So, after the break last week looking at MoJhoSto (It's a great format, and I suggest you try it out), time to get back to Commander. I talked about needing building blocks to help construct decks, and today we'll start with the most basic: Lands.

Lands are usually the last thing I think about when it comes to building decks. Obviously, they're not as powerful and game changing as creatures and spells but they're like vegetables: you need to have them to survive. But, what lands do you put in your deck? If you've got a Commander that's multiple colors, you've got some choices to make. You can use just the basic lands and call it a day, but that's just ridiculous. Nonbasic lands, especially ones that can produce multiple colors, are very valuable in Commander.

They come in many variation and possibilities for your deck. You want lands that can go get you other lands? You got it. How about lands that gain you life? Those too. How about ones that can copy the colors of mana your lands can already produce. That's also an option.

This is going to be a two part article, separated into two sections: early land design and modern land design. There's a clear change in design philosophy and we'll break in that shirt. Yes, it's true that some of the most powerful dual lands ever printed were early in Magic's history, but the consistently better lands have come more recently. As you'll see, there's trade offs when it comes to how you receive your mana; some of them are great for certain decks, others make the cards almost unplayable.

I consider dual lands are ones that allow access to more than one color. Yes, this includes five-color lands as well. I'm also counting ones the go get other lands and ones that makes other lands make more than one color. I also give the cards ratings based on most Commander decks; your deck which does something different, might love that card that wouldn't be good anywhere else. Also I'm reporting the demand of the cards, in terms of trading/buying in all formats besides just Commander. You get the knowledge of what other sets they're printed in if you want a cheaper option.

You ready? Alright, let's get started.

Original Duals

Set: Alpha

Rarity: Rare

Color Combinations: Badlands (B/R), Bayou (B/G), Plateau (R/W), Savannah (G/W), Scrubland (W/B), Taiga (R/G), Tropical Island (G/U), Tundra (W/U), Underground Sea (U/B), Volcanic Island (U/R)

Demand: Very High

Notes: The first, and arguably the best dual lands ever printed. Acting just like basic lands, only without that moniker, these lands have no drawback (one of the only ones that have this benefit). They are highly sought after not only in the Commander world, but in the Vintage and Legacy world since they are amazing in competitive constructed. Before the SCG Open tournaments, the Revised versions could be found for around $20-$30 a piece, but now range anywhere from $50-$90. And that's just the cheap, white bordered, most printed version. Here's the key: they're not needed for every multicolor EDH deck, and there are cheaper variants available. But they're very, very good. On the Reserved List.

Works well with: Mirage, Onslaught and Zendikar Fetchlands; cards that have basic land type matter

Rating: Must Own (If possible)

Other Sets: Beta (pictured), Unlimited, Revised, Masters Edition II (Allied Duals), Masters Edition III (Enemy Duals), Masters Edition IV (All of them)

City of Brass

Set: Arabian Nights

Rarity: Uncommon (U3)

Color Combinations: Five-Colored land

Demand: Casual only

Notes: The best five color land in the game. Don't be scared away by the one damage it deals you; by starting with 40 life, it will hardly matter (of course late game matters but not as often). You do have to pay attention to the damage clause because it's whenever it becomes tapped, not just used for mana. If facing a deck with plenty of tapping effects, it will only act like a pinger against you. Because it's been reprinted so many times, it should be easy to acquire one from an older player. However, it hasn't see print since 8th Edition (it's first and only new border edition). Plenty of arts to chose from. If you see a version of a white border but with the Arabian Nights symbol, it's from Chronicles not a misprint. In every set but Arabian Nights the card is rare.

Works well with: Life gain decks; cards that care about your life total; Donate/Mind Over Matter tapping engine

Rating: Must Own

Other Sets: Chronicles, 5th Edition, 6th Edition, 7th Edition, 8th Edition, Super Series Promo (Foil Only) Masters Edition IV

Rainbow Vale

Set: Fallen Empires

Rarity: Rare (U1)

Color Combinations: Five-Colored land

Demand: Very Little

Notes: Makes a great politics card. Please note that it says opponents, so if playing with teammates it doesn't work. Can been seen in "Group Hug" type decks and ones that love quirky effects. Rules say it stays in the same tapped/untapped state when it switched controllers. On the Reserved List because of its awesome power.

Works well with: Brooding Saurian; "Group Hug" decks; Cards that return lands to your hand

Rating: Meh

Other Sets: Masters Edition

Pain Lands

Set: Ice Age

Rarity: Rare

Color Combinations: Adarkar Wastes (U/W), Brushland (G/W), Karplusan Forest (R/G), Sulfurous Springs (B/R), Underground River (U/B)

Demand: Medium

Notes: A limited City of Brass that only dealt you damage if you used it for colored mana. Makes a great option for two-colored decks because of the ease of the mana and the flexibility it gives. Since these have been printed so often, they can be easy to acquire. Great placeholders until you get the Original Duals if that's what you're going for. Can be impressive by themselves.

