Are Red's Nonbasic Lands the Worst? A Scientific Analysis
Michael CelaniJuly 15, 2025
Take a tour of some of mono-red's most prolific manabases across the ages and discover if they're worth an include!
Mountain | art by Tony Szczudio
An Observation and Hypothesis
Hi, everyone! I'm Michael Celani, and I am the land man now; give me all your lands.
Wizards is firing tons of Edge of Eternities spoilers toward us at light speed, sort of like the interstellar gamma ray burst that will fry all life on Earth on June 29th, 2036.
Unfortunately for red players, though, they won't have to wait quite so long to feel cooked; just take a look at this new cycle of Planet lands.
Notice something unique about Kavaron, Memorial World? That's right! Among all members of its cycle, including Adagia, Windswept Bastion, Uthros, Titanic Godcore, Susur Secundi, Void Altar and Evendo, Waking Haven, Kavaron is the only card that's complete and total cheeks.
It doesn't take a genius to realize that Hammer of Purphoros is nowhere near as impactful a card as Gaea's Cradle or Tolarian Academy, and to further insult red mages, Kavaron still requires you station the full twelve points of power into it before it becomes anything more than a tapped Mountain. Who would want this card?
I suppose it's not surprising, though. Red lands always sucked compared to the other colors in their cycles, and everyone knows that — right?
Well, unfortunately for me, I missed the memo on blindly accepting conventional wisdom, so after telling you the myth, I'm putting it to the test.
Of the mono-colored land cycles, which color comes out on top and which one is the most washed out?
The Rules
We're seeing how many mono-colored land cycles each color wins, but first we have to define what that means. At the risk of being redundant, mono-colored means each land has only one color in its color identity, and cycle means one land was printed for each color in the same set.
I'm going to rank only cycles where each land is appreciably different from each other; groups like the cycling Deserts need not apply, as the only thing that differs between them is color.
The winners and losers for each cycle will be determined by EDHREC rank. We'll then figure out each color's wins, losses, and median rank to determine which wizards get the best lands to play with. Here we go!
Legends — Legendary Lands
Party foul! White immediately scuttles my carefully-crafted ranking system by slapping me in the face with Karakas, a card that's banned in Commander. Let's just call anything illegal an automatic fifth.
All of these lands have the benefit of being better than basics, but not by much. Most cards here counter some niche keyword — aside from Pendelhaven, who earns its spot at the top by having an activated ability I can actually imagine using. God forbid you find yourself in a scenario where Tolaria is worth it.
Alliances — Saclands
Each land in the Alliances cycle subsumes an untapped land when it enters, and that drawback is so unbearably punishing that the only remotely playable card here is Lake of the Dead. Turning every Swamp you draw into a Dark Ritual is cool, but its triple-digit price tag? Not so much.
Urza's Saga — Legendary Lands (Again)
If I had to pinpoint a card most responsible for Red's terrible reputation when it comes to land cycles, it's Shivan Gorge. Just look at what it's up against:
- Tolarian Academy is so busted it's basically banned everywhere;
- Gaea's Cradle makes loads of mana in any green deck that plays creatures, which is all of them;
- Serra's Sanctum is a not-quite-as-absurd-but-still-good accelerant in enchantress decks; and
- Phyrexian Tower is a multi-purpose, combination ramp-piece and sac outlet.
What awe-inspiring feat does red show off in this clash of titans? It gets to ping each player for 1. At the cost of four mana. Once per turn.
Ironically, it's because of its mediocrity that it's saved from the number five slot, which is where it clearly belongs in terms of power.
Tolarian Academy is banned, so it tiptoes past last place, and Gaea's Cradle and Serra's Sanctum are both reserved, which forces their price to the moon.
Few people are realistically dropping a grand on a single card in their commander deck, so Shivan Gorge gets to comfortably rest in its cozy middle-of-the-pack spot.
Urza's Legacy — Manlands
When it comes to manlands, cheap to activate is king, and cheap to activate with evasion is even better. That's why Inkmoth Nexus and Blinkmoth Nexus are both so popular, and why Faerie Conclave handily wins this heat.
If your card doesn't have evasion, then you have to fall back on the manland's creature type synergies and stats, and Ghitu Encampment's 2/1 red Warrior doesn't impress.
Odyssey — Threshold Lands
The Odyssey threshold lands are all decent inclusions. Since they enter untapped, there's little opportunity cost when running them, and they can be traded in for some genuinely useful effects once threshold is armed.
Sacrificing a land is a steep price, but in a pinch it can be worth it — whether it's soft removal for a value piece, a combat trick, or drawing three cards.
It's no shock to me that Cephalid Coliseum is far and away the most popular of the cycle here, but I like that Barbarian Ring can eke out a win if your opponent is hanging on by a thread.
Champions of Kamigawa — Legendary Lands (Again (Again))
- Shizo, Death's Storehouse
- Minamo, School at Water's Edge
- Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep
- Eiganjo Castle
- Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers
Both Shizo, Death's Storehouse and Minamo, School at Water's Edge are legitimately impactful.
Fear may be just the keyword you need to sneak your commander through a crowded board state, and Minamo's untap ability has actual, legitimate combos.
The rest of the cycle falls off hard, though. First strike is a flaccid keyword compared to fear, and I'm none too excited to hold up two mana to no-sell a Shock to a legendary creature.
This is also the third time green has brought Pendelhaven to show-and-tell, and the teacher's starting to get mad.
Future Sight — Future Keyword Lands
All of these lands came with a keyword from tomorrow when they were released. Of course, today is yesterday's tomorrow, and now we know that dredge is horribly busted, so seeing Dakmor Salvage at the top makes sense.
