MTG - How To Build a 2 Color EDH / Commander Mana Base for Magic: The Gathering

Tolarian Community College now offers videos in builds every type of EDH / Commander mana base for Magic: The Gathering decks!
How To Build a 1 Color Mana Base: • MTG - How To Build Any...
How To Build a 2 Color Mana Base: • MTG - How To Build a 2...
How To Build a 3 Color Mana Base: • MTG - How To Build a 3...
How To Build a 4 Color Mana Base: • MTG - How To Build A 4...
How To Build a 5 Color Mana Base: • MTG - How To Build a 5...
What is EDH / Commander: • MTG - Magic Defined - ...
How To Build Your First Commander Deck: • MTG - Introduction To ...
How To Choose Your Commander: • MTG - How To Choose Th...
Using a EDH / Commander Points System: • MTG - Achievement Unlo...
Teysa, Orzhov Scion Commander: • MTG - In Debt To Teysa...
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"Vintage Education" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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"The Machine Thinks" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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"Airport Lounge" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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[@houndoom73]

I would love to see an update to this list with all the new lands they have made in the last 5 years

[@ETiWells]

For real. I'm updating my commander decks today and coming back to a classic for a starting point. Unfortunately it feels like a lot of the nuance and decision-making that's needed for modern commander is lost here. How do I weigh Wayfarer's Bauble against Moonsilver Key? What are the best budget dual-lands nowadays? How do mana dorks and colorless mana rocks impact the numbers/colors of mana you bring? Some of it I can find out by playing, but I'd like more advice to help me start on the right foot.

[@bradsimpson8724]

Yeah, I'd love to see the updated version. Decks run a lot faster now, with lower mana curves and fewer lands. I know I'm going to be spending this fall tearing apart several decks to make space for new ones, and I'd love to have an updated template.

[@TolarianCommunityCollege]

Correction: Transguild Promenade is incorrectly mentioned as the budget filter land for enemy colored commanders, when of course this is incorrect. The alternative that should have been mentioned is Shimmering Grotto. Transguild Promenade should not be run AT ALL in a 2 color commander deck. Apologies for this error.

[@hippongggg]

Tolarian Community College so how about a man a base for karn, silver golem? :P

[@CragroAgg]

Also, Darksteel Relic isn't all that great as a mana source...

[@demonzero677]

Lovely to see the next of this set of videos, but you keep bugging me by not mentioning a fairly useful and affordable land. For your lands that produce any color, if you don't have mana confluence or City of Brass, Grand Coliseum is a great option. It comes into play tapped, but has the option of either tapping for one colorless mana, or tapping for one mana of any color, and then you take a point of damage. It's basically a pain land that yes comes into play tapped, but adds mana of any color to compensate. and it's dirt cheap. I think you can snag a whole play set for the price of a pain land, which is beyond budget friendly. and if you didn't know this card exists.....well now you do.

[@Starfury117]

Manabase for Karn, Silver golem is very expensive. Every land will be non-basic and full of utility ;)

[@WoWhunter007]

Starfury117 You forgot Wastes ;^)

[@robahulme]

"Also, you are a monster" :)

[@blightedadmiral7006]

Yes

[@GreyShot254]

it's really a shame how well this video highlights the discrepancy between Ally and Enemy color fixing

[@dittmar104]

It makes a little sense that enemy colours have a harder time working together due to their inherent conflict but not much

[@Starfury117]

Here are some more alternative budget lands in case it were missed in the video - Transguild Promenade and Ruptured Spire does the same thing - Warped Landscape and Terminal Moraine does the same thing - Shimmering Grotto and Unknown Shores does the same thing - Check out the Refuge lands (GW, RB, UB, UW, RG only) they come tapped and gain a life, they were from older sets like zendikar and commander and commander 2013 - Maze's End works as a fetch land except it is very slow and I would only recommend it for 3-5 colour decks because of the amount of gates 3-5 colours can run - Arcane Lighthouse is also a good utility land - Fellwar stone is a very good mana accelerator as well at 2 mana cost - Wayfarer's Bauble also another amazing mana ramp at 1+2 mana cost. Gets you any colour and can shuffle your library. Also comboes with Tinker mage with Sol Ring/Sensei Divining Top/Brittle Effigy

[@WoWhunter007]

Starfury117 The refuge lands also got a spiritual successor cycle in the form of cards like Bloodfell Caves and Blossoming Sands.

