Mana Base Guide: Pain, Life, and Tempo — When Paying Life for Mana Is Correct

Commander starts at 40 life, which makes life a real resource: paying one life for the right color on the turn you need it is almost always correct, and refusing the pain land's color out of caution loses more games than the life total does. The line is repetition — a land that charges you every turn of a long game adds up, so pain lands belong in decks that close games, not only in decks that survive them.

The lands, from their actual text

City of Brass is a rare Land from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Eternal, mana cost — (lands have no mana cost). Its rules text reads: "Whenever this land becomes tapped, it deals 1 damage to you. {T}: Add one mana of any color." It is legal in Modern, Legacy, Commander. Mana Confluence is a rare Land from Journey into Nyx, mana cost — (lands have no mana cost). Its rules text reads: "{T}, Pay 1 life: Add one mana of any color." It is legal in Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, Commander. Ancient Tomb is a rare Land from Ultimate Masters, mana cost — (lands have no mana cost). Its rules text reads: "{T}: Add {C}{C}. This land deals 2 damage to you." It is legal in Legacy, Commander. Castle Locthwain is a rare Land from Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate, mana cost — (lands have no mana cost). Its rules text reads: "This land enters tapped unless you control a Swamp. {T}: Add {B}. {1}{B}{B}, {T}: Draw a card, then you lose life equal to the number of cards in your hand." It is legal in Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, Commander.

Putting it into practice

Build your mana base as a system, not a pile: count colored sources per color (a common target is 14+ sources for a color you need early), count total lands against your curve, and goldfish opening hands until the base proves it can cast your spells on schedule. MTGBrew's AI deck builder shows the color breakdown of any list you build, and the MTGBrew card database carries the exact text of every land in this guide.

Build it yourself

Every card in this article is a real card you can look up in the MTGBrew card database, with its current text and legality. When you are ready to turn the idea into a list, MTGBrew's AI deck builder builds around your commander, your colors, and — as a hard rule — never over the budget you set. Save the list to your collection on MTGBrew and tune it from there.

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