MTG - How To Build a 2 Color EDH / Commander Mana Base for Magic: The Gathering

building a commander deck is an intricate operation perhaps most difficult of all is the proper proportions of your commander decks mana base knowing the ratio of lands to spells is often not enough within your decks lands how many should be shocked lands how many should be pain lands filter lands are just basic lands this video will guide you through the process of building a two-color commander mana base with emphasis on land ratios for each land type we'll offer both a budget and optimal build for your deck if you have not already seen my videos explaining what the commander format is how to construct your first commander deck or how to choose your commander you may do so here here and here please note this video is meant both as a guide for players who do not know where to begin building their mana base or for players having difficulty with their existing mana base it is not meant as the final and only word on the subject quite the opposite commander is a format with a multitude of options this video is simply meant to help those who need it not to dictate hard or absolute rules the basics building a two-color commander mana base requires you to understand how many spells require each of your two colors as well as the speed of your deck let's say you are playing a commander who is blue and red within your deck how many spells require a red source of mana and how many require a blue this is important because depending on your commander and the deck you've built for them you might have a larger requirement for red than blue or for blue than red or the two may be relatively balanced adding to the complexity is the average CMC or converted mana cost of your deck on average does your deck have spells with a high CMC or a low CMC this will affect many important factors this guide will present a template based on the premise of a commander deck with balanced manner requirements from both colors and with a mid-range CMC you must analyze your own decks requirements and adjust accordingly but generally speaking the ratio of lands to spells is 38 lands and a accelerants for a total of 46 mana sources as always your deck and its unique mana curve will affect this formula you very easily could have a deck that works brilliantly with only 35 lands instead of 38 but this video will work within the template of 38 lands and 8 accelerants and you the player and commander constructor will need to test and adjust if necessary so of those 38 lands what does the basic land ratio look like for 2 color commanders you will want to run between 8 and 20 basic lands for our template today we will be running 14 8 islands and 6 mountains this is the first area to turn to for adjustments in regards to the velocity of your debt as well as the individual manner requirements your ratio of islands to mountains may change as may the amount of basic lands that you include however I strongly advise against running fewer than 8 basic lands or more than 20 fetchlands a two color decks such as this should be running seven fetchlands before we continue it is imperative that I discuss the fetch land fallacy fetchlands do not significantly help with deck thinning in commander I'll repeat as there is a great misconception about this you can run additional fetchlands for shuffle effects enter the battlefield triggers or mana fixing but do not run fetchlands for deck thinning they simply do not provide a mathematically significant benefit so yes if you are running sensei's divining top as a major component to your commander deck then having additional fetchlands is obviously going to be an ideal route for you due to your deck specific needs for shuffle effects also you are a monster so which seven fetchlands should you run obviously the Zendikar or onslaught fetch which grabs both of your colors in this case a scalding Tarn for island or mountain but there are also six additional Zendikar onslaught fetches that can grab one of your two colors these are going to be the most optimal inclusions because they do not specify that they have to grab a basic land however while important fetchlands are not as critical component as in three four and five color mana bases and thus here the budget fetchlands can actually be preferable so instead of running seven zendikar onslaught fetches you run just the one and then you also run and evolving wilds a Terra morphic expanse a myriad landscape and a warped landscape in addition you'll want to run the appropriate olara panorama to grab either of your two colors for your 7th fetch you have the option of running one of the slow fetches from mirage or of course another of the zendikar onslaught fetches that grabs one of your two colors and as always if you are in green and white crows and verge is available and is one of the most optimal choices because it will grab both a Plains and a forest crow San verge is a great card and I cannot imagine a green/white commander deck that would not want to run a copy duel lands more so than any other man of Base a two-color commander deck can realistically run one of the original dual lands since unlike say a three or four color manna base a two color manna base requires only one original duel well certainly expensive for us and is it players in Boros or Gruul might find this to be a much more reasonable goal to aim for but of course the difference one of these makes in a mana base for commander is minimal and there are a plethora of perfectly functional dual lands available in all we want to run seven dual lands lands which can produce either of your two needed colors the most optimal options here so cards like basic tap lands and vivid lands should be avoided entirely one shock land is our most optimal option outside of an original duel and likewise the appropriate battle for Zendikar have land should also be included the remaining four duel lands should be asked rile and a pain land a check land and a man land filter lands depending on your colors there are one to two filter lands available your deck should absolutely run one of the lorwyn hybrid filters and if you were in green white blue black white blue black red or red green one of the Odyssey filter lands sadly these are not available in enemy colors so you can either run a budget alternative of Trance guild promenade or opt for an additional dual lands to compensate next you'll want to run one of the appropriate bounce lands from original Ravnica block these are commander staples for a reason they provide excellent mana fixing and the fact that all ten color combinations exist and that as of the filming of this video prices are not excessively high makes this a must in any two color lists we also want to include four lands that produce any color of manna ideally these are manna confluence city of brass command tower and reflecting pool budget options for these include rupture spire trans guild promenade and shimmering grotto so looking at our formula we currently have out of 38 lands eight to twenty basic lands of which for this template we have opted for 14-7 fetchlands seven dual lands to filter lands for any color lands and one bounce land this brings us to thirty-two lands remaining six lands can be any combination of utility lands or mono color effect lands what our utility lands utility lands or lands that do not produce colored mana but instead a run for an alternative purpose staple utility lands for example include strip mine maze of a--the reliquary tower as well as color specific ones such as Zig Wolf Run which obviously you only put in if you were in red-green Moreland haunt for Zuria splay errs and of course for our is it example desolate lighthouse depending on your deck you might also be interested in enter the battlefield effect mono colored lands for this slot these are cards that provide a single color for manna as well as an added effect when they enter the battlefield examples include bazooka bog for black Hallam or depths for blue or AM area the sky rune for white what about those eight accelerants since we are in two colors Ravnica is our friend will want to run the appropriate signet and key room for allied coloured commanders the appropriate mirrored and talisman is also an auto include well enemy colors can include instead a man Alif or perhaps an armillary sphere artifacts such as commander's sphere dark steel relic chromatic lantern and gilded lotus are typically going to be included as well and of course soul ring because obligatory soul ring yes yes you're all tired of the joke well only two more mana based videos to go and then you won't have to hear it anymore so there is our general breakdown for a two color deck remember of course this is a guideline meant to help players who do not know how to go about constructing a proper two color mana base or who have been encountering difficulty with fares it is far from the only strategy but it is a successful build nonetheless and in that sense I hope very much that this video has been of some help to you you can help me out by going to patreon.com this channel exists only thanks to the support of viewers like you and patreon donations as low as one dollar a month keep us going and growing strong so thank you

Channel: Tolarian Community College

Views: 234,067

Keywords: Magic: The Gathering Commander, Strategy Video Game (Video Game Genre), Card, Cards, Card Game (Game Genre), Opening, Pack, deck tech, mtg deck tech, magic the gathering deck building, how to build a commander deck, how to build a magic deck, how to build a mtg deck, tolarian community college, commander deck tech, planeswalker, budget, tech, river cutthroat, cards, upgrade, blue green, simic, card games, how to, tutorial, learn to play, let's play, mtg, commander 2016

Id: MDc4v7sDaQY

Length: 10min 31sec (631 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 20 2016