Mana. The source of all spells in Magic: The Gathering. Without it you simply cannot play your deck. Over the years, one colored decks became too strong and caused most colors to have very reliable one colored decks (Suicide Black, Blue Permission, Green Stompy, Red Sligh and White Wheenie) so Wizards crated very good multicolored spells and good spells a one color deck may need to help it’s balance, tempting players to splash another color or even run three or more colored decks. Now, with the exception of the recent Mono-black Devotion, one colored decks are a thing of the past.

Because of this temptation to play more then one color, land bases have also changed. Gone are the days of playing only basic lands. Dual lands are now the norm with some competitive decks only playing meager copies of any given basic. We all know the expensive non basic lands that fuel decks on the competitive scene. Today we focus on the budget lands that can help you compete on your kitchen table for a fraction of the price.

This week I have chosen to focus my posts on lands. For Magic: The Monday, I’ll go over some budget options for land in multicolored decks.

Guildgates

The Return to Ravnica cycle brought us guildgates which were made over versions of the dual lands produced in the Invasion cycle. The lands were printed as a common and are easily found for very low prices.

Lifegain Taplands

If you are playing with guildgates and they come into play tapped, you might as well have the land do something. This is where the Lifegain Taplands come in. Like guildgates, they come into play tapped and offer two colors of mana, however once played they offer you 1 point of lifegain. These cards were printed in Zendikar and are easier to find online then in a commons card bin at your local store. Additional lands of this type were printed in Khans and are commons and are much easier to find.

Khans Three Lands

These three colored lands are featured in Khans of Tarkir and Shards of Alara. I recommend that three color decks or two color decks that splash the corresponding additional color use these. With the recent release of Khans, these cards are easily found in access and can be purchased with a budget in mind where the Shards versions would most likely have to be ordered online for a minimal price tag.

Cheap Fetchlands

Cheap fetchlands come in two equally powerful varieties. Terramorpic Expanse and Evolving Wilds. These cards when played will fetch a basic land you may need and really shine in a three color budget deck. Not only will they thin your deck one land at a time but will also gather up that vital third color you may had missed in your opening hand.

Bounce Lands

The original Ravnica Cycle duals featured dual lands that came into play and bounced a land back to your hand.I do not recommend these types of lands unless you have other lands that have come into play effects like Bojuka Bog. Otherwise, I have found Bounce Lands to be clunky.

Check Lands

Got a few bucks laying around? Consider Check Lands. For a few dollars a piece you can get a dual land that comes into play untapped as long as the allied colors are present on the board. Granted, they are not commons but they make great substitutes doe the Ravnican Shocklands that are over $10 a card.

I hope these cheap lands will help you find budget options for your decks.

After much consideration I have chose to add an additional blog post per week focusing on Magic for beginners. This post will can be found here on Thursday.

Comment below or contact me on twitter at https://twitter.com/TheAiokii or share your budget ideas on Reddit. http://www.reddit.com/r/budgetdecks/ I would love to hear from you and see you all Thursday for my new blog column.