[@Starfury117]

Yea I mentioned the refuge because people might have forgotten them since they got the more recent functional reprints in Tarkir.

[@shae7168]

Yo, don't forget Opal Palace. It's almost functionally identical to Shimmering Grotto/Unkown Shores but also beefs your commander up if you use the mana it produces to cast them. Slightly better in any deck, very much better in a deck where you're trying to hit that 21 commander damage. Good list though!

[@Starfury117]

***** Good point ! I forgot about that commander 2013 card. Though becareful, its slowly creeping up, $0.5 now. www.mtggoldfish.com/price/Commander+2013+Edition/Opal+Palace#paper

[@BibliotecadeAlexandria]

This video really helped me figure out my first commander deck! Thanks, Prof!

[@szymonkoziarski2168]

I have to ask for another Cube video, the last one was quite a while ago, while caring a promise of others to come.

[@Aaron-mj9ie]

Agreed! I'd love to see a new video discussing cube. It's my favorite format at the moment. Maybe a video on how to run cube for two players would be cool.

[@GuardDogEvents]

I have waited quite a looong time for this video to come out so that i can finally get my 2 color decks set up right.THANK YOU!

[@TerribleShoes]

Hey Professor! Youre videos are always amazing and youre one of the few people who have inspired me to make my own TCG based channel! Keep up the amazing videos and thanks for everything!

[@krinnphindalin6803]

I can't like this video enough! I am buying into commander, and this helps me so much! Thanks TCC!!! Keep up the great work!!!

[@amysuma3773]

thank you so much for your commander mana base lessons. I was finally able to build my first edh deck. Thank you so much.

[@noffpoppin]

Thank you! This is helpful. Working on an Izzet deck with mostly basic lands that is always running low on blue. Looks like duals and fetches will help out.

[@hatcherp1393]

Been waiting for this. Can't wait to fix up my 2 color decks

[@kennyyuwoo]

Dear Professor, I am currently building my first commander deck and this video had being a great guide to start putting together my mana base. I good idea would be to make an update of the series taking into consideration the new land cycles such as battlebond, triumph, and path way. Also, I would be nice to make a budget option considering the highly cost of the fetchlands. Kind regards, Kenny

[@theJmanStriketh]

"Also, you are a monster" [for playing Sensei's Divining Top] - The professor 2016

[@darynu]

There is only one deck i use it in, and i think it is acceptable. Melek, Izzet Paragon. Setting up my top deck is my main focus, so i mean, cmon, top is a must. Otherwise, fuck off with the constant turn 1 tops.

[@davelawrence9100]

Hi Professor! Some friends and I are starting out in Commander after years of playing MTG. Thank you for the very helpful video. I'm going through the list to see what cards to order the group. Correction: Darksteel Ingot is shown as Darksteel Relic on your summary screen and on your commentary :) Thank you again for this video. It's of great help to me!

[@haofabs]

Thank you! I had been wating long for this :D

[@sfmike377]

Thanks this is a great series!

[@Carbocreates]

Thanks for the video and thanks for using my commander as an example. This video will be of much help to me :)

[@xZpsychox]

im so excited ive been waiting for this!!!!

[@pokelore7639]

I built my first commander deck not too long ago, and it was very clunky. Then I saw this video and took its advice, now it is much more consistent. Thanks for being awesome as always TCC!

[@isaachendricksonn]

Add the bounce lands check lands tapped lands and the fetch lands

[@ArtisticKamenRider]

Uh, Professor...your math is off. Before adding the Utility Lands, you said it brought you up to 32 lands. I actually counted 35 lands and with the Utility Lands, you brought it up to 41. Still a helpful video.

