Captain Kathryn JanewayCaptain Kathryn Janeway | Art by Jurijus Chitrovas

Welcome to Too-Specific Top 10, where if there isn’t a category to rank our pet card at the top of, we’ll just make one up! (Did you know that Golden GuardianGolden Guardian is the only colorless creature that can flip into a colorless land?)

Captaining a mono-green lands nonsense deck in Star Trek style?

At first glance, Captain Kathryn JanewayCaptain Kathryn Janeway doesn't seem particularly inspiring. There are currently 13 different commanders that let you play extra lands, and of those, four let you do it for cheaper, and eight let you do it with access to more colors. What is new with Captain Janeway, however, is pairing the explore mechanic with said ability to play extra lands. Throw in the two together, and you have an entirely new blueprint for a lands deck where you can set it up so that your creatures cantrip into lands. How do we do that? Why, by playing a lot of lands and creatures, of course! Do you know what would be even better, though? Lands that were creatures.

Top 10 Mono-Green Lands That Can Create or Enter as Creatures

Criteria: Lands that can make green mana or are green cards, and additionally can either create creature tokens under your control or can be played as creatures. As is tradition, all results are ordered by EDHREC score.

10. Chocobo CampChocobo Camp

(6.95k Inclusions, 0.3% of 2.35M Decks)

Chocobo CampChocobo Camp cares about Birds, which we don't. Don't get me wrong, there are some other Final Fantasy Birds that care about lands, and we might play a couple of them, but overall? Not going to be a Bird deck.

With that said, we do care about playing a ton of lands and then translating those lands into creatures that will draw us more lands. Four (honestly five) mana to make a single creature token is a lot, but given that the token in question also has landfall to make itself more of a threat? We're huge fans, to put it mildly. It will be a little frustrating when this thing comes in tapped in the early game, but how good it will be in the mid and late game more than makes up for it.

9. Kazandu MammothKazandu Mammoth

(13.4k Inclusions, 0.31% of 4.33M Decks)

Another tap land, Kazandu ValleyKazandu Valley is a different proposition from Chocobo Camp in that you have to choose whether you want to play it as a creature to explore or play it as a land to keep on ramping. With that said, having options is great, and both sides of this card should be a good time with Captain Kathryn JanewayCaptain Kathryn Janeway. Short on mana? Play a land and have more next turn. Maxed out on lands? Play down a Mammoth and watch it swing in for ten on the next turn.

8. Welcome to . . .Welcome to . . .

(27k Inclusions, 0.62% of 4.33M Decks)

And... we've left the territory of "this is unequivocally great" cards. Welcome to . . .Welcome to . . . was made for Dinosaur decks, and we're not really that. Outside of Dinosaur decks, this makes a Dinosaur token. After you wait a turn. That can then be blocked by the Walls you made with the subpar removal from turn one. That then get removed after another turn. Which is when this finally flips, and what are you rewarded with? A land that maybe taps for one mana, if your Dinosaur token lived. No thanks.

7. Zanarkand, Ancient MetropolisZanarkand, Ancient Metropolis

(38k Inclusions, 1.22% of 3.11M Decks)

Another day, another tap land. With that said, the Adventure side of Zanarkand, Ancient MetropolisZanarkand, Ancient Metropolis is fairly compelling. Six mana is a lot, but our whole schtick is making a ton of mana. To then be able to use that mana to make a huge creature is great, as is immediately being able to play down a land afterward.

In other words? We're gonna be heavy on tap lands. Best get used to it.

6. Argoth, Sanctum of NatureArgoth, Sanctum of Nature

(41.4k Inclusions, 0.95% of 4.33M Decks)

Argoth, Sanctum of NatureArgoth, Sanctum of Nature won't come into play tapped all the time but will do so in semi-frustrating fashion in the early turns. That said, this is essentially copy number two of Chocobo CampChocobo Camp, only with mill as the upside of the token you make, rather than landfall. And we haven't talked about that yet, but with us leaning on the explore mechanic, we will also be a mill deck. Yeah, we're gonna play a lot of lands and expect to draw them, but we also will be running into nonlands that we can either choose to leave on top or flip into the graveyard. Nine times out of ten, then, you should be choosing to flip that card into the graveyard so that you can keep on grinding through the deck to more lands, and then hope that you'll also run into some other options that will let you use all those cards in your graveyard.

