We Draft the Best Utility Lands in Commander | The Command Zone 577 | MTG EDH Magic Gathering

[@commandcast]

What is your first-pick utility land? Who came out on top after this draft? Did we miss any utility land that you would have snapped up?

[@zeroisnine]

Cedh Emergence Zone, but for normal? Probably Command Beacon

[@zeroisnine]

Go Jimmy! Hadn't even gotten to his pick when I said that

[@Chucklepuffs]

So far I have not heard Field of the Dead, does that not count? Genuinely asking cause I’m unsure if it’s considered a utility land but it’s my fav land 😂

[@Chucklepuffs]

Ope, nevermind. It’s there 😂

[@fredmyers503]

Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale

[@lucascampbell4050]

I recommend that you guys do this with as many card types as possible and then eventually make decks using the constraints of the draft

[@scottricks1676]

Hell yea! Then we could see who hot takes hold the most merit!

[@jorgecrespoapastegui]

give this men a beer

[@insainraven9875]

Heck yes I’m so here for this

[@brandonh9270]

This is an amazing idea!!🎉

[@narvuntien]

The fourth player will have to "Moneyball" the last deck with underrated cards.

[@moctzal]

Field of Ruin may not be as efficient as Strip Mine/Wasteland, but it does have an additional angle of interaction: the shuffle is not optional for the targeted land's owner. So you can interact with the top of your opponents decks if they tutored or used Mystic Sanctuary to put a card on top of their deck, or if they've scried to the top of their deck at a critical point of the game.

[@ImGamerDad]

"We Draft the Best...." My new favorite series!!!!! Keep it up

[@elliottroose4194]

Yo, that Naga/Snake joke was WILD! These are quickly becoming my new favorite video format.

[@Nick3570]

Overall, I think Jimmy or Rachel definitely had the best draft. I'm surprised Josh didn't take Minamo, School at Waters Edge or at least give it an honorable mention. That card seems perfect for his style. Also, Gavony Township, Hall of Heliods Generosity and Slayers Stronghold I feel were really overlooked.

[@anstapa6118]

Came to the comments looking for Minamo, and I was not disappointed

[@Logic-cg7qy]

Before the draft starts, it would be awesome if you showed a montage of the like the top 50 or so cards in the draft so viewers could "play along"

[@valt3rnative]

This is a good idea!

[@valt3rnative]

The cardmarket youtube channel sometimes does this.

[@motta_jh]

It would be awesome to see you guys play some games using only what you chose

[@thriftypsgr]

Rachel’s comment about Jimmy’s land base was amazing.

[@hangryherbivore]

Ackchyually, Strip Mine was in Anthologies and Fourth Edition, but not in Chronicles.

[@TopLevelJiuJitsu]

I agree w Jimmy on Command Beacon. Especially if you have a big MV commander

[@AbyssArray]

I'd say my picks probably align most with Rachel's - though I think Field of the Dead is my #1 pick. For lands that weren't picked, I know play a lot War Room and Blast Zone are two lands that I play in most of my decks

[@malmasterson3890]

I was surprised how long it took for someone to pick Field of the Dead. You don't even need to pay for its payoff if you build your manabase correctly. It's just free value.

[@ollietree323]

Just like the other episode, this is a great discussion into Utility lands for commander. I'm saving this to rewatch later when I need reminders and inspiration. Great work guys!

[@CreateWorlds]

War room deserved some love

[@dbotsis]

I love these “draft” episodes. Informative, fun and great to watch. I would love a tech deck from Jimmy on how he “chooses” lands for his deck. It would be a “what not to do” maybe?

[@Chucklepuffs]

Yall just made this gloomy ass Monday bearable. Thank you for saving my day ❤️

[@Unyubaby]

I would have immediately grabbed Kessig Wolf Run largely because I like to play big kaiju style decks and Run is great with Hydras making a 52/52 Hydra be even bigger and give it trample if it doesn't have it already.

[@axelvanael]

These videos have been some great content! I haven't played MtG in a long while, but I still enjoy following the hobby and hearing the ways card evaluation has changed since I've been out is so interesting. Hope to see more of these!

