Magic: The Gathering can be a bit daunting if you’re just starting out. Most new players focus on creatures and flashy spells, but lands are where everything begins. You need them to pay for your spells, and they affect how quickly (or slowly) you can get cards out of your hand and onto the battlefield. I’ve seen people underestimate lands, and it usually costs them the game. So let’s talk about why lands matter, what kinds of lands exist, and how to figure out which ones fit your deck.
The Role of Lands in MTG
When you play Magic, you usually get to put one land onto the battlefield each turn. You can tap that land to produce mana. Then you spend mana to cast spells, activate abilities, or do whatever your deck is built to do. If you can’t pay the right mana costs, you can’t cast many of your spells. That’s frustrating, but it’s also part of the game’s strategy: how do you juggle the right number of lands with the right kinds of spells?
There are five primary colors of mana in Magic: Black, White, Red, Green, and Blue. Some lands produce one or more of these colors, while others only give colorless mana. Knowing which lands you want for your deck is as important as picking the right creatures, instants, or enchantments. A deck that has strong spells but poor lands is likely to run into trouble.
Basic Lands
Basic lands are the simplest type of land. They come in five main varieties: Plains (White), Island (Blue), Swamp (Black), Mountain (Red), and Forest (Green). There’s also Waste, which produces colorless mana and is technically a basic land without a land type on its text. If you have a deck that uses Red and White spells, for example, you’ll probably include Mountains and Plains. If your deck needs Blue and Black spells, you’ll include Islands and Swamps, and so on.
Why use basic lands? They don’t usually have extra costs or complicated effects. Also, unlike most other cards, you can include as many copies of a basic land in your deck as you want. This is helpful when you need a certain amount of colored mana to cast your spells reliably. Some non-basic lands can get expensive or come with drawbacks. Basic lands are both budget-friendly and easy to understand.
Non-Basic Lands
Non-basic lands are any lands that aren’t one of the five main basics (or Waste). They often produce more than one color of mana or have abilities that help you in specific ways. The trade-off is that most non-basic lands have a limit of four copies per deck in non-Commander formats (in Commander, you’re limited to one unless it’s a basic land).
Dual Lands
Some older lands are called “Dual Lands” because they produce two colors of mana without any real downside. For instance, a land that produces either Red or Black mana can help you cast your spells in a two-color deck. It enters untapped, which means you can use it right away. These are powerful but can be pricey and often come from older sets.
Taplands
Taplands is a broad term for non-basic lands that enter the battlefield tapped or have some other condition about tapping. They might say, “This land enters the battlefield tapped unless you pay 2 life,” or “This land enters tapped unless you reveal a Plains from your hand.” Some versions don’t give you a choice and simply come into play tapped no matter what.
Here are a few common subtypes of Taplands:
- Dual Taplands: They provide two colors of mana but always enter tapped. There’s no way around it unless a different card in your deck specifically untaps them.
- Triple Taplands: These tap for three different colors. They always enter tapped, but they can be very useful if your deck uses three colors.
- Shock Lands: These can come in untapped if you pay 2 life. This is often worth it if you need that mana now or if waiting a turn would cause you to miss an important play.
- Battle Lands: They enter untapped if you already control two or more basic lands.
- Reveal Lands: You can reveal a basic land from your hand to let them enter untapped. Otherwise, they arrive tapped.
- Check Lands: These lands “check” if you have a corresponding land type on the battlefield (for example, “Plains or Island”) and, if so, they enter untapped.
- Fast Lands: They enter untapped if this is your first, second, or third land. After that, they arrive tapped.
- Slow Lands: These come in untapped only if you already have at least two other lands in play. They’re the opposite of Fast Lands.
Taplands often have minor upsides, like scrying. But the main decision is whether you want your land to be immediately usable or if you’re okay with it entering tapped. Sometimes paying 2 life (in the case of Shock Lands) is worth it. Other times you can wait a turn.
Utility Lands
Utility lands are special because they do something beyond producing mana. Some allow you to fetch (search) for other lands, others let you sacrifice them for a burst of mana, and some have activated abilities that can damage opponents or buff creatures. Here are a few categories:
Fetch Lands
Fetch lands let you search your library for a specific land card. Often they say something like, “Pay 1 life, sacrifice this land: Search your library for a Plains or Island and put it onto the battlefield.” They help you find exactly the mana you need. Cards like Maze’s End break the mold because they can also produce colorless mana, but they still give you that fetch ability.
Cycling Lands
Cycling lands have a cost that lets you discard them to draw a different card. If you’re drawing too many lands, you can pay the cycling cost to potentially get a spell instead. This is handy when you’re drowning in land and need more action.
Guildhalls
In Ravnica-based sets, each two-color guild has its own land, often nicknamed a Guildhall. They usually tap for colorless mana but also have an extra activated ability. Those abilities vary from dealing direct damage, to buffing creatures, to milling cards from an opponent’s library.
Utility Taplands
These are single-color lands that come in tapped but also have an extra effect. Maybe you can pay some mana and tap them to deal 1 damage, or possibly they let you sacrifice them to draw a card. They’re slower but can be worth it if they fit your strategy.
Lands with Drawbacks
Powerful lands often come with a cost. That cost can be taking damage, limiting how many copies can be in play at once, or something else. Some players don’t mind these trade-offs if the upside is worth it. Two big categories here are Legendary lands and Pain Lands.
Legendary Lands
Legendary lands are subject to the Legend Rule, which says you can’t control two copies of the same legendary permanent at once. If you ever do, you have to choose one to keep and put the other in the graveyard. This also applies if your opponent has the exact same legendary card. If two copies would hit the battlefield, one must go. They’re powerful but come with the drawback that you can’t stack them.