[@leekblade3304]

Artistic Kamen Rider came here to say this lol, professor does not teach math :P

[@esper4605]

insert joke about inept english professors here. All jabs aside, speaking as a CSE major, not everyone was forced to remember and utilize 20x20 times table knowledge for Physics, Calculus, etc, and I respect that.

[@Spike-hl2mw]

As a new MTG player who is wanting to get into Commander, and is specifically interested in building two-color decks (Golgari), I have to say that this video isn't all that helpful to me. It's a bit overwhelming. I think it'd be worth revisiting this topic, especially since this video is now more than three years old. One specific suggestion I have is including a section (or perhaps a whole, separate video) explaining the many different types of land there are, and especially reviewing their pros and cons in EDH. I also think it would be very helpful to cover more samples of mana bases for different color pairs, rather than just Blue and Red. I know all of this means more work, and perhaps making a whole series of videos, but I think it's just an inherently complicated topic and so it would benefit from more explanation and breaking things down into smaller chunks.

[@noxmtg7017]

A lot of the lands and artifacts he showed in this video have alternate versions for different color combinations, Izzet was just an example. I totally get the confusion and hope you managed to find what you need!

[@bryanbonar]

I've been waiting for this moment for so long.

[@mattisspudy8895]

I really enjoy watching your videos because they inform and help me and they are a little bit funny too...thanks for making videos professor

[@matheusassis2972]

Thanks ❤ this help me a lot!

[@typoholic]

Great video. Extremely helpful.

[@Dungeonrambler]

have waited so long for this!

[@SeraphimKnight]

You really should've spoken about the specifics of decks with certain colors (for example black with tainted lands, urborg & cabal coffers).

[@woodybutler]

This is so so helpful

[@anonofyesterday4650]

Great video prof! The only problem I see is that you were talking about the more casual decks. I believe that little annotation saying something like "if your group is more competitive then keep in mind you should run a couple lands less and not use the ones that come into play tapped."

[@Mister-jv6zq]

Thank you Professor!

[@justinhamm9819]

Also a good thing to run with the fetches if ya got it is Rings of Brighthearth. I run it in my mono white Voltron deck because along with fetching you can turn it into a Rampant growth. Pay 2 and sac the fetchland grab two basics or a shock and a basic or whatever you need. It works efficiently and if you have recursion for your lands (say sun titan) you can have all the basics or fetchable lands out of your deck with just a single fetch in the grave.

[@edgypancreas1839]

Building a niv mizzet deck, this helped a lot thanks.

[@freddiepeddi]

What a great timing! I was just building an white black commander deck!

[@Astronomater]

you definitely want to run the urborg + cabal coffers combo if in budget and a vault of the archangel!

[@onewholeegg]

thank you Professor!

[@adamironbender5120]

Thank you Professor.

[@taliesinone]

Great video

[@kyuss89]

That just helped me out so much lol. No joke

[@Kay_Drechsler]

Excellent video like always, professor! Two questions are left though: could you please explain the necessarity of running at least 8 basic lands? And do really think Krosan Verge is a must when it's so slow by coming tapped and bringing lands in tapped state?

[@Seedmember]

Some utility lands that I realised have a great value in commander are Arcane Lighthouse and Homeward Path. Homeward Path may be a bit circumstantial but it can really save your behind if you need it and Arcane Lighthouse will almost always find a use against decks with creatures.

[@ulrickts]

Someone in my group runs an Ob-Nixilis landfall deck, a modest fetchland like Evolving Wilds becomes a free 6 damage to players and 6 counters on the commander. Scary!

[@Mulletdog1]

Going back for that sweet nostalgia

[@cameronkent2739]

Now that 4 colour commanders are a thing, could you also do one of these videos for 4 colour bases :) Maybe even referencing how pairing may change them vs using the standard 4 colour commanders?

[@bdawg8877]

If I didn't mention it before, please do leovold and gitrog monster dech techs soon! I have been working on both and would love your insight!

[@dragonborn239]

Hey professor I was wondering if you had any methods for helping to start the idea process for a short story, like a kick to get the engine going. Since you have had experience with writing your own stories.

