How to Build ANY Commander Mana Base (Even on a Budget)

[@NitpickingNerds]

Update: Our average land count is actually 36, not 35! Add one land at your discretion ❤

[@Wojtek36762]

I did 35 for a long time but now I try to lean toward 37 including a couple DFCs, unless my curve is especially low.

[@maxmazzel]

@@NitpickingNerds That's pretty much where I'm at 35-36. I wonder if you have issues with screw/flood? For me it happens maybe 1/50 games.

[@genesilva1792]

I always start with 40 but take one off for every 3 ramp cards(roughly)

[@Shimatzu95]

Thats still 2 lower than i am willing to go

[@BingbongRecto]

It really should be 38 lands

[@Timmy_tweaked]

3:35 Mono colors ( 1 color) 26:33 Dual colors ( 2 color ) 42:37 tri color ( 3 color ) 49:13 4/5 color Hope this helps your guys searching!

[@xMareZx]

Awesome, thanks! Bummer they didn‘t cluster a one hour video.

[@oscarchavez9323]

Thanks Timmy the hero! Now I can see, so I can fight!!!

[@FrankPalombo]

No moxfield add timing?

[@erichunt1974]

if you're playing Krenko, Mob Boss you can get all the mana you need for just 15 cents (35 if you're buying from Card Kingdom) with his good buddy and solid combo piece the Skirk Prospector!

[@jessesandburg]

The gate mana base is perfect for 3+ mana color decks. In 5 colors, you can get the full gate package ( green gate fetch cards) for 20-30$

[@REALSOLIDSNAKE]

Field of Ruin on Ob Nixilis Unshackled, YES PLEASE! 3 mana for possibly a sacrificed creature per opponent and 10 damage their face sounds awesome. Great video!

[@justinjones671]

I think 35 is definitely to low as a land count you are less than 60 percent chance to hit your fourth land drop in a game unless you draw extra cards in the first four turns.

[@Silverpicker]

This was one of your best videos! Gave me some good inspiration for some budget decks!

[@TaviIsLost]

I used to watch a bunch of Command Zone but after getting back into mtg, I’m really enjoying your guys content. Keep up the great work guys, you’re awesome 😁 I’m following along your guys deck making video that’s newer because I want to make a Skullbriar deck with the Godzilla that adds trample and the video helped a lot with the idea for a skeleton for the deck. I don’t have them yet but I have an idea of what I want. Yall are great 👍 thank you for all your advice and content

[@skylarken1184]

I gotta say, Reliquary Tower is a bit of a meh land most of the time but if you put it in something like Gitrog, Ravenous Ride... it's just fantastic

[@nofilterneito]

It’s a situational useful land. Run it in Feather the Redeemed since the deck keeps so many cards in hands.

[@yoyoguy1st]

I have declared war on reliquary tower. I think it’s bad and there are almost no decks that want it. There are so many other more useful utility lands you can run.

[@sonkal-elkent6143]

You consistently put out videos that answer questions I have.

[@bretts3046]

3:35 mono-colored decks; go all Snow-Covered basics and an Extraplanar Lens. Also toss in some non-basic hate, like Magus of the Moon, Blood Moon, Harbinger of the Seas, Back to Basics, Winter Moon, or Tsabo's Web. Super strong and a relatively inexpensive option.

[@narkfly]

I know a lot of folks poop on the lairs, but I like them. If it hits all 3 of your colors, you can save it for your last land drop after you taped the land you're bouncing, and it's like you drew a card (sorta). I think the fixing is worth the fiddling, it's like having an extra triome (sorta).

[@yoyoguy1st]

I'm a fan of the bounce lands but lairs put you behind a land. They're bad for tempo being a tapped land and they don't tap for multiple mana so they put you behind a whole turn. I'd rather just play other tapped lands.

[@MrGeebee1983]

I like Lairs as well in landfall decks where can play multiple lands per turn.

[@Nopenotyou]

I also like running a Lair if I’m running a Gemstone Mine, or if I want to plan for MDFC retrieval in the late game

[@thomaspetrucka9173]

@@yoyoguy1st ...Lairs aren't tapped lands? They do put you a land behind and that's a fair reason not to run them, but that's a fair price for easy mana fixing--especially on a budget. I wouldn't run more than one, though.

[@firewyatt5730]

As a newcomer in MTG I am surprised of how often Escape Tunnel is forgotten, it's a third Terramorphic Expanse/Evolving Wilds with a bonus situational effect which makes it technically better, and it's cheap too. Maybe it's because it was printed this year ? I'm not sure if it's relevant to play 3 basic fetchlands + the associated landscape in a tri color deck, which I'm building, but I think it's a nice tool to consider, especially when building low cost. Fantastic video btw, thank you !