[@ThePretzelBread]

I feel like if the channel lands count, the MDFC that are lands on the back should probably also count.

[@jonlane1105]

This is without a doubt my new favorite series idea from you guys! Please keep going. The pool on this I think is huge! You could easily expand this past card types and even go with 4 or 5 mana spells. I love this idea and I'd love to see this become a regular thing please!

[@crawdaddy2004]

36:53 I was wondering if Phyrexian Tower would be counted as a “utility land” for this list. I agree that it should be, but it certainly makes the line a bit grey.

[@UnreasonableOpinions]

It's tricky, because I slot it in any black deck for the slight mana boost, but then use it more often for the sacrifice.

[@mikes7423]

shocked no one picked Hall of Heliod's Generosity. That card has become as good as Academy Ruins.

[@narvuntien]

There are less self saccing enchantments and often they just sit there

[@dane1647]

Kessig Wolfrun and Slayers Stronghold can give you surprise wins. Slayers Stronghold can give you haste blocker out of nowhere that pressures opponents in a 1 v 1 late game. Kessig Wolfrun can easily give you a command damage victory or even a regular combat win with +X/0 damage and Trample. Both are great.

[@kerithwooldridge]

Rogue’s Passage has gotta be in my top 5. It’s in just about every deck of mine. It’s often forgotten about after it’s played, and when it hits, IT HITS!! Also, not sure if it counts, but I use Path of Ancestry as more of a consistent scry in my tribal decks than anything. The mana of any color (basically) is a nice bonus.

[@bradsimpson8724]

Rogue's Passage is an auto-include in Voltron decks. I love the playstyle, but I don't see very many of them around anymore.

[@amadhatter3280]

A cool idea I think for these "drafts" is 5 colourless creature cards (like Solemn Simulacrum or Assembly Worker) you'd picked if you had to only pick 5 to use forever.

[@CerbearusBane]

Spires of Orazca does the same thing as Maze of Ith with the upside of also producing mana, but you do have to play Thaumatic Compass and flip it.

[@scotlandmorehouse9929]

One of my favorite cards in the game. It's almost in every deck I have

[@NearSightedViking]

These episodes are great, really helpful to new players like myself as well. I second the thoughts of other here, once you conclude all the draft episodes then play a game using all your selections

[@scottricks1676]

I’m happy to see emergence zone on the list! Underrated card imo.

[@bryandegroat857]

Most underrated has to be Rogues Passage. Late game, bunch of mana with nothing to do, make your biggest creature unblockable and win games

[@DRock1779]

Would be my first pick if I were doing this

[@TheReqyem]

I would have a 100% started with the colored lands.

[@skoullias12]

When you start the video and it's Rachel, Jimmy and Josh.... what a feeling.. you guys rock and I look forward to all of your content. Crazy to think that's a job for you guys.... what a dream. You need a another personality all the way down to a card "sleeverer" lol I'm your man

[@kandjar]

I m very surprise to not see a mention of Arcane Lighthouse (or even Detection Tower) considering how high Lightning Greaves was in the first draft. The other reason why I’m quite surprised is that there’s litterally no replacement for it.

[@electricblue2920]

Agreed 👍 these lands are some of my favorite! Lots of times I don't even have the removal, I just open the path for an opponent

[@servillo8723]

It's really interesting, the equipment one they all had a lot of similar picks. There was a lot more diversity in what they were choosing that fit their individual strategies. A lot more "I didn't even have that land on my list" this episode. Edit: Also, props to Rachel for giving Mosswort Bridge an honorable mention. I put it in every single green deck without question.

[@liamcd123]

Utility lands are some of my favorite parts of deckbuilding. So cool to get value from free slots :) Couldn't agree more about Mosswort Bridge. Hideaway on a land is so insane

[@wafflezorz1]

love this format, think it generates a lot of interesting discussion. keep it going!

[@ElDocBruh]

Yep, definitely digging this video format!

[@brendanpowers3516]

This video format is so fun! A new favorite, for sure.