[@GhreiVA]

THANK KRUPHIX FOR THIS MANA BASE VIDEO!

[@pablocastilla1176]

Yas! So hype!

[@curtisbrown8909]

I enjoyed the video but I found there was a few mana accelerants I thought were missing from the list that I use that I find are great. so here is the list, Mox diamond, Mox opal, chrome mox, mana bault, mana crypt and grim monolith.

[@Alexander-mw1ek]

If one of your colors is black, then you should be running one of the four Tainted lands from torment. I don't think this was mentioned

[@Kestral287]

It wasn't and Tainted lands are great.

[@xylitus2830]

Trace Gustafson what are tainted land?

[@Alexander-mw1ek]

xylitus , they are a cycle of Black dual lands that I think come from the set Torment. They're better than most other dual lands in a black+another color edh deck. They're also very budget. Tainted Wood, Tainted Field, Tainted Isle and Tainted Peak

[@xylitus2830]

thanks for the clarification, after seeing that comment it jogged my memory , i think ive seen some of these b4, and im considering tainted isle for my U/B commander deck

[@prufrock1977]

I used these tips to build a Mogis-Minotaur/Rakdos/destruction deck, and I won in a four-player game! It was my very first build, and I beat out an artifact-control deck that ran off the other two players.

[@vgftw3809]

for accelerates I like the new cultivators caravan as a budget option.

[@xxxblobxxx1]

Could you make a video like this one for 4 color mana bases as we are about to get our very first 4 color commanders?

[@EpicShotZz33]

I like to play as utility land in a 2-colour commander the card “War room” (let’s you draw a card by paying 4 mana and 2 lifes) and also I find verh useful Myriad landscape that is pratically a ramp for every colour and not only for green. Then Urborg, tomb of yawgmoth in combination with cabal coffers is a must have if you play Black

[@MarkRynn]

Funnily enough, a while back when you asked what commander deck we'd like to see a deck tech for, I suggested Nin, the Pain Artist.

[@NachozMan]

ayyy new commander video

[@jaysillynx3190]

Would you consider spells or creatures that fetch for lands a mana accellerant?

[@liamwood2878]

Have you made a video on Mono colored mana bases yet? I'm struggling with a colorless deck on how much mana rocks I should be running

[@jesuschrist9677]

thanks prof

[@Mtonazzi]

Normally my multi format way of preparingmy mana base is the following: 1. Establish how many lands I'd need/want in my deck 2. If more than one colour, I count every single mana colour on the cards costs and divide them by 2. That gives me a ratio of lands (for instance: 12 R 20G). More often than not, this would give me a number higher than the total of lands I wand in the deck. I thus, decreace keeping the ratio (say, it's a 60 cards deck that needs 17 lands because of super low costs I'd end up with 5R and 12G) 3. If dual lands are within the budget and/or work with the theme (specially with lands that bounce and/or come into play tapped), in formats where I can go "up to 4 of", I remove even in numbers. In "highlander" formats, I remove from the dominant color. 4. If there's space, utility lands come from the dominant color if no more than 2 in 60 cards or 5 in "highlanders"; if more, I try to balance it out through some playtesting. So far it's been working me for more than a decade, but there's room for improvement.

[@rileybohn7047]

Would you ever consider doing an edh deck on Xenagos The Reveler? Id love to see your take on it

[@philaspen6569]

Will you make a 4-color mana base guide for C16, or would it be too similar to 3-color and/or 5-color bases for it to be worth a video?

[@thedanath]

I think it depends on the colours you are running whether or not you actually need fetches. For example if your running anything in green you can have spells like farseek and/or rampant growth. I also run Sword of the animist and explorers scope which granted you need a creature to make them work but still great in any 2 colour deck. So between the right mana rocks and what colours your playing, fetches arnt really needed

[@Kestral287]

You don't need to be in green to grab lands out of your deck. Sword and Scope are good, but so are Burnished Hart, Myriad Landscape, Wayfarer's Bauble, and Solemn Simulacrum.