Works well with: Early mana intensive low casting cost cards.

Rating: Must Own

Other Sets: 5th Edition, 6th Edition, 7th Edition, 9th Edition, 10th Edition, Deckmasters (Karplusan Forest, Sulfurous Springs, Underground River only), Anthologies (Brushland only)

Depletion Lands

Set: Ice Age

Rarity: Rare

Color Combinations: Land Cap (U/W), Lava Tubes (B/R), River Delta (U/B), Timberline Ridge (R/G), Veldt (G/W)

Demand: None

Notes: Of the two cycles of dual lands that Wizards made for Ice Age do you think make the lasting impression. Meant to simulate the ebb and flow of ice, they did a great job at doing that while ruining their playability. Sure, you don't take damage, but you lose that mana for next turn. Too bad that WotC still tried to implement this idea years later. On the Reserved List.

Works well with: Nothing

Rating: Not even Chisei, Heart of Oceans can save these cards.

Other Sets: None

School of the Unseen

Set: Alliances

Rarity: Uncommon

Color Combinations: Five-Color land.

Demand: The joke is in the card's name

Notes: An idea so great they tried it in the next set, but "better." Go take a look at the Wizards' School cycle, then come back to this one. Back? I hope they're using those schools for something besides teaching them how to create mana.

Works well with: Not all of these are going to be winners, ok?

Rating: Skip

Other Sets: None

Thawing Glaciers

Set: Alliances

Rarity: Rare

Color Combinations: Five-Color Fetcher

Demand: Medium

Notes: A favorite among the group of players who want that incremental card advantage. Yes, it thins your library of basic lands, but only of basic lands. Can be annoying to the other players in the game with all of the shuffling you'll be doing. One of those lands that you have to see if you want to have it in your deck. On the Reserved List.

Works well with: Landfall cards; Sensei's Diving Top/Scroll Rack/Brainstorm/Ponder/Any other card that loves shuffling

Rating: Specialty card only

Other Sets: Judge's Foil (Foil Only), Masters Edition

Wizards' School Lands

Set: Homelands

Rarity: Uncommon

Color Combinations: An-Havva Township (R/G/W), Aysen Abbey (G/W/U), Castle Sengir (U/B/R), Koskun Keep (B/R/G), Wizards' School (W/U/B)

Demand: For these lands?

Notes: Many players have said that Fallen Empires is the worst expansion ever, but I humbly submit Homelands to be the worst designed set in all of Magic. These lands tell you how far design has come. If you wanted to play three colors, you had to have to get the allied colors that you already paid for. And some older players said they like the older cards lands, I wonder if they're talking about this cycle. Unless you're going heavily on theme, there are much better options.

Works well with: Those Prophecy "How many lands tapped" cards, Wake Thrasher

Rating: Proxy fuel

Other Sets: None, thankfully

Mirage Fetch Lands

Set: Mirage

Rarity: Uncommon

Color Combinations: Bad River (U/B), Flood Plain (W/U), Grasslands (G/W), Mountain Valley (R/G), Rocky Tar Pit (B/R)

Demand: Small

Notes: This is the budget alternative to the rare Onslaught Fetchlands. Because they don't say basic, they can search any of those lands with that land type. If you don't want the mass shuffling of Thawing Glaciers, I would recommend these cards. The same basic idea of thinning out your deck to draw good spells instead of lands without the constant shuffling. If I got to choose which non-basic uncommon lands were reprinted in core sets, I'd choose these. Because they're so old and most players prefer the newer fetches anyway, see if you can find these for cheap. The drawback of entering the battlefield tapped doesn't hurt in the early game.

Works well with: Crucible of Worlds; Landfall cards; Amulet of Vigor

Rating: Must Own

Other Sets: None, Sadly

Undiscovered Paradise

Set: Visions

Rarity: Rare

Color Combinations: Five-Colored Land

Demand: Medium

Notes: A great landfall enabler, this is a non painful way of getting five colors. The tension of deciding if you want to "miss" your next land drop to tap it for mana is great. Another land that you have to see if it fits your playstyle by playing it. On the Reserved List.

Works well with: Lotus Cobra/Ob Nixilis/Other landfall cards; Land destruction; Azorius Aethermage

Rating: Niche card

Other Sets: None

Gemstone Mine

Set: Weatherlight

Rarity: Uncommon

Color Combinations: Five-Color Land

Demand: Medium to high

Notes: Another trade off land where you get any color, but for a limited time. A more skill intensive land, Timmy players might not like the idea of losing a land if you use it three times. As long as it's not drawn early in some game and limiting your options, it can be a great card. There are plenty of options that allows you to abuse this card to keep the counters on it.

