In a perfect world, most multi-color land bases will start out looking like this (with a little tuning if the color split of the deck is uneven):
- All on-color Fetchlands (7 for 2-color decks, 9 for 3-color, and all 10 for 4- and 5-color decks)
- All on-color ABUR Duals (1 for 2-color, 3 for 3-color, 6 for 4-color, and all 10 for 5-color.
- All on-color Shock Lands (same numbers as for ABUR Duals)
- All on-color Pain Lands (same numbers as for ABUR Duals)
- Command Tower
The rest is going to vary based on how many colors you’re in, but in general you don’t need to go much deeper than this list unless you’re in 4- or 5-color identities.
If you’re on a budget, I would look to these cycles for budget 2-color replacements:
- Fast Lands
- Check Lands
- BFZ Dual Lands (Have Lands)
- Amonkhet Cycling Lands
The BFZ and Amonkhet dual lands have the advantage of powering up your fetches in almost the same way ABUR duals do. The check lands and fast lands technically ETB tapped, but have conditions that are easy enough to meet in 2- and 3- color decks that they’re sometimes just as good (without being fetchable).
*Credit to "The Metaworker: Let’s Talk Lands"
by James LaPage