Pain Lands
These lands can produce colorless mana for free or produce one of two colors but deal 1 damage to you when you do. They’re great for speed but add up in life loss if you use them many times. Still, being able to generate the correct color on turn one can swing a game in your favor.
Lands Using Counters
Some lands rely on counters to keep track of their effects, either to limit how long they can tap for mana or to store up extra mana for later turns.
Depletion Lands
These lands often enter with depletion counters. Every time you tap them for colored mana, you remove a depletion counter, and they don’t untap next turn if they’re out of counters. They can give you a burst of needed mana early on, but you have to pace yourself.
Storage Lands
Storage lands usually let you pay mana and tap them to add a “storage counter.” Then you can remove those counters all at once to produce multiple mana in a single turn. It’s a way of saving up for a bigger spell if you have some extra mana lying around during your earlier turns. Make custom mtg cards for your lands.
Additional Lands and Unique Subtypes
Magic has a ton of lands beyond just basics and duals. A few other interesting types include:
Artifact Lands
These lands count as artifacts in addition to being lands, so any effect that affects artifacts can target them. That can be a blessing or a curse because artifact-hate cards can destroy your lands. But if you’re playing an artifact-focused deck, it can be helpful.
Verge Lands
Verge Lands produce one color without needing anything special but require you to have a certain type of basic land in play to produce the second color. They can be helpful if your deck is focused on two specific colors and you plan to have a certain basic land type on the battlefield anyway.
Caves and Deserts
These are terrain-based land types found in some sets. They might tap for colorless mana or have unique abilities. Some deserts can deal damage when you sacrifice them; some caves might let you do something special like filter mana. They’re usually utility-based and can be a good fit if their extra effect lines up with your deck’s strategy.
Urza’s Lands
“Urzatron” refers to three specific lands: Urza’s Mine, Urza’s Power Plant, and Urza’s Tower. If you get all three out, they generate a total of seven mana between them, which is pretty huge. There are other lands with “Urza’s” in the name, but those three are known for that combo. If you’re building a deck around big spells or large artifacts, the Urzatron might be a route to consider.
Building a Solid Mana Base
One of the biggest mistakes newer players make is ignoring their mana base. They load up on creatures, spells, and fancy combos but stick random basic lands in without thinking about color distribution or synergy. Then they wonder why they keep drawing the wrong colors.
In my opinion, you should figure out roughly how many lands you need (often between 22–26 in a typical 60-card deck, though there’s no hard rule). Then figure out which colors you need most. If you have a deck that’s half Red spells and half Green spells, you likely want half your lands to produce Red mana and half to produce Green. If your deck has more Red spells than Green, you might tilt the ratio accordingly.
If you’re using more than one color, consider whether you want non-basic lands to fix your mana. It might be wise to include Taplands or Dual Lands that give you flexible mana options. Just be aware of any potential downsides: losing life, entering tapped, or needing to reveal cards to your opponent.
Knowing When to Use Special Lands
Some players run nothing but basics. That’s fine for a simpler, more budget-friendly approach. Others toss in every fancy land they have. That can lead to confusion and slow you down because many special lands require you to jump through a hoop or pay some kind of cost.
Ask yourself what your deck is trying to do. If it’s a fast aggro deck, maybe you don’t want lands entering tapped. But if you have a slower, more controlling deck, a Tapland that gives you a small benefit might be worth it. If your deck wants to fetch certain combos, you might prefer fetch lands. If you’re building around a synergy with artifacts, artifact lands could be fantastic, though they open you up to certain removal spells. It’s all about weighing upsides and downsides.
Common Pitfalls with Lands
- Too few lands: If you don’t draw enough, you’re stuck doing nothing.
- Too many lands: It’s no fun having a hand full of lands when you need spells.
- Mismatched colors: Having the wrong color of mana is incredibly frustrating, especially if you’re running a three-color deck and your lands don’t line up.
- Ignoring synergy: If your deck benefits from putting cards in your graveyard, consider Scry or Surveil lands. If you want bigger spells late game, maybe Storage Lands.
- Life loss over time: Shock Lands and Pain Lands add up. You might be willing to lose 2 life once, but if you do it a few times, you risk falling into lethal range against an aggressive deck.
Final Thoughts
Lands might not seem flashy at first, but every match depends on them. If you choose the right lands, your spells come out at the perfect time and your combos flow. If you choose poorly, you either sit there with the wrong colors or stare at your cards while you wait for that third land to show up.
I believe that understanding lands is just as important as picking your core deck strategy. It’s not always about having the rarest or most expensive land, either—sometimes a well-planned mix of basics and simple duals is enough to win. But if you’re excited about exploring more complex or high-powered builds, there are plenty of fancy non-basics to try.
Ask yourself this: do you want your deck to be consistent, or do you want to gamble on more powerful but less reliable lands? There’s no universal answer. It depends on your playstyle, your deck’s mana curve, and your budget. Once you figure that out, you’ll be well on your way to building a mana base that lets your deck shine. Even if you’re new, experimenting with different lands and seeing how they work in practice is one of the best ways to learn what suits you.
And that’s basically what you need to know about lands to get started. There are countless variations out there—enough to fill entire binders—but you don’t have to know them all at once. A bit of curiosity and trial-and-error will go a long way toward making your deck as efficient and fun as possible. If you find yourself constantly missing a color of mana or tapped out when you’d rather respond, try switching up your land choices. You might be surprised at how much difference a small change can make. Good luck, and may your lands come in untapped exactly when you need them.
