This is an EDH deck - the best ever - created by Gromgrom. I give him full credid for his ground breaking work developing this masterpiece - this is his baby. Sadly Gromgrom has retired his build, but happily he has named me his successor! I've revised (completely rewritten) the primer to suit my take on the deck. I can only hope to do justice to this fine work of art.
This thread might be a little confusing as the first dozen or so pages were based off a completely different original post (Gromgrom's); and several pages followed while the front page remained largely incomplete. Don't be thrown of by the broken continuity.
Also I'd like to acknowledge the contribution of all the posters in this thread who helped and continue to help provide content. Some of you could have written this primer as well or better than I have, and I couldn't have done it without you guys!
GWRUB
Introduction
Welcome to the coolest deck in the multiverse!
Who Is This Guy?
My History As A Gamer
Hello, my name is Luke. I've been an avid gamer my entire life. I played go fish before I was old enough to hold cards (my Dad made a card holder by turning egg cartons upside-down and slicing slits across the bulges). As a young child, this was my favourite game:
Incidentally, I strongly recommend playing games with your children. This will help developed their minds and attention spans, and secure common ground when they become teens!
My first milestone was at the age of six when I was taught Risk, D&D, and Chess. Another milestone - at the age of fourteen - I was introduced to Axis & Allies, Diplomacy, Castle Risk, and Bridge. I've never really looked back since!
Later in life I dropped out of a math program (big mistake) to pursue a career in professional poker. I made okay money, but never got my average above $20/hr, Eventually I left it for a stable job with benefits. Poker is now just a hobby for me, but will likely subsidise an early retirement.
Currently I'm a registered Field Marshal with Command Post Games (akin to SJG's Men In Black program), and manage a blog to promote the new updated Supremacy. I run demos at LGSs but most notably at Hal-Con.
My History As An MTG Player
I first played MTG in the Comfy Lounge at University of Waterloo in 1994. I didn't actually like the game very much. Over the next several years, I played it very rarely and only under pressure. But in 2003 a friend opened a hobby shop specialising in MTG, and wanted my help working it. I ended up working part time for him for a few years, and started playing Magic because I was surrounded by it (and was encouraged to play with customers while on duty.
At first, I played (almost) exclusively 60 card multiplayer casual (EDH didn't exist yet). My first deck I built myself was actually a Lands deck! I ramped out lands with Fastbond, Journey Of Discovery, and Terrain Generator; stayed alive with Constant Mists, Stream Of Life, and Glacial Chasm (recurred with Regrowth); and killed my opponents with Stalking Stones and Living Lands. Actually I never killed my opponents! Living Lands was always met with a Wrath, and I always died (usually last). It was a bad newbie deck, but my heart was in the right place.
I quit MTG for a while shortly after Lorwyn (I was not and am not as fan of the direction design has taken post Time Spiral), but came back in a couple years as a Legacy player. There I discovered Legacy Lands.Dec, and it's now the only archetype I play in that format. I started playing EDH on the side, and discovered this beauty!
What The Heck Is Lands.dec?
Lands.dec is a unique archetype based largely on three other decks:
Our deck is a Ramp deck with (several) combo finishers and a strong element of prison control. It's a highly versatile pile of cards, offering many strategic options in the heat of battle, plus a lot of options when it comes to cards selection too.
Our deck is semi-competitive at best - a 50-75% build. It will often do well but sometimes not very much. You often don't have enough defense to survive against a hostile table, so you'll have to lean a little on diplomacy and/or a soft table image (which can be hard to do with Child as your general). Ideally there will be other more menacing decks at your table to draw attention away from our general (or to even make her somewhat welcome). On the other hand, if the other decks are maximally competitive, we might have a hard time keeping up.
Why Should Anybody Want To Play A Deck Based Around Lands?
If you have to ask, this is probably not the deck for you!
You will enjoy this deck if:
You love non-basic lands! Especially utility lands (lands with abilities which do not produce mana). This by far is the first and foremost reason to sleeve up Lands.dec. This deck thrives on abilities and interactions between non-basics. We use lands as much as possible in the place of spells, and we use lands directly to kill our opponents.
Other things that might draw you to the deck...
You want to play something unique (or at least obscure). From what I understand, most groups have between zero and one players who run such a deck.
You like to wipe the board. A lot!
You Like Ramp.
You like a versatile deck that can play out (and win) in a variety of different ways.
You love non-basic lands! They are cool.
You won't enjoy this deck if:
You like the reliability and security of basic lands (yawn), or you feel lands should primarily be for making mana.
Your preferred style is aggro/creatures/voltron.
You want to always control non-land permanents.
You want to run a lot of counter-magic or other reactive instants.
You prefer less interactive combo decks.
You don't like playing prison pieces or consider them anti-social (although Lands.dec is by no means Stacks).
You insist on nothing less than maximally competitive decks.
You are a total rube who fails to acknowledge the awesomeness of non-basics.
This is pretty much it. Don't play Lands.dec because you want to run the strongest deck in the room. Play it because you love it.
There are other ways to build a land-centric deck. Different generals, colours, and even different strategies. And Child Of Alara decks need not be land-centric; some Child decks are more focused on Child abuse and don't really have a land theme. I figure anybody who is interested in this archetype might very well also be interested in these. Maybe the reader would enjoy one of these builds in addition to (or instead of) the feature. A the very least they might provide valuable contrast:
Like most good and fun archetypes, our biggest problem is too many good and fun cards competing for too few slots. This lets us each fine tune the deck to our own style and tastes. I'll attempt to cover as many cards as I can which might work for us.
A note on permanents:
Lands are great! Non-lands are vulnerable to the wrath of our own general, and should be played sparingly. We want our nonland permanents to either be indestructible, extremely powerful, and/or help establish an advantage which will endure long after that permanent is dead and buried.
I'm mostly focusing on cards with direct synergy with lands and/or Child recursion. There are many cards which can work for us simply by their stand-alone power, but there would be too many to list. As it is, I'm already listing an awful lot of options. Next primer I write will be for Relentless Rats!
Win Conditions - Closing The Game
As mentioned above, one of the deck's great features is its versatility in win conditions. With so many ways to win, this deck can remain very entertaining for not only us but also our friends.
Maze's End.
This is a slow win-con, but it's one of the fastest we have! (We are not a fast deck). Other win cons require us to kill each opponent individually, and may take multiple turns once online. Usually we will pull this off with a Scapeshift alone, or a Creeping Renaissance/Ad Nauseam combined with Manabond. Sometimes we can fetch the Gates with Maze's End itself (especially if we have an Amulet Of Vigor and extra land drops), but opponent's will realise what we are doing and might disrupt us. Maze's End doubles as a (weaker) fetchland even if we never win with it.
Inkmoth Nexus + Kessig Wolf Run/Rubblehulk
With just twelve other lands we can totally one-shot an opponent. Nine other lands if you pump with Rubblehulk. Ten to fourteen lands is not as hard as it might sound if you are not used to this deck. Even without fewer lands, there is no rule saying we can't kill an opponent over two or more turns. Individually each card has value too. Inkmoth alone is a recurable chump blocker which permanently wounds the attacking creature. Wolf Run can save a utility creature from lethal damage, and help our opponents kill each other for us, or even pump Child for lethal commander damage (another win-con).
Thespian's Stage + Dark Depths.
The new legend rule (circa July 2013) allows us to have two of the same Legendary permanents and still keep one (our choice) instead of losing them both. Copy Dark Depths with Stage, chose to keep the copy (which has no ice counters because it was already in play) and Voilà - a flying 20/20 indestructible! Stage itself has fantastic utility in a land themed deck.
Valakut + Prismatic Omen
Three damage per land drop is pretty good. With Vesuva out, it becomes six damage per. We can kill opponents incrementally with this but we can kill out of nowhere with a Scapeshift. Manabond is an all-star with Valakut, especially combined with Creeping Renaissance, Ad Nauseam, or Sunder. Even bounce-lands and Storm Cauldron give this combo a nice boost when we have additional lands drops. Obviously Omen doubles as colour fixing and the combo itself doubles as removal
Crucible Of Worlds + Strip Mine
We are not going to wipe out the field with this, but when we are down to one or two opponents (one more so than two) we can lock them out completely if we have enough land drops. Any additional mana denial we have online will obviously help. Of course these cards are all-stars on their own - you never have to actually win with them to justify their inclusion.
Rude Awakening
Turns our lands into beaters, and untaps them all for action. Not our strongest win-con (I cut it myself), but we can easily accomplish ten or twenty lands by late game, and do twenty to forty damage. After a board wipe, there should usually be no blockers to stop us (we can drop Child on our own turn but not sacrifice her until the end of our opponent's turn). Not much extra utility here, except maybe to pop off a walker.
Barbarian Ring
Mostly included for removal, I don't think I've ever killed an opponent with this one. Stranger things have happened though! With a Crucible and three or four land drops, you could do six to eight a turn, making this a possible late game killer for that last opponent.
Knight Of The Reliquary.
Knight gets big fast, and can dish out a lot of combat damage. She doubles as a tutor (more accurately the other way around). To get the most value from KotR, you need lots of forests and plains (including duals/shocks). Personally I can't justify the space for so many non-utility lands, but that's a matter of personal preference. She's always good with Prismatic Omen, of course, but without those natural Forests and Plains she's not quite good enough.
Centaur Vinecrasher
Recurable beat stick which goes great with our LD package (see Mana Denial) bellow.
Child Of Alara
Good ol' fashioned commander damage! Not our normal win-con (other Child decks might be more focused on this), but good in a pinch. Great with Kessig Wolf Run or Rubblehulk.
Other Beaters Dakkon Blackblade, Terravore, Molimo, Budoka Gardener, Allosaurus Rider, Ulvenwald Hydra, and other such creatures can be big threats in our deck. Personally I don't like these because they can't survive the board wipe we will often need to clear a path for them to connect. Any of them are potentially viable though.
Colour Fixers
Duals/Fetches vs Rainbow Lands
Should you run Duals/Shocks with Fetches, or multi-colour "Rainbow" Lands? I actually think both have pros and cons, and neither one is optimal or strictly better than the other,
Pros Of Running Duals & Fetches
Sacrificing your lands triggers The Gitrog Monster, triggers "landfall" abilities, and fills you your graveyard with lands for Recursion, Knight, Wurm Harvest, etc.
Shuffling your library is synergistic with Oracle and Into The Wilds.
If you run A/B/U/R Duals, they have no drawback besides the life paid to fetch.
They tap for as many as five colours. A fetchlands gives you a lot of flexibility with duals to find. Any fetchlands can in theory give you any single colour you want (if you don't mind what the second colour is), but whatever you fetch will ultimately be less versatile than Command Tower, or even a Lair. And obviously a five colour land is better than a naturally drawn dual.
They don't have to cost life. City Of Brass and Mana Confluence are good lands, but if you want to avoid damage (personally I play Ad Nauseam), there are options that don't cost life. This can't be said for fetches or shock lands.
They have unique upsides. Ravnica bounce land and Lairs let you replay your lands for CIP triggers. Ravnica bounce lands and Crystal Quarry produce more than one colour at once. Lotus Vale helps for double or triple colour spells. Etc. See below for details on specific choices
They are compact. Fetches, duals and shocks take a lot of space. Most decks that run Duals & Fetches ant a lot of them. You want a high fetch count because duals are too narrow if you're drawing them at random. But then you want a high dual count too to keep your fetchlands versatile. We are already running ten gates, (usually) Riftstone Portal, and several lands which incidentally provide colour (Valakut, Bog, Tranquil Thicket, etc). If you want Basics too, how many more slots do you want to devote to fixing colour?
