How many lands should a Commander deck run?

Last updated: October 22, 2026

Most Commander decks should run 36 to 38 lands out of their 99. Start at 37 and adjust for your deck: fewer if it is full of cheap ramp and low-cost spells, more if your commander or your best cards cost six or more. Below 33 is risky for almost any deck.

Why that many

A Commander game is decided by how many spells you cast, and you cannot cast them without hitting your land drops for the first five or six turns. Missing one early costs more than drawing an extra land late, when you have plenty of things to spend mana on. Most precons run 36 to 38 lands for the same reason.

Adjusting the count

Lots of cheap ramp? Mana rocks like Sol Ring, Arcane Signet and Mind Stone, and land ramp like Rampant Growth, Farseek and Cultivate, partly do a land's job. A common rule of thumb is to cut one land for every two or three cheap ramp pieces beyond the usual ten or so.
Expensive commander or curve? Add a land or two. A commander that costs six wants to be cast on turn five or six every game.
Landfall or lands-matter? Run more (38 to 40), because the lands themselves are your engine. See our landfall guide.
Low curve, aggressive deck? You can go to 34 or 35 if almost nothing costs more than four.
Lots of card draw? Draw helps you find lands, but it is not a substitute for them on turns two to four.

How many should be basic lands?

More than you might think. Basics are not just filler:

Land ramp finds basics. Cultivate, Kodama's Reach, and Rampant Growth, and fetches like Evolving Wilds and Myriad Landscape, all need basic lands in the deck to find.
Removal gives them back. Path to Exile hands your opponent a basic, but only if they have one in their deck.
They are reliable. They always enter untapped, and they never cost you life.

As a guide: a mono-colour deck can run almost all basics plus a few utility lands. A two-colour deck usually wants 20 or more basics alongside its dual lands. A three-colour deck still wants a dozen or more, plus duals, Command Tower and Exotic Orchard. The dual lands guide covers which nonbasic lands to add, and budget utility lands covers the lands that do more than make mana.

Buying basic lands

If you are building several decks or replacing the basics in a precon, it adds up quickly: a single deck can need twenty of one type. We sell basic land packs of 10 lands of one type: Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain and Forest. Need 30 Islands? Add three packs. The Deck Builder can also swap a list's basics for land packs for you.

Building your first Commander deck puts the land count next to the rest of the skeleton.