[@voltcorp]

surprised no one mentioned plaza of heroes

[@bobjose1122]

Loved the quip at 5:06 by Jimmy, one of funnier erratas out there lol

[@danielgoldberg2129]

I enjoyed your Land draft! One of the big benefits of my Colorless deck is that it gets to run ALL the colorless lands so it’s chock full of “bonus” effects. I have had High Market in my Marchesa deck but keep taking it out since it’s a 3 color deck and the colorless aspect has bit me a few times.

[@jacobnordquist3448]

Boseiju is definitely a #1 for me as well. In the mid to late game its an exciting top deck.

[@bobsaget3642]

Surprised no Homeward Path mentioned in the honorable mentions. Maybe my playgroup is much more theft heavy but that land has saved me so many times

[@valt3rnative]

Surprised not to see Rishadan Port here. I like the flexibility of it. And you convinced me to make a few changes to my decks. So thanks for that! Some good staples are also Buried Ruin for artifact-matters decks and Myriad Landscape.

[@11Evalone]

Volrath's Stronghold & Dark Depths are some of my favorites that were not mentioned.

[@SuperFlamingTomato]

Command Beacon is also very useful in Planeswalker Commander decks, where they often just get removed by a turn cycle of attackers. Boseiju, Bojuka, targeted land killers (demo field is my personal fav), Otawara and the two land type givers are super high on my list. Mosswort is an under rated one that I have been putting in more decks, it's really good! Inventor's Fair in the right deck is broken, as is Dakmor Salvage and Karn's Bastion. One that I constantly find super underrated in low colour decks is War Room, it's just saved my bacon so many times. 4 Mana draw a card is a really bad rate, but if you have nothing else to do and you're hellbent it's just such a life saver. Also, I don't know if they count, but the MDFC's to me are utility lands, and super good ones at that. I often run 2-3 in a deck, they're just so good. The Blue Mythic and Bala Ged Recovery in particular are amazing.

[@GrundysGames]

I love Glacial Chasm in my Rowan deck, so fun lol

[@austinbraid4471]

I want to see you three (and more) play a game with only the cards you have drafted in all the draft videos you have done.

[@derekgorlewski7870]

Additionally to what was mentioned, i would posit that both Hall of Heliod's Generosity and Volrath's Stronghold are EDH powerhouses, even when not specifically built around. Although both are singly color-intensive, i feel that their abilities to recur high value targets trump the restrictions. They are both in almost every deck (in which they can be included).

[@DJFomorian]

11:15 - And now, all Mana Crypt of JLK will be sitting on the Sidelines :P

[@carrottodden]

I kept waiting for someone to say Valakut, so thank you Rachel!

[@danikirk5774]

One land that has consistently made it's way into all of my new Commander and now older Commander decks is Horizon of Progress. It lets me put another land into play from my hand for 3 mana, pay a life to gain a mana that any of my lands can produce, and i could sac it to draw a card. Another one that has landed in any of my decks running quite a few Legendary Creatures, is Tyrite Sanctum.

[@mikotagayuna8494]

Dealer: How many utility lands do you need? Colorless Players: YES.

[@TheCrimsonArchivist]

I agree, my ramos dragon engine has no basic lands, just artifact lands and utility lands. Bad Moon sucks but even that is not really an issue with my artifacts😂😂

[@impishrunt]

Love the episodes with the full host trio

[@andrewwaring3643]

Vault of the Archangel is always my favorite. Lifelink and deathtouch is so nice and it often plays like a maze of ith.

[@scottricks1676]

Oooo yea that is a dang good card. Def one of my favs.

[@bloodfang100]

Not even a mention of Kessig Wolf Run?

[@deandreholmes3807]

I was very surprised not to see War Room on the list. Repeatable card draw when you don't have anything else to do and it's colorless, it can go in any deck. It's an auto include for most decks for me now.

[@derekgorlewski7870]

It's also 4 mana to activate, but Labyrinth of Skophos has another colorless 'maze of ith' effect on a land

[@patdion1161]

You guys have to do more videos like this!!! Mana rocks would be a good one! Let's see who gets Sol Ring!

