Mana Base Guide: Mana Rocks vs Land Ramp — Signets, Talismans, and the Two-Mana Rule

A mana base is lands plus everything that makes mana, and the two halves fail differently: lands survive most board wipes and stack up forever, while rocks are faster and die to the artifact sweeps your own deck might be running. The working rule is that two-mana rocks which enter untapped and fix your colours are the backbone, and anything more expensive must do a second job.

Real lands, real text

Talisman of Dominance (mana cost {2}; Artifact; rarity: uncommon; most recent printing listed by Scryfall: Reality Fracture Commander): {T}: Add {C}.
{T}: Add {U} or {B}. This artifact deals 1 damage to you. Dimir Signet (mana cost {2}; Artifact; rarity: uncommon; most recent printing listed by Scryfall: Reality Fracture Commander): {1}, {T}: Add {U}{B}. Mind Stone (mana cost {2}; Artifact; rarity: uncommon; most recent printing listed by Scryfall: Mystery Booster Commander Edition): {T}: Add {C}.
{1}, {T}, Sacrifice this artifact: Draw a card.

Build from examples like these rather than from ratios copied off the internet. Count the coloured symbols in your spells, look at which turns your deck must cast what, and let those two facts choose the lands — then test, count your stumbles honestly, and adjust.

Build and check your list with the MTGBrew AI deck builder, and browse every card mentioned here in the MTGBrew card database on MTGBrew.

If this topic is on your bench, keep going with Precon Upgrade Guide: Hakbal of the Surging Soul — What to Cut, What to Add, by Role — it covers the neighbouring decisions from a different angle, and the two pieces together give you a fuller picture than either one alone.

Keep reading

Keep reading: Precon Upgrade Guide: Hakbal of the Surging Soul — What to Cut, What to Add, by Role and Doubling Season in Commander: Tokens and Counters, Doubled.

The numbers that keep you honest

Mind the curve before you mind the highlights. Count how many plays the deck has on each of the first four turns, and be honest about hands that do nothing until turn five. One cheaper role-player often improves a deck more than one expensive splash, because games are decided by who starts playing first as often as by who plays biggest.

Most Commander decks start their thinking somewhere in the mid-thirties for land count and adjust for curve, ramp, and card draw — treat that as a starting hypothesis about your deck, never as a law. A low-curve deck with real draw needs fewer lands than a top-heavy deck with none, and five games of honest notes will tell you more than any formula.

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