Can you put basic lands in a colorless deck?
In Magic: The Gathering, a colorless deck is a type of deck that does not contain cards with specific colored mana symbols in their mana costs. Colorless decks are typically built around colorless artifacts, creatures, and other cards that don’t require specific colors of mana to function. However, this raises an important question: can you use basic lands in a colorless deck?
Direct Answer
No, you may not include lands with basic land types that produce mana outside your commander’s color identity in a colorless deck. Land with basic land types are typically associated with specific colors of mana, and including them in a colorless deck would compromise the deck’s colorless identity.
Why can’t I use basic lands in a colorless deck?
In Magic, the color of a land is determined by its mana abilities, which are the colored mana symbols printed on the land’s card. Basic lands like Forest, Plains, Mountain, and Island have different mana abilities and are inherently tied to specific colors. For example, Forest has a mana ability of "Tap: Add 1 green mana**.", which means it can produce green mana. This ties the land to the color green and prevents it from being used in a colorless deck.
Exceptions to the rule
However, there are some exceptions to this rule. For example, lands like Wasteland, City of Traitors, and the Urza lands are considered colorless because they don’t have colored mana symbols in their mana abilities. These lands can be used in colorless decks because they don’t inherently tie themselves to specific colors.
Alternative sources of colorless mana
While you can’t use basic lands in a colorless deck, there are alternative sources of colorless mana available. For example, colorless artifacts and creatures like Mox Opal, Mind Stone, and Gravitic Punch can provide colorless mana without tying yourself to specific colors. Colorless utility lands, like Urza’s Tower and Sol Ring, can also be used to generate colorless mana.
In summary
In conclusion, it is not recommended to use basic lands with colored mana abilities in a colorless deck. These lands tie themselves to specific colors and can compromise the deck’s colorless identity. However, there are alternative sources of colorless mana available, such as colorless artifacts, creatures, and utility lands. By choosing these alternatives, you can maintain a colorless deck without compromising its overall strategy.