So I'm a legacy player at heart, but my playgroup looks to be expanding into modern. Thus, I already have ~95% of the legacy staples and from looking at the established decks, this means that I have pretty much all of the money cards anyways. The only difference is the manabase.
In legacy, its pretty much just fetchland => dual/basic with some number of wastelands and 1-2 utility lands. However, modern seems different in that the shocklands don't exactly replace the dual lands one to one. The 2 extra damage from the shocklands (3 from fetch => shockland, untap) adds up quickly versus anything trying to chip your life total away. Thus, there seems to be a lot of filter lands, pain lands, M10 lands, and scars lands being used. So my question is, which of these are used most and why?
So I'm a legacy player at heart, but my playgroup looks to be expanding into modern. Thus, I already have ~95% of the legacy staples and from looking at the established decks, this means that I have pretty much all of the money cards anyways. The only difference is the manabase.
In legacy, its pretty much just fetchland => dual/basic with some number of wastelands and 1-2 utility lands. However, modern seems different in that the shocklands don't exactly replace the dual lands one to one. The 2 extra damage from the shocklands (3 from fetch => shockland, untap) adds up quickly versus anything trying to chip your life total away. Thus, there seems to be a lot of filter lands, pain lands, M10 lands, and scars lands being used. So my question is, which of these are used most and why?
No, the shocks are being used over filter/pain/m10/scars lands. Being able to fetch them makes them way stronger, particularly in 3c+ decks. The life payment is a necessary sacrifice.
8-10 fetches
4-5 shocks
3-4 basics
X Utility/LD/Manland
Of the non-shocks, Filter lands are probably the strongest.
I believe it depends on your type of deck. Fetch into shock coming in tapped for a control deck isn't too bad. I would have 6 Fetches, 1 of each relevent shock and a playset of the relevent check lands. This will keep the life use in check while being able to continue forward. Many people forget that the checkland will not CIPT if one of the land types it checks for are in play.
So I'm a legacy player at heart, but my playgroup looks to be expanding into modern. Thus, I already have ~95% of the legacy staples and from looking at the established decks, this means that I have pretty much all of the money cards anyways. The only difference is the manabase.
In legacy, its pretty much just fetchland => dual/basic with some number of wastelands and 1-2 utility lands. However, modern seems different in that the shocklands don't exactly replace the dual lands one to one. The 2 extra damage from the shocklands (3 from fetch => shockland, untap) adds up quickly versus anything trying to chip your life total away. Thus, there seems to be a lot of filter lands, pain lands, M10 lands, and scars lands being used. So my question is, which of these are used most and why?
It's as easy as to look at some decks in mtgdecks.net and look at the mana bases, understand why they run those instead of others and you are set.
shocks are nice because they can be fetched. For personal preference I'm a big fan of filters though. I like that they correct better, but they have the drawback of needing another mana source to make them work. If you're 2 color, I will use Scars lands, filters and either fetches or manlands. Another good one to remember is City of Brass. If you're building Tri-Color, you're going to definitely want Fetches and shocks to go with your mana base though.
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Fetches to me are the most important. Honestly most people will say Shocks next but to me it is Mutavault. Best manland by far in this format.
Scars in Tempo/Aggro
Shocks/CitP Tapped Manlands in control
Shocks/fetches/basics in combo.
But yeah you don't need 4 of each shock land. I've done very well using just a few of each.
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In case I didn't tell you, I don't care about your opinion I just want your facts. And not the facts that make you seem smart. I want the ones that are actual facts.
Most decks dont want more than 4 shocks regardless of how many colors you are as the damage starts to accumulate fast, (old zoo being the only notable exception)
Then it really depends on how many utility lands your deck plans to or can afford to run (mono color and di-color decks can run a lot more)
From What I would guess 2-4 lands serve as what I would call late duals (duals who don't work turn 1) worldwake manlands, m10/innistrad check lands fill this catagory and round out your mana in the most painless way possible with 2-4 being the most you can sacrifice for speed
The rest of a mana base is made up by the fetches (0-9 depending on the amount of colors and deck) which serve as the lands that provide the most options for fixing, basics (once again dependent on the amount of colors) which must exist where path to exile and ghost quarter are strong in this format. And filters (mostly red ones) for the decks that have heavy color committed casting costs (seismic assault, kiki jiki)
In the end I would say a mana base based on per color numbers is
Mono color 0-18 basics, 6-12 utility lands (here fetchlands count as utility, why else would you play them in mono color?)