[@VenomusDragon-gx8xt]

I use chromatic lantern, it’s not there to color fix necessarily, it’s there for late game to make dealing with the amount of lands easier.

[@breakingtide]

Sisay gets annoying having to keep track

[@johnny_crash]

It‘s also very dependent what kind of ramp (and/or rocks/dorks) you‘re playing. If you got a good ramp package you also can reduce the number of lands.

[@halcyonacoustic7366]

If you're missing land drops at all then you need more of them, the dorks only can "cover" for that but it doesn't mean the problem is solved.

[@Smithbot3000-gm9uv]

Excited to learn the mana base-ics from The Nerds!

[@fizzyheart2486]

U misspelled a word to make it fit less?

[@TwentyOneBrians]

Myriad Landscape can only fetch 1 waste in colorless FYI

[@kurtisyoung6739]

I'm to the point where that, no matter the deck, I run 36 lands and 8-10 sources of ramp. Sure, I could possibly run less/more in certain decks, but I've found that this is a good sweet spot for 99% of decks.

[@helfiswelf]

Should’ve start off with a disclaimer: proxy dual lands from the start and convince your play group to do the same. Best dual lands ever, seriously.

[@Poorproplayer]

38 lands should be the starting total honestly. Ideally you want a starting hand with three lands and 38 ensures this happens consistently. Any less and you'll be mulliganing more often and getting mana screwed too. If you're lower curve or super ramp heavy then probably could go to 37. Just play testing and goldfishing quickly shows how important it is to have a high land count

[@jarvisyoung9645]

I would say 36 with a mdfc or 2

[@Poorproplayer]

@@jarvisyoung9645 sure that can work too but definitely not 35 like in the video lol. At 35 I felt like I was forced to mulligan a lot

[@maxmazzel]

My go to is 35/36 and maybe one in 50 games is miss some drops or get screwed outright. If you play some more ramp and draw you're fine. In fact the closer to 40 lands I got the more flooded I got

[@Taeerom]

@@maxmazzel I'd rather play more draw and mana sinks and play 40 lands (counting cards like Troll of Khazad Dum, Many Partings and MDFCs as lands). I typically want to continue hitting my land drops at turn 4 and 5, while still pulling cards out of my deck with landcyclers, rampant growths and fetches.

[@maxmazzel]

@@Taeerom i do the same but with 35/36 Maybe, máybe is miss drops on 7 or 8. I play at least 10 ramp sources ending up with 45-50 mana sources usually

[@joshuawenninger9346]

I think the bounce lands are very underrated even for a budget manabase. Are you in the late game and wish you could trade out a land for a card? Just bounce a cycling land back to the hand for a 1-2 draw a card effect. Of course, it is superb with channel lands but those aren't always the most budget.

[@yoyoguy1st]

They're great. They also work great with MDFC's so you can reuse the spell half.

[@Wojtek36762]

Glad I stocked up on Minas Tirith and Arena of Glory when they were cheap 😵 Great video! I’ve been trying up up my utility land game. I do keep it to like 2 colorless ones in a 3 color deck Re: the relative lack of blue MDFCs, I often run Lorien Revealed in a similar slot. Islandcycling for 1 means using it to find an untapped island is the same tempo hit as playing a tap land (and you can find a multi typed land if it’s worthwhile). Draw 3 for 3UU isn’t a great rate, but it feels fine for a DFC especially in a deck that cares about spellslinging. One that can cast it from the graveyard is even better. I’ve also joined Team Bounce Lands recently, the fancy art printings helped. But even more so, the MH3 DFC lands made me realize I’m really gonna have a couple in every deck, and that makes bounce lands more appealing. Arid Archway’s little desert upside has me looking for ways to get it in 2 color. I still don’t play Terramorphic/Wilds in 3 color without a landfall or land recursion incentive, the Thriving lands are still strictly better. They’re always a tapped source of the color you would have fetched, plus a second color. MH3 fetches pushed the last couple thriving lands out of my budget decks, but had already pulled my Wilds for those.

[@joejordan401]

Thank you for this, I was surprised by a couple of choices (I basically never play fastlands in any edh deck, let alone a budget deck), but I appreciate any budget deck guide that shouts out my Lonely Sandbar cycle ❤ I am just getting used to the temples and BFZ duals being budget, and picking up as many painlands as I can find in stock (particularly the ally ones now they came down.) Surprised at how high you are on snarls, but if you pair them with check lands and a lot of typed lands, they do probably work out better than a guildgate or lifegain land, and they're dirt cheap. 👍

[@salyir8386]

I would have liked to see you discuss 5 color + colorless / devoid mana bases. I think of it effectively being 6 colors, except that colorless pips on your spells turn off all of your fixing. It's the most challenging mana base I've ever built and I'd like to see how others tackle it. Maybe it's not a topic for a "budget" video though.

