Urza's SagaUrza's Saga | Art by Eytan Zana

I am blessed (and cursed) to have a large collection of Magic cards. I try not to keep every card that I come across, but there's two specific types of Magic game pieces that I always hold on to: utility lands and tokens. While I'm unlikely to ever need the Wild-Field ScarecrowWild-Field Scarecrow that I pulled from an Innistrad Remastered pack, I feel like I'm bound to find some use for a copy of Shivan GorgeShivan Gorge or a 1/1 FishFish token.

I wrote a guide to token strategies just a little while ago, so today I'll examine utility lands!

While lands are primarily used to produce mana to cast spells, they can do so much more. Utility lands, which provide some sort of benefit beyond simply tapping for mana, are abundant in our format.

I won't be focusing on cards like Gaea's CradleGaea's Cradle or Tolarian AcademyTolarian Academy, which tap for extra mana, or cards like Volcanic IslandVolcanic Island and Scalding TarnScalding Tarn, which let us access the colors of mana we need. I'm looking for lands that have extra, interesting abilities.

There's a full 591 of them available to Commander players, from Bazaar of BaghdadBazaar of Baghdad to Turtle LairTurtle Lair. But, which ones are the best? How do we even define "best" in a game as complex and multifaceted as Magic? Let's answer those questions, and talk about some of the best cards that fill our our mana bases!

What Makes a Good Utility Land?

We'll be looking at lands that can positively affect the game for a wide variety of decks. Yes, Griffin CanyonGriffin Canyon may be great in a Zeriam, Golden WindZeriam, Golden Wind deck, but we're focused on lands that have more general applications. I'll be giving high marks to cards that have powerful enter the battlefield (ETB) effects and useful abilities that they can be discarded or tapped to activate.

There were at least 20 different lands that I considered for this list, and only the strongest have made it! But first, a few honorable mentions.

Honorable Mentions

Bojuka BogBojuka Bog

The graveyard is becoming an increasingly integral part of Commander gameplay. So having easy ways to get rid of an opponent's graveyard has become increasingly important too. While Bojuka Bog isn't a new card (it's 16 years old), it has remained extremely relevant to this day. The fact that it enters tapped is a notable downside, but it still produces .

Bojuka Bog can be devastating in the right circumstances, and just ok in others. It's nice to have a graveyard hate option that we can include at very little deckbuilding cost, just swapping a SwampSwamp out for the Bog.

Mosswort BridgeMosswort Bridge, Spinerock KnollSpinerock Knoll, and Windbrisk HeightsWindbrisk Heights

The Lorwyn hideaway lands are staples of casual Commander decks. The three that I've noted above are easy to trigger, and can provide an almost-free spell to a skilled pilot. If that player is lucky, they may even find themselves with a big, game-ending bomb like Craterhoof BehemothCraterhoof Behemoth tucked away under their land.

However, these cards are a bit too dependent on chance to make our official list. It's all too easy to find yourself with a mana dork, or even another land, tucked under these utility lands' hideaway triggers. The variance inherent in their play patterns is high. But that's what casual Commander is all about!

Strip MineStrip Mine and WastelandWasteland

These lands can remove any other land mentioned in this article! It seems like there's a cool, new land that gets introduced to Commander every set now. We recently saw the cycle of five Planet lands, and we're sure to see other fantastic lands pop up soon. Each of the Planets could have obtained a slot on this list, and Strip Mine / Wasteland can take them all down with ease. These two can even be looped with a Crucible of WorldsCrucible of Worlds for some real lockdown.

The Top 10 Utility Lands in Commander

#10 - Emergence ZoneEmergence Zone

The ability to play the game on someone else's turn is incredibly valuable. Instant-speed spells are extremely valuable, because we can wait for an opponent to make a misstep before actually firing off our plays.

This land, for the low cost of , and sacrificing itself, gives us a temporary Vedalken OrreryVedalken Orrery. That means we can flash in creatures after a board wipe resolves, flash in blockers before a big attack, or even cast sorcery-speed removal before an opponent can make a game-winning play.

The possibilities are truly endless, and Emergence Zone only becomes more useful as the power level of the deck we're piloting grows. Pilots of lower power decks may not need to cast their bulky creatures at instant speed, but decks in Brackets 4 and 5 want to take advantage of small windows of opportunity to resolve their efficient value engines.