Dual Color 3-4 Shocks, 0-4 Fetches, 4-8 Scars/WW manland/checkland, 2-6 basics, 3-12 utility lands (tron makes the estimate kind of rough)
Tri Color 2-5 basics, 3-4 Shocks, 6-10 Fetches, 0-3 Utility lands, 3-9 Scars/WW manland/checkland
Wasteland doesn't exist in this format, basics aren't nearly as important
The land base in modern is pretty diverse so there's no real telling what to grab until you've decided on a deck, but shock lands and zendikar fetch lands are generally a part of a modern deck.
Wasteland doesn't exist in this format, basics aren't nearly as important
Have you forgotten about blood moon and magus of the moon. They're not as bad as wastelands, but you still need to have a few basic lands in your deck for this reason.
Fortunately, you don't see blood moon on turn one like you do in legacy though, but blood moon does still get played, especially against 3 colored decks.
In legacy, its pretty much just fetchland => dual/basic with some number of wastelands and 1-2 utility lands. However, modern seems different in that the shocklands don't exactly replace the dual lands one to one. The 2 extra damage from the shocklands (3 from fetch => shockland, untap) adds up quickly versus anything trying to chip your life total away. Thus, there seems to be a lot of filter lands, pain lands, M10 lands, and scars lands being used. So my question is, which of these are used most and why?
No, the shocks are being used over filter/pain/m10/scars lands. Being able to fetch them makes them way stronger, particularly in 3c+ decks. The life payment is a necessary sacrifice.
8-10 fetches
4-5 shocks
3-4 basics
X Utility/LD/Manland
Of the non-shocks, Filter lands are probably the strongest.
CG
Also, fastlands are good for aggro decks.
It's as easy as to look at some decks in mtgdecks.net and look at the mana bases, understand why they run those instead of others and you are set.
If you hate the deck, I'm probably playing it!
Scars in Tempo/Aggro
Shocks/CitP Tapped Manlands in control
Shocks/fetches/basics in combo.
But yeah you don't need 4 of each shock land. I've done very well using just a few of each.
Cockatrice username: Blackcat77
Then it really depends on how many utility lands your deck plans to or can afford to run (mono color and di-color decks can run a lot more)
From What I would guess 2-4 lands serve as what I would call late duals (duals who don't work turn 1) worldwake manlands, m10/innistrad check lands fill this catagory and round out your mana in the most painless way possible with 2-4 being the most you can sacrifice for speed
The rest of a mana base is made up by the fetches (0-9 depending on the amount of colors and deck) which serve as the lands that provide the most options for fixing, basics (once again dependent on the amount of colors) which must exist where path to exile and ghost quarter are strong in this format. And filters (mostly red ones) for the decks that have heavy color committed casting costs (seismic assault, kiki jiki)
In the end I would say a mana base based on per color numbers is
Mono color 0-18 basics, 6-12 utility lands (here fetchlands count as utility, why else would you play them in mono color?)
Dual Color 3-4 Shocks, 0-4 Fetches, 4-8 Scars/WW manland/checkland, 2-6 basics, 3-12 utility lands (tron makes the estimate kind of rough)
Tri Color 2-5 basics, 3-4 Shocks, 6-10 Fetches, 0-3 Utility lands, 3-9 Scars/WW manland/checkland
Wasteland doesn't exist in this format, basics aren't nearly as important
Have you forgotten about blood moon and magus of the moon. They're not as bad as wastelands, but you still need to have a few basic lands in your deck for this reason.
Fortunately, you don't see blood moon on turn one like you do in legacy though, but blood moon does still get played, especially against 3 colored decks.
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