[@PeterClausman]

Super topic and done in a way that is super useful!

[@EzekielGalang-vt8rq]

I JUST REALIZED THEY'RE CALLED TANGO LANDS CUZ OF THE SAYING "IT TAKES TWO TO TANGO"

[@NitpickingNerds]

Yeah it’s really cheesy ☠️

[@MrMaharg79]

God I remember when the Command Zone coined this when they released and I just prayed it wouldn't catch on but alas

[@justinolson834]

I refuse to use that term. I use battle lands

[@MareczqZglos]

35 is low - its only OK in decks where its really low mana curve, or you play a lot of cheap ramp (like elves). Its even more importent to have bigger ammaunt of lands, if You play a lot of spell-lands... I think this days most of decks shoud play 38-40 lands (with like 8-10 spell lands). One of my fastest causal decks (Isshin) plays with 37 lands, and The average mana value of main deck is 1.97 with lands and 2.95 without lands. So its pretty low - i tried to play 35/36 lands, and it felt bad to many times.

[@whostoblame1]

Started brewing own decks instead of upgrading precons. This video comes like a wizard.

[@BuppGuy]

This video took me so long to watch because I had to keep pausing to take notes. 😂 Seriously, goes right along with the Professor's non budget mana base guide.

[@enso8379]

Just putting this out there, if you are playing 3+ MDFC lands and you are not using the guild bounce lands you are literally leaving value on the table. The more MDFC lands you play the better the bounce lands get.

[@inkedteddy4627]

Westvale Abbey is amazing in token decks, sitting around $6 right now. A 9/7 flying, indestructible, lifelink, haste creature is no joke. It's won me multiple games.

[@JackPenman06]

"Lands with Land Types that enter TAPPED in my 4/5 color manabase? What kind of FOOL do you take me for! Harrumph humph humph!" Good video, you two! This is really helpful lol

[@estellairon9448]

I think you're underestimating the lairs. Yes they bounce, but they have the benefits of that bounce (guaranteed land drop, reuse etb effects, mdfc...) plus enter UNtapped for any of the 3 colors!

[@estellairon9448]

Also the bounced land can be a tapped one, and I just found out you can also tap the lair for one mana before sacrificing it

[@jbs6614]

personally, i dislike all 3cmc mana rocks, even for budget decks. But Chromatic Lantern is something that I've grown to love for three to five-color lists due to how it magically fixes the budget manabase problem. but again, this is something that i sometimes just have to use as i am an advocate for 2cmc or less rocks.

[@selkokieli843]

Problem with lantern is if the deck needs it, it won't work too well when you don't have it. Rather make a proper land base and play the on curve ramp to balance the extra slow lands

[@jbs6614]

@@selkokieli843 ofc, you never build a budget deck that solely relies on Lantern. It's just a bonus, that's why even though it's cmc is high, it's still a nice include for manabases that don't have much to work with.

[@selkokieli843]

@@jbs6614 personally I'd rather make the mana base fine with 25+ sources for each color with heavy tapped lands and add some two mana rocks to help curve out smoothly. So far haven't found a deck that would work better with any 3 mana rocks that only tap for one. Needs to tap for two at three+ cost for me, worn powerstone is a favorite budget rock for example. The one that taps legends for a color can be great in too. I could maybe see myself playing lantern if a three+ color deck had say a few BBB cards like necro and liches or single color activated abilities I'd like to spam for the full amount. Even with heavy BBB need I think the two mana rocks should be fine to get the third B, land base should lean more black with around 30 sources. Maybe if it leaned on rituals and tutoring urborg on a budget, lantern as one more BBB producing effect to fill it out. Interesting.

[@jbs6614]

@@selkokieli843 to each his own, but then again the variance with budget manabase is wild. Also would def not play cards with triple pips in a high color deck. Good call on Relic of Legends, i'll consider it as a alternate include.

[@selkokieli843]

@@jbs6614 I still try to make sure the budget deck produces enough colors to minimise variance with lots of tapped lands, rocks and land searches. with 25+ early sources eac. That way it's more of a matter of speed for me. Rather play slower than sometimes not at all. Consistent mana also allows mulliganing to hands with early ramp and value without a high risk of color screwing so that can help decks go faster as well. Yes, triple cost cards for 3+ color budget lists is risky, but I'm wondering if you could get the numbers on your side with say 7+ ways to BBB like urborg tutors, rituals and lantern. At least the power return is there with necro and bolas's citadel!