#9 - Arena of GloryArena of Glory

Haste is one of the most valuable keywords in Commander. This ability lets us swing in for lethal at an opponent who left themselves open, get a trigger off of our Etali, Primal StormEtali, Primal Storm, or just take a chunk out of an opponent's life total. Arena of Glory can enter the battlefield untapped, and potentially lets us power up two creatures. If we choose to spend the that the Arena produces when exerted on two different creature spells, we can swing in with multiple bodies!

Other comparable lands include Flamekin VillageFlamekin Village and Hanweir BattlementsHanweir Battlements, and Arena of Glory outperforms them in nearly every circumstance.

#8 - Mystic SanctuaryMystic Sanctuary

This Island can be grabbed with Fetch lands, and provides some fantastic recursion for heavy decks. Returning a counterspell, a kill spell, or even a card draw spell to our hand after using it once is extremely useful, and can help us really clamp down on the pace of play if we need to.

Mystic Sanctuary can even go infinite with a few other cards, helping net us infinite turns! For its combo potential and overall usefulness, the Sanctuary has found its way into the top 10.

#7 - Academy RuinsAcademy Ruins, Hall of Heliod's GenerosityHall of Heliod's Generosity, and Volrath's StrongholdVolrath's Stronghold

In a deck built around artifacts, Academy Ruins can be a great recursion engine for our most powerful artifacts. We can loop Haywire MiteHaywire Mite or be selective with when our Vexing BaubleVexing Bauble is online. There's so many powerful things to do with artifacts in Commander, and Academy Ruins protects our game plan while allowing us to repeat some busted play patterns.

Hall of Heliod's Generosity is great too, particularly in Aura-centric decks. If an opponent tries to two-for-one us by removing a creature that we had enchanted with a potent Aura, we can grab that enchantment back from the bin and swing in for damage again.

Volrath's Stronghold is by far the strongest of the bunch. Creatures are usually the most common nonland permanent type in a Commander deck, and they're by far the easiest to sacrifice to dump into the graveyard. Grabbing any creature back from our 'yard can be quite scary!

#6 - Mistrise VillageMistrise Village

Unlike the next card on this list, Mistrise Village can protect any spell we cast. Whether it's a high mana value commander or a copy of Thassa's OracleThassa's Oracle, we can keep any spell on the stack safe. But, notably, Mistrise's ability can be responded to. If an opponent has an extra piece of countermagic in hand, they can cast it after we activate this ability to skirt around the uncounterable effect.

This land is also hindered by its first line of text, which will often have it entering tapped outside of decks with perfect mana bases. Those downsides have kept it below Cavern of SoulsCavern of Souls, the next card on our list. But, Mistrise Village gives us access to a psuedo-counterspell on a land that still produces . This effect's repeatability lends it strength, too.

#5 - Cavern of SoulsCavern of Souls

Typal strategies are hugely popular in Commander. From Dinosaurs to Slivers to Zombies, there's tons of ways to play decks centered on one specific group of creatures. But creature decks can be quite vulnerable to on-the-stack interaction. It's easy to protect permanents with Deflecting SwatDeflecting Swat or Flawless ManeuverFlawless Maneuver, but harder to defend a spell on the stack without countermagic of our own. Cavern of Souls is a great way to ensure that our best creature spells resolve.

We can use Cavern of Souls to fix our mana and ensure that big, splashy spells like Sliver LegionSliver Legion or Ancient Copper DragonAncient Copper Dragon make an impact on the game.

#4 - Lush PorticoLush Portico, Undercity SewersUndercity Sewers, Shadowy BackstreetShadowy Backstreet, etc.

If you like scry lands like Temple of EnlightenmentTemple of Enlightenment and original duals like TundraTundra, you'll love these lands. I thought that, at some point, we would see lands with basic land types that let us scry on ETB. Imagine a Temple of DeceitTemple of Deceit that has the words "Island" and "Swamp" on its type line, if you will. Instead, we leapfrogged right over those cards and received these surveil lands instead.