Now, normally in a lands deck, this is where we'd be talking about the various Splendid ReclamationSplendid Reclamations of the Magic world. If you'll read explore carefully, however, you'll notice that it is not a may. If you flip a land, it goes to your hand. It's only the nonland cards that you get to put in the graveyard. With that in mind, we'll want to skip on a lot of the Aftermath AnalystAftermath Analyst-type of effects and instead lean into things like SixSix. With a hand full of lands all the time, retrace is a godsend of potential value, and Six itself will add to both our land count and the number of cards in our graveyard. Similarly, with explore handing out +1/+1 counters on the regular, Evolution WitnessEvolution Witness has a case to be an upgrade over Eternal WitnessEternal Witness as we lean into +1/+1 counter synergy. Finally, Trailtracker ScoutTrailtracker Scout can be yet another means of value over time as we ramp huge and cast things, with it getting us access to more things along the way.

5. Tangled FlorahedronTangled Florahedron

(47.9k Inclusions, 1.11% of 4.33M Decks)

If you want to ramp in any shape, fashion, or form, then Tangled FlorahedronTangled Florahedron has got your back. For Captain Janeway specifically, this little Plant can come down on turn two as a mana dork and get you to casting her on turn three, which is invaluable. If you instead draw it after you've gotten Janeway down, then you can play the land side instead to continue Rampfest 2026, or spend the mana on the creature side to explore and either draw more lands to ramp with or throw down a +1/+1 counter. All great options, which is the sign of a card we want to be seeing early and often.

4. Khalni GardenKhalni Garden

(49.5k Inclusions, 1.14% of 4.33M Decks)

There is only one true Creature Land in Magic: The Gathering (more on that later), but if you want a close second, it's Khalni GardenKhalni Garden. Coming in tapped and immediately triggering to make a 0/1 Plant token, Khalni Garden does both things that we want to be accomplishing with Captain Janeway: Playing down lands to ramp, and making creatures to explore to draw into more lands. In short, this is everywhere we want to be.

3. Ojer Kaslem, Deepest GrowthOjer Kaslem, Deepest Growth

(Helms 1,652 Decks, Rank #1,205; 75.6k Inclusions, 1.74% of 4.33M Decks)

I am, however, less sold on Ojer Kaslem, Deepest GrowthOjer Kaslem, Deepest Growth. Yes, it's technically a creature that can also be a land, but what it isn't is a land we can play from our hand. Instead, it is a creature that we can cast to explore with, but it costs five mana to do so, which is hardly a bargain to draw a land with.

So that just leaves whether or not this is generically good enough for us to be interested in. For my money? The answer is no. Don't get me wrong, Ojer Kaslem is great value once you swing in with it, and it being even bigger thanks to explore is an upside, but paying five mana for a creature that isn't going to do anything except explore the turn it comes down is just too big an investment for the type of deck we're trying to run here. We'd actually rather it was just another ForestForest.

2. Dryad ArborDryad Arbor

(171k Inclusions, 3.95% of 4.33M Decks)

Speaking of, how about a creature that is a ForestForest? Dryad ArborDryad Arbor is the only true creature land in the game. Khalni GardenKhalni Garden does a decent impression, but if you want to lay down a land for the turn that will also trigger Captain Janeway to explore and find another land to play, then Dryad Arbor is the way to go.

Which brings up the next question: is there a way that we could do this for all our lands?

There are seven static effects in Magic that make lands into creatures. Almost all of them are universal, meaning they will make both you and your opponents' lands into creatures, threatening everyone with an ArmageddonArmageddon if someone decides to board wipe. Three of them, however, only affect ForestForests, those being Living LandsLiving Lands, Ambush CommanderAmbush Commander, and Life and LimbLife and Limb. Those can be a little bit more risky, as a board wipe will likely wipe out your lands while leaving everyone else's intact. Regardless, we have an interest in all of these effects, as they allow our lands to come down and trigger explore to draw even more lands, effectively making them all into Dryad Arbors.

