Build Commander
How Many Lands Should You Run in Commander?
36 to 38 lands, for most decks. That's the honest starting point before anything about your specific deck gets to weigh in, and here's how the number actually moves once it does.
The starting number
37 lands is the default the Commander deck template builds from, and it's a reasonable center point for a 100-card singleton deck with a normal curve. Most decks land somewhere in the 36-38 range once their curve and ramp count are actually accounted for.
That range exists because Commander decks are bigger and slower than 60-card constructed decks. You can't run four copies of a strong land, hands are seven cards out of a hundred instead of seven out of sixty, and games routinely run past turn ten. A deck built to that shape needs more total lands than the 40% land ratio a lot of players carry over from other formats, or it spends its early turns stuck on three mana while everyone else is casting real spells.
What actually moves the number
Your curve is the biggest factor. A deck whose spells cluster at 2-4 mana value can run closer to 35-36 lands and lean on a solid ramp package to smooth out the rest. A deck full of 6- and 7-drops wants to be at 38-40, because missing a land drop in the mid-game costs you a turn you can't always ramp your way back from.
Ramp count trades against land count, but not one-for-one. Eight or more pieces of ramp (rocks, dorks, land-fetch spells) lets most decks trim to 35-36 lands. Fewer than that, and you should be running closer to 38, because you're relying on the lands you draw naturally to do the whole job.
Card draw pushes your land count down slightly. A deck that reliably refills its hand can afford to run a card or two fewer of lands, since a rough start is more survivable when you're seeing extra cards every turn to dig out of it.
Landfall and lands-matter decks go the other way, and hard. When lands aren't just your mana, they're your payoff, running 40-42 is normal and correct. The extra copies aren't flood risk in the usual sense, they're additional triggers.
Utility lands worth building around
A few lands that are worth their slot for more than just producing mana, the kind that show up across a lot of unrelated decklists because the utility is close to free.
Command Tower ↗
Taps for any color in your commander's identity. The closest thing this format has to a free include, in every deck that isn't mono-colored.
Wayfarer's Bauble ↗
Counts as ramp, not a 37th land, but it's how a lot of decks get away with running 36 instead of 38: it turns a spell slot into a land drop.
Reliquary Tower ↗
No maximum hand size. Minor on its own, but the kind of utility land worth a slot once your deck is drawing more cards than it can hold onto.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is 36 lands too few for Commander?
Not on its own. 36 is a reasonable count for a low-curve, ramp-dense deck, the kind that's leaning on artifact mana rocks to make up the difference. It's too few for a deck whose curve tops out at 5 and 6 mana with only a couple of ramp spells to get there, because you'll be stuck a land short on the turns that matter most.
How many lands should a 3-color Commander deck run?
Usually the same 37-38 as a two-color deck, with more of those slots spent on lands that fix multiple colors rather than basics. The extra color doesn't need extra land count so much as it needs better lands, since a basic Mountain doesn't help a red-white-blue deck the way a dual or Command Tower does.
Should I count mana rocks as lands?
Not one-for-one, but they do let you trim a land or two if you're running a real ramp package (8+ pieces). A Sol Ring or a Signet is faster than a land since it doesn't cost you a card, but it can also be destroyed or countered in a way a land on the battlefield can't. Treat ramp as supplementing your land count, not replacing it outright.
Why do Commander decks run more lands than 60-card decks?
Singleton and a bigger deck. You can't run four copies of your best land, so the format leans harder on basics and lands that do a little extra (fixing, utility) to make up for it, and a 100-card deck naturally wants a higher land count than a 60-card one just to keep the odds of hitting your land drops on curve roughly the same.
See your land count against your curve, not just as a number.
The Deck Lab measures your actual land count against your mana value and tells you where it's short or over, as you build.
Open the Deck Builder