[@thedanath]

Im not saying other colours dont have some form of ramp but green just has a lot more in the way of ramp spells and abilities. Its what green does hence why i used green as my example of not really needing fetches. Though in general for the most part i think a lot of 2 colour decks can get away with not running fetches.

[@Kestral287]

All of the above are colorless cards. You shouldn't base "do I need fetches" and "how many basics do I need" on your colors, but on what your ramp package actually is.

[@VioletTheGeek]

I highly recommend Magic Online as a resource for deck-building. You can design decks with *most* of the cards ever printed in MTG (there may still be some that were never released online), whether you own them or not (simply change lower bound of the "Quantity" filter to 0), and filter by set, format, color, type, text, CMC, etc. (it's not perfect, but it gets the job done). There's also an "analysis" feature that will add up all the colored mana symbols in the costs of the spells in your deck, and also display a graph of the number of cards of each CMC, which is very useful for building your mana base. Building a deck online is also a great way to explore cards that you may have never seen before. Fair warning, though: the client is fairly buggy, though the collection tab (where you build your decks and manage your cards) usually works just fine.

[@WeskersPlayhouse]

I always use a lot of basics in my two and three color decks. probably only 15 non basic. I love basic lands!

[@vladimirvlaskov9881]

Hey Prof, I know you planned to make a guide for at least 2, 3, and 5 color mana bases, but now with 4 color just over the horizon, do you think you will do a guide on those mana bases after 2016 is released?

[@radip]

About accelerants, why there is no thran dynamo? It given a huge boost to cast high mana spells.

[@Scopesightzx]

I'm somewhat surprised to not see Cultivator's Caravan mentioned here. It's a strict upgrade over Manalith and a lot of other three mana accelerants

[@liuxx440]

I think it would be awesome if you made a video about horde magic. While the zombie theme is prototypical and fitting for Halloween, you could make a Servo horde for the current block.

[@MrCombfoot]

hey proffesor, do you not like the cycle lands? i run hidden cave and lonely sandbar in my UR commander. Even though they are slow lands, they can be very useful lands. My UR deck is particuarily low CMC and so cycling extra lands is very useful! are you not a fan, what is the reasoning

[@GhreiVA]

Also, you are a monster. Quality content.

[@Schaelarren]

Thanks for the video:) I think you miscounted your lands though, 'cause I'm getting 41.

[@user-iz3kx4mw7z]

Hello professor I wish to see a tasigur deck by your hands with competitive suggestion and fun to play cards :)

[@mattfoley99]

When you typed out Darksteel RElic in the artifact part did you mean Darksteel Ignot?

[@Kavewolf1989]

for a good fetchland option for green there is the recently printed blighted woodlands

[@Kestral287]

Blighted Woodlands is insanely underrated. Myriad Landscape too; they're both more than just a shuffle effect. They're actually ramp. Anything that gets you ahead on lands is great, and something that does it while staying out of the way of the deck proper is even better.

[@MagnumEvolved]

nice video! a little surprised not to see temple of the false god, i've never been unhappy with that card in any of my decks

[@danielvess945]

when you said darksteel relic did you mean to say darksteel ingot?

[@SunniestAutumn]

No. Run the relic. Win by confusion.

[@ModelOmegaForReal]

4:09 - 4:25 Almost spat drink all over my monitor from laughing, I those these kinds of people and I agree fully prof.

[@jeanmarais337]

What is the goal of a fetch land over a duel land? Are they both for fixing?

[@duskism]

Cultivator's Caravan also makes for a nice accelerant.

[@edwarddavis7858]

Would you mind telling us why fetch lands are needed, if not for thinning?

[@USAltefore]

Allied color fetches are priced reasonably. It sure would be nice to get enemy color fetch land reprints that don't cost $200.

[@rowan6743]

Prof, I know you've done a mono white pauper deck, but is it possible for you to do a deck tech for mono white SOLDIERS modern deck? perhaps semi budget? Thanks :)

[@matthewferrill1985]

Good video. The only thing I would do is not run Mana Confluence, City of Brass, and Reflecting Pool. They are too pricey for a two color mana base. Instead either run budget duel lands or just stick to basics. Ash Barrens did not come out until after this video was made but it is ideal for all multi color decks. In the early game it can fetch for any basic land that you need and in the late game it can tap for colorless mana if you do not want/ can’t search your library.

