters tapped, and lets you scry when you cast a creature that shares a type with your commander.
• Evolving Wilds, Terramorphic Expanse and Ash Barrens fetch a basic land of any type, which makes them great fixers in decks with three or more colors.
• Fabled Passage is a faster version of the above, at under a dollar.
• Myriad Landscape fetches two basics that share a type, which is nice ramp for one- and two-color decks.
• Rogue’s Passage makes a creature unblockable, which helps big creature decks close games.
• Reliquary Tower removes your maximum hand size, perfect for card draw decks.

Be careful with colorless utility lands in decks with three or more colors. Each one is a land that cannot help you cast colored spells, so keep it to one or two.

Mana rocks that fix your colors

Lands are not your only fixing. Two-mana rocks speed you up and smooth your colors at the same time. These are the best cheap options:

• Arcane Signet taps for any color in your commander’s identity. Around 40 cents, and it belongs in nearly every deck.
• Talismans, like Talisman of Progress for white-blue or Talisman of Conviction for red-white, tap for one of two colors (at the cost of 1 life) or colorless for free. The cheapest printings often cost under a dollar.
• Signets, like Orzhov Signet, turn one mana into two colored mana. Usually a dollar or less.
• Fellwar Stone taps for any color an opponent’s land could make. Around 60 cents.
• Commander’s Sphere taps for any color in your identity and can be traded in for a card later.
• Sol Ring does not fix colors, but it is the best ramp in the format and comes in nearly every preconstructed deck.

Plan on two to four color-fixing rocks in a two-color deck, and four or more in a three-color deck.

A sample budget mana base

Here is what a full 37-land black-green base might look like on a tight budget:

• Command Tower, Woodland Cemetery, Llanowar Wastes, Deathcap Glade and Temple of Malady
• Jungle Hollow, Golgari Guildgate, Evolving Wilds and Myriad Landscape
• Rogue’s Passage for a little utility
• 14 Forests and 13 Swamps

That base has five lands that enter tapped, offers around 22 sources of each color, and costs roughly $5 for the nonbasic lands at October prices. If you want to save more, swap the slow land for a second budget tapland.

How many tapped lands is too many?

Every land that enters tapped is effectively a skipped mana on that turn. One or two will not hurt you. A deck with eight or more often finds itself a full turn behind.

For most casual decks, aim for three to five lands that always enter tapped. Slow lands and check lands do not count against this budget once the game gets going, because they are usually untapped from turn three on.

Not sure how your list stacks up? Run it through our free Deck Checker. It counts your lands, tapped lands and color sources so you can spot problems before your next game night.

Frequently asked questions

Are guildgates bad in Commander?

Not bad, just slow. They are fine in a budget deck, especially in three-color decks that need fixing. As your budget grows, they are usually the first lands to upgrade.

Should I play basic lands at all?

Yes. Basics are free, check lands need them, and many ramp spells can only fetch basic lands. In a two-color deck, about two-thirds of your lands can be basics.

What is the first mana base upgrade I should make?

Add Command Tower and Arcane Signet if you do not have them, then replace guildgates with check lands or pain lands in your colors. That combination costs a few dollars and makes a noticeable difference.

Do I need fetch lands and shock lands?

No. They are nice, but they mainly matter in high-power games. A casual deck with check lands, pain lands and slow lands will cast its spells on time almost as often. That said, they keep getting reprinted and cheaper, and shock lands now cost about $7 to $10. If you play ramp spells like Farseek or Nature’s Lore, shock lands are a good first upgrade because those spells can find them. See fetchability above.