Works well with: Proliferate; Bounce lands; Crucible of Worlds; Trade Routes

Rating: Should Own

Other Sets: Time Spiral (Time Shifted), Judge's Promo (Foil Only)

Lotus Vale

Set: Weatherlight

Rarity: Rare

Color Combinations: Five-Color land

Demand: Low to Medium

Notes: The text has changed to say "If Lotus Vale would enter the battlefield, sacrifice two untapped lands instead. If you do, put Lotus Vale onto the battlefield. If you don't, put it into its owner's graveyard." No Stifle/Trickbind or just tapping it to get the 3 mana tricks. Usually doesn't see much play because of the prevalence of Strip Mine/Wasteland in decks. Obviously works great with Crucible of Worlds (and you wonder why players designed that card). On the Reserved List

Works well with: Privileged Position, Knight of the Reliquary/Terravore

Rating: Niche

Other Sets: None

Tempest Enemy Pain Lands

Set: Tempest

Rarity: Rare

Color Combinations: Caldera Lake (U/R), Pine Barrens (B/G), Salt Flats (W/B), Scabland (R/W), Skyshroud Forest (G/U)

Demand: Low

Notes: Clearly the next follow up to the Ice Age Pain Lands, these ones finally allowed players the enemy colors, but with the drawback of entering the battlefield tapped. It makes sense design wise, but players wanted more. They're great in concept but over the years they're been outclassed. Still useful if you need that just one more enemy colored land.

Works well with: See Ice Age Pain lands

Rating: Nice

Other Sets: None

Reflecting Pool

Set: Tempest

Rarity: Rare

Color Combinations: Five-Color land

Demand: Medium to High

Notes: This one obviously depends on what other colors your lands could produce. Not a good first land you play. As we found out in the Lorwyn/Shadowmoor block, it works great with the Vivd lands (It doesn't matter if there's a counter on the Vivd land or not to get any color). In decks that are real mana intensive, practically a must have.

Works well with: Vivid Lands; Any other land; Prismatic Omen

Rating: Niche Land

Other Sets: Shadowmoor

Tempest Tap Lands

Set: Tempest

Rarity: Uncommon

Color Combinations: Cinder Marsh (B/R), Mogg Hollows (R/G), Rootwater Depths (U/B), Thalakos Lowlands (W/U), Vec Townships (G/W)

Demand: Low

Notes: While these are "fixed" from the Ice Age Depletion Lands, they really aren't any better. Do you want a colored mana if you don't get to untap it next turn? Most likely not. But again, WotC didn't learn this lesson.

Works well with: Nothing, new that hasn't already been said.

Rating: Ignore

Other Sets: Battle Royal Box Set (Cinder Marsh, Mogg Hollows, Thalakos Lowlands, and Vec Townships only)

Thran Quarry

Set: Urza's Saga

Rarity: Rare

Color Combinations: Five-Color land

Demand: Small

Notes: While this is great in concept, I believe that there's too much board wipe in Commander to really make this land effective. Since it checks at the end of every step, you'll lose it at your turn. Even if you have indestructible creatures (which would be the best way to do this), if someone blinks your guy or bounces it, you're outta luck.

Works well with: Shroud/Indestructible creatures

Rating: Creature heavy decks.

Other Sets: None

Henge of Ramos

Set: Mercadian Masques

Rarity: Uncommon

Color Combinations: Five-Color Land

Demand: Low

Notes: Recognize this card? Yeah, it's School of the Unseen. It's just a functional repeat.

Works well with: Same as before.

Rating: Budget option.

Other Sets: None

Rhystic Cave

Set: Prophecy

Rarity: Uncommon

Color Combinations: Five-Color land

Demand: Little

Notes: If any player pays is a hard pill to swallow. It's not a situation where you can politic your way out of it; if someone has an extra mana open, they will deny you. When does someone have extra land open in Commander? Oh yeah, like almost every turn. Beautiful art, but that doesn't save it. Better in Constructed formats which don't have 2 two players.

Works well with: It is worth it to find a combo?

Rating: Ignore

Other Sets: None

You wanna break?

Yeah, that sounds good. When we start next time, you'll really see the quality of the lands improve. Don't believe me? The first cycle of dual lands we see will make half of these cards completely obsolete. Yes, and it's all due to one man. His story, as well as the second part of this review, next time.

For more Commander goodness, I've started a weekly column on my Commander Blog where I take a look at a random General on Mondays. Yes, more Commander goodness to start out your week. For the first one I took a look at Mannichi, the Fevered Dream and boy, at the moment there's not a lot you can do with it.

Until part two, always be on the lookout for hidden gems!