[@drakeconsumerofsoulsandche5761]

are there any other krosan verge type lands available that do the same job?

[@ModelOmegaForReal]

I feel like Chromatic Lantern in 2 colours is overkill fixing, I know this is looking at something ideal but for just 2 colours I think a mana rock that you can cash in later like Mind Stone or Hedron Archive is going to be on the whole more useful.

[@accountnamewithheld]

Hedron Archive is extra great because you can sac it lategame to draw cards

[@studentanselmus9461]

ModelOmega I do not think so. For example, my Niv Mizzet deck needs about equal red and blue sources to activate the ability of the Dracogenius as often a possible. However, the deck is scewed so heavily towards blue, that most of the time I do not have more than the two red sources that I need to cast Niv. The Lantern really helps me out in that regard. If you want to cast your Cryptic commands reliably, the Lantern is perfect.

[@ModelOmegaForReal]

The Dracogenius I'd say that's more of a special circumstance, decks that have high devotion requirement probably want the super fixing, but most decks probably don't need what is usually a flashier manalith.

[@Kestral287]

Yeah, there are definitely decks that not the top-grade fixing but most two-colors don't. I have a Chromatic in Mizzix because the deck needs three red sources to combo off (variant on Reset/Reiterate/Bolt) but only has about five red spells plus three or four multicolor spells. Normally I want one or two red sources and the rest blue sources all game. But to win I need that third red, and Chromatic can help bridge that gap. It also lets me play colorless lands without fear that they'll be dead in the lategame when Mizzix is rducing all colorless costs to zero. Still, these are very much niche reasons. My Meren deck would never touch Chromatic; it doesn't do anything and in that deck Wood Elves is infinitely better at the same CMC.

[@jamesloder8652]

Chromatic Lantern lets my Maze of Ith tap for mana :P style points lol

[@aleksanderk6765]

4:20 - perfectly timed roast ;)

[@jadedtrekkie]

If you are in golgari, can you run Svogthos instead of hissing quagmire?

[@sotomax9728]

These should be made again with all the new lands and rocks that have come out

[@Zaknaberrnon]

y u no dimir/simic/orzhov/golgari/gruul logos? when the guild logos flickered in the intro, I was expecting the 10 guilds to show up in the intro! Missed opportunity! :P

[@ccccccdddddd]

Prof you imply that guildgates (and the 2 relevant taplands) should be avoided, then suggest a transguild promenade which is strictly worse.

[@TheVideoman22]

Is there a guide for mono color mana bases?

[@tylerthinnes43078]

I always go back to these videos when building new commander decks always gives me a good starting spot when doing my mana bases

[@cmhammo2025]

is there a video like this but for modern?

[@Gashnaw]

My mana base is 37. (33 in mono color) or 40 in 5 color. (variation my apply depending on how the deck is run. Like my Molimo deck that runs 40 forests, or my Genju of the realms 65 lands.

[@rolfharris7508]

proffeser will you be reviewing the ultimate guard "boulder" cases when they come out ? (there on there website you just can't buy one yet) p.s I would like to know what other ug boxes they fit into personally.

[@TolarianCommunityCollege]

Absolutely.

[@rolfharris7508]

Tolarian Community College YESS thank you

[@gileschenery3645]

Rolf Harris are you the real Rolf Harris?

[@rolfharris7508]

Giles no

[@brianwise5850]

of the four any color lands you missed a good one, opal palace.

[@Kestral287]

Opal isn't really something you want to use as an any-color land since it doesn't actually make mana in that mode. It's a sweet utility land though.

[@WTBliiip]

You run Mana confluence and city of brass in 2 color decks? seems a bit over the top

[@hyperlink6547]

does anyone know what the other mono color lands are? i dont know the names of the red and green ones, which are the colors of my commander deck

[@VivaLaRowsdower]

Would you be so kind as to make a video concerning a modern version of mana base building?