The last point is the big one for me, and the main reason I'm not running duals. I want to run lots of neat effects and fancy lands more than I want to run colour fixers above my minimum requirements to run the deck. So rather than the bulky fetch package, I'm running just five basics and eleven other lands to fix colour. I lose the shuffle effects and landfall, but I do get other utility in those extra slots instead (including Into The North and Wayfarer's Bauble; which give me shuffling and ramp).
Really you can go either way on this. Whatever best fits your build.
Specific Choices
Basic Lands
These are essential. I run only five, but most decks seem to run at least extra Forests. I like Snow-covered lands because I can run Into the North for Depths that way.
Fetches/Duals
Solid colour fixing package which gives you shuffle effects, works well with land recursion, helps us find Basics when we need them.
Maze's End / Guild Gates
Only two colours each, CIPT, and Maze's End is a very slow fetchland. But these double as a win condition, so we keep them around.
Lairs
These provide three colours each, and the drawback is actually often a good thing with ETB/CIP lands, cycling/transmuting lands, landfall, Seismic Assault effects, etc. Even without any landfall or CIP effect, often we have more land drops than we have lands to drop! With lairs we can tap a land (for mana or another ability), bounce it to a lair, replay it, and tap it again!
Crystal Quarry / Cascading Cataracts
Gets Child out with a single fixer. The former can cast most of our other coloured spells too - and the later can cast any of them.
Lotus Vale
Good for casting single-colour intensive spells like Seismic Assault or Sunder. Choice target for Thespian Stage. Drawback mitigated by land recursion.
Riftstone Portal
Fixes all our lands from the graveyard. Especially good with non-producing lands
We also have a couple mana rocks which fix our colours, as well as some Rampant Growth effects. See the sections on Mana Ramp bellow.
Ramp part 1 - Mana Rocks
While we do run two or three mana rocks, we vastly prefer extra land drops. For one reason, land drops bring us more than just mana! But more importantly, mana rocks have a harder time surviving our board wipes. I think this may be the only EDH deck where Sol Ring is actually not recommend.
Chromatic Lantern
Dies to Child, but too good to resist. As a bonus, we have a lot of lands which don't normally tap for mana, and this gives them built-in Command Towers.
Mox Diamond
Not the best, but it does make any colour and if things go well we can get our land back. Dies to Child.
That's it! I wouldn't run any other rocks. They die to our own hand, and in this deck they are inferior to Exploration and Rampant Growth effects.
Ramp part 2 - Extra Land Drops
These are effects that let us supersede the one land per turn rule.
Exploration
With Fastbond being (rightfully) banned, this is the old classics. Costing but single green mana, it doesn't get better than this.
Explore
A one time Exploration that's also a cantrip. Undoubtedly this little card pulls its weight
Burgeoning
At a glance this looks better than Exploration (in multi-player), but its not. Since the Lands are put into play father than being actually played, we can't use Crucible to play them from the yard, and they won't trigger Horn Of Greed. Against deck's with low curves or which rely more on mana rocks, they are lackluster. I still consider it an auto-include, and it works wonders with Storm Cauldron (our opponents will constantly need to replay their lands, and we can bounce our own with impunity).
Storm Cauldron
While this technically allows an extra land drop, it hardly counts as ramp since it is constantly "boomeranging" lands. Really this card is there more as mana denial than mana ramp! There are times when we have more land drops than lands, and this allows us to tap the same land twice in a turn. It's also very good with lands that have a CIP ability, and has special synergy with Piracy, Seismic Assault, and Burgeoning. Manabond breaks the synergy nicely. It can also save lands which are being targeted. Not everyone runs this, but I think it's an all-star.
Into The Wilds
Like Burgeoning, these lands are "put into play" and not technically played. Also it only works if we are lucky enough to have a land on top. However, this has a real benefit of providing card advantage, and is a solid choice.
Summer Bloom
Three extra Lands is great! Often it's hard to get value out of this though. We frequently have at least one other Exploration effect in play already, so unless we have Crucible, Storm Cauldron, or have made a "big play", sometimes this doesn't pull its weight. But when it's good, it is great!
Manabond
This has the drawback of forcing us to discard all nonlands (if we accept the optional trigger). Sometimes this is worth it, though (we don't always have a lot of nonlands). In conjunction with Sunder, Ad Nauseam, or Creeping Renaissance, it's amazing (and feeds multiple win-cons).
Rites Of Flourishing
Big group hug! Technically this is card disadvantage, but only slightly. Our deck gets the most from the extra drops, and the extra cards magnify this.
Annex
Steals a land. It's nice that this doubles as both a land-drop and effective LD, but it's a drag when we lose the land if Annex leaves play.
Oracle Of Mul Daya Probably Possibly the best creature for our deck! Thanks to the new card below, I have edited this description and I may have to do so again.
The Gitrog Monster
This creature is amazing! Sacrificing a land every turn can be sometimes hard even for this deck, but it's a bit of a break even deal. We draw a card to replace the one we lose, and more often than not we can avail ourselves to the extra land drop to regain our lost tempo. Of course beyond just neutralising its own drawback, these abilities are fantastically ripe for abuse! Then on top of this we get a 6/6 frog-monster with deathtouch? The Gitrog Monster is proof that WotC loves us and wants us to be happy!
Mina and Denn, Wildborn
Exploration on legs that can save lands, bounce our CIT/ETB lands, and facilitate our win conditions.
Sakura Tribe Scout/Walking Atlas
Exploration on a stick, but requires tapping (summoning sickness) and only "puts lands into play" (and only from our hand).
Cards which let let us search all our part of our deck for lands (mostly basic) we can put directly into play. These are special cards which are part tutor, part accelerant, part colour fixer.
Edge Of Autumn
Rampant Growth early game (when we usually needs of most), can new cycled later. Cycling this is card disadvantage, but sometimes sacrificing a land is a good thing because we want to replay it, cycle it or because its a Riftstone Portal.
Animist's Awakening
Puts random lands directly into play. Spell Mastery interacts favourably with Amulet of Vigor. Amulet's ability stacks, so you can tap them in response and Amulet will untap them again.
Unexpected Results
This is a fun card! It either gives you a free (random) spell, or a random land plus card advantage. Totally awesome - especially in lists with high(er) land counts.
Reap and Sow
Puts any land directly into play, and/or functions as a targeted LD.
Tempt With Discovery
Love it! If nobody bites it's a bit over-costed. But somebody always does! If anybody pulls out anything particularly nasty, we can answer by fetching Strip Mine.
Wargate
Puts any land into play for three mana, or if we pay extra can be used to fetch other permanents instead.
Tutors
Many of the above cards could search for more than just basic Lands, and could just as well have been counted here. These are the other tutors which put cards in our hand and/or graveyard (but won't put a land into play).
Crop Rotation
Technically this puts a land directly into play, but it doesn't count as ramp because we have to sacrifice another land. Despite being a drag against counter-spells, this is a fantastic card. It not only finds any land, but it's instant speed and can hose targeted land destruction and/or can reactively find an answer such as Bojuka Bog, Maze, Chasm, etc.
If our graveyard is full and we have the mana, we might find Creeping Renaissance plus two more of whatever permanent type we plan to name.
We can do even more if we have a recursion engine already activated, and we can otherwise get creative. This card is nuts and should be an auto-include.
Entomb
Puts any card directly into our graveyard. Obvious targets are Loam and Creeping Renaissance, but with recursion already active we can get our choice of goodies.
Tolaria West
Tutors for any land, or for Zorb. Three mana with UU might seem steep, but this is uncountetable, as is the land we tutor into. We can push combos or answers right through control decks most times, which can be worth a lot. And T.West is a land! Apart from having synergy with the entire deck, this means we can lay it down as a mana source if we need to. Later we can bounce it back (or sacrifice and Loam it) if we want to transmute.
Draw & Card Advantage
Horn Of Greed
Draws us a card with every land we play - amazing! Everyone gets cards for land drops, but our deck easily gets the best boost at the table.
Seer's Sundial
A Horn Of Greed that only helps you, but the activation cost is significant.
Trade Routes
Draws cards, saves lands, and let's us replay CIP/ETB lands.
Ad Nauseam
Draws an insane amount of cards! It's better in deck's with more lands and fewer high cc spells, but its arguably always a good deal for us. With cards like Seismic Assault, Manabond, or KotR, it's not hard to see how a fist-full of land might be pretty sick. And with the sheer number of cards we take in from Ad Nauseam we have a very good chance to draw into one or more such bombs! It's a great card for us, but it might be best to avoid in aggro heavy metas. If you do run it, keep your land counts high, your mana costs low, and avoid too many pain lands.
Tranquil Thicket/Slippery Karst
CIPT Lands that can be used as a cantrip. They produce green too! Both are from full cycles and are available in all five colours. A chief use worth noting is to cycle these in response to Loam being targeted for exile from the graveyard. There are two cycles of colour-producing cycle lands. In theory we could run all four, but in practice there are just better cards and too few slots. A good option for a budget build.
Horizon Canopy
This works like the cycling lands above, except it can be "cycled" from play. This lets just draw mana from it till we need the draw (it comes into play untapped and produces two colours too). The drawback is it costs a land drop when we just want the card.
Blighted Cataract
Much like the Canopy, but it draws two cards for a higher price. Doesn't produce coloured mana, but also not a pain land.
Mulch
Usually nets a card, might put down merging good in the yard.
Looting/Milling
Personally I don't play any looting effects. I run only cards which make looting good; and only Loam and Crucible make it great. But if you run enough graveyard effects you might want these in your 99.
Splendid Reclamation
A beautiful card for us! Fantastic with the Valakut combo, Ad Nauseam, Storm Cauldron (especially with a Seismic Assault), anything that causes repeated sacrificing of Lands (Mana Vortex, Gitrog, Dust Bowl, Constant Mists etc). In fact it's just fantastic for us all around.
A big part of what allows us to survive is the ability to wipe our opponents' boards when our defenses would otherwise be overwhelmed. Luckily there are plenty of utility lands which facilitate Child's death and recursion. As a bonus, they are good with our CIP/ETB utility creatures. Play lots of these!
High Market
Put's Child in the yard, gains us life.
Diamond Valley
Gains more life but doesn't produce mana. The extra life can make a big difference given multiple uses - either to milk Ad Nauseam, or simply to survive.
Miren, The Moaning Well
A Diamond Valley which taps for mana but costs mana to activate. often this will be a net gain over the course of a game, but it can squeeze us when we need to kill Child on the same turn we cast her.
Grim Backwoods
Draws a card instead of life, but costs even more mana than Miren. This is a singleton format though, and these lands are good because their aren't enough better options to reliably hit.
Phyrexian Tower
Here's a sac-outlet that actually pays us to use it! This is a mana ability, so it can respond to split-second.
Volrath's Stronghold
Returns Child to our library, so she'll live to die another day.
Emeria, the Sky Ruin
It's hard getting seven plains - even if you're on the duals-n-fetches package. Prismatic Omen can take care if that for us too, though.
Mortuary Mire
Gets us Child back once (more if we can bounce it or sacrifice and recur it).
Boros Charm
Saves our suff when we (or somebody else) wipes the board. Solid vs Armageddon, and can even help with our finishers.