Surveilling, looking at the top card before choosing to leave it there or put it into the graveyard, is almost always better than scrying. We can put a valuable reanimation target into the graveyard or just fully clear an unusable card out of our library, ensuring that we don't draw it after any future library shuffling. It's also particularly nice to fetch one of these lands on an opponent's end step, thus negating the downside of entering tapped while still receiving the card selection benefits.

All 10 of the surveil lands are fantastic, and I very much hope we see them reprinted soon, because they've gotten quite expensive.

#3 - Talon Gates of MadaraTalon Gates of Madara

Talon Gates claims to do just one thing: phase a creature out. But that simple ability can be used in so many different ways. We can use it defensively, removing an attacking Gishath, Sun's AvatarGishath, Sun's Avatar before it takes us out of the game, or offensively, removing an opponent's biggest blocker so we can swing in for lethal combat damage. It can also be used to phase out a Drannith MagistrateDrannith Magistrate to cast our commander, get rid of an Opposition AgentOpposition Agent so we can search for a win condition, or even to stop an opponent from combo-ing off by temporarily removing a key piece.

While the removal it provides does wear off quickly, some Commander games can rest on a single combat step or the resolution of a single spell. This flexible land can buy us a turn, which can easily win us the game. We can even put this land onto the battlefield from our hand at any time for , which gives us access to more mana once we untap!

#2 - Otawara, Soaring CityOtawara, Soaring City and Boseiju, Who EnduresBoseiju, Who Endures

Not all of the Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty channel lands are created equal. While Sokenzan, Crucible of DefianceSokenzan, Crucible of Defiance is cute in token decks, Takenuma, Abandoned MireTakenuma, Abandoned Mire can be a nice self-mill option in graveyard decks, and Eiganjo, Seat of the EmpireEiganjo, Seat of the Empire can be a neat defensive tool, Otawara and Boseiju soar (no pun intended) above the rest. The and lands of this cycle provide instant speed, difficult-to-stop interaction at a low mana cost. They're even able to get around SilenceSilence-style effects and dodge CounterspellCounterspells.

These lands all provide a neat effect, add colored mana, and even enter the battlefield untapped. They're the best blend of removal and mana production that we've ever seen, and sit firmly at the #2 slot on our list.

#1 - Urza's SagaUrza's Saga

One of very few colorless lands to see play in cEDH (Bracket 5), Urza's Saga has been a star in Commander since its printing. The first turn it hits the battlefield, it produces . Then next turn we can pay into this enchantment land to make a "Karnstruct" token whose power and toughness scale with our artifacts. This token can be a nice chump blocker if we have a few artifacts on the battlefield, or a genuine win condition in dedicated artifact decks.

Finally, during its last turn on the battlefield, we get to either float or make another token with Saga before we search our library for a low cost artifact. This can be something as simple as a Sol RingSol Ring or Lotus PetalLotus Petal, or something as impactful as ShadowspearShadowspear or Amulet of VigorAmulet of Vigor. This land provides access to a huge swath of powerful artifacts, and even some cool creature tokens.

Urza's Saga is unbelievably powerful, and deserves its spot atop our list.

Conclusion

You may have noticed that I left out one of our format's most popular lands: Reliquary TowerReliquary Tower. Why? There are very few decks that actually need no maximum hand size. Most Commander decks don't run enough incremental card advantage engines to outpace the mana production that they have available, meaning that a seven card maximum hand size is more than enough. For decks that have two or more colors in their identity, having access to the right pips of mana at the right times is often much more important than having an eighth or ninth card in hand.

Plus, many decks have at least one or two ways to bring things back from the graveyard. Whether it's a Bala Ged RecoveryBala Ged Recovery thrown into the 99 or more dedicated recursion in the command zone, it's rare for dead things to truly stay dead in Commander. I have found that it's often better to have an extra card or two in the graveyard while having access to better mana production.

There are, of course, some decks where Reliquary Tower is a great include. Elenda and AzorElenda and Azor, Niv-Mizzet, ParunNiv-Mizzet, Parun, or even Alandra, Sky DreamerAlandra, Sky Dreamer would love to hold extra cards in hand, especially after drawing so many of them. But, all told, this colorless-mana-producing land isn't good enough for our list.

Do you agree with my analysis of Reliquary Tower? Did I miss any cards in this article? Let me know in the comments below, and I'll see you all next week for another article!