[@luckylarue7885]

They couldn’t be talking about TCGplayer player because it is 5000 times faster than card kingdom

[@ryanfournier9522]

Omg. RIGHT?? Card kingdom is more expensive and so much slower. So like….great that it comes in one package but damn

[@cristianvaldez-ramirez3618]

I get the worst luck with tcg😢

[@ANARCHY-nr2lq]

Card kingdom cost way more and usually only has 40% of the cards that I need for a deck. If you order the proper way on tcg then you can avoid most of the shipping fees. I really don't understand why so many channels promote card Kingdom. They must pay more for adds

[@dracomight]

It depends heavily on where you live. I receive packages from card kingdom days faster than I do from tcg. I'm assuming I do so since I'm closer to their base as compared to a place in the east coast like New York.

[@dracomight]

​@@ANARCHY-nr2lqI started to Use CK after having way too many issues with tcg. Sure they cost a bit more and their selection is more limited. But I got my cards faster and I didn't have to deal with the multi vendor bs from tcg.

[@ryantomczak2248]

I was expecting the entire mana base, not just lands. However $20 for a land base is a lot of room. I wouldn’t run near as many tap lands myself though I keep my tap land count to 1 or 2 at most. And it is very doable in a multi-color deck for $20. I did it for less in my $50 budget decks. I allotted $5 for my lands and no issues with keeping tap lands to a minimum.

[@DigitalinDaniel]

I think Reliquary Tower only goes in decks in which your commander allows multiple draws per turn... like Bello, Toski, Azami.

[@charlesmcgeveran9719]

nah you have to account for when you end up against a group hug deck or hand reducers.

[@ryantomczak2248]

I never run Reliquary Tower. I like sculpting my hands. If discarding is an issue for you, build better decks with graveyard recursion.

[@BeetleBuns]

​@@charlesmcgeveran9719 sideboard it, and ask what type of decks are being played before the game. Reliquary Tower is an awful card unless you are in specific circumstances.

[@masalanicholoff3593]

Magosi gives you infinite turns with Atraxa and Nesting Grounds or Goldberry, River-Daughter or Out of the Tombs and Nesting grounds.

[@Deadpool-tc2wj]

I really like the video, but I think 35 Lands are not enough. I took the 2 color list from the describtion ( I currently try to build kassandra eagle bearer) I swaped out three of the mdfcs and added one more Mountain and an additional Plain. Card value 20€ and a few cents. I will probably build it like that, so thanks for the inspiration. Sadly card kingdom is not an option, since I live in Europe and shipping would be more expensive than the cards. I really appreciate this video since it contains a lot of information about different lands.

[@Ghostpanzer]

Can you do another video like this but specifically for each colour , without a budget

[@gregprice4834]

i too am a Drownyard temple believer beezy, respect

[@shaunnorum05]

Isnt 35 lands like pretty low?

[@adamdesimone2658]

35 is the minimum for most decks

[@kstrohmayer88]

I usually start at 38

[@SolidFoxHoundSF]

30-33 for me. Depends on how many non land mana sources and if you’re cheating stuff out instead of hard casting.

[@dankoerner887]

My 6 decks all have 36 lands in them and usually anywhere from 1-4 mana rocks. Seems to run pretty well

[@saleen12]

I meet complete idiots with 29 lands because their groups let them mulligan for I guess 25 minutes each game. People are very dumb

[@bt5087]

I hated Temple of the false god until I started playing semic😅 and I had plenty of lands even if it was in my opening hand. Also my mono green eldrazi. Super easy to get five lands out

[@OriginalNeckbeardicus]

The chromatic lantern hate is so unjustified. Its a ramping rainbow rock that also fixes any mana base for only 3 colorless mana.

[@saleen12]

The 9 basics I run in each deck cost 3x more than these entire packages 😂

[@brendans1983]

Guru or Alpha?

[@willstebbins5338]

The mana base is the powerhouse of the cell

[@markschneider8698]

One of my favorite decks is a 5 color, I hate non-basics deck. It runs all the blood moon effects.

[@bijanae]

ty

[@rulamagic]

I don't play Exotic Orchard in 2 colours but I can't actually figure out the probabilities. Does anybody know how likely it is to have an opponent share colour with you if you are playing A) a mono colour deck B) a two colour deck and C) a three colour deck?

