Salutations, fellow enthusiasts and collectors of cardboard real estate. I'm here today to talk about lands in Magic: The Gathering, but instead of discussing all 1,000+ lands in MTG, I want to focus on a smaller subset of utility land cards.
By definition, utility lands possess an ability beyond adding mana. You probably know of Strip Mine and Wasteland, two ubiquitous utility lands. Using them to destroy an opponent's only land producing is highly satisfying. Even better, Strip Mine and Wasteland's colorless identity makes them playable in any Commander deck!
Excitingly, there are other fantastic colorless utility lands. Have you played with Rogue's Passage or Reliquary Tower? Both lands are stellar options for the 99. In addition, let me tell you about seven more utility lands deserving of your attention and a spot in your collection.
Buried Ruin is a nonbasic land synergizing with artifacts. You can pay and sacrifice Buried Ruin to return any artifact card from your graveyard to your hand. Possible artifact targets for Buried Ruin's ability are almost endless. Plus, each new MTG set adds more artifact cards to the game!
Artifact-centric commanders, like Mishra, Eminent One and Urza, Lord High Artificer, are unmistakable homes for Buried Ruin. Both commanders generate value by littering your battlefield with artifacts (and keeping them there). Another option for Buried Ruin is in Equipment-themed decks. Commanders synergizing with Equipment may want Buried Ruin to ensure cards such as Silver Shroud Costume, Bloodforged Battle-Axe, or Masterwork of Ingenuity stay out of the graveyard.
A further consideration for Buried Ruin is in colorless decks. Eldrazi kindred decks featuring Zhulodok, Void Gorger or Kozilek, the Great Distortion need colorless mana sources to cast creatures and spells. Moreover, Eldrazi decks tend to run artifacts like Thran Dynamo and Worn Powerstone for mana ramp. A few other prime targets for Buried Ruin may include Forsaken Monument, Urza's Incubator, and Commander's Plate.
Command Beacon may not be as universally playable as Command Tower, but it's another nonbasic land worth owning. With Command Beacon on your battlefield, you can sacrifice it to put your commander into your hand from the command zone. Placing a commander into your hand may not seem significant, but circumventing a sizable commander tax is fantastic.
Where Command Beacon shines brightest is supporting commanders with a mana cost of four or higher. Recasting Sauron, the Dark Lord or Etali, Primal Conqueror with any additional commander tax can be daunting. Sacrificing Command Beacon to shave four to six mana off the price of recasting your commander is helpful later in a game.
You may also consider inserting Command Beacon in a deck capable of recurring lands from the graveyard. Muldrotha, the Gravetide's high casting cost and ability to play a land from your graveyard each turn synergizes well with Command Beacon. You may also use Command Beacon to avoid paying a lofty commander tax for Muldrotha, the Gravetide. A second land recursion commander option is Titania, Protector of Argoth. You can use Titania, Protector of Argoth's enter the battlefield ability to return Command Beacon from your graveyard to your battlefield. A few other synergistic commanders to ponder are Lord Windgrace, Soul of Windgrace, and The Necrobloom.
Demolition Field is a budget-friendly land destruction card originally printed in The Brothers' War (BRO). You may sacrifice Demolition Field for and pay to destroy a nonbasic land an opponent controls. Upon resolving Demolition Field's sacrifice ability, you and your opponent may search libraries for a basic land card and place them on the battlefield. A significant reason to play Demolition Field is that it's a fixed version of Field of Ruin for Commander. Unfortunately, Field of Ruin's land destruction ability lets all players in a Commander game find a basic land and put them onto the battlefield.
Demolition Field is a fine choice in any deck needing some form of land destruction. White, blue, and colorless decks may find Demolition Field fitting since land destruction does not align well with their strengths. Furthermore, decks running Crucible of Worlds can reuse Demolition Field's sacrifice ability. You never know when you may need to destroy a Glacial Chasm, Field of the Dead, or Dark Depths to avoid losing a game.
Interestingly, Guildless Commons and Arid Archway are two different utility lands with practically the same abilities. Both lands enter the battlefield tapped, force you to return a land you control to its owner's hand, and tap for . Arid Archway differs by its Desert typing and the possible gift of surveil one.
Guildless Commons and Arid Archway join the list of Commander's immensely playable bounce lands, like Simic Growth Chamber and Izzet Boilerworks. Colorless bounce lands may not assist with color fixing, but they tap for two mana. Landfall and Lands Matter-focused Commander decks can maximize Guildless Commons and Arid Archway. A few notable land-centric commanders are Tatyova, Benthic Druid, Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait, and Yedora, Grave Gardener. Colorless decks are also excellent places to drop in Guildless Commons and Arid Archway, especially those led by Zhulodok, Void Gorger or Karn, Legacy Reforged.
First introduced in 2020's Commander Legends (CMR), War Room is a colorless land with a card draw ability. You may pay and life equal to the number of colors in your commander's color identity to draw a card. Fascinatingly, if your commander does not identify with a color, you won't lose life when drawing a card with War Room. Two colorless commanders that may profit from War Room are Graaz, Unstoppable Juggernaut and Liberator, Urza's Battlethopter.
War Room also excels in mono-color decks with limited card draw capabilities. Mono-color red and white decks are particularly challenged with incremental card draw options. As such, Krenko, Mob Boss, Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might, and other mono-red commanders may need War Room to keep cards in hand. White does have a few conditional card draw choices, like Minas Tirith, Archivist of Oghma, and Mesa Enchantress. However, these cards are situational and may not generate a constant flow of extra cards.
Kindred Commander decks featuring two or more colors should contemplate adding Secluded Courtyard. Recently printed in Foundations (FDN), Secluded Courtyard asks you to choose a creature type when entering the battlefield. What makes Secluded Courtyard appealing is its ability to tap for mana of any color to cast a creature spell of the selected type or activate an ability of a creature source of the chosen type. Even though Cavern of Souls makes creature spells of a desired type uncounterable, it does not produce colored mana for activating abilities found on creatures.
Secluded Courtyard's mana-producing ability is exceptional in five-color Dragon, Eldrazi, and Sliver decks. Several of EDHREC's top commanders can utilize Secluded Courtyard, including The Ur-Dragon, Edgar Markov, and Isshin, Two Heavens as One. Additionally, Secluded Courtyard performs well in multicolor Human, Dinosaur, and Pirate decks. Almost any kindred deck with two or more colors can find a use for Secluded Courtyard in the 99.
High Market's origin dates back to 1999's Mercadian Masques (MMQ). Since then, High Market has proven to be a fan-favorite utility land. Players may tap High Market for its alternative ability to sacrifice a creature and gain one life. Though gaining life can trigger some beneficial abilities, High Market primary use is to give players a free sacrifice outlet.
An instant-speed sacrifice outlet may be helpful to trigger the abilities of multiple commanders. Several commanders that may want High Market include Atla Palani, Nest Tender, Sefris of the Hidden Ways, and Teysa Karlov. In addition, Sacrifice-centric commanders, like Korvold, Fae-Cursed King and Meren of Clan Nel Toth, may use High Market to generate value. Besides creatures, High Market's ability pairs well with Grave Pact, Bastion of Remembrance, and other enchantments. Consider adding High Market to a deck whenever you need multiple ways to sacrifice a creature.
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