[@ryrysamurai92]

i’m drafting Homeward Path Round 1: Fight me

[@thatepicwizardguy]

the best utility land in commander is maze of ith... it's a political piece that counters go-tall decks (popular), can combo with various things, and helps make repeatable plays. it doesn't make mana but the utility on it is so strong in almost every deck for almost every table that idk how it would ever not be in anybodys top 3.

[@tonnie901]

I really love my "Tower of the Magistrate". it does so much more than people realize (like clearing a creature of all equipment it was holding). truly an overlooked land.

[@UnreasonableOpinions]

Utility land choices really do highlight a lot of playstyles beyond just card power - they're where you want to cram the thing you want an excess of in all your decks. I wondered why Phyrexian Tower took so long to come up because I love reanimate effects and this protects me from exile while boosting my mana. My friend immediately named three lands that draw-and-discard because he loves card selection.

[@satansamael666]

It’s also awesome in turbo Naus decks for basically fully fixing for the eponymous card.

[@ryantomczak2248]

My top 5 utility lands are as follows. Urza’s Saga Boseiju Who Endures Otawara Soaring City Fiery Islet (&the other ones like it) Cephalid Coliseum

[@eygohs]

The folks over at MTGGoldfish mentioned that in play, Bojuka Bog either comes down early and doesnt do anything, or maybe does something late. Made me rethink Bojuka Bog as less of an auto-include, especially over something like scavenger grounds (doesnt come in tapped and allows for tighter play in timing).

[@dungeonsanddacnomania4731]

Witch's Clinic and Mycosynth Gardens for me. Love those lands

[@craigfernandez4433]

I hate maze of ith, the fact that it doesn’t tap for mana kills it for me. You don’t know pain until you’re forced to make your third land drop be the maze…

[@luckylarue7885]

Probably should have mulliganed.

[@Dragon_Fyre]

I have only ever used Maze of Ith in decks where I have the ability to reliably play more than one land a turn or in decks where the synergy payoff is worth the impact to my mana base (You are effectively missing a land drop).

[@Trogdorbad]

Command Beacon is a card I wish I had more copies of; I only have one, so I run it in my Piru the Volatile deck because it and Campfire are a huge boon for an 8 mana commander whose sole purpose is to blow up and act like she don't know nobody. The deck can totally make use of her being in the grave, but they're both super needed for those times where she ends up back in the zone.

[@Cabbrickk]

Ghost Town is hilarious in landfall decks. It combos with cards like retreat to coralhelm and walking atlas at instant speed for all the landfall triggers

[@GabeBurch]

One of my favorite utility lands lately has been Tower of the Magistrate. Completely hoses equipment-based Voltron strategies and stops people from putting boots on their creatures

[@RYlde]

Even thought phyrexian tower got picked, I think it might be being pretty severely underrated. If lands that produce extra mana were a part of this list (cradle, coffers, tomb, etc.) they would probably all be top 3 picks. Tower happens to be a sac outlet, but is also a colored sol land and in my experience sometimes feels like it's in that category of too good for casual - though admittedly doesn't go in as many decks. Highly recommend it if you haven't played with it!

[@raedien]

Boseiju, Who Shelters All Inkmoth Nexus Scavenger Grounds Thespian's Stage Karn's Bastion Each has won me many games. Honorable mention to Glacial Chasm, Thawing Glaciers, and Homeward Path.

[@fishermankent2417]

Thaumatic compass flips into a colorless land that is basically Maze of ith. Costs no Mana to activate and it actually does tap for Mana. Only restriction is it only works on opponents creatures

[@Tarlam_]

My top 15 : 1 - Boseiju, who endures 2 - Strip mine/Wasteland 3 - Urza's saga 4 - Cavern of Souls 5 - Boseiju, who Shelters all 6 - Mystic Sanctuary 7 - Dryad Arbor 8 - Castle Locthwain 9 - Otawara, Soaring cities 10 - Yavimaya Hollow 11 - Kessig Wolf’s run 12 - Hall of the bandit lord 13 - Maze of Ith 14 - Deserted Temple 15 - Blast zone HM : Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale Alchemist’s Refuge Rogue’s Passage

[@rallyflag2957]

Honestly the main ones that comes to my mind on a deeply personal level are Swarmyard and Tyrite Sanctum. When your commander fits into any of the listed types of Swarmyard it's always worth having, and I use Tyrite Sanctum in my Hans Eriksson and Goose Mother decks both because it's very useful (albeit slow) and thematically hilarious.

