Utility lands are spells that happen to tap for colourless mana, and they should be judged like spells: does this effect earn a slot, and ca...
Utility lands are spells that happen to tap for colourless mana, and they should be judged like spells: does this effect earn a slot, and can my coloured mana survive a land that produces none of it? In one- and two-colour decks the answer is often yes; in four- and five-colour decks every colourless land is a small act of optimism.
Real lands, real text
War Room (Land; rarity: rare; most recent printing listed by Scryfall: Secrets of Strixhaven Commander): {T}: Add {C}.
{3}, {T}, Pay life equal to the number of colors in your commanders' color identity: Draw a card. Bonders' Enclave (Land; rarity: rare; most recent printing listed by Scryfall: Outlaws of Thunder Junction Commander): {T}: Add {C}.
{3}, {T}: Draw a card. Activate only if you control a creature with power 4 or greater. Scavenger Grounds (Land — Desert; rarity: rare; most recent printing listed by Scryfall: Marvel Super Heroes Commander): {T}: Add {C}.
{2}, {T}, Sacrifice a Desert: Exile all graveyards.
Build from examples like these rather than from ratios copied off the internet. Count the coloured symbols in your spells, look at which turns your deck must cast what, and let those two facts choose the lands — then test, count your stumbles honestly, and adjust.
Build and check your list with the MTGBrew AI deck builder, and browse every card mentioned here in the MTGBrew card database on MTGBrew.
If this topic is on your bench, keep going with Edgar Markov Commander Guide: How the Deck Actually Wins — it covers the neighbouring decisions from a different angle, and the two pieces together give you a fuller picture than either one alone.
Keep reading
Keep reading: Edgar Markov Commander Guide: How the Deck Actually Wins and Omnath, Locus of Creation Commander Guide: How the Deck Actually Wins.
The numbers that keep you honest
Tune in small steps. Change two or three cards at a time, play several games, and write down what actually happened rather than what you hoped would happen. Deck building rewards that patience — a list adjusted on evidence converges on its best version, while a list rebuilt after every loss never stays still long enough to be judged.
Most Commander decks start their thinking somewhere in the mid-thirties for land count and adjust for curve, ramp, and card draw — treat that as a starting hypothesis about your deck, never as a law. A low-curve deck with real draw needs fewer lands than a top-heavy deck with none, and five games of honest notes will tell you more than any formula.
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