What's typical for Basic Land count in EDH?
Deck Help forum
Posted on Dec. 18, 2013, 8:34 p.m. by Loco-Motive
I'm new to EDH...making my first deck based off the Eternal Bargain 2013 Oloro deck that came out. After I modify it a bit, how many BASIC lands should an EDH deck have? I've seen many decks here that have only 1-3 basic lands and the rest be special...and then I hear people say with some of the land destruction out there on non-basic lands, that it's better and safer to run quite a number of Basic lands.
I just want to know if I need to be scared about having mostly or only special lands...or if I need to incorporate a hefty amount of Basic...?
Any insight on this would be appreciated.
You need a few basics to counter Wasteland , Path to Exile , Ghost Quarter , etc.
It really depends on what kind of ramp you have. For example, my EDH decks tend to be heavy with cards like Cultivate , Khalni Heart Expedition , Land Tax , etc. which need basics to function.
If you were playing a deck built around something like Hermit Druid , for example, you would run few, if any, basic lands.
December 18, 2013 8:43 p.m.
I have also found that budget plays a factor. Since EDH is pretty much all inclusive when it comes to cards all of the ABUR lands are fair game but I for one don't have that kind of money. Most duals are helpful for providing the needed colors of mana but as mentioned before basics are necesary to thwart nonbasic LD from completely hosing you. Deck goal/focus (as mentioned ealier) play a key role. Example: my deck is morglen (B/W/G) so I have access to a lot of land fetch spells but some of them won't get nonbasic lands (Explosive Vegetation for example) but cards like Farseek get a certain land type which is very helpful for fetching the ravnica duals to make sure i have the colors of mana i need (Temple Garden for example). Its all about balance. I would suggest come up with type and style of deck you wanna build and then make you land base tailored to make that work. Hope this helps.
December 18, 2013 8:55 p.m.
If you're talking about playing EDH at all competitively, you basically start with your land count of around 36.
Take out 1 basic per ABUR dual land (ex Bayou
)
Take out 1 basic per Shockland (ex Temple Garden
)
Take out 1 basic per Fetchland (ex Windswept Heath
)
Take out 1 basic (usually) per Checkland (ex Glacial Fortress
)
Take out 1 basic (usually) per Filter Land (ex Fetid Heath
)
Then you pretty much always want a Command Tower,
Then there are the auto-ad utility non-basics as long as they match your colours: Halimar Depths, Bojuka Bog, Vesuva, Strip Mine, Wasteland etc etc.
As an example, my (trying to be) pretty competitive Oloro, Ageless Ascetic deck is running 38 land, with 9 basics, whereas my Wort, Boggart Auntie deck is currently running 31 lands with 26 basics)
December 18, 2013 9:54 p.m.
The short answer is that you go with the number of basics/nonbasic that you need to keep yourself from getting cut off from a color. It really, really depends.
I'd focus less on the count of the basics/non-basics and focus more on answering the question, "Am I getting the mana in the colors that I need for my deck at the right time?"
In general, the more colors you have the more likely you are to get hosed in a color. The more colors in your deck the more you want to have lands that provide 2 or more colors.
December 18, 2013 10:43 p.m.
Loco-Motive says... #7
Thanks, all, for the input and insight.I, too, am running an Oloro, Ageless Ascetic deck. So in short, running a three color deck. I can see how many Basic lands the 2013 store-bought Commander deck suggested I have in there, but then again, I want a few other non-basics of my own to go in there. I just really wanted to make sure I didn't take out too many Basics.
I will take the suggestion of starting with 36-38 lands and see how it helps me. I am running a few artifact mana-producers, as well as other enchantments like Land Tax , so perhaps 38 is the right number. Testing will help determine that as well.
Much appreciated, everyone! I knew I'd get some helpful hands here.
December 19, 2013 1:23 a.m.
agreed that it depends on the deck. My elf deck runs 31 land, 28 basic b/c i dont want anything coming in tapped ever. But for a 3 color oloro deck i would go with: 35land depending on the amount of artifact ramp you want. You'll probably end up in the 28-30 non basic, 5-7basic category.
December 19, 2013 7:41 a.m.
Loco-Motive says... #9
Wow, only 5-7 Basic lands, huh?that sounds scary...but hey, test and learn!
December 19, 2013 11:26 a.m.
Depends on your budget and how seriously you want to play. By the time a 3-color deck with 36 land uses 3 duals, 3 shocks, 3 checks and 9 fetches, you're already at 50% non-basics.
December 19, 2013 12:09 p.m.
Fastbond and Sundering Titan are banned, so even if someone wants to run Wasteland and Crucible, they can also use Strip Mine, so having nonbasics isn't really "Scary" unless you're using a bunch of the ones that all come into play tapped.
December 19, 2013 12:11 p.m.
yea, by the time you use 3 shocks, 3checks, 3 fetches, 2 filter, 2 fast, command tower, city of brass, 3 of the ones that come in tapped and bounce a land. 4 artifact lands, blinkmoth / inkmoth, academy ruins...etc. etc. you're already at 25+
December 19, 2013 1:33 p.m.
Fastlands? No thank you. Only if you don't have Checklands.
December 19, 2013 2:05 p.m.
Lands like Blackcleave Cliffs which are dual lands, that come into play tapped unless they are your first, second or third land play.
Darkness1835 says... #2
Typical land count for EDH can be 34-37, or even more, depending on the deck. As for which nonbasics to choose, this also depends on the deck. Nonbasic lands that have synergy with your deck should go in instead of basics. (ex if you playing a token deck, you'll want to include things like Vitu-Ghazi, the City-Tree . Otherwise, basic lands should work fine, unless you have high color demands.
December 18, 2013 8:41 p.m.