Other Removal
Ideally we don't need any other removal. But in reality there are problems Child can't handle. Maybe its indestructible creatures? Maybe hosers like RIP or Humility which prevent our trigger. Maybe we've lost control of Child, or we're being colour screwed, or our our sacrifice/reanimate engine is having troubles. Recently I had an opponent who kept making my Child indestructible in response to my Tabernacle trigger! Whatever the reason, sometimes a Child need a little extra help.
This is a five colour deck with a bit of ramp, so you can run whatever removal you want. Rather than noting all the best answers in the game, I'll list a few that work particularly well in a Lands build. We also can run a good amount of direct damage - see the Victory Conditions section above.
Aura Fracture
Deals with Humility, Blood Moon, Hall Of Gemstone, etc. Can efficiently deal with enchantments if we can't pull of the Child trick or want to preserve our board. Dies to Child itself.
Mouth Of Ronom
Kills creatures if you don't mind running snow-covered basics.
Imprisoned In The Moon / Song Of The Dryads
Flavourful spot removal! The downside is that if you blow Child the enchantment dies and the opponent's card lives. The flip side is you can enchant your own creature to protect it from an incoming Child wipe. Another bonus is that it can deal with a problem general without letting them simply recast it. But the real beauty here is the interaction with Thespian's Stage and Vesuva. Only printed text is actually copyable, so if you drop this on something super nasty, your lands will copy the card as printed!
Mana Denial
This is a prison deck at heart. Not as oppressive as Stax, but we do need to slow the game down a little if we can.
Ghost Quarter
Not quite a strictly worse Strip Mine because you can target your own land if you need a basic. Also might incur less wrath!
Dust Bowl
Not strictly worse than Strip Mine because we can reuse it without utilising our graveyard
Mana Vortex
Sedulously contains our opponents. As long as we have extra drops and either card advantage or land recursion we should come out well ahead.
Storm Cauldron
Gives extra land drops, but mostly keeps things from getting too out of hand.
One of the biggest obstacles we have to overcome with this deck is not dying. Apart from the removal and board wipes we run,cthese cards will help keep us afloat:
Glacial Chasm
This prevents us from taking any damage whatsoever. The cumulative upkeep is steep, but we can loop the card if we have a recursion engine and extra drops, or even better if we have Thespians Stage. Without recursion this fan still buy us a few turns if we pay the life honestly. We can Crop Rotate into it for a surprised defense.
Maze Of Ith
Stops one targetable creature from damaging us.
Constant Mists
This is our best Fog effect, as it can keep us alive through several attacks. It's nicenice to run this as homage to our ancestral deck Maze's End Turbo Fog.
Protection
Protection is different than defence. Defence is protecting ourselves from dying, where by protection I mean protecting our game plan, board state,etc.
Terra Eternal
Protests our lands, but theirs as well. Not good if you like a lot of LD.
Piracy
Taps our opponents out. If the float mana, we can empty their pools by skipping through to our post combat main phase.
Faith's Reward /Second Sunrise
Gets our stuff back after a wipe. Faith's Reward is vastly better because only we get our stuff back. This is especially good after our own board wipes!
Diamond Valley & co.
Can similarly scarifice our creatures in response to exile. Phyrexian Tower uses a mana ability for this goes it goes straight over top of split second.
Thespian Stage
Can copy a land (that you need in play) as an opponent destroys it.
GWRUB
How To Play Lands.dec
Naturally this depends somewhat on the specifics of your build, and of course your meta...
Opening Hand / Mulligans
Things we need (in order of significance):
A green mana source.
A card advantage engine.
A card which allows us to play more than one land each turn.
If we have these, everything else will usually follow. Extra cards plus extra land drops will fill our board quickly with many, many lands. This sets the stage for a board wipe, leaving us in a superior position.
Partial Paris
This is the best for us! If any of the above three vital components are missing, keep almost nothing except the others. Drawing fewer than four cards is not a likely way to draw into anything that important. If your only green source is slow (Ghost Quarter, Maze's End, Expedition Map,etc) still keep it if you choose to mulligan. If you might draw into green anyway, and if you don't, you'll be happy for the back-up plan.
If you have all those bases covered and still wish to mulligan, don't forget that card disadvantage sucks. Be sure you are discarding very poor early-game cards and plenty of 'em!
Vancouver
This mulligan gives of far fewer options. I haven't played this way yet (the people I play with still prefer Partial Paris), but I'd be inclined to keep any hand with a green source (clunky or otherwise) and a card advantage engine. Once down to five, I think I'd keep anything with a green source period. I'd Keep almost any hand of four cards, except maybe a real stinker like Dark Depths, Mana Vortex, Creeping Renaissance, and The Great Aurora
Early Game
Early on we want to ramp out as many lands as you can with Exploration effects. Be non-threatening if able. Repeat after me - "I'm just a casual lands deck". A card advantage or drawing engine (Loam, Into The Wilds, Horn Of Greed, etc) is fantastic to get online!
We don't have much defense for early game. Maybe Maze Of Ith (or a similar card), Seismic Assault to kill creatures, or chump blockers we can recur. Later on we can loop Glacial Chasm, Child board wipes, Zorb with land recursion, and other locks. But early on it helps to be non-threatening, diplomatic, or ideally be in an aggro-lite meta.
Sometimes we will have an amazing stax-style start. Say, extra land drops with card advantage and yard recursion (Loam or Crucible), alongside a strong prison effect like Storm Cauldron or Mana Vortex (even better with a Strip Mine). Add a little defense (Maze or Constant Mists), and we can ride our board into midgame or beyond. But realistically these openers are downright rare, and normally we will have to dig out Child and clear the field. This brings us to midgame.
Midgame - Wiping The Board
Eventually the board will get out of hand (or at least very dangerous) and we will have to play Child and nuke everything. Timing is tricky. We'd like to wait as long as possible - the longer we wait, the more things our enemies play for us to kill! Also, longer we wait, the more lands we ramp out (both mana and utility) to ensure we have a superior position going forward. On the other hand, if we wait too long and they manage to stall or prevent the wipe, we might sorely regret the delay.
And the longer we wait the more of our own stuff we lose! We can sandbag - willfully suppressing our development, but in that case we might not be as far ahead after the wipe.
Ultimately this will always be a judgement call. It might be wise to prepare by tutoring a sac outlet early, or colour fixers if we aren't finding them naturally (not usually a problem, but worth mentioning). If the opposition is going to be particularly hostile, we might also prioritize finding a recursion engine. If you fear counter-spells (or the dreaded Humility), it might be wise to start pushing the Child before we feel much pressure. But keep in mind that many counter heavy decks will welcome mass removal, and maybe benefit more than us! Against these decks we attack their mana if able, and use Diplomacy to turn the aggro players against them. A Child in play can give us some serious sway! The aggro players should be made to understand that if they leave us alone, Child beats on the control player, but if they come after us Child kills everything.
Late Game
If everything goes perfectly, we have the board well under control, resources coming out of our ears, and can proceed to our most convenient (for the situation) win-con (see "card selection" bellow). Things won't always go perfectly! We will face adversity in every possible form. We will need all our skills in threat assessment, resource management, diplomacy, strategy, and tactics to be victorious. I can't really write a comprehensive guide for late game play - there are two many possibilities. Really this is true of mid-game too - that's why I only really discussed board-wiping. But I will discuss a few of the more common plays and tactics.
I like this decklist a lot! I am trying to build a Teneb the Harvester decklist for Lands that only loses intuition and academy ruins. Its much more smothering of a control deck. I can post a link to my blog entry if you're interested. I think 5 color definately has more cool cards that can be added namely Seismic Assualt and the above cards!
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
STANDARD Not currently running anything,looking into U/R Izzet Tempo.
LEGACY Not currently running anything,looking into G/x/x Elf Combo.
EDH/COMMANDER Uril, the MiststalkerWRGCompetitive Multiplayer and 1v1 Momir Vig, Simic VisionaryUGHyper competitive 1v1 elf combo deck
I agree on alot of your points. Knight is on my list as a maybe tutor and kill condition. Thinking of Lightning Greaves to protect my beaters. Lilliana was a tutor mostly. Maelstrom Nexus is so fun I cant cut it. Once it lands I just grin and watch fun stuff happen!
I never used my general much compared to other lands decks, except for emergency wraths. Just seems like others are aggressively using Child and the fact he is the general is unnerving enough. I just dont like this deck to be "the bad guy" until I can win, through a Lock with Solitary Confinement or something.
Storm Caldron used to be in here as well. Why did I drop it?! Maybe its too slow/annoying for other players. Goes good with a solitary lock ftw though!
I bought a FTV:Realms and I decided to build a Child/lands deck too. We play a lot of similar stuff but there's 2 cards that I think should be there: Wargate and Creeping Renaissance . Wargate let you get any land or permanent and Creeping Renaissance can reccur a sh** load of lands to throw for Seismic Assaut, bring back stuff that Child blow away etc...
I bought a FTV:Realms and I decided to build a Child/lands deck too. We play a lot of similar stuff but there's 2 cards that I think should be there: Wargate and Creeping Renaissance . Wargate let you get any land or permanent and Creeping Renaissance can reccur a sh** load of lands to throw for Seismic Assaut, bring back stuff that Child blow away etc...
Agreed, I havent played in two years so I've missed stuff like this. CR is PERFECT for Wurm Harvest/Seismic Assault kills.
Also, Seedborn Muse effects. I have them in my Momir Vig EDH and FORGOT how annoying and fast this deck could get being able to accelerate that quickly on each turn. Or at least drawing extra cards, Maze of Ith stopping people. Recurring artifacts with Academy Ruins (in the future, working on that card)'
I also dropped Exploration. It was a proxy, and $20++ for a weaker effect than Burgeoning isnt going to cut it. So i cut it for a similar effect with Storm Cauldron, but with the added benefit of being easily recurrable, but more expensive, but can start locking the board down by bouncing their lands.
Also running less revised duals. Most were proxies, as I only own Savannah, Bayou, and Plateau
I've always noticed in testing, EtB tapped lands kill me. They slow me down and are just all around not fun. Bounce lands, I can deal with. Especially when we have extra land playing abilities around.
So, I'm dropping some EtB tapped lands for bounce lands and more utility
No brainer. She is good at producing small threats and getting synergy with bouncelands, but tutoring lands is even better. Her cost is also prohibitive. This deck aims to keep its cmc low to do multiple things in a single turn; removal, bounce, draw, and reclaiming cards.
Questionable Cards Fact or Fiction is a little meh. Sylvan Scrying as well. A 2 mana one off land fetch is really an emergency only plan. Normally with my other tutors i get there. Expedition map is less color intensive, can be dropped first turn, and done at instant speed, at the cost of 1 extra. Seer's Sundial Really garbage compared to Horn of Greed. Oblivion Stone I feel like I could run something better for a board wipe when i cant use my general... Brainstorm great to protect key cards from discard, but that's about it. Meta dependent? Rupture Spire for Command Tower. Easy trade.
Any other suggestions? I updated the main list and post on playstyle, wincons, etc.
I'm currently coming up with my own version of Lands, and I'm running 54 land right now. The new borborymos from gatecrash looks like it has to go in, for more seismic assault fun :3
Currently Playing: Legacy
:symb::symr:Vial Goblins:symr::symb:
:symu::symb:Dredge:symu::symb: EDH
:symg::symb::symw:Teneb, the Harvester:symg::symb::symw:
:symb::symb::symb:Skittles, The Blight Dragon:symb::symb::symb:
I'm currently coming up with my own version of Lands, and I'm running 54 land right now. The new borborymos from gatecrash looks like it has to go in, for more seismic assault fun :3
I'm trying to dump cards that, well, dump cards. I dont want all of my good removal/tutors/utility being dumped because of bad draw cards. And I've found Treasure Hunt, while not dumping cards, is pretty meh. It CAN draw be a good bit, but where do i fit it? Especially with only around 50 lands, it's only going to draw 1-2 tops, probably less with all of my land tutors. That's why i dont run it. If this was a manland based EDH, by all means, it would be the first draw spell I'd put in!