1. Disciple of FreyaliseDisciple of Freyalise

(249k Inclusions, 5.74% of 4.33M Decks)

The only non-tap modal dual-facing land on our list, Disciple of FreyaliseDisciple of Freyalise is also likely to do some work with Captain Janeway as we stack +1/+1 counters on things. Whether it did or not, however, we'd still love the option to play down a land or a creature, depending on our needs, so this was always in the deck.

Honorable Mentions

Some of you may have been wondering why I went with only the options that could make or were green, and the answer is that there are so many colorless lands that make creatures that I was worried that if I didn't seek out the green ones I wouldn't have enough green mana in the deck to cast my commander.

Top 10 Colorless Lands That Can Make Creatures

1. Urza's SagaUrza's Saga
2. Field of the DeadField of the Dead
3. FountainportFountainport
4. Dark DepthsDark Depths (ew)
5. Lazotep QuarryLazotep Quarry
6. MirrexMirrex
7. MirrorpoolMirrorpool
8. Abundant CountrysideAbundant Countryside
9. Secluded StarforgeSecluded Starforge
10. Spawning BedSpawning Bed

All 10 of these are options we'll be pursuing, but the ones that we're really hoping to see are all at the top of the list. Urza's SagaUrza's Saga will make Constructs on the cheap before going to grab us an Expedition MapExpedition Map. What will we get with that Expedition Map? Why, Field of the DeadField of the Dead, of course!

As is usual for lands decks, Field of the Dead will completely transform games it shows up in, putting down hordes of 2/2 Zombies that will also explore to draw us more lands with our commander out. As for the rest of the list? FountainportFountainport is the best remaining option on the simple basis that it makes tokens for three mana plus tapping itself, where most of the remaining options cost five or more net mana to do their thing.

Which just leaves one thing to cover before looking at the deck list: what are we going to do with all these lands we're putting in our hand, once we've played out our max for the turn? Why, discard them, of course!

Green is not what you would consider a discard-heavy color, but it does have some effects that will allow you to take massive amounts of cards in your hand and translate them into something else. Chief among those, for our purposes, is Ayula's InfluenceAyula's Influence, which can flood the board with 2/2 Bears that will then explore to replace themselves with a land so you can discard said land to make more Bears. A close second, however, is both Nostalgic DreamsNostalgic Dreams and Loamcrafter FaunLoamcrafter Faun, two cards that will let you swap out loads of lands in your hand for more actionable cards from your graveyard.

There is a whole other creature type that was made to discard cards, however, that will be very useful here: spellshapers.

It's been a while since Stampede DriverStampede Driver was considered a staple, but the oldheads that were around for the early days of EDH will remember it being quite the menace back in the day. +1/+1 and trample for your whole team may only be a third of an OverrunOverrun, but it will still do the trick with either enough creatures, big enough creatures, or some combination of the two. Perhaps even more impactful in this specific deck, however, is Llanowar MentorLlanowar Mentor, a one-mana creature that can come down early and start making Llanowar ElvesLlanowar Elves, all of which will explore once you get your commander out.

Put it all together, and you've got a deck that screams out mana at an alarming rate while simultaneously making hordes of creatures. Let's take a look!

Overall, this is one of those decks that can be a little deceiving. It fairly routinely ramps early, getting Captain Kathryn JanewayCaptain Kathryn Janeway out by turn three, and she then kicks things into high gear and has you untapping with five to seven mana on turn four. That snowball continues the longer no one impedes your nonsense, and I found that the thing you needed to really watch for is to make sure you weren't doing things just to do things when you've already won the game. In other words? Quit stacking counters and tokens and just swing in already!

Nuts and Bolts

There always seems to be a bit of interest in how these lists are made (this seems like a good time to stress once again that they are based on EDHREC score, NOT my personal opinion…), and people are often surprised that I’m not using any special data or .json from EDHREC, but rather just muddling my way through with some Scryfall knowledge! For your enjoyment/research, here is this week’s Scryfall search.

What Do You Think?

It really is kind of shocking that Dryad ArborDryad Arbor is still a one-of-a-kind.

And finally, what is your favorite land that is/can make a creature? Would you play it in Captain Kathryn JanewayCaptain Kathryn Janeway? Do you have another deck that cares about creature lands?

Let us know in the comments, and we'll see you at the ready room table where we plan our next path to explore.