Lands and Mana Bases
The cards that pay for everything else — and how to pick them.
Lands are the engine of every deck: you usually play one per turn, and they tap for the mana that casts your spells. A deck's collection of lands is its mana base.
Kinds of land
- Basics
- Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, Forest — the only cards you may run in any number.
- Duals & taplands
- Lands that make more than one color, often entering tapped as a trade-off.
- Fetch lands
- Sacrifice to search your library for a land, fixing colors and thinning the deck.
- Utility lands
- Lands that do something extra: draw a card, make a creature, or sacrifice for value.
A rough rule of thumb is about 17 lands in a 40-card limited deck and 24 in a 60-card constructed one, adjusted for your curve.
Try a search
Example cards