Dune-Brood is a possibility. Been overlooking it due to its awkward cost, lack of trample/way to connect, but it could serve as another Worm Harvest!
boseiju is in the mail
Planar Portal? ehhh. Maybe. Problem is finding a spot and getting a use out of it. Figure 12 mana to get one card before it gets hated out isnt worth it. but it could be a godsend in topdeck mode. same with spitting image. it's good removal for voltron generals as long as they're not already hexproof.
ob nixilis seems good when i have a trade routes+exploration+storm cauldron setup going, or something. otherwise its too slow and prone to easy removal. but its worth a shot.
Bojuka Bog seems pretty awesome, especially with all the bounce-lands you run. You also have about a zillion sweet targets for Rings of Brighthearth.
I can see Bojuka, but why Rings? What activated abilities could I really copy? Or does the errata count triggered abilities too? Could I copy my Horn of Greed draw?
Also thinking of Leyline of Sanctity to protect the graveyard from hate, since this deck is heavily based around it. (Like all fun decks are)
I can see Bojuka, but why Rings? What activated abilities could I really copy? Or does the errata count triggered abilities too? Could I copy my Horn of Greed ?
You can't copy triggerd abilities, but you can copy
I use Progenitus as my general with a very similar theme. I love lands thus I run lands.dec in legacy as well so this type of deck is easily my favorite. I will say i approached deck building slightly different as I auto-included 10 shock/ABUR/shock/M10&Inn lands followed by 20 utility lands. 39 support cards ranging from tutor/wheel/control effects as well as Rites of Flourishing/Howling Mine/Font of Mythos. I'll hopefully post my list here soon for you to compare.
I do run the Punishing Fire + Grove of Burnwillows combo. It is wonderful spot removal that remains in the graveyard... opponents are quick to forget about it.
I use Progenitus as my general with a very similar theme. I love lands thus I run lands.dec in legacy as well so this type of deck is easily my favorite. I will say i approached deck building slightly different as I auto-included 10 shock/ABUR/shock/M10&Inn lands followed by 20 utility lands. 39 support cards ranging from tutor/wheel/control effects as well as Rites of Flourishing/Howling Mine/Font of Mythos. I'll hopefully post my list here soon for you to compare.
I do run the Punishing Fire + Grove of Burnwillows combo. It is wonderful spot removal that remains in the graveyard... opponents are quick to forget about it.
I dont own most of the shocks and duals to run them, or i would. But not all are super needed. I like utility lands more.
Font may be added too.
Bouncelands work so well with some landfall abilities.
the PF+GoB combo may be an addition. I'd rather have hexmage+DD though.
I agree I just really love land hence why I run them all. Running 20 utility has been going fairly well, I run DD but no hexmage.
Going over your list I only see a couple of landfall cards? I try not to run any CITP lands because it slows me down too much. I run in a fairly competitive multiplayer environment.
I agree I just really love land hence why I run them all. Running 20 utility has been going fairly well, I run DD but no hexmage.
Going over your list I only see a couple of landfall cards? I try not to run any CITP lands because it slows me down too much. I run in a fairly competitive multiplayer environment.
I should have been more specific. Not landfall the mechanic, but lands EtB effects, which include Landfall.
And if you're playing competitively, how can you run DD but not hexmage?!
I should have been more specific. Not landfall the mechanic, but lands EtB effects, which include Landfall.
And if you're playing competitively, how can you run DD but not hexmage?!
To tight of a list. DD is a slower process for me, Hexmage only allows me to deal with planeswalkers usually or pop a DD early; other then that its dead in hand.
guess that's where our lists differ then. While I can see adding in some ABUR duals, my list isnt as competitive. It's also not as tight; i'm still figuring out what works best for my gameplans.
I also need to properly optimize my manabase. I have too many red lands in a deck that has so little...Red. I have more than half of the deck as green cards, followed by an almost tie between white blue and black. So while I could use Taiga to replace stomping ground and rootbound crag, it's not a priority.
This is an EDH deck - the best ever - created by Gromgrom. I give him full credid for his ground breaking work developing this masterpiece - this is his baby. Sadly Gromgrom has retired his build, but happily he has named me his successor! I've revised (completely rewritten) the primer to suit my take on the deck. I can only hope to do justice to this fine work of art.
This thread might be a little confusing as the first dozen or so pages were based off a completely different original post (Gromgrom's); and several pages followed while the front page remained largely incomplete. Don't be thrown of by the broken continuity.
Also I'd like to acknowledge the contribution of all the posters in this thread who helped and continue to help provide content. Some of you could have written this primer as well or better than I have, and I couldn't have done it without you guys!
Who Is This Guy?
Incidentally, I strongly recommend playing games with your children. This will help developed their minds and attention spans, and secure common ground when they become teens!
My first milestone was at the age of six when I was taught Risk, D&D, and Chess. Another milestone - at the age of fourteen - I was introduced to Axis & Allies, Diplomacy, Castle Risk, and Bridge. I've never really looked back since!
Later in life I dropped out of a math program (big mistake) to pursue a career in professional poker. I made okay money, but never got my average above $20/hr, Eventually I left it for a stable job with benefits. Poker is now just a hobby for me, but will likely subsidise an early retirement.
Currently I'm a registered Field Marshal with Command Post Games (akin to SJG's Men In Black program), and manage a blog to promote the new updated Supremacy. I run demos at LGSs but most notably at Hal-Con.
I first played MTG in the Comfy Lounge at University of Waterloo in 1994. I didn't actually like the game very much. Over the next several years, I played it very rarely and only under pressure. But in 2003 a friend opened a hobby shop specialising in MTG, and wanted my help working it. I ended up working part time for him for a few years, and started playing Magic because I was surrounded by it (and was encouraged to play with customers while on duty.
At first, I played (almost) exclusively 60 card multiplayer casual (EDH didn't exist yet). My first deck I built myself was actually a Lands deck! I ramped out lands with Fastbond, Journey Of Discovery, and Terrain Generator; stayed alive with Constant Mists, Stream Of Life, and Glacial Chasm (recurred with Regrowth); and killed my opponents with Stalking Stones and Living Lands. Actually I never killed my opponents! Living Lands was always met with a Wrath, and I always died (usually last). It was a bad newbie deck, but my heart was in the right place.
I quit MTG for a while shortly after Lorwyn (I was not and am not as fan of the direction design has taken post Time Spiral), but came back in a couple years as a Legacy player. There I discovered Legacy Lands.Dec, and it's now the only archetype I play in that format. I started playing EDH on the side, and discovered this beauty!
What The Heck Is Lands.dec?
Lands.dec is a unique archetype based largely on three other decks:
This is a full-on prison deck which runs on lands! It uses Wasteland, Port, and Tabernacle to choke the opponent's mana, and Maze, Chasm, and Punishing/Grove to neutralise any threats. Kills with Dark Depths
A control deck which can win on the spot with Scapeshift and Valakut.
A control deck which would Fog its way into a Maze's End win.
Our deck is a Ramp deck with (several) combo finishers and a strong element of prison control. It's a highly versatile pile of cards, offering many strategic options in the heat of battle, plus a lot of options when it comes to cards selection too.
Our deck is semi-competitive at best - a 50-75% build. It will often do well but sometimes not very much. You often don't have enough defense to survive against a hostile table, so you'll have to lean a little on diplomacy and/or a soft table image (which can be hard to do with Child as your general). Ideally there will be other more menacing decks at your table to draw attention away from our general (or to even make her somewhat welcome). On the other hand, if the other decks are maximally competitive, we might have a hard time keeping up.
Why Should Anybody Want To Play A Deck Based Around Lands?
If you have to ask, this is probably not the deck for you!
You will enjoy this deck if:
This is pretty much it. Don't play Lands.dec because you want to run the strongest deck in the room. Play it because you love it.
My Deck.
updated 2017/12/23
1 Child of Alara
Artifacts (10)
1 Amulet Of Vigor
1 Chromatic Lantern
1 Conqueror's Galleon
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Expedition Map
1 Horn of Greed
1 Storm Cauldron
1 Thaumatic Compass
1 Zuran Orb
Sorceries (10)
1 Creeping Renaissance
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Into The North
1 Life from the Loam
1 Living Wish
1 Scapeshift
1 Splendid Reclamation
1 Tempt With Discovery
1 The Great Aurora
1 Wargate
Instants (9)
1 Ad Nauseam
1 Constant Mists
1 Crop Rotation
1 Entomb
1 Intuition
1 Skyshroud Blessing
1 Sunder
1 Teferi's Response
1 Vampiric Tutor
Enchantment (10)
1 Aura Fracture
1 Burgeoning
1 Exploration
1 Into The Wilds
1 Manabond
1 Mana Vortex
1 Prismatic Omen
1 Sacred Ground
1 Seismic Assault
1 Song Of The Dryads
1 Azusa, Lost But Seeking
1 Eternal Witness
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Rubblehulk
1 The Gitrog Monster
Land (53)
1 Academy Ruins
1 Azorius Guildgate
1 Barbarian Ring
1 Blighted Fen
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Boros Guildgate
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1 Command Tower
1 Crosis's Catacombs
1 Darigaaz's Caldera
1 Dark Depths
1 Deserted Temple
1 Diamond Valley
1 Dimir Guildgate
1 Dromar's Cavern
1 Drownyard Temple
1 Dust Bowl
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Gemstone Mine
1 Glacial Chasm
1 Golgari Guildgate
1 Gruul Guildgate
1 High Market
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Island Of Wak-Wak
1 Inkmoth Nexus
1 Izzet Guildgate
1 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Lotus Vale
1 Maze of Ith
1 Maze's End
1 Mouth Of Ronom
1 Orzhov Guildgate
1 Petrified Field
1 Phyrexian Tower
1 Rakdos Guildgate
1 Riftstone Portal
1 Rith's Grove
1 Snow-covered Forest
1 Snow-covered Island
1 Snow-covered Mountain
1 Snow-covered Plains
1 Snow-covered Swamp
1 Strip Mine
1 Selesnya Guildgate
1 Simic Guildgate
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 The Tabernacle At Pendrell Vale
1 Thespian's Stage
1 Tolaria west
1 Treva's Ruins
1 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
1 Vesuva
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Ash Barrens
1 Cavern Of Souls
1 Dakmor Salvage
1 Haunted Fengraf
1 Homeward Path
1 Knight Of The Reliquary
1 Ramunap Excavator
1 Realm Seekers
1 Ulvenwald Hydra
1 Wasteland
Gromgrom's Deck (retired)
Gromgrom is the creator of this deck, and the original founder of this primer before he handed me the torch.