[@RishavPOV]

Wow, this is such a creative direction for a Magic-esque idea. Such a fun game, outside of the game, about the game.

[@shilohartisan]

Rachel going Maze of Ith on her first pick. Yes!!! Maze combos are so underrated. Green is a really good at tutoring for lands and really good at tutoring for small green creatures. I've had multiple T2 wins with Maze in my $100 budget deck.

[@overmused]

I think my general top 5 (in no particular order) based off of cards I actively play (and *want* to play) would be: Minamo, School at Water's Edge, Yavimaya Hollow, Mystic Sanctuary, Riptide Laboratory, and Academy Ruins But I just *love* blue-based artifact decks. I think some honorable mentions are Contested Cliffs (if only it had a different creature type) and Kor Haven (it's maze of ith but I can still tap it for mana). I've started including wasteland-type effects in my decks because my local meta has way too many Maze of Iths, to the point where I hate the card (but still begrudgingly hate it). But I like my utility lands to be more build-around.

[@Dani-on-yt]

I think it would be nice to see if you do a draft about Planeswalkers. Most people don't like to play it unless it goes really well with your deck, but I like them. :)

[@purgochocinco]

As a former fantasy nerd I have a suggestion if this series continues. I think you should either add a round or subtract a round because with an odd number, the last pick of the first round also gets last overall pick. It's not super detrimental, and it's just a hypothetical exercise but just a little suggestie.

[@gibbysg8143]

Love this format guys! Keep em coming!!!

[@redbulllizzard]

I love city of shadows as a sac outlet that makes more mana as you use it.

[@minispiel19]

In my mono-red decks, I have a bunch of Dwarven Mines laying around so it’s pretty easy to stick in and get a free extra body. I don’t know what my top utility lands though are or ones that you didn’t mention. Maybe Blast Zone.

[@andrewpeli9019]

I think you should have included the duel faced lands in this. They are essentially a land with the utility of playing their spell side if you don't need them to be a land.

[@raverkidxtc9112]

Command beacon is an MVP land in my Muldrotha deck. When your commander cost 6 and has a target on it's back the beacon is a must, plus it's replayable.

[@sylvaintellier4787]

Where is the Tabernacle?

[@FelipeLundgreen]

It's in Pendrell Vale.

[@mikeashe7270]

I always feel like the utility land slots are the hardest picks in deck building because I love so many of them lol

[@saltgp]

I just came by to say Jimmy’s Poke Rap at the end was fantastic.

[@caioalp5106]

Command Beacon should definetely be an auto include in decks that can recur lands from the grave, for those decks not only that means commander tax always costs 1, but it also allows to play the commander through an opponent's Drannith Magistrate instead of removing it to keep commanders and other shenanigans (looking at you Bolas's Citadel) from the 2 other players locked.

[@MrJBrown-ez9gy]

I luv that you guys are doing this/these fantasy drafts as a series (It's lots of fun and it makes me think): Suggestion :so viewers could "play along". Before the draft starts, it would be helpful if you had a montage of the maybe top 25-50 cards in the draft so we would know what pool you are using to draft cards from. The vague "best x (insert card type) in all of Magic" description is just too vast and makes my head ache. (l.o.l) It's kinda like that line in the old sci fi movie (I think it was the Core) 'Saving the world is too big. I can't fathom that. I just wanna save 3 (my kids) ' (paraphrasing of course, but you get the gist 🙂) Luv you guys a lot & Racheal is really a great addition to the team.

[@ryantomczak2248]

I think everyone wants to see the rest of the card types for sure, but you would have to break them down. For example, utility creatures, mana dorks, counterspells, removal, etc. Personally I would like to see a draft of commanders. It would be interesting to see what everyone would pick. Would there be any overlap? I think it would make a great episode.

