If you’ve ever stared at an opening hand with two lands, a five-drop, and a prayer, this is for you. Mana bases explained is really just “how do i stop losing to my own deck?” And yeah, sometimes the answer is boring: play more lands. But there’s more nuance than “37 lands, done.”
Here’s the simple truth: you don’t just need lands. You need mana sources that match your deck’s mana curve, your colors, and how quickly you’re trying to do the thing. That includes lands, mana rocks, mana dorks, and ramp spells. Build that mix right, and you’ll mulligan less, cast spells on time, and stop pretending your deck is “unlucky.”
Mana bases explained as one number: total mana sources
Before we split hairs about lands vs rocks vs ramp, start with this: what’s your target number of total mana sources?
- In Commander, most decks want roughly 46 to 50 total mana sources (lands plus ramp that actually accelerates you).
- In 60-card Constructed, you usually live in 20 to 28 lands, with “extra mana” coming from cheap filtering, cantrips, or a small ramp package depending on the archetype.
That total is the foundation. Then you decide how much of it is lands (reliable, hard to remove) vs ramp (faster, but sometimes fragile).
How many lands do you actually need?
Commander land count (the baseline most players should start from)
A good default for a typical Commander deck is:
- 38 to 39 lands
If your deck is top-heavy, slow, or your commander costs a lot, move up:
- 40 to 42 lands for big-mana plans, expensive commanders, or decks that hate missing land drops.
If your deck is low-curve, draws a ton of cards, and runs lots of cheap ramp, you can go lower:
- 36 to 37 lands is doable, but you should have a real reason (and you should test it).
One awkward but real point: a lot of Commander decks in the wild run fewer lands than they should, and they pay for it by missing early land drops and falling behind.
60-card land count (use your curve, not vibes)
For 60-card decks, land count is heavily tied to what turn you need to hit specific land drops.
A practical starting point looks like:
- 20 to 22 lands: low-curve aggro (you’re mostly done at 3 mana)
- 23 to 25 lands: midrange (you need to hit 4 lands reliably)
- 26 to 28 lands: control or big-mana (you want consistent land drops through turn 6+)
If your deck’s plan starts at four mana and you miss your fourth land drop a bunch, you’re going to feel like the shuffler is personally targeting you. It’s not. It’s math.
Mana rocks: how many is “enough”?
Mana rocks are the Commander default because they:
- accelerate you
- fix colors
- fit into any color identity
But they also:
- die to artifact wipes
- clog hands if you draw too many late
- don’t always help you hit land drops
A clean, “works in most decks” starting point:
- 8 to 10 ramp pieces total, with many of those being mana rocks if you’re not green
And if your deck is trying to cast expensive spells ahead of schedule:
- 10 to 12 ramp pieces is normal
Quick rule: if you regularly want to cast a 6-drop before turn 6, you probably need more ramp than you think.
Also, not all rocks are equal. A two-mana rock that taps for color is doing a lot more work than a three-mana rock that comes in and politely waits a turn cycle to matter.
Ramp spells vs rocks vs dorks (and when each is better)
This is where decks start to feel different.
Land ramp (usually best when you have green)
Land ramp is strong because lands stick around and dodging artifact wipes is nice. If you’re in green, you generally want a chunk of your ramp to be land ramp.
Typical green-based Commander ramp mix:
- some 1-mana accelerants (if your deck wants speed)
- a lot of 2-mana ramp
- a few 3-mana “ramp plus value” cards
Mana dorks (fast, but fragile)
Dorks are great when:
- your deck wants to start fast
- you benefit from bodies
- your meta isn’t constant board wipes
They’re worse when:
- you expect multiple sweepers
- you don’t want your mana to die with the table’s first Wrath
Mana rocks (default ramp for non-green)
If you’re not green, rocks are often your main “real” ramp. Just don’t pretend that one rock replaces a land. It doesn’t. It replaces some of your need for lands, but you still have to hit land drops to play Magic.
A simple “starting recipe” for Commander
Here’s a practical baseline that fits most casual to mid-power Commander decks:
- 38 lands
- 10 ramp pieces (rocks, land ramp, dorks)
- then tune from there
Adjustments that usually make sense:
- High MV commander (5+): go to 40 lands and 12 ramp
- Low curve and lots of draw: you can try 37 lands and 9 ramp
- Landfall: go up on lands (often 40+) and don’t overdo rocks
- Artifact-heavy deck: you can lean harder into rocks, but expect blowouts sometimes
This is also where proxies can help. If you want to test a better mana base before buying anything, printing a clean set of fixing lands (or just the whole list) makes tuning way less annoying. If that’s your lane, you can get playable proxy sets from places like Proxy King or print full decklists through PrintMTG. (Not for sanctioned events, obviously.)
Color fixing matters as much as the raw counts
You can run “enough lands” and still stumble if your colors are wrong.
Two big lessons:
- Early-game colors matter more than late-game colors. If you have one-drops, you need consistent untapped sources.
- Tapped lands have a real cost. Every land that enters tapped is basically you volunteering to play a turn behind.
A useful benchmark from constructed mana math is that a typical 24-land deck needs a surprisingly high number of untapped sources to cast one-drops consistently. That same idea carries over to Commander: if your deck needs specific colors early, you cannot build a mana base that’s mostly taplands and expect it to feel good.
If you’re three to five colors, you usually want:
- a strong base of lands that enter untapped
- enough duals that actually fix multiple colors
- a plan for your early plays (not just “i hope i draw Command Tower”)
The part everyone skips: test, track, and tune
Mana bases explained in practice is tuning by evidence. Here’s the non-glamorous method that works:
- Goldfish 20 opening hands.
- Track two stats:
- how often you miss your third land drop
- how often you have the wrong colors for your early plays
- Make one change:
- add 1 land, or swap 2 lands for better fixing, or replace a cute 3-mana rock with a cheaper option
- Repeat.
If you’re missing land drops, add lands. If you’re missing colors, fix colors. If you’re flooded, add mana sinks or more card draw, not just fewer lands.
Conclusion
Mana problems feel random, but most of the time they’re predictable. Start with a realistic land count, add a ramp package that matches your curve, and make sure your colors actually work early. That’s the core of mana bases explained, and it’s what makes decks feel smooth instead of moody.
If you want one line to remember: build for the turns that matter. If your deck needs four mana on turn four, don’t “hope” your way there. Put it in the list.
References
- Frank Karsten, “How Many Lands Do You Need to Consistently Hit Your Land Drops?” (PDF). orkerhulen.dk
- EDHREC, “Superior Numbers: Land Counts” (Commander land and mana rock stats, plus discussion of missed early land drops). EDHREC
- Frank Karsten, “Eight intriguing numbers in Magic: the Gathering” (Commander land and extra mana source guideline). Ultimate Guard®
- CoolStuffInc, Mark Wischkaemper, “How Much Ramp is Right For Your Commander Deck?” (practical ramp ranges and categories). CoolStuff Inc.
- Thraben University, “The Math of Splashing” (colored source consistency discussion and untapped-source benchmark). Thraben University
- Star City Games, Richard Feldman, “The Constructed Manabase, Part 1: Mana Ratios” (curve-first framing for mana producers). Star City Games