1 Child of Alara
Creature (12)
1 Azusa, Lost but Seeking
1 Courser of Kruphix
1 Eternal Witness
1 Knight of the Reliquary
1 Krosan Tusker
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Realmwright
1 Sakura-Tribe Scout
1 Sun Titan
1 Tilling Treefolk
1 Walking Atlas
1 Weathered Wayfarer
Artifact (6)
1 Chromatic Lantern
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Expedition Map
1 Horn of Greed
1 Sensei's Divining Top
Sorcery (15)
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Explore
1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Last Stand
1 Life from the Loam
1 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Merciless Eviction
1 Regrowth
1 Restore
1 Scapeshift
1 Skyshroud Claim
1 Sylvan Scrying
1 Tempt with Discovery
1 Wargate
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Crop Rotation
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Entomb
1 Intuition
1 Krosan Grip
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Realms Uncharted
Enchantment (8)
1 Burgeoning
1 Exploration
1 Mystic Remora
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Prismatic Omen
1 Sacred Ground
1 Terra Eternal
1 Trade Routes
Land (51)
1 Azorius Guildgate
1 Bayou
1 Boros Guildgate
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1 Breeding Pool
1 Caves of Koilos
1 City of Brass
1 Command Tower
1 Dark Depths
1 Dimir Guildgate
1 Exotic Orchard
1 Flooded Strand
7 Forest
1 Gemstone Tomb
1 Glacial Chasm
1 Golgari Guildgate
1 Gruul Guildgate
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 High Market
1 Homeward Path
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Island
1 Izzet Guildgate
1 Krosan Verge
1 Maze of Ith
1 Maze's End
1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
1 Orzhov Guildgate
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Petrified Field
1 Plains
1 Plateau
1 Rakdos Guildgate
1 Reflecting Pool
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Savannah
1 Steam Vents
1 Strip Mine
1 Selesnya Guildgate
1 Simic Guildgate
1 Thespian's Stage
1 Treva's Ruins
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
1 Vesuva
1 Volrath's Stronghold
Umtiger's Deck
Umtiger's is an active poster on this thread and knows the deck well. Read his posts and need his advice.
10 Return to Ravnica Gates
10 ABUR Duals
10 Ravnica Shocks
1 Polluted Delta
1 Flooded Strand
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Windswept Heath
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Riftstone Portal
1 Maze's End
1 Dark Depths
1 Thespian's Stage
1 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
1 Vesuva
1 Phyrexian Tower
1 High Market
1 Diamond Valley
1 Glacial Chasm
1 Maze of Ith
1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Academy Ruins
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Tranquil Thicket
1 Lonely Sandbar
1 Barren Moor
1 Tolaria West
1 Petrified Field
1 Strip Mine
1 Wasteland
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Drownyard Temple
1 Exploration
1 Manabond
1 Life from the Loam
1 Explore
1 Trade Routes
1 Prismatic Omen
1 Realms Uncharted
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Scapeshift
1 Splendid Reclamation
1 Trinket Mage
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Amulet of Vigor
1 Expedition Map
1 Azusa, Lost but Seeking
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 The Gitrog Monster
1 Eternal Witness
1 Sun Titan
1 Faithless Looting
1 Gamble
1 Crop Rotation
1 Personal Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Entomb
1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Intuition
1 Wargate
1 Bringer of the Black Dawn
1 Chaos Warp
1 Terminus
1 Ad Nauseam
1 Genesis Wave
1 Corpse Dance
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Other land-based or Child-led Archetypes
There are other ways to build a land-centric deck. Different generals, colours, and even different strategies. And Child Of Alara decks need not be land-centric; some Child decks are more focused on Child abuse and don't really have a land theme. I figure anybody who is interested in this archetype might very well also be interested in these. Maybe the reader would enjoy one of these builds in addition to (or instead of) the feature. A the very least they might provide valuable contrast:
Xira Arien - Jund Lands.dec
This is Gromgrom's current project. Glad to have him back on our side!
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/commander-edh/multiplayer-commander-decklists/764184-xira-arien-jund-lands-dec
Saskia Lands
This is a deck after my own heart.
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/commander-edh/multiplayer-commander-decklists/776532-saskia-lands-commander-edh-by-luna
The Gitrog Monster
Froggie would probably be my general if it were five colours!
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/commander-edh/multiplayer-commander-decklists/719586-75-the-gitrog-monster-lands-dec
Genju Of The Realm
This is a Man-Land deck, and my personal Favourite of the other land decks. Most likely I will build it one day. I couldn't find a list updated for BFZ block, so maybe somebody ought to give the thread a little kick. Also Genju is technically not a legal general. Genju is the soul of the land; and players without souls might not understand.
www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/commander-edh/multiplayer-commander-decklists/490392-genju-of-the-realm-beast-of-ten-thousand-lands
Joreal, Empress Of Beasts
A mono G Man-Land deck.
http://edhrec.com/commander/Jolrael, Empress of Beasts/
Azusa, Lost But Seeking
A mono G lands.deck, with better access to extra drops but less mass removal.
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/commander-edh/multiplayer-commander-decklists/215489-deck-54-land-azusa-lost-but-seeking-we-back-boys]
Mina and Denn, Wildborn
Another great Lands commander. This sit compiles several lists and card-inclusion stats.
https://edhrec.com/commanders/mina-and-denn-wildborn-lands-theme
Boborygmos Enraged
A R/G lands deck with fewer sweepers than us but abundant direct damage.
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/commander-edh/multiplayer-commander-decklists/217165-borborygmos-enraged-the-breaking-of-the-world
Ob Nixilis, The Fallen
A mono B landfall deck.
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/commander-edh/multiplayer-commander-decklists/209785-ob-nixilis-the-fallen-fists-of-land
Omnath, Locus Of Rage
A R/G landfall and token deck.
http://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/omnath-locus-of-rage-primer
Child Of Alara
A control deck based around Child triggers with no particular focus on Lands. Weird, I know!
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/commander-edh/multiplayer-commander-decklists/576362-sacrificing-children-good-or-bad-child-of-alara
Like most good and fun archetypes, our biggest problem is too many good and fun cards competing for too few slots. This lets us each fine tune the deck to our own style and tastes. I'll attempt to cover as many cards as I can which might work for us.
A note on permanents:
Lands are great! Non-lands are vulnerable to the wrath of our own general, and should be played sparingly. We want our nonland permanents to either be indestructible, extremely powerful, and/or help establish an advantage which will endure long after that permanent is dead and buried.
I'm mostly focusing on cards with direct synergy with lands and/or Child recursion. There are many cards which can work for us simply by their stand-alone power, but there would be too many to list. As it is, I'm already listing an awful lot of options. Next primer I write will be for Relentless Rats!
Win Conditions - Closing The Game
As mentioned above, one of the deck's great features is its versatility in win conditions. With so many ways to win, this deck can remain very entertaining for not only us but also our friends.
Maze's End.
This is a slow win-con, but it's one of the fastest we have! (We are not a fast deck). Other win cons require us to kill each opponent individually, and may take multiple turns once online. Usually we will pull this off with a Scapeshift alone, or a Creeping Renaissance/Ad Nauseam combined with Manabond. Sometimes we can fetch the Gates with Maze's End itself (especially if we have an Amulet Of Vigor and extra land drops), but opponent's will realise what we are doing and might disrupt us. Maze's End doubles as a (weaker) fetchland even if we never win with it.
Inkmoth Nexus + Kessig Wolf Run/Rubblehulk
With just twelve other lands we can totally one-shot an opponent. Nine other lands if you pump with Rubblehulk. Ten to fourteen lands is not as hard as it might sound if you are not used to this deck. Even without fewer lands, there is no rule saying we can't kill an opponent over two or more turns. Individually each card has value too. Inkmoth alone is a recurable chump blocker which permanently wounds the attacking creature. Wolf Run can save a utility creature from lethal damage, and help our opponents kill each other for us, or even pump Child for lethal commander damage (another win-con).
Thespian's Stage + Dark Depths.
The new legend rule (circa July 2013) allows us to have two of the same Legendary permanents and still keep one (our choice) instead of losing them both. Copy Dark Depths with Stage, chose to keep the copy (which has no ice counters because it was already in play) and Voilà - a flying 20/20 indestructible! Stage itself has fantastic utility in a land themed deck.
Valakut + Prismatic Omen
Three damage per land drop is pretty good. With Vesuva out, it becomes six damage per. We can kill opponents incrementally with this but we can kill out of nowhere with a Scapeshift. Manabond is an all-star with Valakut, especially combined with Creeping Renaissance, Ad Nauseam, or Sunder. Even bounce-lands and Storm Cauldron give this combo a nice boost when we have additional lands drops. Obviously Omen doubles as colour fixing and the combo itself doubles as removal
Seismic Assault / Borborygmos Enraged/Molten Vortex
Turns lands in hand into direct damage for removal and/or to seal the deal. Also works very well with Ad Nauseam, Creeping Renaissance, Sunder (or any bounce effect), or even just Life From The Loam. These have nice synergy with Crucible Of Worlds, as we can replay the lands. I'd stay away from Land's Edge though. As much as I'd love to run it, it only hits players, and probably kills me if I cast Sunder or drop a Storm cauldron.
Crucible Of Worlds + Strip Mine
We are not going to wipe out the field with this, but when we are down to one or two opponents (one more so than two) we can lock them out completely if we have enough land drops. Any additional mana denial we have online will obviously help. Of course these cards are all-stars on their own - you never have to actually win with them to justify their inclusion.
Rude Awakening
Turns our lands into beaters, and untaps them all for action. Not our strongest win-con (I cut it myself), but we can easily accomplish ten or twenty lands by late game, and do twenty to forty damage. After a board wipe, there should usually be no blockers to stop us (we can drop Child on our own turn but not sacrifice her until the end of our opponent's turn). Not much extra utility here, except maybe to pop off a walker.
Barbarian Ring
Mostly included for removal, I don't think I've ever killed an opponent with this one. Stranger things have happened though! With a Crucible and three or four land drops, you could do six to eight a turn, making this a possible late game killer for that last opponent.
Knight Of The Reliquary.
Knight gets big fast, and can dish out a lot of combat damage. She doubles as a tutor (more accurately the other way around). To get the most value from KotR, you need lots of forests and plains (including duals/shocks). Personally I can't justify the space for so many non-utility lands, but that's a matter of personal preference. She's always good with Prismatic Omen, of course, but without those natural Forests and Plains she's not quite good enough.
Worm Harvest
Recurable flood of tokens.
Centaur Vinecrasher
Recurable beat stick which goes great with our LD package (see Mana Denial) bellow.
Child Of Alara
Good ol' fashioned commander damage! Not our normal win-con (other Child decks might be more focused on this), but good in a pinch. Great with Kessig Wolf Run or Rubblehulk.
Rubblehulk
Let's see. We have an uncountable Strength Of Cedars for three mana and we can recur it with Volrath's Stronghold. On top of all that it can be cast as a Zendikar Incarnate, which can win on its own.
Omnath, Locus of Rage
Mad Elemental beats.
Other Beaters
Dakkon Blackblade, Terravore, Molimo, Budoka Gardener, Allosaurus Rider, Ulvenwald Hydra, and other such creatures can be big threats in our deck. Personally I don't like these because they can't survive the board wipe we will often need to clear a path for them to connect. Any of them are potentially viable though.
Colour Fixers
Should you run Duals/Shocks with Fetches, or multi-colour "Rainbow" Lands? I actually think both have pros and cons, and neither one is optimal or strictly better than the other,
Pros Of Running Duals & Fetches
Really you can go either way on this. Whatever best fits your build.
Basic Lands
These are essential. I run only five, but most decks seem to run at least extra Forests. I like Snow-covered lands because I can run Into the North for Depths that way.
Fetches/Duals
Solid colour fixing package which gives you shuffle effects, works well with land recursion, helps us find Basics when we need them.