[@pacobatracio]

I love command beacon!!!! It helps a lot on my high mana decks. (Eldrazi is my favorite!)

[@theOakMonster]

I barely play Red-Green decks, but Kessig Wolf Run is way better than it looks. Half the time I use that land to give Trample to an opponent's creature attacking a second opponent. I'm also a big fan of Madblind Mountain and Mistveil Plains (from Shadowmor). Easily fetchable with a moderately useful effect. Coming into play tapped is a drawback but still worth the slot in certain decks. I play Scroll Rack is basically every deck, so having Madblind Mountain to shuffle is clutch.

[@jmchristensen42]

So happy to see Valakut get picked at the end there

[@worldofkyle7227]

Does card kingdom sell those card sleeves to be put in binder? One page with many sleeves in a row. I don't know what they are calling, but hopefully, my description helps.

[@derekgarcia3069]

Late to the party but one of my favorites is still Volrath's Stronghold. Though I also play very creature heavy decks.

[@nbmbruh]

I have won a few games with the hideaway lands! I like those.

[@afifthofjackgaming]

Honestly think you guys should get a 4th person and draft all the major categories (artifacts, utility land, enchantments, instant, sorcery, and creature). Then take the cards you drafted and make a deck with your picks.

[@Fighting_irish493]

I don’t know all the lands you guys got to pick from but i feel like one of my top picks would have been Rouge’s passage a lot of times games the battlefields get clogged with creatures and having a way to make sure your creature can hit someone unblocked is so important because it can win games if no one has an answer to it

[@Dragon_Fyre]

Rogues passage was in the honourable mentions portion of the video.

[@nathand6467]

Rogue's Passage is really strong in my local meta

[@Fighting_irish493]

@@nathand6467 if your playing blue there are a lot of ways to make sure your creatures get through on your opponent unblocked and I feel like the best ways are actually cantrips like slip through space and shadow rift not only do you get to draw a card for one mana but making your creatures unblockable is always good and can win you a game out of nowhere that’s why rouges passage is good because it’s on a land and you don’t need to dedicate a spell to do it but just know if your deck has blue in it there are probably more cost effective ways of doing but again rouges passage is a colourless land that can go into any deck

[@Dragon_Fyre]

Rogues passage can be bad though; Josh mentioned the mana cost being a deterrent but there is also the Strixhaven Stadium effect, where if it looks to be at all relevant, it encourages players to attack you. They’re not going to just passively wait for you to kill them. I prefer unblockable effects that they cannot see coming and plan for…

[@Fighting_irish493]

@@Dragon_Fyre i agree the mana cost is high but because it can go into any deck sometimes it’s getting that last bit of damage through that’s why I said there are better options in blue that are more cost effective ways of getting your creatures through unblockable but Rouges passage can go into any deck like mono white for example so even though the mana cost is high like I said sometimes you just need one last attack I’ve won games because I had rouges passage so stand by it even though I know the cost is high if they make a better version of it I’m sure people will start using that version but Rouges passage is unique there isn’t every many other lands that do what rouges passage does there is access tunnel but the creature can only have the power of 3 or less to use it

[@AmberPanda382]

Honestly this feels like a list for every deck utility lands, I kinda wish y’all would do this for specific type lands. Like eye of Ugin or Bazaar of Baghdad or even crucible of the spirit dragon

[@Spike-hl2mw]

That's...the point. If they were only allowed to have 5 utility lands, these are what they would they pick. So they went with lands that are so good that they could go in any deck able to run them. Of course some of the lands they picked are restricted by color identity or somewhat by deck composition (e.g., Mystic Sanctuary), but they are still viable in tons of potential decks. Eye of Ugin is only viable in Eldrazi decks, which is a super narrow archetype.

[@AmberPanda382]

@@Spike-hl2mwyeah i know. i just think doing stuff for archetypes would be more interesting than "hey we found the best staples" you can find good staples easily, just watch commander gameplay or check price tags. prices often just relate to rarity and play amounts, so staples are often expensive, especially lands

[@Sgt_Kal]

I can't wait for the Planeswalkers video. I have to imagine that one will be very difficult come later picks