MTG Land Count: How Many Lands Your Deck Really Needs
August 14, 2026
The short answer: MTG land count by format
If you just want a number, here is the range most decks land in. Your MTG land count should move with your average mana value and how much ramp or card draw you're running, so treat these as starting points, not commandments.
| Format | Typical land count | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Commander (100 cards) | 36 to 38 | Plus 6 to 10 mana rocks or ramp spells in most lists |
| 60-card aggro | 16 to 19 | Low curve, often backed by cantrips or mana dorks |
| 60-card midrange | 22 to 24 | The classic "24 lands" baseline lives here |
| 60-card control or ramp | 24 to 26 | Needs to hit land drops into the late game |
None of these numbers exist in a vacuum. They come from your deck's curve, so that's where the real answer starts.
Why mana value and curve matter more than any fixed number
Every card's mana value (the total generic-plus-colored cost, what most players still call CMC out of habit) determines how many lands you need in play to cast it on time. A deck stuffed with 1 and 2 mana value cards can function on far fewer lands than one leaning on 5 and 6 mana value bombs, because it rarely needs a fifth or sixth land drop to do its job.
Your curve, the distribution of mana values across your deck, is the real variable behind every land count table you'll find online. Two decks with the same land count can play completely differently if one peaks at 2 mana and the other peaks at 4. This is also why the old "40 percent of your deck should be lands" rule, which works out to 24 lands in a 60-card deck, is a decent default but not a law. It was never built around your specific curve.
How many lands in a 60-card deck
The 24-land baseline comes from Limited deckbuilding heuristics and gets repeated everywhere, but competitive 60-card constructed decks routinely land outside it once you factor in curve and card selection.
Aggro: lean lower
Decks built around 1 to 3 mana value cards, the kind that want to be attacking by turn two, commonly run 16 to 19 lands. An average mana value near 1.5 supports the lower end of that range; push it toward 2 and you'll want closer to 19. Going much below 16 starts costing you games where you simply can't deploy your hand.
Midrange: the familiar 40 percent
Midrange decks, which mix cheap interaction with a real top end, are where the classic 22 to 24 land count actually fits well. If your curve peaks around 3, this range gives you consistent access to your third and fourth land drops without flooding out before you're ready to close the game.
Control and ramp: lean higher
Decks that want to reach turn six or seven with a full grip of answers need to hit land drops reliably deep into the game, which pushes land count to 24 to 26. Cutting corners here is the fastest way to lose to your own deck rather than your opponent.
How many lands in a Commander deck
Commander is 100 cards built around a singleton restriction, so the math looks different from 60-card constructed. Most healthy Commander decks run 36 to 38 lands, with a normal curve that peaks somewhere around 3 mana value and a modest ramp package on top. Decks with a genuinely low curve or a heavy ramp suite can trim toward 33 to 35, while five-color decks or lists leaning on expensive value engines often sit at 38 to 40 to make sure they hit their colors and their land drops at the same time.
If you're starting from a Commander precon rather than building from scratch, most official precons already land in that 36 to 38 range, which makes them a reasonable baseline to tune rather than overhaul. When you do start swapping cards in and out, keep an eye on how each change shifts your curve, not just your land count on its own.
Mana base ratios: getting your colors right
Total land count only solves half the problem. The other half is making sure your colored sources match your color requirements, since a 38-land Commander deck that's short on black sources will still stumble if half your hand is black spells.
A simple starting method: count the colored pips across your nonland cards, then weight your land base in roughly that proportion. A deck with twice as many blue pips as red pips should run roughly twice as many blue sources as red sources, adjusted upward for any card that needs its color on curve rather than late. Dual lands, fetches, and fixing rocks all count as sources for whichever colors they produce, not just the lands that only make one color.
How ramp, MDFCs, and cheap cantrips change your count
None of the numbers above hold still once you add cards that behave like lands without technically being lands.
Ramp spells such as Rampant Growth or Cultivate put an extra land onto the battlefield, functioning like a land that costs you a card and a turn to deploy. A Commander deck running six or more ramp spells can usually trim two to three lands off its baseline without losing consistency, since the ramp package is doing some of that work instead.
MDFCs (modal double-faced cards) that can be cast as either a spell or a land, like the Zendikar Rising land cycle, add flexibility but not a guaranteed land, since you might need the spell side more in a given game. Scryfall's searchable list of MDFC lands is worth a look if you're not sure which cards qualify. A common adjustment is cutting one traditional land for every two MDFC lands you add, treating them as roughly half a land each for counting purposes.
Cheap cantrips, card draw or selection that costs one or two mana and replaces itself, don't add mana the way ramp does, but they improve your odds of finding the lands you already have. A deck with a handful of cantrips can often shave a land or two off its baseline compared to an otherwise identical deck without them.
Track your curve and land ratio without doing the math by hand
Counting pips and tallying mana values by hand works, but it's slow and easy to get wrong once a deck has forty or fifty spells in it. Grimoria's deckbuilder tracks your deck statistics automatically as you build, showing your mana curve and land breakdown alongside a synergy graph so you can see how a swap affects both your curve and your color balance before you commit to it.
If you're upgrading a precon rather than building from zero, the same view makes it easy to see whether your changes are pushing the curve up or down, which is exactly the number that should be driving your land count in the first place. For more on the process end to end, our deckbuilding guide covers everything from picking a plan to filling out the last few slots, and the precon upgrade guide walks through tuning a store-bought deck step by step.
Frequently asked questions
How many lands should a Commander deck run?
Most Commander decks run between 36 and 38 lands out of 100 cards, often alongside 6 to 10 mana rocks or ramp spells. Decks with a low average mana value or a heavy ramp package can trim toward 33 to 35, while five-color decks or lists with a lot of expensive spells often push to 38 to 40 to hit their land drops reliably.
How many lands should a 60-card deck run?
It depends on your curve. Aggressive decks with a low average mana value often run 16 to 19 lands, midrange decks tend to land around 22 to 24, and control or ramp-heavy decks lean toward 24 to 26. The classic "24 lands" rule is a fine starting point but should move with your curve.
Do MDFC lands count toward your land count?
Modal double-faced cards that can enter as a land, like the Zendikar Rising land-spell cycle, add flexibility but aren't a guaranteed land every game since you might want the spell side instead. A common adjustment is cutting one traditional land for every two MDFC lands you add to your deck.
Does ramp let you cut lands in Commander?
Yes, to a point. Spells like Rampant Growth or Cultivate put a land onto the battlefield, functioning like a land that costs a card and a turn. Commander decks running six or more ramp spells can usually trim two to three lands off the standard baseline without losing consistency.
How many lands should an aggro deck run?
Aggro decks built around mana values of 1 to 3 typically run 16 to 19 lands in a 60-card deck. Going much lower risks missing land drops before the game is decided, since even fast aggro plans usually need three or four lands in play to close things out with reach and combat tricks.
Land count isn't a single magic number, it's a byproduct of your curve, your color requirements, and how much ramp or card selection you're packing. Start from the ranges above, then adjust based on what your deck is actually trying to do, and check the result against your own curve rather than someone else's decklist.