I don't hate most of the others. They're fine in the right circumstances, and I even get plenty of use out of Tolaria West in my -cost spells deck.
The only one here that I find terminally useless is Keldon Megaliths, because being hellbent is to be avoided at all costs in Commander.
Lorwyn — Hideaway Lands
While these lands do the same thing, their conditions differ, and that's enough for me to include the hideaway lands as their own category. Go ahead, leave your comment.
Obviously, the ranking of each card here is directly correlated to how easy it is to cast their hidden spell. Green's is practically free, and white's is pretty easy to activate, too.
Red is in that middle-ground; it's a challenge to deal seven damage in a turn, but not unfathomable.
Then, the chances of success fall off a cliff. It's funny to scroll through all ten unique lands in this set, see the first three hideaway lands, the entirety of the Vivid land cycle, and then Shelldock Isle and Howltooth Hollow. How embarrassing!
Shadowmoor — Color Count Lands
Remember when dealing one to each opponent was priced at four mana and considered by the game designers to be on par with Gaea's Cradle? Leechridden Swamp (fetchable, by the way) just proves that the game has always gone through ridiculous power creep.
Of these, I actually like Sapseep Forest the most, because of its lifegain synergy and weird, esoteric combo with Volrath, the Shapestealer and Patron of the Orochi.
I could see some value in how Mistveil Plains saves cards in your graveyard from being exiled, and maybe if you've got nothing better to do, Moonring Island can snitch on what your opponent got with Vampiric Tutor.
The only thing I can't forgive is Madblind Mountain. Pay red to smush your 100-card deck together! Red hasn't hit the number five slot as often as I thought it would, but when its lands are suck, its lands are suck.
Zendikar — Named Places (Rare)
- Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
- Emeria, the Sky Ruin
- Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
- Crypt of Agadeem
- Magosi, the Waterveil
This order confuses me and I'm chalking it up to availability. Oran-Rief, the Vastwood's been put into tons of precons, while the much-more impactful Emeria, the Sky Ruin and Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle have only seen a handful of printings.
The rest of the cycle is meme-tier. Crypt of Agadeem is a poor man's Cabal Coffers, and Magosi, the Waterveil is so locked down in an attempt to prevent shenanigans that it's useless to all but the most dedicated of combo players.
Zendikar — Named Places (Common)
White's finally won a showdown, meaning red is at the very least the worst color for lands in the early years of Magic. Of course, it took lifegain synergies to get there, but a win is a win.
What confuses me about this cycle is that Soaring Seacliff is so underappreciated. Paying what's effectively to jump a creature of mine on offense while leaving behind a tapped land sounds like a great deal.
Worldwake — Utility Lands
What a lopsided heat! Bojuka Bog has more inclusions than all of its competitors combined and doubled. Its usefulness is unassailable, as it hamstrings recursive strategies with little opportunity cost to you; I'd even venture to say that it's one of the best ETBs in Commander.
Halimar Depths is a fine card, too; if you play it early, it can help you draw other lands in time, smoothing out your curve. I wish it was an outright scry 3, but that would be a little busted.
I also quite like the free token from Khalni Garden, especially in Golgari-plus aristocrats decks where it's another body into the meat grinder.
Sejiri Steppe is awkward; I'd rather have protection on something I can use at instant speed, and the best I could do with it on a land (absent a copy of Ruin Ghost) is sneak past a mono-colored player's field of blockers.
Smoldering Spires is even less effective at stopping blocks, and that's why it's the bottom of the pack here.
Battle for Zendikar — Utility Lands (Again)
What a lopsided heat! Mortuary Mire has more inclusions than all of its competitors combined and doubled. Black is the anti-red; when its lands are good, its lands are really good.
Or maybe it's just a big fish in a small pond. The rest of the effects in this cycle are not worth a land entering tapped; in particular, Looming Spires has 5,500 inclusions at time of writing, which is less than garbage like Ruthless Ripper.
Battle for Zendikar — Blighted Lands
Be still, my beating heart; Blighted Gorge is a Shivan Gorge with twice the power! I'm fanning myself, like an elderly southern woman about to faint.
Of course, it costs more mana and you also have to sacrifice the land itself, but that's a small price to pay for two whole damage.
To be fair, the rest of the cycle is no prize, either. The only real use I've found for these cards involve infinite Dynaheir, Invoker Adept loops.
Hour of Devastation — Uncommon Deserts
Do my eyes deceive me? Is that a red land atop the pile? Ladies and gentlemen, we got 'im!
Most decks aren't playing more than one or two Deserts, so they view this cycle as effectively another take on the threshold lands.
Their effects are even remarkably similar; damage, removal, and buffs. The real difference is that the juice isn't worth the squeeze, because these abilities cost way more.
Of course, if you are in the Desert deck...
Dominaria — Memorials
Aaaaand back in the pit. These lands are Blighted-land tier overexpensive, and they don't even have the excuse of coming in untapped to compensate.
Memorial to War is the worst of them all, since it costs an effective six mana to do what Strip Mine does for free.
Memorial to Folly is the only vaguely playable one, and that pales in comparison to Takenuma. What a forgettable cycle.
Beam Me Up
Even though we've covered twenty years of Magic, we're only halfway through the lands. The cycles get more and more common from here on out, including Throne of Eldraine, Zendikar Rising, and Modern Horizons 3.
Join me next time for the exciting statistical conclusion! Because "exciting" and "statistical" belong in the same sentence. See you then!