Maze's End / Guild Gates
Only two colours each, CIPT, and Maze's End is a very slow fetchland. But these double as a win condition, so we keep them around.
Lairs
These provide three colours each, and the drawback is actually often a good thing with ETB/CIP lands, cycling/transmuting lands, landfall, Seismic Assault effects, etc. Even without any landfall or CIP effect, often we have more land drops than we have lands to drop! With lairs we can tap a land (for mana or another ability), bounce it to a lair, replay it, and tap it again!
Command Tower
Five colours no drawback!
Gemstone Mine
Five colours, the drawback is mitigated by bounce lands, recursion, and cards that imbue mana abilities
Terramorphic Expanse / Evolving Wilds / Ash Barrens / Terminal Moraine
Fetch lands for basics if you are not running the Duals/Fetches package.
City Of Brass / Mana Confluence
Five colours, reasonable drawback in lists without Ad Nauseam.
Crystal Quarry / Cascading Cataracts
Gets Child out with a single fixer. The former can cast most of our other coloured spells too - and the later can cast any of them.
Lotus Vale
Good for casting single-colour intensive spells like Seismic Assault or Sunder. Choice target for Thespian Stage. Drawback mitigated by land recursion.
Riftstone Portal
Fixes all our lands from the graveyard. Especially good with non-producing lands
Urborg, Tomb Of Yawgmoth
Like Rifstone Portal, but works from play instead of the yard.
Prismatic Omen
Fixes all our lands complexly, and combos with Valakut.
We also have a couple mana rocks which fix our colours, as well as some Rampant Growth effects. See the sections on Mana Ramp bellow.
Ramp part 1 - Mana Rocks
While we do run two or three mana rocks, we vastly prefer extra land drops. For one reason, land drops bring us more than just mana! But more importantly, mana rocks have a harder time surviving our board wipes. I think this may be the only EDH deck where Sol Ring is actually not recommend.
Darksteel Ingot
Five colours, doesn't die to Child.
Chromatic Lantern
Dies to Child, but too good to resist. As a bonus, we have a lot of lands which don't normally tap for mana, and this gives them built-in Command Towers.
Mox Diamond
Not the best, but it does make any colour and if things go well we can get our land back. Dies to Child.
That's it! I wouldn't run any other rocks. They die to our own hand, and in this deck they are inferior to Exploration and Rampant Growth effects.
Ramp part 2 - Extra Land Drops
These are effects that let us supersede the one land per turn rule.
Exploration
With Fastbond being (rightfully) banned, this is the old classics. Costing but single green mana, it doesn't get better than this.
Explore
A one time Exploration that's also a cantrip. Undoubtedly this little card pulls its weight
Burgeoning
At a glance this looks better than Exploration (in multi-player), but its not. Since the Lands are put into play father than being actually played, we can't use Crucible to play them from the yard, and they won't trigger Horn Of Greed. Against deck's with low curves or which rely more on mana rocks, they are lackluster. I still consider it an auto-include, and it works wonders with Storm Cauldron (our opponents will constantly need to replay their lands, and we can bounce our own with impunity).
Storm Cauldron
While this technically allows an extra land drop, it hardly counts as ramp since it is constantly "boomeranging" lands. Really this card is there more as mana denial than mana ramp! There are times when we have more land drops than lands, and this allows us to tap the same land twice in a turn. It's also very good with lands that have a CIP ability, and has special synergy with Piracy, Seismic Assault, and Burgeoning. Manabond breaks the synergy nicely. It can also save lands which are being targeted. Not everyone runs this, but I think it's an all-star.
Into The Wilds
Like Burgeoning, these lands are "put into play" and not technically played. Also it only works if we are lucky enough to have a land on top. However, this has a real benefit of providing card advantage, and is a solid choice.
Summer Bloom
Three extra Lands is great! Often it's hard to get value out of this though. We frequently have at least one other Exploration effect in play already, so unless we have Crucible, Storm Cauldron, or have made a "big play", sometimes this doesn't pull its weight. But when it's good, it is great!
Manabond
This has the drawback of forcing us to discard all nonlands (if we accept the optional trigger). Sometimes this is worth it, though (we don't always have a lot of nonlands). In conjunction with Sunder, Ad Nauseam, or Creeping Renaissance, it's amazing (and feeds multiple win-cons).
Rites Of Flourishing
Big group hug! Technically this is card disadvantage, but only slightly. Our deck gets the most from the extra drops, and the extra cards magnify this.
Annex
Steals a land. It's nice that this doubles as both a land-drop and effective LD, but it's a drag when we lose the land if Annex leaves play.
Oracle Of Mul Daya
ProbablyPossibly the best creature for our deck! Thanks to the new card below, I have edited this description and I may have to do so again.The Gitrog Monster
This creature is amazing! Sacrificing a land every turn can be sometimes hard even for this deck, but it's a bit of a break even deal. We draw a card to replace the one we lose, and more often than not we can avail ourselves to the extra land drop to regain our lost tempo. Of course beyond just neutralising its own drawback, these abilities are fantastically ripe for abuse! Then on top of this we get a 6/6 frog-monster with deathtouch? The Gitrog Monster is proof that WotC loves us and wants us to be happy!
Mina and Denn, Wildborn
Exploration on legs that can save lands, bounce our CIT/ETB lands, and facilitate our win conditions.
Sakura Tribe Scout/Walking Atlas
Exploration on a stick, but requires tapping (summoning sickness) and only "puts lands into play" (and only from our hand).
Azusa, Lost But Seeking
Two Explorations on one stick. Yup.
Ramp part 3 - Digging/Fetching
Cards which let let us search all our part of our deck for lands (mostly basic) we can put directly into play. These are special cards which are part tutor, part accelerant, part colour fixer.
Into The North
A Rampant Growth (if you run snow-covered basics) which can also fetch Dark Depths.
Nature's Lore/Farseek
Generally better than Rampant Growth if you run duals or shocks.
Wayfarer's Bauble
Rampant Growth for one extra mana, but recurable via Academy Ruins
Edge Of Autumn
Rampant Growth early game (when we usually needs of most), can new cycled later. Cycling this is card disadvantage, but sometimes sacrificing a land is a good thing because we want to replay it, cycle it or because its a Riftstone Portal.
Animist's Awakening
Puts random lands directly into play. Spell Mastery interacts favourably with Amulet of Vigor. Amulet's ability stacks, so you can tap them in response and Amulet will untap them again.
Unexpected Results
This is a fun card! It either gives you a free (random) spell, or a random land plus card advantage. Totally awesome - especially in lists with high(er) land counts.
Sakura Tribe Elder
Rampant Growth we can recur with Volrath's Stronghold. Good in builds with lots of basics.
Reap and Sow
Puts any land directly into play, and/or functions as a targeted LD.
Tempt With Discovery
Love it! If nobody bites it's a bit over-costed. But somebody always does! If anybody pulls out anything particularly nasty, we can answer by fetching Strip Mine.
Wargate
Puts any land into play for three mana, or if we pay extra can be used to fetch other permanents instead.
Tutors
Many of the above cards could search for more than just basic Lands, and could just as well have been counted here. These are the other tutors which put cards in our hand and/or graveyard (but won't put a land into play).
Crop Rotation
Technically this puts a land directly into play, but it doesn't count as ramp because we have to sacrifice another land. Despite being a drag against counter-spells, this is a fantastic card. It not only finds any land, but it's instant speed and can hose targeted land destruction and/or can reactively find an answer such as Bojuka Bog, Maze, Chasm, etc.
Demonic/Vampiric Tutor
The two best tutors in the game.
Imperial Seal
The next best thing.
Grim Tutor
The next to next best thing.
Beseech the Queen
This will usually get any card we want, but expensive if we don't have enough B.
Sylvan Scrying
A strictly inferior Demonic Tutor.
Mystical/Enlightened Tutor
Strictly worse Vampiric Tutors.
Wargate
Puts a permanent directly into play
Bring To Light
Puts a spell directly onto the stack.
Expedition Map
Tutors for any land, reusable with Academy Ruins.
Intuition
The crème de la crème! With graveyard recursion (looking at you, Life from the Loam) we can do wonderful things with this.
Realms Uncharted
Quite a bit worse than Intuition.
Entomb
Puts any card directly into our graveyard. Obvious targets are Loam and Creeping Renaissance, but with recursion already active we can get our choice of goodies.
Tolaria West
Tutors for any land, or for Zorb. Three mana with UU might seem steep, but this is uncountetable, as is the land we tutor into. We can push combos or answers right through control decks most times, which can be worth a lot. And T.West is a land! Apart from having synergy with the entire deck, this means we can lay it down as a mana source if we need to. Later we can bounce it back (or sacrifice and Loam it) if we want to transmute.
Draw & Card Advantage
Horn Of Greed
Draws us a card with every land we play - amazing! Everyone gets cards for land drops, but our deck easily gets the best boost at the table.
Seer's Sundial
A Horn Of Greed that only helps you, but the activation cost is significant.
Trade Routes
Draws cards, saves lands, and let's us replay CIP/ETB lands.
Ad Nauseam
Draws an insane amount of cards! It's better in deck's with more lands and fewer high cc spells, but its arguably always a good deal for us. With cards like Seismic Assault, Manabond, or KotR, it's not hard to see how a fist-full of land might be pretty sick. And with the sheer number of cards we take in from Ad Nauseam we have a very good chance to draw into one or more such bombs! It's a great card for us, but it might be best to avoid in aggro heavy metas. If you do run it, keep your land counts high, your mana costs low, and avoid too many pain lands.
Animist's Awakening
Huge card advantage plus cheats the lands into play.
Tranquil Thicket/Slippery Karst
CIPT Lands that can be used as a cantrip. They produce green too! Both are from full cycles and are available in all five colours. A chief use worth noting is to cycle these in response to Loam being targeted for exile from the graveyard. There are two cycles of colour-producing cycle lands. In theory we could run all four, but in practice there are just better cards and too few slots. A good option for a budget build.
Horizon Canopy
This works like the cycling lands above, except it can be "cycled" from play. This lets just draw mana from it till we need the draw (it comes into play untapped and produces two colours too). The drawback is it costs a land drop when we just want the card.
Blighted Cataract
Much like the Canopy, but it draws two cards for a higher price. Doesn't produce coloured mana, but also not a pain land.
Phyrexia Arena
Solid card advantage. Not recommended with Ad Nauseam.
Sea Gate Wreckage
Good if we can get hellbent often enough.
Mulch
Usually nets a card, might put down merging good in the yard.
Looting/Milling
Personally I don't play any looting effects. I run only cards which make looting good; and only Loam and Crucible make it great. But if you run enough graveyard effects you might want these in your 99.
Bazaar Of Baghdad
King of the looting lands
Desolate Lighthouse
A much weaker Bazaar, but at least it taps for mana.
Nephalia Drownyard
Not even looting, just milling. I suppose it has the advantage of milling the opponent (good vs SDT).
Cephalic Coliseum
A slightly better effect than Bazaar, but a much costlier activation! Tapping for u is nice, but self inflicted damage is not!
Graveyard Recursion
Life From The Loam
An all star, recurring our lands and digging for them over and over.
Crucible Of Worlds
Lets us play lands from the yard directly.
Splendid Reclamation
A beautiful card for us! Fantastic with the Valakut combo, Ad Nauseam, Storm Cauldron (especially with a Seismic Assault), anything that causes repeated sacrificing of Lands (Mana Vortex, Gitrog, Dust Bowl, Constant Mists etc). In fact it's just fantastic for us all around.
Petrified Field
Gets a land back and is a land.
