How Many Lands in an MTG Deck? 60-Card, 40-Card and Commander

A 60-card Magic deck usually runs about 24 lands, and a 40-card draft or sealed deck about 17. Those are Wizards of the Coast’s own starting numbers, from its Magic Academy column and its Prerelease guide. For a 100-card Commander deck, Wizards’ beginner Foundations Commander decks run 32 to 34 basic lands each, plus other lands.

Starting land counts by deck size

Starting land counts depend on deck size, and Wizards of the Coast gives a starting number for each:

All of these are starting points. Wizards’ Magic Academy column says plainly that its numbers “are not set in stone,” and its Prerelease guide calls 17 lands “just a basic template.”

Why a 60-card deck plays about 24 lands

A 60-card deck plays about 24 lands because you can normally play only one land a turn, so missing a land costs you a turn of mana. Wizards’ Magic Academy column suggests “around 24 creatures, 12 spells, and 24 land” for a first deck, and keeps 24 lands in its example deck “to stick with the earlier guidelines.”

The same column explains why 60 cards, the minimum for Constructed, is better than more: a smaller deck draws your best cards more often.

Ready-built decks to learn from

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Why a 40-card deck plays about 17 lands

A 40-card draft or sealed deck plays about 17 lands, a little over 40% of the deck. Wizards’ Reality Fracture Prerelease guide builds its sample sealed deck around 17 lands and two colors, then adjusts the spells to the deck’s strategy: more expensive spells for a slow, controlling deck, more cheap creatures for an aggressive one.

Basic lands are free at draft and Prerelease events, so you can change the count between games. If you keep missing land drops, add one; if you keep drawing too many, cut one.

How to split lands between two colors

Splitting lands between two colors follows a simple method from the same Magic Academy column:

1. Count the colored mana symbols on all your spells, by color.
2. Note any card that needs two symbols of one color early, or a color you must have on the first turns.
3. Split the lands by the share of symbols, then nudge the split toward even if one color is light.

The column’s worked example has about three green symbols for every red one. Instead of 18 Forests and 6 Mountains, it plays 16 Forests and 8 Mountains, so its cheap red spells can be cast early.

Lands in a Commander deck

A Commander deck plays more lands in total than a 60-card deck, since it holds 100 cards. Wizards’ decklists for the Foundations Commander decks give these basic land counts:

• Calling All Angels: 32 Plains
• Keen Engineering: 34 Islands
• Wretched Ranks: 33 Swamps
• Reign of Dragons: 32 Mountains
• Tramplesaurus Rex: 32 Forests

Each deck also plays other lands on top of these. The rest of the Commander deck building rules are in how to build a Commander deck.

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More guides for new Magic players

Land counts make sense once you know how a turn works; how to play Magic: The Gathering covers it. Draft and Prerelease decks are explained in how to draft in Magic and what an MTG Prerelease is, and the formats that use 60-card decks in what Standard is. New players should also read what Magic: The Gathering is.