There’s the ABUR dual lands, then the Shocklands. But after that what are the game’s third best dual lands? Are the checklands widely regarded as the game’s third best dual lands or is it the painlands? Or is it something else?
depends, I'd say tango lands, then bicycle lands for control decks (I'm assuming these are being played with fetches), fastlands or painlands for aggro. If fetches aren't being used, I'd go with fast lands and painlands/checklands.
actually, the fetches are the best lands wotc's ever made, followed by the abur duals. the 3rd best dual, depends upon the color combination in question, b/c ea guild's strengths are different
Eh, fetches in vacuum are mediocre for fixing. They are great if you just need to make use of the shuffle or stock your graveyard, but the fact that they only fix to one color at a time is a major drawback for decks that have a lot of CC or 1CC cards. Their power comes from being paired with ABUR duals or shocks. Also, a call out to bouncelands as the best fixing in pauper.
If you had to choose either fetches or ABUR duals, would fetches still be your #1 pick?
I would.
Most Vintage and Legacy decks run more fetches than ABUR duals, and abuse the flexibility to get basics instead of ABUR duals (to dodge nonbasic land hate). Modern and Budget Legacy decks have roughly as stable manabases without any ABUR duals, just using fetches with shocklands instead. Even Standard used to have very stable multicolor manabases using fetches with tangos (Khans + BFZ block).
A common counterargument is that fetches are only good if you also have ABUR duals or shocks, otherwise they're bad. But even many monocolor decks run them (e.g. Elves, Burn)! They're also useful for:
even putting a surprise creature on the battlefield (Dryad Arbor)
These are all secondary functions that most duals cannot do. In Pauper I often run Evolving Wilds before bouncelands or other duals, because of all these secondary functions.
Let me redefine the parameters of my inquiry, in a casual/standard environment that doesn’t have ABUR/Shocklands/Fetchlands, what’s the best dual lands one can build with?
Depends on your deck. Wizards intentionally printed these lands differently so they all had pros and cons, instead of making a hierarchy where one was clearly better than all others. That opens up design space.
filterlands or check lands.
I say filter are best overall as they allow you to also get the color you need. Say your deck is a Azorious WU deck. Skycloud Expanse and Mystic gate give you Exactly what you need regardless of what color you pour into them (Well i mean provided you have colors to begin with)
While Glacial Fortress is also an option i would go filter before checks.
I’d say checklands, based subjectively on my choices when building EDH or Highlander decks.
Oh, this is for “casual/multiplayer”? Hm, I think checks still have it.
I would.
Most Vintage and Legacy decks run more fetches than ABUR duals, and abuse the flexibility to get basics instead of ABUR duals (to dodge nonbasic land hate). Modern and Budget Legacy decks have roughly as stable manabases without any ABUR duals, just using fetches with shocklands instead. Even Standard used to have very stable multicolor manabases using fetches with tangos (Khans + BFZ block).
A common counterargument is that fetches are only good if you also have ABUR duals or shocks, otherwise they're bad. But even many monocolor decks run them (e.g. Elves, Burn)! They're also useful for:
These are all secondary functions that most duals cannot do. In Pauper I often run Evolving Wilds before bouncelands or other duals, because of all these secondary functions.
For fast decks (aggro or combo): If you're 2-3 colors, Fastlands then Painlands. For 4-5 colors, Rainbow lands (e.g. Mana Confluence, Ancient Ziggurat, Unclaimed Territory). If you're green&white, Horizon Canopy.
For control and midrange, the manlands like Celestial Colonnade, Raging Ravine and Creeping Tar Pit are quite good. Otherwise checklands.
Checklands are a good generic budget dual to fit in most decks, but some decks may prefer other ones.
I say filter are best overall as they allow you to also get the color you need. Say your deck is a Azorious WU deck. Skycloud Expanse and Mystic gate give you Exactly what you need regardless of what color you pour into them (Well i mean provided you have colors to begin with)
While Glacial Fortress is also an option i would go filter before checks.
UB Vela the Night-Clad BUDecklist
WBG Ghave, Guru of Spores GBW
WUBRGThe Ur-DragonWUBRGDecklist