Creeping Renaissance
An all-star. See also Victory Conditions above.
Volrath's Stronghold
Recurs creatures, including our commander.
Haunted Fengraf
A weaker Volrath's Stronghold.
Eternal Witness
Regrowth you can recur with Volrath's Stronghold
Tilling Treefolk
A weaker Loam effect.
Restore
Recurs a land, steals a land, cheats in a land; all in one card.
Hedonist's Trove
Doubles as yard hate.
Academy Ruins
Recurs our artifacts.
Drownyard Temple
Puts one (and only one) land from our graveyard into play. Not much on its own, but fantastic with Gitrog Monster, Mana Vortex, or Constant Mists!
Enchantment Ruins
Still waiting.
WTF Wizards!
Child Abuse
A big part of what allows us to survive is the ability to wipe our opponents' boards when our defenses would otherwise be overwhelmed. Luckily there are plenty of utility lands which facilitate Child's death and recursion. As a bonus, they are good with our CIP/ETB utility creatures. Play lots of these!
High Market
Put's Child in the yard, gains us life.
Diamond Valley
Gains more life but doesn't produce mana. The extra life can make a big difference given multiple uses - either to milk Ad Nauseam, or simply to survive.
Miren, The Moaning Well
A Diamond Valley which taps for mana but costs mana to activate. often this will be a net gain over the course of a game, but it can squeeze us when we need to kill Child on the same turn we cast her.
Grim Backwoods
Draws a card instead of life, but costs even more mana than Miren. This is a singleton format though, and these lands are good because their aren't enough better options to reliably hit.
Phyrexian Tower
Here's a sac-outlet that actually pays us to use it! This is a mana ability, so it can respond to split-second.
Volrath's Stronghold
Returns Child to our library, so she'll live to die another day.
Haunted Fengraf
Not as good as Volrath's Stronghold, but solid back-up.
Emeria, the Sky Ruin
It's hard getting seven plains - even if you're on the duals-n-fetches package. Prismatic Omen can take care if that for us too, though.
Mortuary Mire
Gets us Child back once (more if we can bounce it or sacrifice and recur it).
Gift Of Immortality
Recurs Child indefinitely.
Bound // Determined
Kills Child for us and gets back five cards!
Boros Charm
Saves our suff when we (or somebody else) wipes the board. Solid vs Armageddon, and can even help with our finishers.
Other Removal
Ideally we don't need any other removal. But in reality there are problems Child can't handle. Maybe its indestructible creatures? Maybe hosers like RIP or Humility which prevent our trigger. Maybe we've lost control of Child, or we're being colour screwed, or our our sacrifice/reanimate engine is having troubles. Recently I had an opponent who kept making my Child indestructible in response to my Tabernacle trigger! Whatever the reason, sometimes a Child need a little extra help.
This is a five colour deck with a bit of ramp, so you can run whatever removal you want. Rather than noting all the best answers in the game, I'll list a few that work particularly well in a Lands build. We also can run a good amount of direct damage - see the Victory Conditions section above.
Blighted Fen
A reusable edict effect.
The Great Aurora
Removes literally everything in play!
Aether Snap
A sweeper for tokens and PWs, which doubles as a Dark Depths enabler.
Aura Fracture
Deals with Humility, Blood Moon, Hall Of Gemstone, etc. Can efficiently deal with enchantments if we can't pull of the Child trick or want to preserve our board. Dies to Child itself.
Mouth Of Ronom
Kills creatures if you don't mind running snow-covered basics.
Imprisoned In The Moon / Song Of The Dryads
Flavourful spot removal! The downside is that if you blow Child the enchantment dies and the opponent's card lives. The flip side is you can enchant your own creature to protect it from an incoming Child wipe. Another bonus is that it can deal with a problem general without letting them simply recast it. But the real beauty here is the interaction with Thespian's Stage and Vesuva. Only printed text is actually copyable, so if you drop this on something super nasty, your lands will copy the card as printed!
Mana Denial
This is a prison deck at heart. Not as oppressive as Stax, but we do need to slow the game down a little if we can.
Strip Mine
The best LD land ever printed!
Wasteland
A strictly worse Strip Mine
Tectonic Edge
A strictly worse Strip Mine
Encroaching Wastes
A strictly worse Strip Mine
Ghost Quarter
Not quite a strictly worse Strip Mine because you can target your own land if you need a basic. Also might incur less wrath!
Dust Bowl
Not strictly worse than Strip Mine because we can reuse it without utilising our graveyard
Mana Vortex
Sedulously contains our opponents. As long as we have extra drops and either card advantage or land recursion we should come out well ahead.
Storm Cauldron
Gives extra land drops, but mostly keeps things from getting too out of hand.
Piracy
Usually forces a tap-out. Great with Storm Cauldron
Sunder
A big combo piece for us, but also cuts down our opponents mana (reforestation should be easier for us)
Blinkmoth Well
Taps down mana rocks during the opponent's upkeep.
The Tabernacle At Pendrell Vale
Solid mana hoser which can sometimes outright kill creatures. Fantastic with Sunder or Storm Cauldron!
Defence
One of the biggest obstacles we have to overcome with this deck is not dying. Apart from the removal and board wipes we run,cthese cards will help keep us afloat:
Glacial Chasm
This prevents us from taking any damage whatsoever. The cumulative upkeep is steep, but we can loop the card if we have a recursion engine and extra drops, or even better if we have Thespians Stage. Without recursion this fan still buy us a few turns if we pay the life honestly. We can Crop Rotate into it for a surprised defense.
Maze Of Ith
Stops one targetable creature from damaging us.
Mystifying Maze
An extra Maze, but expensive.
Kor Haven
An extra Maze
Island Of Wak-Wak
An extra Maze (for fliers)
Ice Flow
Part Maze, part Arrest
Halls Of Mist
Limits attackers, can be bounced or recurred to get around the cumulative upkeep
Prahv, Spires Of Order
Stops damage from any one souce,but expensive.
Tower Of The Magistrate
Removes and/or prevents equpment.
Constant Mists
This is our best Fog effect, as it can keep us alive through several attacks. It's nicenice to run this as homage to our ancestral deck Maze's End Turbo Fog.
Protection
Protection is different than defence. Defence is protecting ourselves from dying, where by protection I mean protecting our game plan, board state,etc.
Terra Eternal
Protests our lands, but theirs as well. Not good if you like a lot of LD.
Sacred Ground
Similar to Terra Eternal, but only helps us own lands.
Teferi's Response
Our best (and only) counter-spell. I will almost never tap out if I have this beauty in hand!
Skyshroud Blessing
A weaker version of Teferi's Response, with the bonus that we can burn it for a card any time.
Pyramids
Bonus points for nostalgia! It costs six mana and dies to our board wipes, but you almost win just by virtue of casting it.
Boseiju Who Shelters All
Assures our insant and sorcery spells will resolve.
Cavern Of Souls
Assurance to resolve our creatures - especially our general.
Homeward Path
Prevents Child abduction
Piracy
Taps our opponents out. If the float mana, we can empty their pools by skipping through to our post combat main phase.
Faith's Reward /Second Sunrise
Gets our stuff back after a wipe. Faith's Reward is vastly better because only we get our stuff back. This is especially good after our own board wipes!
Zuran Orb
Can save a targeted land from capture or exile. Strip Mine can also do this. Cards like Dust Bowl, Constant Mists, and Crop Rotation can sacrifice the threatened lands as part of the cost (no response time).
Diamond Valley & co.
Can similarly scarifice our creatures in response to exile. Phyrexian Tower uses a mana ability for this goes it goes straight over top of split second.
Thespian Stage
Can copy a land (that you need in play) as an opponent destroys it.
Naturally this depends somewhat on the specifics of your build, and of course your meta...
Opening Hand / Mulligans
If you have all those bases covered and still wish to mulligan, don't forget that card disadvantage sucks. Be sure you are discarding very poor early-game cards and plenty of 'em!
Early Game
Early on we want to ramp out as many lands as you can with Exploration effects. Be non-threatening if able. Repeat after me - "I'm just a casual lands deck". A card advantage or drawing engine (Loam, Into The Wilds, Horn Of Greed, etc) is fantastic to get online!
We don't have much defense for early game. Maybe Maze Of Ith (or a similar card), Seismic Assault to kill creatures, or chump blockers we can recur. Later on we can loop Glacial Chasm, Child board wipes, Zorb with land recursion, and other locks. But early on it helps to be non-threatening, diplomatic, or ideally be in an aggro-lite meta.
Sometimes we will have an amazing stax-style start. Say, extra land drops with card advantage and yard recursion (Loam or Crucible), alongside a strong prison effect like Storm Cauldron or Mana Vortex (even better with a Strip Mine). Add a little defense (Maze or Constant Mists), and we can ride our board into midgame or beyond. But realistically these openers are downright rare, and normally we will have to dig out Child and clear the field. This brings us to midgame.
Midgame - Wiping The Board
Eventually the board will get out of hand (or at least very dangerous) and we will have to play Child and nuke everything. Timing is tricky. We'd like to wait as long as possible - the longer we wait, the more things our enemies play for us to kill! Also, longer we wait, the more lands we ramp out (both mana and utility) to ensure we have a superior position going forward. On the other hand, if we wait too long and they manage to stall or prevent the wipe, we might sorely regret the delay.
And the longer we wait the more of our own stuff we lose! We can sandbag - willfully suppressing our development, but in that case we might not be as far ahead after the wipe.
Ultimately this will always be a judgement call. It might be wise to prepare by tutoring a sac outlet early, or colour fixers if we aren't finding them naturally (not usually a problem, but worth mentioning). If the opposition is going to be particularly hostile, we might also prioritize finding a recursion engine. If you fear counter-spells (or the dreaded Humility), it might be wise to start pushing the Child before we feel much pressure. But keep in mind that many counter heavy decks will welcome mass removal, and maybe benefit more than us! Against these decks we attack their mana if able, and use Diplomacy to turn the aggro players against them. A Child in play can give us some serious sway! The aggro players should be made to understand that if they leave us alone, Child beats on the control player, but if they come after us Child kills everything.
Late Game
If everything goes perfectly, we have the board well under control, resources coming out of our ears, and can proceed to our most convenient (for the situation) win-con (see "card selection" bellow). Things won't always go perfectly! We will face adversity in every possible form. We will need all our skills in threat assessment, resource management, diplomacy, strategy, and tactics to be victorious. I can't really write a comprehensive guide for late game play - there are two many possibilities. Really this is true of mid-game too - that's why I only really discussed board-wiping. But I will discuss a few of the more common plays and tactics.
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RUGLegacy Lands.dec
RUGBLegacy Lands.dec
RGLegacy Lands.dec
WUBRG EDH Lands.dec
UBR EDH Artificer Prodigy
B EDH Relentless Rats
GB [Primer][Competitive][Stax][Combo] Meren of Clan Nel Toth 95% RETIRED
UW [Primer][Competitive][Combo][Stax] Brago, King Eternal RETIRED
BR Rakdos, Lord of Riots (75%)
G Titania - 75%
W SRAM - Welcome to the cheeri0s jam 95%
U Teferi - stax 100%
R Neheb - janky mono red eggs combo 90%
B Gonti - 50% valuetown
STANDARD
Not currently running anything, looking into U/R Izzet Tempo.
LEGACY
Not currently running anything, looking into G/x/x Elf Combo.