[@genesilva1792]

There are mono colored bounce lands, karoo is the white one, I don't remember the others names

[@szadec2375]

My zimone and Diana deck is 53 lands of which 5 bounce, one lair and all the fast and sow fetches gatta get that triple landfall baby lol

[@geofferiswheel]

Let's guess where the moxfield ad is today. Longer video means today is 21:21 or I'm a liar.

[@TheDesertSpear]

17:13 moxfield guess

[@NitpickingNerds]

Appreciate your guess 🙏🏻

[@110019a]

Starting off 35 lands is too low

[@alanlarsen3525]

I didnt embrace the bounce land till I added the mdfc lands

[@NitpickingNerds]

It’s a nice combo!

[@caseygutierrez5349]

Make sure nerds is all lower case for the Dragon Shield discount

[@lunarlight3131]

if you want a field of the dead mana base you're looking at a solid 1 weeks paycheck

[@zweis]

21:37 this is actually an insane take in 2024 Commander. I've switched to playing Green over White just so I can tutor for Reliquary Tower that card carries games. I'm pretty sure every single game of Commander I've played this year I've discarded to hand size, and the games I have no max hand size I either win or barely lose. I would agree with you two a year or two ago but with how much incidental card draw has been printed this card is a STAPLE 23:05 Simic would like a word with you

[@MagicalSpoon]

10:00 The lands they talk about are not the lands shown.

[@PADisAwsome]

Here for the inevitable, more of a budget and non budget videos 😅

[@TheESTRAEL]

Mia got a glow up. Who else noticed?

[@coryledwitch6492]

Hideaway lands are awesome until you get 4 lands off the top!!!😂

[@Bedni87]

Mdfc to Beezy is like picnic basket to Yogi Bear. Like lasagne to Garfield. Like Putin to Trump.

[@spinaldart5773]

So far my only qualm is bounce lands are not ramp

[@BeetleBuns]

can someone explain the appeal of Arena of Glory? Like, you don't gain anything from it, spending a red mana to tap it and get 2 red mana, when you could simply tap it get a single red mana and still have the mana that you would have spent on it...

[@NitpickingNerds]

If you spend that mana on a creature spell, it gains haste. You can also cast two spells off of it for just one red each to get double haste

[@BeetleBuns]

@@NitpickingNerds oh damn how did I miss that

[@brendans1983]

If you want The Drunk Nerds, slow it down to 0.5x 🍻

[@hasechoward2928]

I know that you don't need to complete land sets in multi color decks. I understand and agree. But the autism tells me that I need to have matching lands 😂

[@zorkman956]

Vivid Lands are pretty underrated in 5 color budget

[@DatShepTho]

100%, probably better than the trilands, because you shouldn't need the mana fixing three turns later

[@gzzuss]

Scavenger grounds?

[@76girard]

Love the hair, Mia!

[@ProfWalton]

28:15 Moxfield guess.

[@CrisMW98]

12 tap lands are wayyyyy too many imo. I wouldn't go any higher than 5-6 tap lands in a 3- colors deck.

[@toddlez123]

35 lands? Guys I do not have the self control for that... Please make a new video for a perfect mana base but with 28 lands for those of us who shouldn't be left to make our own choices

[@robertmorris4163]

🎉

[@sir_quirkus7206]

How to build the perfect mana base: spend 1200$

[@matthewmejia1590]

amazing vid!

[@adamdesimone2658]

If you have to tap 3 and war room just to draw ONE card. You'vr already lost.

[@winniebowser4447]

my advice is play way less colorless utility lands than you do. reliquary tower is a terrible card. most decks can’t afford as many of these as they think they can

[@saleen12]

Not only is 35 lands too low but counting Mdfc as a full land is insane. 3 colors with 33 lands is going to be a very bad time

[@charliemarlow647]

I think counting MDFCs as "full" lands is totally fine, but 35 is definitely a low starting point

[@scottcole1881]

"dual lands" to quote "the Princess Bride" I do not think that means what you think it means ...........

[@ForgetfulPaladin]

lands are such a basic.. eh eh...part of the game that they are what your veggies grow from. They are fundamentally part of the game and other games have failed by trying to take them out.

[@DimirDaddy]

Obligatory 1st

[@eyra1332]

Dimir is cringe

[@merrmellow8354]

@@eyra1332 naya is my fav hbu

[@mufasafalldown8401]

​@@eyra1332 Dimir is infinitely cooler than Simic or Azorius 😅

[@alejocuruchet76]

​But rakdos is the coolest

[@famousstranger8468]

34 lands is the optimal number for every deck under 6 cmc

[@shaunnorum05]

First!