EDH/COMMANDER
Uril, the Miststalker WRG Competitive Multiplayer and 1v1
Momir Vig, Simic Visionary UG Hyper competitive 1v1 elf combo deck
-Primeval Titan as he was banned/+Meloku, the Clouded Mirror
-Nim Deathmantle/+Fact or Fiction[/CARD]
Looking to make room for the following in the future. Thoughts?
Sol Ring
Command Tower
Buried Ruin
Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
Entomb
Scapeshift
Bazaar of Baghdad
Boseiju, Who Shelters All
GB [Primer][Competitive][Stax][Combo] Meren of Clan Nel Toth 95% RETIRED
UW [Primer][Competitive][Combo][Stax] Brago, King Eternal RETIRED
BR Rakdos, Lord of Riots (75%)
G Titania - 75%
W SRAM - Welcome to the cheeri0s jam 95%
U Teferi - stax 100%
R Neheb - janky mono red eggs combo 90%
B Gonti - 50% valuetown
Cards I would cut for more lands:
Maelstrom Nexus, Last Stand, Liliana Vess
Maybe it could use a Knight of the Reliquary? Constant Mists is great in a deck like this. What about Underworld Connections and Deserted Temple?
I would cut Spihon Life for Avenger of Zendikar.
GWUBAtraxa, Praetor's Voice PrimerGWUB
GWURoon Bant Blink WhateverGWU
BRGLord Windgrace LandsBRG
I agree on alot of your points. Knight is on my list as a maybe tutor and kill condition. Thinking of Lightning Greaves to protect my beaters. Lilliana was a tutor mostly. Maelstrom Nexus is so fun I cant cut it. Once it lands I just grin and watch fun stuff happen!
I never used my general much compared to other lands decks, except for emergency wraths. Just seems like others are aggressively using Child and the fact he is the general is unnerving enough. I just dont like this deck to be "the bad guy" until I can win, through a Lock with Solitary Confinement or something.
Storm Caldron used to be in here as well. Why did I drop it?! Maybe its too slow/annoying for other players. Goes good with a solitary lock ftw though!
GB [Primer][Competitive][Stax][Combo] Meren of Clan Nel Toth 95% RETIRED
UW [Primer][Competitive][Combo][Stax] Brago, King Eternal RETIRED
BR Rakdos, Lord of Riots (75%)
G Titania - 75%
W SRAM - Welcome to the cheeri0s jam 95%
U Teferi - stax 100%
R Neheb - janky mono red eggs combo 90%
B Gonti - 50% valuetown
Agreed, I havent played in two years so I've missed stuff like this. CR is PERFECT for Wurm Harvest/Seismic Assault kills.
Also, Seedborn Muse effects. I have them in my Momir Vig EDH and FORGOT how annoying and fast this deck could get being able to accelerate that quickly on each turn. Or at least drawing extra cards, Maze of Ith stopping people. Recurring artifacts with Academy Ruins (in the future, working on that card)'
I also dropped Exploration. It was a proxy, and $20++ for a weaker effect than Burgeoning isnt going to cut it. So i cut it for a similar effect with Storm Cauldron, but with the added benefit of being easily recurrable, but more expensive, but can start locking the board down by bouncing their lands.
Also running less revised duals. Most were proxies, as I only own Savannah, Bayou, and Plateau
I edited the original post to show the new list.
GB [Primer][Competitive][Stax][Combo] Meren of Clan Nel Toth 95% RETIRED
UW [Primer][Competitive][Combo][Stax] Brago, King Eternal RETIRED
BR Rakdos, Lord of Riots (75%)
G Titania - 75%
W SRAM - Welcome to the cheeri0s jam 95%
U Teferi - stax 100%
R Neheb - janky mono red eggs combo 90%
B Gonti - 50% valuetown
So, I'm dropping some EtB tapped lands for bounce lands and more utility
-1 Faerie Conclave // +1 Grim Backwoods
to kill my general when i need to and let me dredge loam, or just dig.
-1 dark depths // + Genju of the Realms
dont feel like building this combo. if i cant make these new cards work ill throw it back in with a hexmage.
GB [Primer][Competitive][Stax][Combo] Meren of Clan Nel Toth 95% RETIRED
UW [Primer][Competitive][Combo][Stax] Brago, King Eternal RETIRED
BR Rakdos, Lord of Riots (75%)
G Titania - 75%
W SRAM - Welcome to the cheeri0s jam 95%
U Teferi - stax 100%
R Neheb - janky mono red eggs combo 90%
B Gonti - 50% valuetown
No brainer. She is good at producing small threats and getting synergy with bouncelands, but tutoring lands is even better. Her cost is also prohibitive. This deck aims to keep its cmc low to do multiple things in a single turn; removal, bounce, draw, and reclaiming cards.
Making room now for Liege of the Tangle, Wargate and Avenger of Zendikar. Also, Command Tower
Questionable Cards
Fact or Fiction is a little meh.
Sylvan Scrying as well. A 2 mana one off land fetch is really an emergency only plan. Normally with my other tutors i get there. Expedition map is less color intensive, can be dropped first turn, and done at instant speed, at the cost of 1 extra.
Seer's Sundial Really garbage compared to Horn of Greed.
Oblivion Stone I feel like I could run something better for a board wipe when i cant use my general...
Brainstorm great to protect key cards from discard, but that's about it. Meta dependent?
Rupture Spire for Command Tower. Easy trade.
Any other suggestions? I updated the main list and post on playstyle, wincons, etc.
GB [Primer][Competitive][Stax][Combo] Meren of Clan Nel Toth 95% RETIRED
UW [Primer][Competitive][Combo][Stax] Brago, King Eternal RETIRED
BR Rakdos, Lord of Riots (75%)
G Titania - 75%
W SRAM - Welcome to the cheeri0s jam 95%
U Teferi - stax 100%
R Neheb - janky mono red eggs combo 90%
B Gonti - 50% valuetown
I do really like that idea. I was using volrath's stronghold to return him to my hand.
I also wanna put DD and hexmage back in. I miss them.
GB [Primer][Competitive][Stax][Combo] Meren of Clan Nel Toth 95% RETIRED
UW [Primer][Competitive][Combo][Stax] Brago, King Eternal RETIRED
BR Rakdos, Lord of Riots (75%)
G Titania - 75%
W SRAM - Welcome to the cheeri0s jam 95%
U Teferi - stax 100%
R Neheb - janky mono red eggs combo 90%
B Gonti - 50% valuetown
Other cards you might consider:
Legacy
:symb::symr:Vial Goblins:symr::symb:
:symu::symb:Dredge:symu::symb:
EDH
:symg::symb::symw:Teneb, the Harvester:symg::symb::symw:
:symb::symb::symb:Skittles, The Blight Dragon:symb::symb::symb:
I'm trying to dump cards that, well, dump cards. I dont want all of my good removal/tutors/utility being dumped because of bad draw cards. And I've found Treasure Hunt, while not dumping cards, is pretty meh. It CAN draw be a good bit, but where do i fit it? Especially with only around 50 lands, it's only going to draw 1-2 tops, probably less with all of my land tutors. That's why i dont run it. If this was a manland based EDH, by all means, it would be the first draw spell I'd put in!
Dune-Brood is a possibility. Been overlooking it due to its awkward cost, lack of trample/way to connect, but it could serve as another Worm Harvest!
boseiju is in the mail
Planar Portal? ehhh. Maybe. Problem is finding a spot and getting a use out of it. Figure 12 mana to get one card before it gets hated out isnt worth it. but it could be a godsend in topdeck mode. same with spitting image. it's good removal for voltron generals as long as they're not already hexproof.
ob nixilis seems good when i have a trade routes+exploration+storm cauldron setup going, or something. otherwise its too slow and prone to easy removal. but its worth a shot.
I can see Bojuka, but why Rings? What activated abilities could I really copy? Or does the errata count triggered abilities too? Could I copy my Horn of Greed draw?
Also thinking of Leyline of Sanctity to protect the graveyard from hate, since this deck is heavily based around it. (Like all fun decks are)
GB [Primer][Competitive][Stax][Combo] Meren of Clan Nel Toth 95% RETIRED
UW [Primer][Competitive][Combo][Stax] Brago, King Eternal RETIRED
BR Rakdos, Lord of Riots (75%)
G Titania - 75%
W SRAM - Welcome to the cheeri0s jam 95%
U Teferi - stax 100%
R Neheb - janky mono red eggs combo 90%
B Gonti - 50% valuetown
You can't copy triggerd abilities, but you can copy
in keeping with my bad draw cards, Fact or Fiction isn't working too hotly. Boseiju in
GB [Primer][Competitive][Stax][Combo] Meren of Clan Nel Toth 95% RETIRED
UW [Primer][Competitive][Combo][Stax] Brago, King Eternal RETIRED
BR Rakdos, Lord of Riots (75%)
G Titania - 75%
W SRAM - Welcome to the cheeri0s jam 95%
U Teferi - stax 100%
R Neheb - janky mono red eggs combo 90%
B Gonti - 50% valuetown
I do run the Punishing Fire + Grove of Burnwillows combo. It is wonderful spot removal that remains in the graveyard... opponents are quick to forget about it.
Open to Commissions (Seattle)
http://deadheaven.tumblr.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Deadheaven-Alters/305229662844611
GB [Primer][Competitive][Stax][Combo] Meren of Clan Nel Toth 95% RETIRED
UW [Primer][Competitive][Combo][Stax] Brago, King Eternal RETIRED
BR Rakdos, Lord of Riots (75%)
G Titania - 75%
W SRAM - Welcome to the cheeri0s jam 95%
U Teferi - stax 100%
R Neheb - janky mono red eggs combo 90%
B Gonti - 50% valuetown
Going over your list I only see a couple of landfall cards? I try not to run any CITP lands because it slows me down too much. I run in a fairly competitive multiplayer environment.
Open to Commissions (Seattle)
http://deadheaven.tumblr.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Deadheaven-Alters/305229662844611
I should have been more specific. Not landfall the mechanic, but lands EtB effects, which include Landfall.
And if you're playing competitively, how can you run DD but not hexmage?!
GB [Primer][Competitive][Stax][Combo] Meren of Clan Nel Toth 95% RETIRED
UW [Primer][Competitive][Combo][Stax] Brago, King Eternal RETIRED
BR Rakdos, Lord of Riots (75%)
G Titania - 75%
W SRAM - Welcome to the cheeri0s jam 95%
U Teferi - stax 100%
R Neheb - janky mono red eggs combo 90%
B Gonti - 50% valuetown
To tight of a list. DD is a slower process for me, Hexmage only allows me to deal with planeswalkers usually or pop a DD early; other then that its dead in hand.
Open to Commissions (Seattle)
http://deadheaven.tumblr.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Deadheaven-Alters/305229662844611
Where I'm at now,
Tropical Island
Intuition
Volrath's Stronghold
are still proxies. Need to work on getting the real cardboard as they're so excellent.
Are on my list to try out
I also need to properly optimize my manabase. I have too many red lands in a deck that has so little...Red. I have more than half of the deck as green cards, followed by an almost tie between white blue and black. So while I could use Taiga to replace stomping ground and rootbound crag, it's not a priority.
GB [Primer][Competitive][Stax][Combo] Meren of Clan Nel Toth 95% RETIRED
UW [Primer][Competitive][Combo][Stax] Brago, King Eternal RETIRED
BR Rakdos, Lord of Riots (75%)
G Titania - 75%
W SRAM - Welcome to the cheeri0s jam 95%
U Teferi - stax 100%
R Neheb - janky mono red eggs combo 90%
B Gonti - 50% valuetown